1. Follow-up to An Introduction to the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) presented in Sept 2012 Dave Duskin – NE5S

2. Background RBN was created by Pete Smith, N4ZR RBN is hosted by dxwatch.com (PY1NB) CW Skimmer was developed by Alex Shovkoplyas, VE3NEA Aggregator developed by Dick Williams, W3OA

3. Software developed by VE3NEA Works with many SDRs Decodes multiple CW signals in real time Can monitor an entire CW band Waterfall Display Uses MASTER.DTA Telnet Server (emulates a DX Cluster) What is CW Skimmer

4. Only supports the QS1R SDR Decodes multiple CW signals in real time Monitors multiple bands with single SDR No Waterfall Display No MASTER.DTA Telnet Server Skimmer Server by VE3NEA (more software)

5. Originated and operated by PY1NB Uses any decoded CW signal as a beacon Multiple Skimmers world-wide decode your callsign, sending speed and S/N ratio An “Aggregator” program forwards Skimmer spots to a central server Central server distributes spots via www.reversebeacon.net www.reversebeacon.net, and public telnet servers What is the Reverse Beacon Network?

6. RBN Feeds At any time there are approximately 90 skimmer stations reporting to the RBN – up from 70 in Sept 2012 NE5S is the only CW Skimmer station reporting to the RBN in 5-land

7. Perseus SDR owned by Darell Brehm – WA3OPY CW Skimmer licensed to Darell Brehm – WA3OPY Currently running from the OCAPA Club station here at the Salvation Army Citadel NE5S RBN Feed

9. CQWW CW – Nov 2012 NE5S feeds to the RBN 23/1743Z – 24/1222Z – NE5S reported 2374 spots in 18 hours and 22 minutes 558 unique prefixes Only reported the first 22 KHz of 20M CW Band

10. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Perseus SDR - Darell Brehm, WA3OPY CW Skimmer – Darell Brehm, WA3OPY Computer setup – Steve Duskin, NE5SD CW Skimmer & Briefing Support – Bob Wilson, N6TV Configuration Settings – Tim Duffy, K3LR

11. http://www.reversebeacon.net http://www.pvrc.org/n4zr/rbn.pdf http://reversebeacon.blogspot.com http://www.bcdxc.org/ve7cc/default.htm#download http://www.dxatlas.com/CwSkimmer http://www.qrz.com/db/n6tv FOR MORE INFORMATION

12. How to be easily spotted by a CW Skimmer Send everything at the same consistent speed – Do not use +++/--- or >/< to speed up/slow down Call CQ or TEST and send your call twice – CQ N6TV N6TV Use proper spacing (let computer send) – Don’t send by hand and rusheverythingtogether Change freq. slightly to get spotted again How to be easily spotted by a CW Skimmer Send everything at the same consistent speed – Do not use +++/--- or >/< to speed up/slow down Call CQ or TEST and send your call twice – CQ N6TV N6TV Use proper spacing (let computer send) – Don’t send by hand and rusheverythingtogether Change freq. slightly to get spotted again How to be easily spotted by a CW Skimmer Send everything at the same consistent speed – Do not use +++/--- or >/< to speed up/slow down Call CQ or TEST and send your call twice – CQ N6TV N6TV Use proper spacing (let computer send) – Don’t send by hand and rusheverythingtogether Change freq. slightly to get spotted again WA3OPY’s QS1R will be up and running shortly feeding 160M, 80M, 40M & 30M spots to the RBN from 5-land. QS1R SDR Pixel Pro II Shielded Magnetic Loop Ant. PC, Skimmer Server & Aggregator S/W Late Breaking News

13. How to be easily spotted by a CW Skimmer Send everything at the same consistent speed – Do not use +++/--- or >/< to speed up/slow down Call CQ or TEST and send your call twice – CQ N6TV N6TV Use proper spacing (let computer send) – Don’t send by hand and rusheverythingtogether Change freq. slightly to get spotted again How to be easily spotted by a CW Skimmer Send everything at the same consistent speed – Do not use +++/--- or >/< to speed up/slow down Call CQ or TEST and send your call twice – CQ N6TV N6TV Use proper spacing (let computer send) – Don’t send by hand and rusheverythingtogether Change freq. slightly to get spotted again How to be easily spotted by a CW Skimmer Send everything at the same consistent speed – Do not use +++/--- or >/< to speed up/slow down Call CQ or TEST and send your call twice – CQ N6TV N6TV Use proper spacing (let computer send) – Don’t send by hand and rusheverythingtogether Change freq. slightly to get spotted again This concludes my presentation Are there any questions?