From approximately 24 October through 24 November 2019, a voluntary
user survey was open to users of the Northern Utah WebSDR:
205
people responded and we thank them for their time. This
survey
consisted of just eight
questions and other than apparent IP address of the participant, it was
anonymous.
The purpose of the survey was to determine if we were properly
determining the needs and desires of the users of the Northern Utah
WebSDR and it is only by feedback from our users that we can possibly
know what it is that we are doing right, doing wrong, or (perhaps) ought to
consider doing in the future.
What follows below are the questions themselves, the results,
and brief discussions. If you have additional
questions,
feel free
to
use the "contact information" at the bottom of this page.
Please note that for most
- if not all
questions - more than one answer could be selected, hence the results
often adding up to more than 100%.
Important comments about the
survey data:
Under the heading of "I should have read the fine print", when I went
to analyze the survey, I discovered that the survey web site that I
chose (Survey Monkey)
severely limits the access to the results of the survey for the "Free"
version. If I wish to pay $25/month (for a minimum of a 12 month
subscription) I could get all of the data -
but that isn't going to happen!
I have made the best of the limitations of the platform:
If/when a survey is run again, I'll likely do it differently!
If
you use an Apple product and have audio issues:
Frequently mentioned were issues like "I get no audio on
my
Apple" or "I used to hear audio on my Apple and don't anymore".
For the most part, this has to do with two types of changes
that
Apple has recently made:
The roll-out
of iOS 13, "Catalina".
This new version of iOS has "broken" many web-based audio
applications - including audio on this and other WebSDRs -
read THIS PAGE
to find out more about why this might be happening and possible
work-arounds.
Changes to
browsers preventing the "iOS Audio Start" button from appearing.
All
common browsers can be queried by the web page code to determine which
browser/operating system is being used on the host computer and this
information is used to allow the web site to properly accommodate the
differences between the way different system process the code.
It
would seem that some browsers operating on Apple devices have started
reporting themselves differently than before - and in the case of
WebSDRs, the code could not recognize it as an apple device, which
meant that the user was not presented with the "iOS Audio Start"
button. Code has been added to the Northern Utah WebSDR's
servers
to accommodate this - but remember that this is a separate issue
from the "iOS 13" problem mentioned above.
Question
#1: "Why do you use the Northern Utah WebSDR?"
The #1 answer was:
"Geographical diversity (it often hears stations that I can't
due to my location)" - 49%
The other
answers were:
As a general-purpose remote receiver
47%
For spotting DX
9%
My QTH is too $@^! noisy!
23%
I don't have an HF station of my own and I like to
listen to the bands
16%
Other (please specify - 100 char, max.)
16%
More than one answer could be selected which is why the percentages -
which have been rounded off - add up to more than 100%
For "other", comments included more detailed answers to some of the
questions above - but a few answers not anticipated include:
"Your set-up is so easy to use and offers a different
experience
than my own radio and I can access it from my lake-house where no radio
is present."
"Living in house with solar panels in the roof.
It's ruined my hobby as an SWL."
"Last 2 months able to listen to friends on 80 & 40
while my radio is gone for repair."
"My radio gave up the ghost! So I need something for now."
An alarming comment was
this:
"Sorry you changed everything, nothing works at all now."
Although the respondent didn't mention it, this answer likely has
something to do with the recent issues
with Apple products: For
more information about issues with Apple products, see the response to
Question #7, below and read THIS PAGE
to find out more about why this might be happening and possible
work-arounds..
If you are having problems that don't seem to be being
addressed,
please feel free to contact us using the email address on the "About"
page - and at the bottom of this
page.
Discussion:
These responses line up pretty well with the feedback
we've been getting all along, with "diversity" (e.g. a receiver in a different
location than the one at your house)
being the expected "winner". We were surprised at the
indicated importance of the
"convenience" factor - that is, how easy it is just to fire up a WebSDR
and casually listen on (nearly)
any convenient device with a browser.
The most "unfortunate" reason for using WebSDRs has got to be the
problem that many users have where they simply can't hear much due to
the local noise - possibly due to nearby electronic devices, switching
supplies, light, solar electric system, etc. When we run this
survey again (next year
sometime) it
will be interesting to see how much that answer, in particular, has
changed.
Question #2: "What other WebSDR systems do you use?"
