Do you ever operate contests using the assisted mode? If so here are some programs and tips to possibly improve your experience.
For CW contests the best spotting source is the Reverse Beacon Network http://reversebeacon.net/main.php . This network pulls CW spots from around the world and decodes the callsigns, operator sending speed, and relative signal to noise ratio. I have a personal CWSkimmer server that feeds this network 24 X 7 so you are getting local spots as well. This resource feeds N1MM via CCUser with over 300,000 filtered spots (many are refreshed spots) over the period of the CQWWCW contest. To filter the spots, as I did, to just East coast US stations I fed the output through CCUser and set the states filter to the East coast call areas. I also filtered out all US callsigns so that I only saw DX in the N1MM bandmap. http://www.ve7cc.net/ The steps to configure this resource are at http://reversebeacon.blogspot.com/ . This makes it very simple to click on a spot in the N1MM bandmap, be on frequency, and have the callsign populated. It’s easy to maintain a 70+ run rate for as long as you’d like. Of course, you’ll need to configure CAT control for your radio.
If you’d like ONLY spots local the Atlanta area then you may connect directly to my CWSkimmer server which Skims 7 bands simultaneously. Telnet: wb4mak.com port 23.
Would you like to aggregate spots from multiple spotting sources? You can combine them using WinTelnetX by K1TTT. http://www.k1ttt.net/software.html There is a bit of a learning curve to get everything configured correctly but study the examples provided and it should make sense.
We set up a chat room for everyone to connect during the contest at http://sedxc.dodropin.org/ . This is a great place to hang out with your contesting buddies and share important spots or strategy.
Finally, would you like to hear your signal on the air or have a second remote receiver? You may connect to the remote receivers that I operate at http://wb4mak.com on 80, 40, and 20M.
There are many other automation tips I can share if these interest you. I hope to work you in the 160M contest this weekend.
73,
Mack de WB4MAK