I have seen a lot of issues, feature requests, a few bugs, needed updates, etc. with no answers. What has happened to Jarrett? He used to be very responsive both here and to personal emails, but seems to have gone into radio silence lately.
I know he is still alive as I see he is uploading logs for POTA activations (as of 11/05/2023). But otherwise, nothing. Although it had a bit of a rough start, HAMRS is a really nice and becoming very popular program. However, without continued updates of the park database and a few other tweaks, I fear it will soon lose its value.
Maybe putting it into the Open Source realm and allowing community development could be an option? Has anybody heard from Jarrett?
I paid $6.00 for the iOS version. Like the OP said it’s starting to lose its value over time. Which is a shame because it’s an awesome application and the only one of its kind. I know some logging programs/apps have “POTA templates” but it’s not the same. Where it autofills the park’s grid location saves a lot of time from having to look it up on www.pota.app. Just my 2 cents.
Sadly, you cannot rely on the grid square listed for all parks. The database used only allows for one grid square entry. Some parks, like National Forests or Trails, may cover multiple grid squares. I suggest downloading a grid square app to your phone that uses your phone’s GPS location to give you accurate grid and lat/long info and use that in your log.
BTW, that applies to the info on pota.app as well. Do not rely on that information for your actual location. You could be way off. While POTA does not care what your grid is, if it does matter to you for other purposes, it is up to you to get it correct.
As far as the fees go, the Android and IOS stores charge to provide apps. TANSTAAFL. Those charges are either paid by the user, the provider, or recovered through in-app advertising. In many cases, the developer does not receive any of those fees.
When I’m not at the spot on the map in the park I use the location button in the app to find my grid. But I don’t have that option for the parks I put in the log for P2P’s, I must rely what’s in the POTA database. I mainly just use it as a reference for the map that’s built into HAMRS.
I would much prefer to pay a one-time small fee then to be exposed to ads.
Jarret said on a YT vid that the fee is only to cover the Apple or playstore charges.
Paul ke8wmf
