WSPRnet has been getting progressively slower recently, often failing to load at all for several minutes.
Today, it's been inaccessible for most of the day so far. This happened a few years ago, and took quite a while for the site owner to address - something he apologised for in due course.
This is a serious weakness in the WSPR system, in that all data ultimately derives from one source: the WSPRnet database. When that goes, all the alternative databases and plotting systems, such as DXPlorer, the software associated with WSPRlite transmitters, also go down the hole.
WSPRnet is, in fact, quite reliable given the demands placed on it. But I think it's now time someone looked at how several alternative reporting databases can be set up, to avoid us either suffering too much from long outages like the one currently underway, or from the owner of the site losing interest, dying, or some other of the many things that life tends to result in.
UPDATE: I made much the same comments on a Facebook page dedicated to WSPR. I was interested to see one person come forward to offer an alternative server, but I am not sure if the interest will last past this outage (fixed after a full day's outage, but collapsed again by the morning of 23/01), or whether it will be possible:
1 comment:
Indeed this is a problem. All software and websites related to WSPR do rely on only one source. Hopefully the problems will be solved soon. 73, Bas
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