W3RGA's Blog
New website Features
Posted September 15, 2025
I've added a some cool new features to my website.
I created a whole new page I call the Reverse Beacon Network Raw Data Sorter. It's a free web app that takes RBN raw data .csv files and allows you to filter and sort the data in many different ways. There is an option to download your filtered and sorted .csv for import into your favorite spreadsheet software.
As anyone who's tried to do analysis of the RBN raw files knows, it can be a real pain due to the size of the files. This new app is super fast and easy.
On my Reverse Beacon Network Top Spotter Page I added a RBN Spots Per Day section.
This graphs the total number of RBN spots over the last 30, 60, 120 and 365 days. It's cool to see.
RBN Node Filter/Preamp
Posted August 17, 2025
I have been using a Low Band Systems 30 MHz LPF in-series with a DLW Associates AM broadcast High Pass Filter in front of my Red Pitaya to cleanup the FM broadcast aliasing I was seeing on 15M and remove the huge AM broadcast signals.
In the beginning of this year I switched to a Turn Island Systems 30 MHz SDR Front-End Filter. This filter took up much less desk space and allowed me to start skimming 630M. I was very happy with this filter and can recommend it to all RBN-OPS.
Around July I switched to a Turn Island Systems 60 MHz Filter-Preamp. I made this switch so I could start skimming 6M. My current RX antenna setup with a long run of RG-6 and several splitters in-line, I needed the preamp on the high bands but didn't need any gain to the low bands.
Switching to the "60 MHz LPF", "two-stage high-pass shelf filter" and "preamp" combination is perfect for my system. This gives me the gain I needed on the high bands and attenuation on the low bands, it has really brought my W6LVP Magnetic Loop to life on 15M, 10M and 6M.
With all that said, most RBN ops probably don't need any additional gain but could benefit greatly from a Low Pass Filter and some attenuation on the low bands. Have a look at the Turn Island Systems F3060
Since switching to the 60 MHz Filter-Preamp my RBN node consistently ranks in the top ten CW & RTTY RBN Spotters in K/VE. Complete details of my RBN Node are available in the RBN Node section of my Homepage.
Paul Elliott WB6CXC gave a great talk at Hamvention about his Filter / Preamps viewable on YouTube HERE.
Meteor Scatter QSO Party
Posted August 15, 2025
I participated in the August 11 & 12 HamSCI Meteor Scatter QSO Party during the annual Perseids meteor shower.
I had my K3 set to receive 10M during the whole event and I occasionally sent a few CQ's. Unfortunately most of the activity was in the mornings when I'm unavailable.
So far my experience on 10M MS is very similar to my experience on 6M MS. In that around 400 to 800 miles is the sweet-spot for reliable reception, but possible from as close as 200 miles out to around 1100 miles. With that said, my gut tells me MSK144 is not the ideal mode for 10M with such a mix of propagation types.
I did manage to complete QSO's with K2DRH, W1XP, NN4NT and WB4JWM.
The list of the 91 stations I copied during the two day event:
- AB4EJ
- AE3T
- AE4IT
- AE4JC
- AG4DG
- K1HTV
- K2DRH
- K2ILH
- K3FR
- K4NH
- K5YT
- K7UWR
- K8DP
- K8GU
- K8IJ
- K8LF
- K8PMG
- K8VGL
- K9RRW
- KA2UQW
- KB0ZOM
- KB8FLI
- KB9TBB
- KC2G
- KC3NOH
- KC3OL
- KC4ES
- KD2PWD
- KD2UBX
- KD2WGB
- KE2FWN
- KE3CT
- KE9SA
- KG5SUZ
- KK4BZ
- KK4CNM
- KM4ECH
- KN4GDX
- KQ4NFI
- KQ4SY
- KR4DES
- KR4EE
- N0AX
- N0JPE
- N0JZJ
- N0KRQ
- N0OEP
- N0ZHE
- N2CJ
- N3RN
- N4FKH
- N4NM
- N4WLO
- NJ9R
- NN0F
- NN4NT
- NN4SA
- NX7U
- NY1E
- NY1V
- OA4DPM
- OA4DSN
- VE2DVG
- W0DTM
- W0JW
- W0KHZ
- W1BOY
- W1EBR
- W1HS
- W1IZZ
- W1UE
- W1WRA
- W1XP
- W2JC
- W2PKY
- W3USR
- W4BRY
- W4PPC
- W4QK
- W4UTZ
- W4VG
- W5TRL
- W9XT
- WA4CQG
- WA4KFZ
- WA6PSM
- WB4JWM
- WB9YIG
- WG2Z
- WP3R
- WZ3D
Sporadic E made it difficult to pick out the meteor pings for a lot of the event.
