About This Project
The Reverse Beacon Network was borne out of an e-mail
exchange in March of 2008 between PY1NB and N4ZR. Felipe had been running a unique DXing web
site, DXWatch.com, for several years, while Pete had been working with VE3NEA,
the author of the CW Skimmer software, since late 2007 to test, develop and
refine it. Felipe saw a way in which the
basic framework of DXWatch could be adapted to display Skimmer spots at a
central location as “reverse beacons”, spotting everything they heard. Early in April, Felipe wrote the first
Aggregator software, intended to receive spots from Skimmer’s Telnet server and
transmit them to the web site for display.
The web site was initially the only way to view Skimmer
spots. But as the controversy raged in the contesting community over whether
unassisted single operators should be allowed to use this new technology, it
occurred to the RBN operators that there might be an opportunity here to
contribute Skimmer spots to the worldwide contest and DX community through a
Telnet server using DX cluster software.
We had no clue how quickly this would change contesting.
It took a while, but in April 2010 the Telnet server
debuted. Almost immediately, it proved
very popular, to the point where the server began to buckle under the load of
being the only outlet for RBN spots
At first, there was general consternation at the thought of
Skimmer spots being integrated into the traditional DX cluster structure, for
fear that their sheer volume would submerge the traditional spots people were
used to. Happily for the RBN, though,
writers of cluster software soon recognized that they could accommodate the RBN
spots by providing filters to segregate the Skimmer spots if desired.
Meanwhile, Nick, F5VIH/SV3SJ joined the RBN team. His computer science background was a great
asset, and in July 2010, he rolled out the Signal Analysis Tool, a graphical
way to compare signals of multiple stations on multiple bands, as heard by a
single Skimmer anywhere in the world.
In September 2010, VE7CC and VE1DX began distributing RBN
spots through their cluster servers.
Shortly thereafter, AR Cluster Version 6 was released in beta with
similar provisions and an advanced filtering scheme.
In November, just in time for CQWWCW, Dave,
KM3T joined the team. He, Nick and
Felipe worked hard to ensure that the RBN servers would not fail during the
contest. They succeeded, and the Telnet
server delivered over 1.7 million spots without incident. In March of 2011, a second Telnet server running
ARC6 was added to the RBN’s facilities, spreading the load and allowing for
distribution of Skimmer spots to ARC6 clusters worldwide.
In September 2011, Dick, W3OA joined the team and wrote the
first Windows Aggregator. The beta was a
success, and in succeeding months he delivered increasingly sophisticated
versions of the software, which is now in release 2.1. In November 2011, the RBN handled 3.25
million spots during CQWW, an average of 18.9 spots per second, with no
problems.
So far in 2012, the RBN’s servers have been handling the
load nicely. The ARRL DX contest, the
Russian DX Contest, and WPXCW passed without incident. In WPX, the RBN actually handled slightly
more spots than in last year’s CQWW, which gives us a sense of what to expect
next year in CQWW.
Perhaps more importantly for the loading of the system, we
topped 100 simultaneous Skimmers during the weekend, and actually had 114
unique Skimmers contribute during that
period. As far as hardware is concerned,
we’re in a period of watchful waiting.
At some point the database server will max out, probably necessitating
separating it from the web server, but we seem to have a little way to go
yet. Meanwhile, Nick and Felipe are
working on a new set of statistical tools that should enable everyone to get
the numbers he needs from the system in near real time. We’re optimistic that usership will continue
to grow.
Stay tuned … who knows when the next good idea will come
along? And if you’d like to join us,
drop us an e-mail and tell us what you have in mind.
73, Pete Smith, N4ZR
