How is it possible that one can keep up with all of the sked offers. I'm lucky to check the email once a day let alone come home, check a sked and try to get on the rig. I feel bad that there are so many I can't get to. Any ideas?

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W9OSI Dirk A. Matuska

I send a generic reply that if they feel the band is open to Alaska at any given time, they e-mail me AT THAT TIME, and if I am available I will try and connect. With modern e-mail and texting, skeds are a thing of the past.

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AL7GA Kenneth J Perry

I am a recent arrival to eQSL. Sort of. I first registered with my previous callsign, but I wasn't very active. Now I am. At first, I responded to most of the SKED requests because I wanted to support the activities of the site and the members. Then I started ignoring the requests that didn't indicate needing NM, especially the requests from US hams. Next I ignored requests that also didn't indicate a mode or band.

To date, I have not received a single reply to follow up on setting a time regardless of my selection criteria.

I no longer reply to sked requests. Instead, I bring up the page, click the Check All box at the lower left, and click on the Delete All Checked button. (OK, those last two are from memory and locations and labels may be wrong.) All of this so I can get rid of the Blinking Sked Request icon at the top right of the home page. I figure if someone really wants to schedule with me, my email address is readily available on the website.

My personal experience leads irrevocably to the opinion that the Sked Request feature is just another form of spam and I treat it accordingly.

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W5DET Doug Thompson

I have had some success with the sked feature. It allowed me to work Vermont toward WAS, for example.

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VE3OIJ P. Darin Cowan

Everytime I check into e-qsl...i look into the community and never do i see anyone already in any of the chatrooms. I know people work but a lot dont but when i want to jump into a room to have a question or two answered...there never seems to be anyone in the rooms. Am i not doing something right in the way of logging in....because there isnt anyone ..EVER in the rooms. Please let me know what you think.

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KO9Z Kurt M. Svoboda

The chat rooms are not well used, that is certain. I've never, ever seen anyone in them although it does seem that some people check them from time to time.

I disagree with the SPAM comment however. Since the sked system doesn't send any messages (at least not that I'm aware of) and you have to actually visit the sked page to even see the requests, it can hardly be called spam by any definition that the world uses.

If you don't check sked requests, that's cool, but the system does work - it has worked for me.

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VE3OIJ P. Darin Cowan

World + dog -1 all understand the meaning of the phrase "another form of SPAM".

The requests are unsolicited. You cannot turn them off. When you empty the "inbox", it only lasts a few hours before it is again filled and that [bleep] blinking icon is back on the home page.

Have you ever initiated a sked request or even bothered to look at that part of the process? It is a shotgun approach. One can only refine by country or state (and AG). Thus, every time someone selects "USA" or "New Mexico", I receive a request. It's no wonder I never receive a reply when I respond. I have never initiated a request, so I can only surmise that the email inboxes of the requestiors get flooded with responses from well meaning folk who don't understand how flawed this process is. My conclusion is that this "feature" really wasn't well thought out during design and was implemented in the laziest possible way.

Doug, W5DET

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W5DET Doug Thompson

The sked thing doesn't send me messages. I have to go look at it on the web page to see the requests. Ergo, it's not any form of SPAM.

World + dog + cat - 1 understands that stuff you have to make a choice to go look at is not SPAM.

I have also used the sked system to make contacts.

I agree, it's not a great system, but it doesn't spam me. Why it would spam you, I don't know. Unless you are referring to a blinking icon, that you see for 2 seconds while clicking through to the inbox, as SPAM... but that's pretty thin-skinned to be honest.

It's much easier to ignore than get bent out of shape over.

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VE3OIJ P. Darin Cowan

as of tonight I can not find the sked page on my home page or else where.. any idea where it went?

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KM5FF Eddie L Bryant

EQsl please bring back the Sked page

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VA3FS R. Michael Christmas

eQSL guys. Bring back the sked page.

That is also my request.

73

Hub

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SQ5VJZ Hubert

I don't mind the Sked page and I see that other hams like it. It would be great if the page came back only if one could opt out of it on the profile page. Not all people liked the many emails it generated.

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N1ORK Orest 'Andy' Zajac

Well, at least I found when the "sked" page was removed.

THANKS for ending the skeds. They were time wasters.
KC0HYY
27 Aug, 2010

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KE3W Nevins "Frank" Frankel
Temporary QTH: Centralia, Pennsylvania (USA)
http://www.ke3w.com

The new feature they added "show recommended contacts" works much better than the sked ever did IMHO.

If you go to whatever award you are interested in, in my case DXCC, and bring up the list of the countries already confirmed, at the bottom of the list is a link to "show recommended contacts". Pressing that link will show you a list of eQSL AG members in needed DXCC entities that are currently on the air, and tells you the frequency and mode they are operating.

Brilliant idea! I have managed to bag a few new countrys using this tool as I slowly work my way up to 100 (7 left!)

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VA3KAB David Bell

Great idea David! Didn't know that feature worked that way..........I'll have to try it out.
Thanks for sharing that info.
73
Andy - n1ork

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N1ORK Orest 'Andy' Zajac

Whoever it was responsible at eqsl for coming up with the idea deserves a big pat on the back IMHO, it is a great tool!

I stumbled across it by accident, maybe it needs to be plugged more? The link is actually called Recommended Contacts for the Countries you still need

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VA3KAB David Bell

"show recommended contacts" only works if the station is logging live to eQSL most of us send the ADIF file at the end of our day or week there for SKEDs don't work in a lot of cases.

What would be nice is if eQSL would bring back SKEDs but allow us to opt-in.

I would log into eQSL turn on the feature along with posting the FEQ I am calling CQ then when I am done for the day turn it off and of course having the option to update the FEQ I am working on with comments like "I am working WAS" or I am working " eDX " or "give me a call I am standing by on FEQ" the standing by feature I would really like then I could keep my radio on a FEQ with out calling CQCQ all day long and get some work done around the shack with the radio on in the background just waiting for some one to call me.

Its a great way to stimulate CQ contacts.

Mike

VE3XMS/VA3FS

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VA3FS R. Michael Christmas
Edited by VA3FS R. on Apr 11, 2011 at 04:47 AM

I'm not sure how you know that "most of us send the ADIF file at the end of our day or week".

And your statement "show recommended contacts only works if the station is logging live to eQSL" is incorrect.

Only one half of the QSO has to be logged live, if I work a DX station and log the contact live, if you need that DX entity he will show up when you "show recommended contacts" because I have logged the QSO realtime.

There are enough stations logging live to Eqsl to make it a useful tool, as I said before I have managed to work a few new countries using this tool. I run DM780 here, the upload happens automatically as soon as I write to the logbook.

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VA3KAB David Bell
Edited by VA3KAB David Bell on Apr 11, 2011 at 10:50 AM