Ping from W1XP:
Ping from NY1E:
Ping from W9XT:
Ping from W1BOY:
What I believe is Aircraft Scatter from KD2WGB:
I don't know what the heck this is from WA4CQG:
July NAQP RTTY, RBN Spots
Posted July 21, 2025
The number of RTTY spots by each skimmer during the July North American QSO Party RTTY.
I said this in a previous post, but I still believe there is a lack of RTTY skimmers on the network. Especially during the NAQP's.
If you're a CW skimmer op please consider spotting RTTY as well. At least during contests.
Reverse Beacon Network Top Spotter
Posted July 20, 2025
I created a Reverse Beacon Network Top Spotter Page. It's a fun way of tracking RBN node performance by turning it into a mini competition.
There is a top WSPR spotter, a top FT8 spotter and the IBP-RBN Challenge. But I thought we should also have a Top CW & RTTY Spotter.
It takes SM7IUN's daily RBN Statistics and ranks skimmers by the number of CW & RTTY spots in the previous 24 hours. Thank you to Björn SM7IUN for making this data available.
You can filter the results to only see rankings from a particular geographic region.
W3RGA-1 DX Cluster Node
Posted July 12, 2025
My CC Cluster node suffered a hardware failure this week. I was hoping it was the power supply, unfortunately the PSU checks out.
I've decided not to take the time or trouble to rebuild it.
If you were one of my users I apologize. There are many great sysops to choose from, I'm sure you will find another reliable CC Cluster node. List of CC Cluster nodes.
My CC Cluster manual is still available HERE. And CC User is available HERE
Lastly, I'd like to say thank you to all my node partners and users.
Weight Loss
Posted May 26, 2025
I like to keep everything on my website & blog about ham radio. But I feel compelled to share this. I believe there are many hams who could benefit from this information.
I've been overweight my whole life and have dieted by counting calories MANY times, with very little result.
Over the years my weight slowly increased to over 300 lbs. I was taking 3 blood pressure medications (that weren’t working). I could feel my health deteriorating.
On Thanksgiving Day 2023 I started eating only whole foods. I cut out all processed/ultra-processed food and added sugar.
One year later Thanksgiving Day 2024, I had lost over 100 lbs. My doctor has taken me off all of my medications and I feel amazing.
If you struggle to lose weight like I did. Please consider a whole foods, zero sugar lifestyle (with your doctor's supervision).
10M Meteor Scatter
Posted April 25, 2025
I participated in the HamSCI Meteor Scatter QSO Party test during the April-Lyrids meteor shower.
Between 2006-2010 I made many meteor scatter QSOs on 6M and had a lot of fun. So I was excited to give this event a try.
I was active several evenings and early mornings (9pm to 3am). I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to complete a QSO.
I copied several stations during the morning hours (6am to 10am) while I was sleeping.
A list of the stations I copied:
KN4GDX
K1HTV
KD8RV
AD8Y
NN4NT
K2DRH
KQ4MOF
K2GV
WD0BGZ
N8CC
KE5HDE
KA2UQW
K3SWZ
KC9ELU
W8ZN
My general observation is there is a lot of meteor scatter on 10M, but it is often mixed with other modes of propagation.
