Topband: how to set up a Skype receiving beacon

[Tom Rauch]

>     This was a very easy project, and I would like to
> encourage other topband operators to create a receiving
> beacon at their location.

I'm a little concerned about this. I'm not so sure it is a
good idea.

When we start having multiple receivers without time delay
stationed all over the world, the potential for abuse is
huge. Anyone anywhere can use the Internet to receive
signals they would normally not copy. What would happen if
160 ops everywhere created what really amounts to a single
frequency DXTuner connection? We might as well toss DXCC and
everything else the rest of the way down the sewer. Already
we can move from coast to coast and keep scores, and we
already have chat rooms and DX clusters that allow people
who can't hear but transmit well to work DX they would never
work through radio alone.

A second lesser concern would be QRM. With multiple people
attempting to access a receiver with multiple transmitters,
we will have random transmissions on the "beacon" frequency.
Certainly any DX receiver should be placed outside
traditionally active areas of the bands.

This might be an unpopular statement, but I think multiple
beacon receivers are an exceptionally bad thing long term.

What we really need are coordinated medium power
transmitting beacons shoved off to one edge of the band,
occupying only one spot. People can't use them to cheat the
system and they would encourage random QRM.

Of course on a positive note a series of well-placed DX
receivers would allow EA3JE to QSX on 160 instead of 40
meters.  ;-)

73 Tom