KFS (Half Moon Bay, CA)
65%
KK3EF (Milford, PA)
36%
NA5B (near Washington D.C.)
24%
N4BBQ (Georgia)
14%
University of Twente (Netherlands)
19%
Others WebSDR systems? (100 chars. max)
18%
Discussion:
The top answer, "KFS", is not surprising as it is "close" (geographically speaking)
to the Northern Utah WebSDR and in many cases, between the two WebSDRs,
one can hear stations that might fall into "dead zones" where other
stations may simply be too close to your
station - or a WebSDR - to be heard.
A few other answers included:
Mention of "KiwiSDRs". These are stand-alone
WebSDR receivers capable of receiving from audio to at least 30 MHz (assuming an appropriate antenna
system). These receivers cannot handle as many
users - but there are more of them - see the "sdr.hu"
web site for a list/map - which includes some KiwiSDRs at the Northern
Utah WebSDR site - and for more information about those KiwiSDRs, see
the KiwiSDR
FAQ.
A couple of people mentioned the "W7RNA WebSDR" - which was
shut
down by the owner last year, but there is still at least one KiwiSDR on
site - see the "sdr.hu"
web site mentioned above.
Several others mentioned WebSDRs around the world,
possibly local to them or near areas that, to them, have particular
interest or a personal connection: Remember to visit the main
"websdr.org"
web site for a complete list of all known online WebSDR systems.
Question
#3: "To what bands do you most often listen?"
160 Meters
10%
80/75 Meters
58%
60 Meters
8%
40 Meters
73%
30 Meters
6%
20 Meters
45%
17 Meters
14%
15 Meters
8%
12 Meters
3%
10 Meters
7%
6 Meters
5%
2 Meters
9%
AM Broadcast Band
10%
Shortwave broadcast bands
14%
Longwave Bands (2200 and/or 630 meters)
5%
Other bands? (Really? How?)
4%
As expected, 40 meters is the clear winner, followed by 80/75 and then
20 meters in a "reasonable" 3rd place. Not surprisingly, the
"higher" HF bands and 6 meters are pretty low - but it will be
interesting to see how this changes once the sunspots make their
reappearance and conditions on these bands improve.
In the "other" column, here is one of the results:
"Free radio
(pirate) frequencies outside SW broadcast bands."
One of the so-called "free" bands is just below 40 meters,
and at
least some of this range is already covered - particularly on
the
"41/40 Meter" band found on WebSDR #3 (the Blue one) and
the "60 Meter" band on WebSDR #1 (the
Yellow one).
Don't forget the KiwiSDRs' ability to cover everything
up to 30 MHz - see the
analysis of Question #3 for more information about the KiwiSDRs.
The coverage of the "90/80" and "41/40" meter bands on
WebSDR #3 (the Blue one)
has been increased which means that between these to bands - and the
"60M" band on WebSDR #1 (the
Yellow one) is continuous from below 3200 kHz to above
8200 kHz. Read more about that change here.
Question #4: "What band(s) are missing to which you might be
interested in listening?"
This was a "fill in the blank" question - and most respondents said
"none", but here are a few of the other answers:
"160"
I'm not sure about this one as it is covered twice
on WebSDR #1 (the
Yellow one)
- once, incidental to the AM Broadcast Band/120 Meters and 2.5 MHz WWV
on a "low performance" receiver, and on a dedicated "High
Performance" receiver that includes all of 160 meters except for a few
kHz at the extreme edges. Of course, the KiwiSDRs also cover
this.
"I sometimes,
not often listen
to FM Satellite downlinks to understand if the pass coming to me is
busy or quiet and get a jump on some of the call signs that are present
on the satellites." Technically, the 2 meter
satellite
frequencies are covered, but the use of a direction antenna pointed
toward the Salt Lake Metro area effectively prevents it from being
useful in this regard. We have had internal discussions of
providing "SatNogs" type service -
but that is a large project in and of itself. There are a
number
of SatNogs nodes around the world and more information about
that project may be found here:
SatNogs home page.
"6.739 [MHz]
would be nice for listening to communications to the SAC bombers."
As it turns out, this frequency was already
covered on the 60 meter receiver on WebSDR #1 (the Yellow one) -
but just barely. Again, do
not overlook the use of the KiwiSDRs.
