Reverse Beacon Network

I'm one of those hams that loves an SSB QSO when the going is good, but also with a keen interest in propagation and beacon-like modes.

There are three beacon-esque modes like this I know of.  Sim-31 is an automated PSK-31 piece of software that is less like a beacon (but can be used as such), and more like a thing that collects QSOs entirely without operator input. 

As a result, SIM-31 has not caught on in popularity at all, and I have not heard any signals from this mode for a couple of years.  It's a bit odd in some ways, because all those SSB '59, thanks' QSOs you hear every day of the week are simply that: gathering as many DX entities as possible, with as little input as possible!  But humans like to have a purpose, however futile, hence SIM-31's failure to get a foot in the door.

The remaining two modes are much better known.  The Reverse Beacon Network, which is CW-based, automatically detects CW-sent 'CQ' calls, and plots them, together with the SNR, on a web-base map and reports to an associated database. 

Whilst well thought-out and of definite use (unlike Sim-31!), the RBN suffers from a lack of listening stations.  The software works fine, but does hark back to an earlier era of computing and, relative to modern digital modes, is less attractive and user-friendly.

For example, early this morning, across all HF bands, there were just 30 or so stations popping up on the RBN map.  So the idea that propagation can be seen in real time is thwarted by the lack of stations taking part.  This is made worse, for any ham mode, because there is a high density of ham stations in the Western world, whilst Africa, Latin America and other large swathes of the planet have very few, or no stations.

The remaining mode is WSPR.  This has extremely good coverage, although it, too, is hamstrung by the unequal distribution of wealth and so ham stations across the globe. 

Even on 12m now, on the approach to the lowest point in the solar cycle, there are a good number of active WSPR stations present, such that a basic picture of propagation can be seen.  On the bread-and-butter bands of 20m and below, the coverage on WSPR is extremely good, with a few stations active from remote places like Antarctica on occasion. 

On reflection, then, I think that the RBN is unlikely to grow very much further, if it has grown much at all. WSPR, on the other hand, seems to have established itself in the consciousness of most hams. 

WSPR does suffer regularly from RTTY QRM on weekends, where the RBN might be more flexible in QSYing, if one is receiving a wide range of frequencies.  WSPR, away from busy bands and weekends, is focused on a fixed QRG, and hence there is no hit-or-miss as to whether or not you will hear the signals.