Políticas de Uso

Acceptable Use Policy

SOTAwatch & Reflector

The Reflector is provided as an extension of the SOTAwatch facility free of charge to the SOTA community by the SOTA Management Team (MT) for the discussion of SOTA related topics.
Posts should be appropriate, constructive, friendly and suitable for all ages.
It is a publicly visible facility and the tone and content of posts should positively represent the SOTA community to the wider world.

Moderation of Reflector Posts & Spots

In order to maintain the facility for the above stated purpose and to prevent it being degraded for the vast majority of users, some moderation of posts is occasionally necessary. A post is likely to be removed if it is:

• Discourteous
• Offensive
• Over argumentative
• Inappropriate to the purpose of SOTAwatch
• Infringing copyright
• Libellous

Likewise, a thread may sometime be 'closed' where a debate is either getting out of control or where the comments are no longer adding value to the discussion.
If you feel a post has been removed unnecessarily, then please send a message directly to the MT with whom the matter can be discussed. Moderation decisions are often difficult calls - apologies are given in advance where we may get this wrong. However, the MT's decision on such matters is final and no public debate will be entered into. Anyone seeking to use the SOTAwatch reflector to publicly contest the removal of posts or the suspension of a user will have their account immediately suspended. The reason for this is that the resulting debate/complaining by those who have necessarily had their posts moderated often ends up degrading the facility worse that the original offence! Please instead direct your concerns directly to the MT who will be happy to discuss the issue with you.
Please note, it is rare the MT has any desire or reason to seek to exclude anyone from the SOTAwatch facility. A suspended account will normally be restored upon a simple commitment to abide by these conditions of use. However, if it becomes necessary to repeatedly moderate the posts of a particular user then exclusion from the facility is likely.
It is worth mentioning that over many years the MT has found it necessary to moderate only an extremely small number of users - as indeed one might expect from a community of radio amateurs.

Policy on 'Spotting'

Only operations from valid SOTA summits may be spotted or alerted on the SOTAwatch facility.
Spots will sometimes be removed if they are deemed superfluous, especially on busy days. This will generally be because the spot is not adding useful content but merely repeating information made clear in a previous spot.
Please do not be offended if this happens to you. Again, the motive is to make the facility as useful as possible to everyone concerned.

Use of Usernames/Callsigns

Your username on SOTAwatch should be an amateur radio callsign or registered SWL number legitimately assigned to you. Should you not have either, please contact the SOTA MT for further advice. As part of the registration process you must also supply a valid email address through which you must be contactable.
To avoid confusion, Reflector posts must originate from the holder of the callsign under which the post was submitted, even where any associated activating or chasing was carried out using a club (or other) callsign.