The coverage of the "90/80" and "41/40" meter bands on
WebSDR #3 (the Blue one)
has been increased which means that between these to bands - and the
"60M" band on WebSDR #1 (the
Yellow one) is continuous from below 3200 kHz to above
8200 kHz. Read more about that change here.
"Continuous
HF would be nice for Broadcasters outside the normal and, pirates, CB,
Marine, etc." Again, the KiwiSDRs will do this.
"GMRS
frequencies, although I
don't know how much there would be to hear on there, considering the
range is limited. Possibly MURS and FRS as well, if there would be any
local traffic to hear on the frequencies."
The location of the Northern Utah
WebSDR places it in a rural area where there would be little traffic.
We are considering adding a "VHF\/UHF only" server
elsewhere - possibly in the Salt Lake City Metro area - that might
be capable of providing such coverage. While the candidate
location
will work well for, say, 6 and 2 meter VHF coverage, a UHF transmitter
on site may make it unusable for the amateur 70cm band and GMRS
coverage. Finally, hardware/software limitations allow only
up to
about 2 MHz of coverage per receiver: Not an impossible task,
but certainly a complication - one that also makes it
unlikely that we could cover all
of the U.S. 70cm amateur band (420-450
MHz) - but a covering most
of the repeater outputs (446-450
MHz - Utah uses a minus 5 MHz split) is within
possibility.
"11."
The top
portion of the "11 meter" (CB) band is covered via the 10 meter band,
but certainly not all of it - but the KiwiSDRs will cover this.
Again, remember that the Northern Utah WebSDR site is in a
rural area and
that
unless there is "skip", you will likely not hear too much other than
those motorists passing by on the Interstate about 12 miles to the east.
Question
#5: "Would you consider donating to help keep the Northern
Utah WebSDR online?"
No
25%
Yes - PayPal is fine
50%
Yes - I prefer direct donation (e.g. check)
21%
Is there another method of support other than the
above that you have in mind?
13%
The good news here is that most
respondents would consider donating to keep the Northern Utah WebSDR
online.
I made a mistake in the survey in that I had only one "No" response:
I should
have had a "No" selection for "No, I cannot support the WebSDR at this
time" and another for "No, I choose not to support the Northern Utah
WebSDR". No matter why you might have said "No", you are
still
welcome to use the WebSDR: If your circumstances/opinion
changes
in the future, please consider helping and if you are an avid user,
please suggest to others that they consider helping out this - and
other - WebSDR systems that you might use.
Some of the responses to the question about "another method of support"
include:
"When I have
the money. If I could volunteer time." and "I have very limited income."
We thank you for the consideration - and if, at the present
time, you don't feel that it is practical for you, we certainly
understand! If you are in the Northern Utah area and are
available to donate some time, drop us a line via email (address at the bottom of this
page) and let us know
what you have in mind.
"CASH - your
site should say clearly WHERE to send it ...."
It is, perhaps, a bit obscured, but there is
mention of making a cash donation on the Donations
page. We are happy to work with any potential donor and if
they
wish to do it other than via PayPal, there is mention of where send it
there - but if you have any
question or concern, do send an email - the address is at the bottom of
this
page and on the "Donate" page.
"You might
look into Patreon." This is on our "to do" list
- but we should make this a higher priority.
"I recently
sent you a check for $40." Thank you!
We post the first name and last initial on the Donations
page of all
donors (unless they
ask us not to)
- and have been doing so more regularly since July, 2019 after we got
our PayPal notifications straightened out.
If you send us
anything via regular mail - cash, check, etc. - we will also send you a
"Thank you for your donation" QSL-type card with a handwritten "thank
you" (because we will
probably have your mailing address!)
unless you specifically ask us not
to.
If
you have sent us something in the mail and didn't get some
sort of acknowledgment, please drop us a line via email/post so that we
can figure out what happened. In some cases, a return address
is not obvious (e.g. the
mailing address on a check, the QRZ address and/or the envelope's
return address are missing/don't match) so we have to make
our best guess.
Question
#6: "Amateur radio license class?"
Extra Class
54%
Advanced Class
6%
General Class
22%
Technician Class
5%
Novice Class
1%
Not licensed - I just like to listen!
9%
Licensed in another country - what class?
