Summit entry selection field - [was Activator call sign]

Hello everyone,

just started using PoLo and have to say that I like it quite a lot - a big thanks to the developers and to the community.

I like it so much that I want to see it get better. So here is some feedback to that effect.

I found that when I specify SOTA operation I have to spell out the summit I am operating on with the “/” and the “-”. Is it possible to use the same search logic / input method that already is available for the S2S? Or am I missing something altogether?

Again, many thanks!
73, Kiril

Hi Kiril,
I suppose you mean in the search box which will give you a short list after the first set characters.

I’d say this is because this entry box is not a formatted entry field. It’s a text search box.
I’ll leave @KI2D to comment further on this but you should see a shortlist pretty quickly after the first characters typed.

You can also type part of the summit name to locate the summit. I assume you are already aware of this

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Alan

That’s right Alan.

But I think Kiril is running into issues when trying to find, say “VK2/CT-001” because “vk2ct001” does not match.

I might improve the matching algorithm to be more flexible in the future.

But for now, Kiril, if you know the summit you want to activate, the easiest is to just type the number. This will match lots of other summits with similar number, but since the results are sorted by distance, it’s likely that you’ll see the one you want right at the top.

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Hello Sebastián, hello Alan,

thank you for the prompt replies.

I actually hadn’t realized that typing part of the name would search for the summit. The SOTA Ref is mostly what I think about during the activation.

What I also hadn’t realized is that somehow PoLo does not access my location. I suppose if it did, it would suggest meaningful summits anyway. So searching by number narrows it down, but without awareness of the location PoLo does not sort the summits in a helpful way. Also one use case is when I type in a paper log at home, but the home environment is much more suited to data entry, so it’s not a problem.

I loved the “.” expansion in the call and actually tried it to see if it would substitute for “/” and “-” in the summit reference. If it did, it would have given consistent short-cut-notation in all input fields. So this desire for consistency and ease of entry is where I am coming from. I really don’t want to be nit-picky, it just feels like the app is in the early days and it would be possible to have an interface where all functions / data entry can be done without switching keyboards on the phone.

Just for context, my phone is pretty crappy - an old, cheap, heavy Redmi, chosen mainly for the long operating hours on one charge. It is also sloooowww… especially so when cold.

So anything that can be done to make the entry simpler is much appreciated.

Thanks again,
73, Kiril

PoLo does try to use your location… but perhaps you accidentally denied permissions when it first asked? Look in the main Android location settings to see if it’s listed as blocked.

It should. A new operation will have no location
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When you choose a park or summit it will acquire that location.

But when you click on location, you can choose to enter the grid, or let your device offer your GPS location.

At which point the summit on offer (shortlisted) will be local to the location set.

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Yes, that worked!
The Summit selection is meaningful now.

I also added an exception for mobile data roaming - probably the reason it was not loading spots when relying on mobile data in the field.

Thank you!
73, Kiril