Big MS ping from N8CC:
Airplane scatter? from K1HTV:
ARRL DX CW, RBN Spots
Posted March 07, 2025
The top 50 RBN skimmers in the 2025 ARRL DX CW contest.
WPX RTTY, RBN Spots
Posted March 04, 2025
The number of RTTY spots by each skimmer during the 2025 WPX RTTY.
Feb NAQP RTTY, RBN Spots
Posted February 25, 2025
The number of RTTY spots by each skimmer during the Feb 2025 North American QSO Party RTTY.
I feel the Reverse Beacon Network could use more RTTY skimmers. If you are a skimmer op please consider spotting RTTY as well, at least during contests.
Winter Field Day
Posted January 29, 2025
I had a great time this past weekend participating in Winter Field Day with the Susquehanna Valley Amateur Radio Club.
I mostly operated CW and managed the N1MM logging software for the group.
ARRL RTTY Roundup, RBN Spots
Posted January 07, 2025
The number of RTTY spots by each skimmer during the 2025 ARRL RTTY Roundup.
Merry Christmas
Posted December 23, 2024
Wishing all my ham radio friends a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
PD SDR Update
Posted December 15, 2024
I had a chance to assemble the PD SDR and try it out this week. It works great! It's a direct drop-in replacement for the $720 Red Pitaya.
I still believe the Red Pitaya is an awesome product. But it's great to have a more economical option if you're willing to assemble the parts.
I had it up and running for 24 hours in place of my Red Pitaya. While not a direct comparison, there was no perceptible difference of the spot count between the two.
I'm looking forward to adding another skimmer to the network. It's new home will be six miles to my east at my brother's QTH.
The total cost of the project was $265, this could be lowered to around $200 if you do a group buy and modify the parts selection.
Pavel Demin's SDR
Posted December 7, 2024
About a week ago I started ordering all the parts to assemble one of the PD-SDR's announced back in May on the RBN-OPS groups.io.
I ordered the QMTECH ZYNQ7000 XC7Z020 board (affiliate link).
I ordered 5 assembled ADC boards from JLCPCB.
I ordered a 3D printed case from Craftcloud. Using the pre-built STL file designed by Simon S53ZO.
I ordered all the remaining parts from Mouser:
SMA Female PCB Edge Mount Connector (affiliate link)
Male and Female Pin Header Connector Assortment (affiliate link)
Adhesive heat sink (affiliate link)
40mm Noctua fan (affiliate link)
I hope to have it assembled by Christmas. This will be a new RBN node going to my brother's QTH.
Station Changes
Posted November 18, 2024
Over the last several weeks I've been repairing a few things around the shack, and swapping some equipment.
I replaced the damaged 1/2" HELIAX that was feeding my doublet with a new 75' run of LMR-400. The HELIAX was damaged recently while having a French drain installed.
I actually found a second spot where it was damaged (I could see the center conductor!) this may have been damaged for several years...
I replaced the 200' of quad shield RG-6 (affiliate link) feeding my W6LVP Magnetic Loop, and added DXE-RXFC-75 receive feedline chokes at each end.
My RBN node consistently ranks in the top ten Reverse Beacon Network Daily List of Top CW & RTTY Spotters in the United States and Canada.
I swapped my old Palstar AT2K (affiliate link) with a new LDG, RT-100, remote antenna tuner (affiliate link). I've been wanting to try a remote auto-tuner for a while.
I added a 4" wide copper strap (affiliate link) to the back of my operating table. Going to start using it as a common ground point.
I added a few more 2.4", Mix 31, Ferrite Toroid (affiliate link), common-mode chokes to the station. I'm getting a little obsessed with having a choke on everything!
I replaced both the batteries in the station UPS, one failed and the other was weak. They were 4 years, 3 months old.
Top⇡