4%
Not surprisingly, most of the respondents indicated a license class
that included HF privileges. We hope that more of those that
are
"HF Curious" - but don't have a license that offers wide HF privileges
-
will "discover" and use the WebSDR and get inspiration from it,
eventually getting an appropriate license and get on the air.
We are pleased that those who "just like to listen" are using the
WebSDR: Be sure to spread the word!
Responses to the "Licensed in another country" question include those
who have Canadian licenses, a UK user with the "Class-A" license, and
another from Germany that has a "Class-A" license.
Question
#7: "What new
feature(s) would you like to see implemented at the Northern Utah
WebSDR? (We can't promise anything - we're just curious, but
we'll see what we can do!)?"
This was a "free form" question and most answers were along the lines
of "None - it works
great for me!". Some of the other answers include:
There were
several comments about issues with iOS and Apple
products and these seem to fall into two
categories:
Issues with
operating system (e.g. iOS 13 a.k.a. "Catalina").
This update seems to have "broken" many applications that use web-based
audio. At a recent ham club meeting, several Apple users came
up
after the presentation and it seemed to be split: At least
one of
them was using Catalina with no issues at all - but this seems to be
the exception rather than the rule. Online, one can find all
sorts of things that one can try to "fix" this, but as of the time of
this writing, there doesn't seem to be an obvious "fix". I
don't
have access to an Apple system, so I have to work vicariously - getting
feedback from users.
No "Audio
Start" button due to changes to the way the browsers "identify"
themselves.
All browsers identify themselves to the web server so that
peculiarities with each browser can be addressed by special code as
necessary: Every browser seems to handle web pages
differently,
and things must be written to accommodate those differences -
particularly if audio/video/animation or other "fancy" thing is to be
supported. It would seem that Apple has chosen to change the
way
that they identify their browsers and the WebSDR code didn't
"know" to present the "iOS Audio Start" button.
We believe that we
have figured out the "new" browser identifications and users that had
previously not
been seeing the "iOS Audio Start" button are now seeing it.
This issue is addition
to the "iOS 13" problems - which is to say that even if our changes
have caused the "iOS Audio Start" button to appear, the "other"
problems with iOS 13 may still cause it to be "broken."
Read THIS PAGE
to find out more about why this might be happening and possible
work-arounds.
"How about
transmitting?" There are several issues that
prevent the remote use of transmitters from scaling as easily as a
receiver, including:
User access
control.
Some sort of method of validation of the licensee must be
used on
any remote-controlled transmitter. This means that someone
must
check the potential users and verify that they are who they say they
are and then grant appropriate permission.
Multiple
transmitters do not "scale".
While the receive signals can be split into hundreds of
virtual
receivers, this does not work for transmit: Each "user" must
have
access to their own transmitter - which includes a power amplifier,
filtering and signal processing - and this is literally
hundreds/thousands of
times more expensive per
user
than a receiver - and each, individual transmitter must have access to
its own, private antenna connection as it is technically very difficult
to combine multiple transmitters on the air on the same band.
You can't
have transmitters and receivers at the same location - at least on the
same band. If anyone
transmits on 40 meters, it is not possible
to receive anything
on 40 meters at the same site. It is for this reason that
many sites that
multiple
transmitters have their receive site separated by miles/kilometers.
There are
other options for those who wish to be able to transmit:
There are many networks/organizations that have remote HF
transmitters available for remote use. One of
these is the system hosted by "Remotehams" - click here
- and then click on the "Online Remotes" tab. Using any
of these transmitters requires permission and proof of an appropriate
amateur radio license, and some of them are reserved for use by members
of groups/clubs.
"As an AFMARS
operator, would dearly love to be able to listen to 80 and 40 opposite
sideband below those bands for our nets." One
may, on any covered
frequency select the sideband that you wish to use - which
means that you can simply select "USB". For coverage "near"
80
and 40 meters, don't overlook the "90/80" and "41/40" meter receivers
on WebSDR3 (the Blue
one) - and also the "60 Meter" band on WebSDR1 (the Yellow one) -
and also the
KiwiSDRs which, as mentioned previously, have continuous HF coverage.
If you are unsure how to do this, feel free to ask via the
email
address at the bottom of this page.
