POTA spot viewer

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va6ku
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Joined: 05 Nov 2022, 14:17

POTA spot viewer

Post by va6ku »

I really enjoy hunting Parks on the Air activations. A feature I think would help POTA hunters would be a new window in Log4AM that shows the current list of POTA spots from Parks on the Air.

The window would display activator, last spot time, frequency, band, park reference, etc.

Double clicking in the POTA table would be useful to tune the radio, launch pota.app with the park reference, and pre-fill a QSO log entry with the activator's call sign, and a note such as "POTA K-1234", and other applicable details.

An API is available to fetch the POTA spots: https://api.pota.app/spot/ and return the data in JSON format. I know of one other program using this API (HAMRS iPhone app) but do not know for sure if this API is approved for general use.

I actually implemented this feature in my own personal logging program I've been working on but I really like Log4OM and would like to see such a feature added.

Regards,
Kevin Umbach
VA6KU
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G4POP
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Joined: 21 Jan 2013, 14:55
Location: Burnham on Crouch, Essex UK

Re: POTA spot viewer

Post by G4POP »

va6ku wrote: 05 Nov 2022, 16:33 I really enjoy hunting Parks on the Air activations. A feature I think would help POTA hunters would be a new window in Log4AM that shows the current list of POTA spots from Parks on the Air.

The window would display activator, last spot time, frequency, band, park reference, etc.

Double clicking in the POTA table would be useful to tune the radio, launch pota.app with the park reference, and pre-fill a QSO log entry with the activator's call sign, and a note such as "POTA K-1234", and other applicable details.

An API is available to fetch the POTA spots: https://api.pota.app/spot/ and return the data in JSON format. I know of one other program using this API (HAMRS iPhone app) but do not know for sure if this API is approved for general use.

I actually implemented this feature in my own personal logging program I've been working on but I really like Log4OM and would like to see such a feature added.

Regards,
Kevin Umbach
VA6KU
Do they have a POTA cluster server?
73 Terry G4POP
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KI5IO
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Location: Plano, TX

Re: POTA spot viewer

Post by KI5IO »

This is the site I use to track POTA from my laptop.

https://pota.app/#/
73 - Nolan Kienitz - KI5IO
Plano, TX
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Re: POTA spot viewer

Post by G4POP »

KI5IO wrote: 05 Nov 2022, 18:11 This is the site I use to track POTA from my laptop.

https://pota.app/#/
No Nolan a cluster server not a web server like ve7cc.net port 23 or www.gb7mbc.net port 8000
73 Terry G4POP
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KI5IO
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Re: POTA spot viewer

Post by KI5IO »

G4POP wrote: 05 Nov 2022, 18:31
KI5IO wrote: 05 Nov 2022, 18:11 This is the site I use to track POTA from my laptop.

https://pota.app/#/
No Nolan a cluster server not a web server like ve7cc.net port 23 or www.gb7mbc.net port 8000
I understand ... I was just sharing what I used to track POTA spots at my station.
73 - Nolan Kienitz - KI5IO
Plano, TX
va6ku
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Re: POTA spot viewer

Post by va6ku »

They do not have a cluster server that I am aware of.
KX4UI
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Joined: 25 Nov 2022, 14:34

Re: POTA spot viewer

Post by KX4UI »

I was going to ask the for the same functionality to poll POTA spots and overlay them in the Cluster. However the POTAplus project has a different approach which is very appealing as it puts the radio on freq, and after you worked one it injects a log to LOG4OM, and it respots on the POTA website. All with two added buttons on the official POTA spotting page. Try the compact list view (hamburger menu). https://dwestbrook.net/projects/potaplus/

It offers the right functionality, but it’s also a bit of a hassle as you need to have Chrome, you need to install an unofficial browser extension (in Chrome’s developer mode), and you need to install the TCP-proxy as the middleware.

I’d rather see such functionality build into LOG4OM instead. It’s probably not possible to (re-)spot from LOG4OM to the POTA side without a token or something, since you need to log in, but that’s such a minor issue. Spots are usually always less than a few minutes old.
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