DX Spider Guide
Solar Forecast
The Reverse Beacon Network
Most radio amateurs will be familiar with beacons. These are stations that transmit a permanent signal on a set frequency usually 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. These fixed signals provide a means of assessing propagation over time on that frequency between the transmitter and the receiver. Beacons can be found on many of the amateur bands from MF to UHF and microwaves.
On the other hand, the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) is a network of automated receiver stations around the world that feed data on what they receive to a central server system. Because the receiver systems use software based decoders, known as skimmers, they do not work on voice transmissions. But they do work well with CW (Morse Code) and digital transmissions such as RTTY, PSK, FT4 and FT8.
These ‘skimmers’ or ‘RBN Skimmers’ comprise SDR (software defined receivers) which can listen across a bandwidth of 192 KHz whilst simultaneously decoding all of the signals heard. Many skimmer stations operate on up to 10 x 192 KHz bands at the same time feeding the data on what they here to the central RBN servers via an ‘aggregator’ which combines the output of each of the individual skimmers at a particular site.
The RBN data includes the callsign and frequency of the decoded station, the time it was heard together with the signal strength at the receiving station. In the case of CW stations the speed of the morse in words per minute (wpm) is also detected.
The centralised RBN servers are ‘Relay servers’ ie what goes in, comes out. The data is not processed at all by the servers. There is a lot of data flying about particularly during contests.
So how is all this data useful?
RBN Website
Firstly, the RBN provides a very useful website at Welcome! - Reverse Beacon Network
All of the data received for CW, RTTY and PSK is displayed on a map. (FT8 and FT4 is not included because there is just too much of it) The map can be filtered by callsign – so by entering your callsign in the filter you can immediately see where in the world you are being heard. The associated table will display callsigns of who is hearing you and your received signal strength. This is a great tool for antenna testing, comparing power levels etc. The possibilities are endless. Moreover, every spot going back to the very start of the RBN is available to download from the website.
A few years ago, I gave a talk to the Norfolk Amateur Radio Club on the RBN and its uses which you might find useful. This is available on YouTube at:
Retail Cluster
If you are familiar with the DX Cluster Network, you will be aware of the great value of ‘spots’ to the DX operator. The addition of the RBN takes this to a new level as the spots are automated – they do not rely on another person manually sending them.
The good news is that many DXCluster nodes are also connected direct to the RBN. Therefore, RBN spots are available on these nodes in addition to the ‘normal’ spots. You don’t have to decide on whether you want one or the other. Both are available in the same stream; you just have to decide what you want.
More instructions are available in this article: