[OKDXA] Ham Alerts

[Mark Beckwith]

I could not agree more, Richard.  I was negligent to not comment on the 
value of all the posts that come through from OKDXA via multiple 
channels.  Just this morning I have been talking with Jeff about maybe 
getting up on 2 meters so I can get me some more of that sweet OKDXA mojo.

It takes me to a happy place - I remember being awakened in the wee 
hours by a phone call from a helpful friend when XV fired up on 40 
meters.  Many moons ago.  Ultimately we put in a 2 meter DX repeater to 
reduce the late night phone calls!

DX ... is.  Wow.

Ham Radio is definitely the World's Best Hobby 
<https://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Best-Hobby-Dave-Bell/dp/1496914031/ref=sr_1_1?crid=CPJL3ML1LQ5W&keywords=%22world%27s+best+hobby%22&qid=1698932569&sprefix=world%27s+best+hobby%2Caps%2C1041&sr=8-1>.

73 - Mark N5OT


On 2023-11-02 8:20 AM, Richard Ruhl W5GLD wrote:
> Thank you Mark for the excellent explanation. This App is definitely what I need. I recently retired at 65 after 46 years with time now to concentrate and prioritize HF DX but I needed a way to become efficient with my time. This app sounds like the path. I appreciate all the notices from the OKDXA team on what DX is where. Thank you to each of you for your knowledge and experience.
>
> Richard Ruhl W5GLD
> 20048 N 2840 Rd
> Kingfisher, Oklahoma 73750
> 405-368-0191
>
>
>> On Nov 2, 2023, at 6:00 AM, Mark Beckwith<dad at megansfamily.net>  wrote:
>>
>> 
>>> Does anyone use Ham Alerts?
>>
>> Only yesterday I used Jeff's excellent "Where's the DX?" post to encode triggers for them into my HAMALERT profile.  I have been using HAMALERT for a couple years because it cuts to the chase and tells me what I really need to know, all with a CW notification code, from my pocket, wherever I am.  Long version: I turned 65 this year and decided to retire, and decided to be that guy who keeps an eye on spots and drops what he is doing to go in to try and work a new one in the middle of the day.
>>
>> HAMALERT is a great app.  I am 100% Android at N5OT.  It works great on my Samsung-Galaxy-whatever-it-is.
>>
>> I should state clearly my needs are modest.  My interest in Jeff's list represents a major ramping up of my "paying attention" level. Up until now, I have used HAMALERT to keep track of my best buddy, David, N6AN, who in retirement chose to become a huge ham radio Mountain Goat in the worldwide SOTA dogpile.  He puts summits on the air probably every other day when he's got up a head of steam.  I never tire of taking a break around here, going out to the shack, and working him just so he knows his 5 watts are making it to Oklahoma and we get to say hello to each other.  David and I met operating Field Day in 1973 way up at the top of a mountain ridge with the West Valley ARC in Southern California.
>>
>> As I write I have just been notified that A25R is on 15 meter CW. /(Got him there yesterday, haven't turned off that trigger!)/
>>
>> During contests when I am at home and my goal is to get on the air and talk to my friends and give them a point, I have all those guys already encoded into HAMALERT as triggers.  The triggers are usually sleeping, but I wake them up for contests and get those notifications all weekend, so I know when 8P5A has just changed bands to 160 meters, for instance.  Also the old PJ2T club I try to get on 6 bands whenever I can.
>>
>> I turn them off after the contest is over, and turn my SOTA friend back on.
>>
>> Regarding the app and their support environment, only this week I got on their support forum and asked if the spot triggers could be sorted because I'm starting to amass quite a list of triggers (which as mentioned are mostly asleep but they are still on my list in my profile) and wondered about easier ways to find particular triggers.  In less than a day, the builder of the app himself responded (Manuel HB9DQM) that although I can't drag and drop triggers into desired orders, he did design it to where it sorts by a particular field, so knowing that, I can encode that field in a way that it sorts the triggers however I want.
>>
>> "Now that's service" and it's nice to know there is an app that is not so big you can't just get an answer to your question.  Cool that the boss took my call.  So ... correct, it's not perfect, it's free, for hams by hams, and all that.  It's also not full of ads and other revenue-driven and spy-ware overhead like most "free" apps.  It's just the DX you care about. /(That also makes it really fast.)/
>>
>> Point of clarity: there is a phone component and a desktop component.  At N5OT getting DX spots on the desktop is mostly useless/pointless but where I need them is on my phone.  Conversely, setting up the triggers on the phone is an exercise in frustration so I do all that on the laptop.  But that's perfect.  So I tell it what to do on my computer, and it sends DX info to my phone.  Sync'd up and integrated.  What's not to love?  A25R is still on 15 CW, FWIW.
>>
>> So - HAMALERT at hamalert.org is highly recommended here at N5OT.  I notice Brian's original question is about "Ham Alerts" but I'm thinking we are talking about the same thing?  If we're talking about different things then my comments do not address his question.
>>
>> Check it out:https://hamalert.org
>>
>> If it frustrates you, I can probably help since I've been using it to do all of the above for a couple years.
>>
>> Happy Thursday,
>> 73 - Mark N5OT
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