Displaying Needed DX Stations Heard by a Skimmer
de Björn SM7IUN
I have a CW Skimmer running at my QTH that uploads to the Remote Beacon Network (RBN), to which SpotCollector is connected as a spot source. I also connect SpotCollector to the RBN Aggregator's local port for an unfiltered and more immediate view of activity. By not waiting for the RBN or a telnet cluster node to report DX stations decoded by my Skimmer, I can gain up to a half minute advantage, which is very valuable for a modest station like mine.
Since "you can't work them if you can't hear them", I've created a special view in SpotCollector showing only the "needed" spots that are actually heard by my own Skimmer. This view employs the Spot Database's Cumulative field, so you must
- on the Configuration window's Spot Database tab, check the Controls panel's Record individual spot information box 
- on the Configuration window's General tab, uncheck the Ignore empty spot notes box 
With SpotCollector configured to use your RBN Aggregator's local port as a spot source,
- this SQL expression will display only active callsigns received by your own CW Skimmer:
(Cumulative like '*: ## dB ## WPM*' or Cumulative like '*: # dB ## WPM*') and <agefilter>
- this SQL expression will display only needed active callsigns received by your own Skimmer: 
(Cumulative like '*: ## dB ## WPM*' or Cumulative like '*: # dB ## WPM*') and <agefilter> and <needfilter>
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