BLAST
Every other OTA command reaches at most one other station. BLAST sends a
direct message to everyone who has participated in the op so far. Use it for the
things the whole group needs to hear at once. Moving to another location, the
weather turning, twenty minutes left, thanks to everybody at the end.
QST is a synonym for the BLAST command. It is the traditional ham signal for
a message addressed to all amateurs, which is exactly what this is.
This command is named blast for a reason. If you have a bunch of chasers on your op that are on the same igate, you can easily overwhelm the RF capacity in that area. Use with caution.
BLAST [@callsign] <text...>
Send one message to everyone on an op.
- callsign
- The host of the op. Omit it to send to your own op, from the station running it. optional
- text
- What everyone on the op will receive.
Replies
blast_relayBLAST {station_call}{op}: {text}blast_receiptBlast sent to {stations}.
Hints
- no text after the keyword and any target
A blast needs some text after the callsign.limited to 1 per 24 hours, then silent- the named callsign has no op on the air
{base_call} is not on the air. See aprsota.org/nowlimited to 1 per hour, then silent- bare BLAST from a different SSID than the live op's
Your op is run by {station_call}. Send BLAST from it.limited to 1 per 24 hours, then silent- bare BLAST with no live op of the sender's
BLAST needs a host. Send BLAST @callsign your textlimited to 1 per 24 hours, then silent- sender is not chasing that op and is not its host
Chase {base_call} first to send a blast on their oplimited to 1 per 24 hours, then silent- sender has already sent MAX_PER_SENDER blasts on this op
You have sent all your blasts on this op.limited to 1 per 24 hours, then silent- the op already holds MAX_PER_OP blasts
This op has taken all the blasts it can.limited to 1 per 24 hours, then silent- the audience exceeds MAX_RECIPIENTS
Too many stations on this op to send a blast.limited to 1 per 24 hours, then silent
Hosting? Leave off the callsign
If you are the host, you are running exactly one op, so OTA already knows which one you mean. Send it from the station running your op.
Chasing? Name the host
Once you have called an op and sent your position report, you can send a blast
to it. Name the host with an @, the same way you called them in the first
place.
Notice what KI7YAK-5 receives. They are chasing K7ABC too, but they have never heard of W1XYZ-5, so the relay names the op as well as the speaker. When the host is the one talking, that would be the same callsign twice, so it is left off.
Who gets it
Everyone on the op except you. Chasers get blasts if they have sent their chase message and their position report, whether the QSL has happened yet or not. The moment your position report lands you are on the op, which matters most while you are waiting on a busy host. A blast saying the wx turned is exactly what you want before the QSL comes, not after.
Prior blasts are not sent to new chasers. If the host sends a blast before you chased the op, the only way for you to know whether there was a blast and what it said is to go to the website and look at the op page.
How many you can send
Blasts go out over the air to a lot of people at once, so they are rationed more tightly than anything else the bot does:
- at most 4 from you on any one op
- at most 12 on an op from everyone together
They cost nothing but your restraint, and the op ends soon enough that you will rarely meet either limit. Sending one does not extend your op: the clock runs on contacts, not conversation.
Too many blasts?
If you are chasing an op and you don’t want any more blasts from that op, send DONE @callsign naming the host, and you will not get any more from that op.