I've recorded a short (90 second) video of CW Skimmer operation during the 2009 CQWW 160 CW Contest at PJ2T, as a demonstration of the value of CW Skimmer to the Multi-Op or Single-Op Assisted contester. It's posted on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZarmnghuQK8 (Viewing in 'Fullscreen' strongly recommended!)
This 90 seconds was recorded on January 24 starting at 0514Z, as sunrise was moving across Central Europe. The receiver was an RFSPACE SDR-IQ and the antenna was the PJ2T 1000-foot Europe Beverage. The entire 25 hours of operation were recorded during the contest, and this is a short sample of that set of recordings. Typically, we have two or three CW Skimmers running during a Topband contest, each listening on a different receive antenna. The typical configuration is shown at http://www.k8nd.com/Radio/Planning/CQWW160/PJ2T_CW_Skimmer_CQWW160CW_2013.pd f. Shown in the video is a Writelog Bandmap window on the left, and the CW Skimmer windows on the right. This is exactly what CW Skimmer would have spotted had it been turned on at the beginning of the recording: the video is not speeded-up in any way. The spots shown were decoded while PJ2T was calling CQ and working stations at 84 QSOs per hour in the same room, and you will see the overload on the Skimmer display. Although CW Skimmer decodes all callsigns, only those callsigns calling CQ are passed via telnet to Writelog. Note that CW Skimmer decoded 240 callsigns during that 90-second period! CW Skimmer is an invaluable contest tool! 73, Jeff K8ND (PJ2T was the #3 Multi-Op in the 2009 CQWW 160 CW Contest and set a new South America record. Operators K8ND and W8WTS) _________________ Topband Reflector
