[Skimmertalk] Convergence - Contest Skimmers and the Reverse Beacon Network

[Pete Smith]

The ARRL CAC's decision on the use of CW Skimmer has an interesting 
nuance.  Skimmers situated outside the 500-yard station circle may be 
used by SO Unlimited and Multi-Op competitors, so long as "a closed 
or dedicated communication link" is not used.

Some local clubs have already set up Skimmers for their members to 
use during contests, evoking memories for some of us of the 2-meter 
voice spotting nets of many years past.  Some multi-ops are 
contemplating the establishment of nearby but off-site Skimmers, to 
avoid problems with interference from their own transmitters. Some 
individual SOU operators are thinking about setting up remote 
Skimmers (at a mountain cabin, for example).

The question is, how can these plans be made to conform to the letter 
and spirit of the CAC decision.  Does simply deploying the remote 
Skimmer on a publicly-accessible IP address meet the intent of the 
CAC?  Or does the IP address have to be publicized in some 
more-or-less widely-distributed way?

Enter the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) <http://reversebeacon.net> or 
<http://skimmer.dxwatch.com>.    Skimmers sending spots to the 
Reverse Beacon Network can have their IP address publicized on the 
RBN site, and have links to them displayed there.  That would 
certainly meet the CAC requirement of not being "closed or dedicated" 
communication links.  Besides, imagine the potential of 20 to 50 
reverse beacons, closely co-located with major contest stations or 
clubs, all reporting what they hear and storing it for analysis after 
the contest.

This is strictly a hypothetical example, but suppose HC8N set up a 
remote Skimmer and forwarded spots to the RBN during the WPX CW 
Contest this May.  Then, after the contest, competitors from around 
the world could compare their signals with one another as heard at 
HC8N, rather than at some anonymous reverse beacon a few 
thousand  kilometers away.

Adding the RBN to the configuration of the remote Skimmer would be 
trivially easy.  Install and run the RBN Aggregator software (a 
simple 2-minute download and install) alongside CW Skimmer.  That's 
all it takes.  Set it up in a batch file so that if anything knocks 
your Skimmer off the air, you can restart easily.  Voila - you're 
unquestionably legal, and you'll also be contributing to a databank 
that will be a lot of fun to revisit after the contest.

To download the Aggregator, visit 
<http://skimmer.dxwatch.com/downloads/skimmer_aggregator_v0.21beta.zip>. 
Download the .exe and its companion .dll file and put them in your CW 
Skimmer program directory.  Start Skimmer and the Aggregator, and 
you're a contributor to the Reverse Beacon Network.  It really 
couldn't be much easier.


73, Pete N4ZR
the World Contest Station Database is back, and updated daily  at 
www.conteststations.com
Visit the Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net