Friday, January 23, 2015

Can't See The Map?

Recently we have had several complaints from users whose map display was either entirely absent or just terribly slow.  We may have a problem with our new server setup, but two, using Firefox and Chrome, have reported that the problem went away when they disabled ad-blocking software add-ons for their browsers.  Worth a try if you are running AdAware, AdBlock or MalwareBytes.

73, Pete N4ZR 

Monday, January 19, 2015

FAQ - Why Does Your Map Show My QTH Incorrectly?

Every week I get a couple of e-mails asking "How come you map my QTH in Missouri (or Ontario, or central instead of eastern Russia).  Here's the answer - 

When we go to plot a dot on the map for a station that has been spotted, we query QRZ.com.  Most of the time that returns a location we can use, but occasionally it doesn't.  In that case the website defaults to an arbitrary location for the center of the country as determined by the prefix.  For performance reasons (imagine a busy contest weekend) and to avoid wearing out our welcome at QRZ.com, we cache station locations for a week or so before doing another lookup.  If a station is active, its location will generally be corrected by the next query after the cache has expired.

News: Big Changes Under the Surface of the RBN

I'm pleased to report that there have been some big changes at the RBN mother ship over the past month.  We've gone from one server, which was heavily tested during major contests, to two faster ones, one dedicated solely to database functions and the other doing everything else.  The transition went pretty smoothly, thanks to our server gurus PY1NB, F5VIH/SV3SJ and KM3T.  The performance stats we're watching look very good.

73, Pete N4ZR

Running RTTY and CW SkimServs On the RBN at the Same Time

I'm embarrassed by the delay but relieved to report that RBN contributors (current or prospective)  can now get everything they need on line to be able to send CW and RTTY SkimServ spots to the RBN using a single Aggregator and a single QS1R.  The information, plus a new Aggregator is all on the RBN web site at http://www.reversebeacon.net/pages/Aggregator+19 In three relatively small downloadsAll you'll need in addition is copies of CW and RTTY Skimmer Servers, both available on a 30-day free trial at http://dxatlas.com

73, Pete N4ZR