With the advent of cw and rtty skimmers linked to the RBN it seems like the
number
a of human initiated spots for those modes is much lower. The skimmers do a
good
job of picking up most stations, and there are ways to improve the accuracy by
voting
the results from multiple skimmers. While there are over a hundred cw skimmers
feeding
the RBN, there are less than 50 rtty skimmers in most contests. Many of the
clusters
have a feed from the rbn that the user can select (or not).
As you are finding, even if you are unassisted, the skimmers still help your
rate. Many
of the rtty contests allow use of spots for all entries.
The qs1r is probably the easiest sdr to use for multiband operation. There is a
lower
cost replacement in the works. Would love to have more skimmers, especially for
rtty,
in service.
Mark. N2QT
> On Mar 21, 2016, at 7:52 PM, Al Kozakiewicz <akozak@hourglass.com> wrote:
>
> Do a lot of you use the RBN or some other source of skimmer "spots"?
>
> I ask because I found during the BARTG that almost as soon as I started
> running a frequency I was handling a small pileup that would last for maybe
> 10 minutes and then be over. Yet I found no spots for my call sign when I
> checked the traditional clusters during slow periods. I don't normally run
> assisted except during the CW & SSB SS or unless I know that a needed DX will
> be an entry in a contest. My approach to contesting is usually pretty laid
> back and I like twirling the big knob or dozing off while calling CQ ;^). I
> wonder if I'm missing something?
>
> Is anyone using an SDR to gather their own skimmer spots? I've been looking
> for an excuse to buy an SDR receiver and wonder if this might be a good one.
>
> Al
> AB2ZY
>
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