[Skimmertalk] Skimmer Server & CQWW: one year late

Mon Nov 29 09:23:01 PST 2010

The QS1R's seem to be pretty accurate out of the box... the SDR-IQ not so much,  but they can all use a little tweaking.  The frequency correction parameter in the .ini file corrects the master oscillator calibration errors, so if you have 100hz error at 7 mhz, it's going to be 400 hz error at 28mhz!  I actually set mine by trial and error, using a CQ from my known accurate radio on 10 meters and also verifying against other know accurate skimmers such as WZ7I and K1TTT.

Frequency calibration is another thing to add to the list of skimmer node acceptance testing.

I guess taking this conversation to the next level, I would like to propose that we create an acceptance testing / certification program for skimmers to become part of the RBN...or at least part of the telnet server RBN during contest weekends.  The skimmer community used to be in beta-testing, but it's now a fairly mature and important technology for ham contesters and we need to improve and protect its integrity.  One bad skimmer (or even a hacker) could ruin everyones weekend.  Therefore, no new (uncertified) public skimmers should be allowed to connect directly to the RBN just before or during a major contest.

At some point we might want to selectively limit which skimmers are allowed to feed the RBN, but we arent there yet. However, this would mean we need to select the source nodes that will be used based on the location, antennas, certification, reliability, and perhaps other criteria...I guess some sort of rating system.

Ty K3MM

Nov 29, 2010 10:47:33 AM, n4zr at contesting.com wrote:

Mack, I think we will very likely take you up on that. We're 
formulating near and long-term expansion plans now, and would welcome 
more help. We particularly need someone who really knows DXSpider, 
because we can't figure out how we broke the state of origin filter.

Re calibration, I need to poke around in this. I noticed that most 
spots were pretty good on 7 MHz, a little high on 20M, and a lot high on 
15 (a couple of hundred Hz). I recall reading somewhere that the higher 
the frequency at which you do your calibration, the better the 
accuracy. I calibrated on WWV at 10 MHz, but presume that a 25 MHz 
source would be a good thing. I may just match it to my K3 and see 
where that puts me hi

73, Pete N4ZR

The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at www.conteststations.com
The Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net, blog at reversebeacon.blogspot.com,
spots at telnet.reversebeacon.net, port 7000

On 11/29/2010 10:29 AM, WB4MAK wrote:
> May I also suggest that we all need to tighten the frequency calibration of our Skimmer Servers? I found many of the spots received were off more than 100 Hz. Also, as noted below we should all make sure we don't have a hole in our decoder for the digital portion of the bands.
>
> I used aggressive all weekend.
>
> Thank you to everyone for the consolidated look at the RBN via telnet. I can offer to host a consolidated telnet node for future contests if needed. I have lots of bandwidth and server capacity.
>
> 73,
>
> Mack de WB4MAK
> http://wb4mak.com
> http://www.nfarl.org
> http://www.sedxc.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: skimmertalk-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:skimmertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of k3mm at verizon.net
> Sent: Monday, November 29, 2010 10:07
> To: wes.cosand at gmail.com
> Cc: skimmertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [Skimmertalk] Skimmer Server& CQWW: one year late
>
> As Rosanne Rosannadana used to say, "It's always something!" hi!
>
> After SS and CQWW experiences, us skimmer operators and perhaps Alex need to work on improving the accuracy of the information we provide to the masses.
>
> Is there any good documentation on the filtering modes within SkimServ (for the QS1R)? Does Aggressive use the Master.dta file in both CWSkimmer and SkimServ?
>
> While master.dta filtering is OK, you will miss a few new callsigns, which isnt acceptable on Sunday afternoon when many are begging for new contacts. But even more unacceptable is the mass of bad skimmer spots that proliferate your spot window after you've "worked everybody".
>
> I started out running aggressive the first night, but then switched to Normal and I discovered that greatly increased the busted calls coming from my node. I was elsewhere operating the contest, so I couldnt switch it back easily. I noticed that KM3T also seemed to be supplying a lot of busted calls.
>
> Unfortunately, if we are all logging into the same large pot of skimmers, we are all going to suffer from even one errant node, so I think it's important that all of the skimmer operators agree on a standard contest skimmer operating protocol for the major contests. Now we just have to figure out what that protocol is!
>
> I would prefer NOT to use a master.dta file, especially for the DX contests, but we need the other filtering to be tighter than the current "Normal" mode. Of course, this means Alex needs to get involved.
> 73, Ty K3MM
>
> Nov 28, 2010 09:37:59 PM, wes.cosand at gmail.com wrote:
>
> What a difference a year makes!
>
> First an apology. Of all the nights for Verizon to turn off the fiber optic
> line to the house for two hours, Saturday night was the wrong night. Of
> course they changed the IP address so users who were using a numerical
> address instead of cw.wz7i.com were unable to reconnect. I apologize.
>
> I think I have found a computer system appropriate for running SkimServer.
> I used an Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 and at times it ran over 2200 decoders
> without getting above 80% CPU utilization. I never saw less than 100%
> decoding. XP Pro was the OS and the Skimmer Server version was 1.2.0.110.
>
> I was unaware of the CWSegment lines in the SkimSrv.ini file. But Saturday
> morning I looked at a bandmap and saw a hole between 7.035 and 7.045 and
> realized something was wrong. I modified the default CWSegment lines and
> broadened the segments to accommodate contesters outside the strict CW
> portions of the bands. Alex suggests having two or three versions of the
> CWSegment line and then “commenting out” the undesired lines so one can
> rapidly modify the file. My current version of this area of the file is
> below but I can’t guarantee it is optimal. I am still learning. I would be
> very interested in suggestions from contesters about appropriate band
> segments.
> ;DX CW Segments
> CwSegments=1800000-1870000,3500000-3570000,7000000-7070000,10100000-10130000,14000000-14070000,18068000-18095000,21000000-21070000,24890000-24920000,28000000-28070000,50000000-50100000
> ;Contest CW Segments
> ;CwSegments=1800000-1870000,3500000-3600000,7000000-7100000,10100000-10130000,14000000-14125000,18068000-18095000,21000000-21120000,24890000-24920000,28000000-28120000,50000000-50100000
>
> Of course, there must not be any “carriage returns” in these lines. If you
> bring up your SkimSrv.ini file in Notepad and turn off Word Wrap, the
> command should be one long line. The above contest segments line assumes
> you will run 192 kHz bandwidth.
>
> With the telnet spot filtering set to “Aggressive”, and having the CWSegment
> line set inappropriately for the first 15 hours or so, the system generated
> 63,000 spots from a HyGain HyTower Junior vertical. This is not as many as
> some of the systems.
>
> I want to express my appreciation to those cluster owners who made these
> spots available to contesters without them having to connect directly to my
> computer. I don’t have a good feel for how much telnet connections cost in
> cpu time or network traffic – I wouldn’t think it very much. However I
> averaged 10 connections and it seemed to have an impact, at least on the
> house network.
>
> Hopefully during this contest I corrected a couple of stupid errors and next
> contest I will be better prepared. Things went much better than last year!
>
>
> I welcome suggestions that would improve the data. I hope folk had fun
>
> Wes, WZ7I
> _______________________________________________
> Skimmertalk mailing list
> Skimmertalk at contesting.com
> http://dayton.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk
> _______________________________________________
> Skimmertalk mailing list
> Skimmertalk at contesting.com
> http://dayton.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk
>
> _______________________________________________
> Skimmertalk mailing list
> Skimmertalk at contesting.com
> http://dayton.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk
_______________________________________________
Skimmertalk mailing list
Skimmertalk at contesting.com
http://dayton.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk