Interesting chatter from the QRP mailing lists the last few days. Thoughts about spotting networks, primarily of the POTA/SOTA variety are being hashed around. Again. This is a recurring theme. The rub being that if you post online the frequency and time where you can be found while in the field, and those who are “hunting” you need only stare at a web page and turn a knob to find you makes it all akin to shooting fish in a barrel.

I’ve noticed a lot of QRPers are into self-flaggelation with a strong compulsion to make everything much harder than it needs to be in order to achieve real ham radio or whatever is at the base these notions. It’s a world where commercial gear is deprecated in favor of home-built equipment. It’s not good enough to run 50 watts, output must be limited to 5 watts with a bonus for turning that down even further. A real QRPer doesn’t own a Yagi, he must use only wire antennas. A nice paddle is anathema, one must send Morse code by tapping a bare wire against a battery post…

You get my point.

Despite my thinking this spotting issue is malarkey, the central point that drives this frequent discussion is impossible to refute. Hams do blend radio with a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure (the internet) and cell networks to facilitate radio communication. And while some hams see that as a “smart” and “futuristic” use of technology, there are those who believe ham radio is a Morse key, a radio, and a wire aerial.

Who’s to say they are wrong?