[Skimmertalk] RBN Participation in Solar Eclipse Science

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

On August 21, 2017, from 1400 to 2200Z, operators of RBN nodes will have 
a unique opportunity to contribute to scientific understanding of the 
ionosphere.  That time-frame straddles the period when the solar eclipse 
will be visible across North America, and is also when the Solar Eclipse 
QSO Party will be run.

The RBN's unique contribution, in North America but also worldwide, is 
to provide as many data points as possible during the 1400-2200Z 
period.  In order to do this, two departures from normal practice are 
needed:

1.  It is desirable for science to have much more frequent spots of 
stations active in the QSO Party than could be produced with the 
standard 10 minute respot interval. To this end, Alex has provided for 
adjustabilty in this respect in the current versions of CW Skimmer, CW 
Skimmer Server and RTTY Skimmer Server.  By adding a single line to the 
.ini file for your skimming software, you can adjust the respot interval 
anywhere from the original 10 minutes down to zero.  In the latter case, 
every repetition of a station's callsign will be reported (provided of 
course that the station includes CQ or TEST at least twice in each 
transmission).

2. The RBN archive is not the best source of the scientific data we hope 
to produce, because the timing is relatively imprecise (nearest 
minute).  So check your Skimmer computer for a file titled "spots.txt" , 
which will be found in C:\users\[your 
username]\Appdata\Roaming\Afreet\Products\Skimsrv.  The spots.txt file 
gives the time when a spot is actually made, to the nearest second. 
Regrettably, there is no comparable file in CW Skimmer. For Skimmer ops, 
your data are welcome too, even if still on a 10-minute scale - after 
all the eclipse period is hours long!

If you have been operating your node for a while, this file will be 
quite large - all that we need is 1400-2200Z on the 21st.  You can use a 
text editor to extract the part we need.  We'll tell you where to send 
your spot file shortly.

HamSCI is also looking for recordings of digital I/Q data from Skimmer 
receivers made during the duration of the Solar Eclipse QSO Party. This 
will allow HamSCI to replay and analyze recordings from specific 
receivers in greater depth following the contest. HamSCI will be 
publishing guides shortly on how this can be done with the QS1R or Red 
Pitaya and CW Skimmer Server, or with any SDR capable of sending data to 
CW Skimmer using its built-in recording function. Note that this will 
consume significant hard disk space - up to about 4GB per hour per band. 
The data will be accepted for upload or in physical form after the contest.

If you're interested in putting your node to work on this project, 
you're still lacking one thing - the magic formula to put into your 
Skimsrv's ini file. *Email me*, and the secrets of the universe will be 
revealed.

I'm doing it this way because I want to have some reasonable confidence 
that people won't start using shorter interval settings with the RBN 
servers outside the eclipse period.  Even one Skimmer can make a big 
difference in this regard, and *we will not hesitate to block anyone's 
spots from the RBN server if they violate this rule outside the eclipse 
period.*

73, Pete N4ZR
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