I have 2 similar issues with Polo where I don’t know the best practice without creating additional issues or other discomfort:
#1 — Add/Delete a reference during an activation
I was recently on a 2-fer POTA + SOTA summit. For shortwave, I could operate all references from a spot below the summit within the 25-m-SOTA-activation-zone. I had the wish to activate POTA as a 2-fer. However, for 2 m/FM I moved to the real top, but there is only 1 POTA reference valid at the top. I had to move since the first operating position was bad for 2 m/FM with the handheld VHF. The 2nd POTA was a trail, and I was more than the allowed 100 ft. away from it at the real summit.
Q: How do I take away for the last round the 2nd POTA reference?
I remember from another thread that changing a reference of an ongoing operation is applied to the FULL operation, so deleting the POTA trail would delete probably also all QSOs logged for it so far. I simply don’t want to spot the 2nd POTA reference, but keep certainly its QSOs in the Polo log.
#2 — End further spots for one of the activated programs
I was on a SOTA summit last year with a buddy doing also POTA. We had been delayed due to a difficult hike, and to avoid further time conflicts he decided to activate only SOTA for the last round on 20 m and to terminate the POTA part of the activation. Spotting again on POTA would bring that much hunters that we would fail with the time table resp. public transport.
Q: How do I take away the POTA part with it(s) reference(s) completely out of the operation?
Again here: the POTA QSOs of the first part of the combi-activation should remain in the Polo log and not be deleted. But the next spot in Polo should spot now only SOTA.
Thanks for supporting here. It’s not so rare a situation as one could think.
I’m sorry, but i don’t consider that a good idea. SOTA doesn’t allow to upload more than one activator file for the same reference per day, and I would have at least two files after restarting a 2nd operation. Such is what I meant by additional issues, and having to combine several files manually first before uploading is for me dancing with the devil, i.e. a major discomfort. The latter would contrast for me with all the good solutions for needs or details where Polo already offers its helping hands.
Reading forth and back and considering the short discussion in the earlier thread on the similar topic brought me to the following: Imho, this issue touches only spotting and not at all how Polo is logging the resulting traffic.
Thus, this issue is probably an easier story. I remember from an earlier thread that @KI2D has more possibilities regarding spotting somewhere in his workbook for one of the next releases. I suppose that the spotting facility would be a good place to have additionally a possibility to tick-off (or tick-on back again later on) the next spots for one or more of the references that the operation had initially opened. Easier said for my initial example #2: tick there the POTA reference off, and the next spot only goes to the SOTA spotter. The symbol for POTA nearby the spotting button would disappear then after ticking the POTA-reference off.
Additionally, I am curios somehow to investigate of my own what really happens when I take out a single POTA reference (of several) during the operation with some QSOs already logged for that reference.
Interesting, hi. I still see the need to offer something useful on that topic. It is not that much rare when you operate several programs what is promoted around here.
Markus,
References of any/all kind are not stored against individual records in PoLo. They are stored against the “Operation”.
You can add or remove them at any time. They will only apply to records in the operation when you export the adif file.
For SOTA (in your mode of operation) you can easily merge the ADIF files from separate PoLo operations after they are exported to recompile a single SOTA file.
You will have files which are generated correctly for the other activities.
Or you can leave it all as one, generate one SOTA file and then pull out the QSOs from the activities which were not applicable. You use ADIF master to do the merge or record manipulation from above.
Or you can export the ADIF at the point where you wish to remove a reference, then store it separately, remove the reference, continue on, export against when you are finished but ignore the export log for the second one when the reference does not apply.
There are many options. You can find the one you find most logical to you.
Good Luck
Alan
Sorry, I had been off for some days and back again now.
Yes, the SOTA database only allows you to log -1- activation per summit per day.
Had done once SSB and then FT8 on the same summit and had to merge then the two ADIF files from different sources with different structures. That was a key experience that I don’t like merging ADIF files nowadays, hi.
Thank you, very helpful. Now I understand how this is handled in Polo. I will think about which manual ADIF handling is the best for me if necessary.
I have to admit: I don’t like such manual interventions at all, hi. A more differentiated assignment of references would have saved me that. But I can understand that this would probably have been more complex.