Tuesday, January 1, 2019

The SOTA Cluster - Integrating SOTA RBN activator spots with Logging Software

This post is for SOTA activators and chasers interested in integrating SOTA spotting with a traditional logging program.  SotaWatch feeds the SOTA cluster system with manually posted spots as well as those picked up by the RBN (reverse beacon network) that match alerts previously posted on SotaWatch. This article describes how to tap into this system and feed these spots directly to a logging program. There are several advantages to this approach such as the ability to click on a spot to QSY the radio, have SOTA spots filtered or listed alongside DX spots, and keeping SOTA chaser QSO's in the main log (not running a separate chaser log). My logging program is DxLab, which I highly recommend. However, this technique can be applied to any logging program with a spot management feature allowing the use of multiple spotting sources.

To enable the cluster in DxLab launch the SpotCollector app and click on "Config", then click on "Spot Sources".  In the host address box enter the following address:  cluster.sota.org.uk; the port address is 7300; the caption is SOTA; the username is your callsign; and there is no password required.   (Thanks to Andy, MM0FMF, for providing this capability. )

If this is the only cluster enabled, only SOTA spots will display. In most cases other sources will also be enabled for DX sources as well. In that case, it is helpful to use some tricks to indicate the source and to filter the spots. The SpotCollector app has a column showing the Network from which a spot was obtained. Drag this column so that is will display on the page without scrolling. In my case, I put it next to the Freq column. To filter the display so that it shows only SOTA spots it will be necessary to set up a simple SQL filter. This is done by right clicking on a filter box. Enter SOTA in the caption column and enter the following SQL expression: (network="sota"). Now when you click on this box in the SpotCollector display, only SOTA spots will appear.

SpotCollector is a stand-alone app. This means that it can be used alongside a different logging program to watch for SOTA spots. However, it also integrates well with the other DxLab applications. There is no reason why the cluster cannot be used with other logging/spotting programs as well, with perhaps fewer filtering options, as long as those programs allow for manual configuration of spotting sources. In that case, simply enter the telnet address and port shown above.


5 comments:

  1. Exactly what I needed for MacLoggerDx SPOTs. I look forward to becoming a GOAT!

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  2. I've tried to adapt this to N3FJP logging software, but to no avail. Can you offer any help on getting this to work with N3FJP logging software? Thanks & 73, Andy, N4LAG

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    Replies
    1. Hi any and all,

      I got it to work. Thanks for any considerations.

      73,
      Andy, N4LAG

      Delete
  3. I have added the SOTA cluster to my logging program, but it does not show all of the SOTA spots. It appears that spots via RBN don't show up. Any idea why that might be the case?

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