It calls itself a “revolutionary new idea” and that may be the case. Amateur radio beacons of the old school are automated radio transmitters at various frequencies that an amateur could listen for to determine band conditions. Reversing this situation is creating a real time listening network that reports, via the I’net, who hears what. See Reverse Beacon Network ht Southgate ARC.
From a cursory inspection of the web site, it appears that the effort has a long ways to go. It depends upon proprietary software to seek out and parse CW signals to determine who can be heard.
Where could it go?
- Towards an integrated FOSS project would be a start. It also needs RSS support.
- It should incorporate all digital modes as well as CW with some effort towards voice recognition to include those modes as well.
- Coordination with a call sign database would allow geographic analysis
- Short term propagation analysis linked with longer term logbook results could aid planning
There is a lot of opportunity for innovation like this that is within reach of the AR community. Pete Smith, N4ZR
and Felipe Ceglia, PY1NB have got it off the ground. What can we do to help make it fly?
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