Anyone know a reliable way to have RBN spot you during an activation? My activations are almost always CW.
Most of the POTA I do is during SOTA activationd, and there is not always cell service. And trying while camping in parks is even worse. SOTAwatch has RBNHole which is very reliable if you’ve put up an alert beforehand. I’ve been told there is something similar for POTA/WWFF, but it’s never worked for me.
RBN is a bit tricky to get spotted 100% of the time, especially QRP or with poor band conditions. I find that if I call CQ 3 times and then callsign, instead of something like “CQ POTA”, the RBN spotters have a tendency to pick me up easier. (i.e.
CQ CQ CQ <call> <call> <call>). If you do this on the band and time you’ve scheduled an activation for on the POTA app it should work.Even at QRP levels and poor bands RBN will usually hear me. The problem is that POTA and WWFF don’t have something watching the skimmers and pushing spots.
For example, I went out yesterday, and got RBN spots for SOTA but didn’t work anyone who I didn’t recognize, e.a. I only got SOTA chasers. I had put up alerts the night before for all three programs.