I am worried that this great mode is turning into yet another "Zombie mode" by a few who are using the "Ping" facility of the mode to collect grid squares in the same way as FT8, FT4 etc. This practice is using up much of the time on the calling frequency making it very hard, if not impossible to make a real QSO possible. I am sure I will have opened up a can of worms with this comment, however, for those who are only interested in Zombie mode "QSO"s please use the FT8 etc. modes elsewhere. Would it be possible to make a modification to the VARAC program to prevent the abuse of the PING facility being used in such a manner?

Would it be possible to have the option to have an action spoken instead of a sound? i.e. "Station calling CQ" or "Other station Typing", "You have been pinged" you get the idea. A "woosh" is good, but a "word" is better. :-)