[Skimmertalk] Windows 7 64-bit and SkimmerServer?

[Wes Cosand]

On Mon, Nov 29, 2010 at 10:19 AM, Mark Bailey <kd4d at comcast.net> wrote:

> Good day:
>
> I need a faster computer for SkimmerServer.  Does it work with a QS1R under
> Windows 7 64-bit?  The current machine only manages about 2600 decoders...
>
> Works fine under Windows 7 32-bit.
>
> Thanks and 73,
>
> Mark, kd4d
>

Mark, this is an important question.

Originally, to run Skimmer Server I bought an Intel I7 920 on an MSI X-58M
motherboard with 12 gigs of RAM.  It ran 64 bit Windows 7.  During 2009 CQWW
it choked at about 1150 decoders despite very low CPU utilization.  During
the ARRL DX contest Alex and I worked together trying to locate the rate
limiting step.  At the end of the contest Alex thought he had found the
issue and incorporated the changes into the current version of the program.

I was less sanguine, I guess.  I replaced the I7 machine with the current
Core 2 Quad with 32 bit XP Pro and I have been waiting for months to see how
it performed under duress.  Last weekend the computer worked smoothly.   I
am typing this on the I7 and I could do another test during ARRL DX but the
problem might be specific to my hardware and not the OS so I am uncertain
the results would be meaningful.

Another issue:  It is my perception that 2600 concurrent decoders is a lot
of decoders.  I would be very interested in how many decoders other
SkimServer users saw.  Was your QS1R on a superb antenna system or were you
using wide CW Segments in the ini file?  Is there a possibility that a
transmitter or a receive preamp was overloading the receiver?  I am no
engineer so my perceptions could be very wrong.  I would be quite satisfied
if my system handled that number of signals but maybe my expectations are
too low.

Wes, WZ7I