Hi Jack,
There were many more phases of spotting network development
than you're aware of.
It began with voice networks in the 1960s (maybe before). Soon
adjacent clubs discovered that they could listen to each other's
voice spotting networks, especially those voice spotting
networks that started to use higher power and well sited repeaters
during the 1970s and 1980s...
The next revolutionary step was AK1A's Packet Cluster software
in 1985, initially operated as individual packet nodes, then soon
"clustered" together via relatively short distance RF packet
backbones. Some of the RF links started to be operated at higher
data rates.
Those of us who had contacts in the telecommunications industry
were able to "borrow" unused bandwidth to link more distant
Packetcluster nodes.
Soon those of us who had access to the internet primarily through
universities started to use it to interconnect distant nodes, before
long it started to interconnect to nodes in Europe and Asia. This
much broader DX cluster interconnectivity placed severe loads
on the typical 1200 packet RF backbones and user connections.
When the public internet began to be widely available in the early
to mid 1990s, end users started to connect to PacketCluster nodes
via the internet. Direct user connections via the internet caused the
bandwidth requirements to explode again and the RF backbones and
user connections started to fade away. VE7CC and the DX Summit
soon appeared providing direct internet access to hundreds of users.
Very few RF user links are in use today and essentially all of the
RF packet backbones are gone.
The next revolution was VE3NEA's CW Skimmer. Before long
N4ZR and his team developed the Reverse Beacon Network
of interconnected CW and RTTY Skimmers. The bandwidth
requirements exploded again (and again, and again) which lead to
the development of much faster "DX Cluster" software such as
AR-Cluster Version 5 and many major reliability and storage
upgrades to the Reverse Beacon network servers.
I'm sure we've not come to the end of this 30+ year development
of DX spotting technology.
73
Frank
W3LPL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack Haverty" <k3fiv@arrl.net>
To: cq-contest@contesting.com
Sent: Wednesday, December 21, 2016 11:02:06 PM
Subject: [CQ-Contest] SO(Team) and SO(A)
The recent NAQP conversations got me thinking...
On 12/16/2016 10:03 AM, Steve London wrote:
> the original rules, in the Jan/Feb 1986 NCJ:
>
> Entry Classification: Single-operator and multi-operator unlimited.
> Multi-operator stations may be multi-transmitter but are limited to one
> signal per amateur band. Use of helpers or spotting nets by single
> operators is not permitted.
Just an observation...on the way that the term "spotting nets" has
evolved over 30 years, and some ideas:
Thirty years ago, "spotting nets" involved amateur operators
communicating over amateur radio to exchange spotting information.
IIRC, these were mostly local voice networks using 2, 6, or maybe 10
meters to exchange spots within a groundwave/line-of-sight region.
Phase 2 was the advent of amateur packet on 2 meters, and similar
"spotting nets" followed as computers appeared in ham stations.
All of that involved communications by amateur radio, with computers
getting involved as a new technology used both in spotting nets, logging
programs, etc.
Phase 3 was the advent of the Internet, and the movement of "spotting
networks" to utilize other forms of communication and operate over a
much larger region, even global.
Perhaps a reasonable "next step" for contest organizers to consider
would be to look back to Phase 2 - e.g., allowing an SO(A) category to
use "spotting networks" if, and only if, they are implemented using only
amateur radio communications.
It might also be interesting to permit SO(Team) entrants, instead of
being just a collection of uncoordinated SO operators, to use such
"Phase 2" spotting networks, just amongst themselves, and explore how a
Team can actually cooperate to better scores - e.g., finding mults,
moving them, etc. This might also generate some of the "social
networking" aspects and competitive environment of Team rivalries to
attract younger hams?
Parts of the Internet can be, and have been, implemented over amateur
radio. The technology exists, but there's still quite a few challenges
to using such an "Amateur Internet" for spotting during contests. Our
communications just isn't as fast or widespread as the Internet's fiber
infrastructure. But these challenges are all technical and don't
require lots of money, land, or aluminum. Can today's advantages of
spotting networks in contests be achieved using only amateur radio for
communications?
Just a thought...
73,
/Jack de K3FIV
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