The coverage of the "90/80" and "41/40" meter bands on
WebSDR #3 (the Blue one)
has been increased which means that between these to bands - and the
"60M" band on WebSDR #1 (the
Yellow one) is continuous from below 3200 kHz to above
8200 kHz. Read more about that change here.
"Ability to
receive digital modes..." As it turns out,
receiving digital modes on any band - HF, VHF, UHF, requires
specialized software, at the very least.
The WebSDRs themselves, to keep the system "lightweight"
enough to be run on modest processors and
be able to handle a lot of users, have to be relatively simple.
Some digital modes - like WSPR, FT-8, machine copy of CW -
are
quite processor intensive and even a "fast" computer would have a bit
of challenge handling several dozen users simultaneously.
Having
said that, the KiwiSDRs are able to copy some
digital modes (RTTY,
FAX, WSPR, CW) to a degree.
Some modes, like FT-8, are rather difficult to separate
their
transmit from receive as the two tasks are very tightly integrated (e.g. the receiver "drives" the
transmitter) which means that an interactive FT-8 system,
for example, where the receive side was at a WebSDR and the transmitter
was on your
computer would have to be tightly synchronized. While not
impossible, it's something that, to my knowledge, has not been done at
the time of writing.
The Northern Utah WebSDR does
have WSPR receivers on all of
the LF, MF and HF bands, reported using the callsign "KA7OEI-1" -
simply enter this as the "Reporter" callsign on the WSPRNET Spot
Database Query page - link.
"Any idea how
to get rid of the
ridiculous amount of images? I don't know what the analog parts use but
trying to figure out if I'm looking at a "real" signal where it's
supposed to be or an image (or even birdie!) can get real tiring! It's
why I returned the RF Explorer WUSB-1G+: the native UHF range was fine
but the up-converted (V)HF range was full of birdies & images
to
the point I had to use another radio with it to see whether it was real
or not! (No demod to be able to listen.) Other than that, the ability
to decode digital signals (JT9 / JS9CALL, etc), but I realize this may
be asking too much for something supporting a lot of users."
Comment:
It turns out that the calibration procedure (from the WebSDR
author) to minimize image response was incomplete and this was realized
- and accommodated - during the 21 December, 2019 trip (see that entry on the Latest News page). The image response was improved from 45dB (worst case) to 60+ dB, typically. This doesn't cause the images to be "gone" entirely, rather a "strong" signal (10-20 over) will be heard as a rather weak signal, not too far above the noise floor on a quiet band.
Some of the receivers (those not labeled as "High
Performance)are
largely immune to images because most of the signal path is in the
digital domain - but these same receivers (RTL-SDRs)
have only 8 bits of A/D conversion, which makes their use marginal on
HF - but specialized analog hardware has been constructed for many of
these receivers that make
their performance generally acceptable: The "90/80" and
"41/40"
meter receivers on WebSDR3 are example of such and if the images bother
you a lot, those receivers are alternative options for those
bands.
At the present time, wide-band (0-30 MHz) WebSDRs that
can handle many, many users are not
available for a reasonable cost. The "University of Twente"
WebSDR is one such receiver - but reading here
- (Look under "Running
a WebSDR Server") will explain why this design is not
widely available and how incredibly much processing horsepower it takes
to do this.
The "SDR Play" SDRs have more than 8 bits in their A/D
converter, but the WebSDR drivers currently have only 8 bit signal
pathways:
Until/unless a new driver is available, this is not a viable
option for improving performance.
The presence of birdies in the VHF range has been addressed
somewhat: Most of these birdies were coming from Ethernet cables
and a significant portion of this energy was radiated by the KiwiSDRs.
During the 11 January, 2020 site visit, a lot of these cables
were removed/re-dressed and the KiwiSDRs' Ethernet ports were changed
from 100 Mbps to 10 Mbps, greatly reducing the number of birdies on the
VHF bands. Eventually, the two VHF antennas (6 and 2 meters) will be moved farther away from the building containing the computers and reduce the noise/improve sensitivity even more.
"Remove those
LABELS displaying
stations. Or as long as you're using cookies, remember my settings. The
Hide Label button is great, but WHO uses labels?????"
Feedback from users indicates that the labels are useful
to
many - and requests are occasionally received to add them, something
that is done if the label is to indicate a bona-fide net, a useful
station/frequency, etc.
One of the biggest uses of this and other WebSDRs is for
nets -
and simply clicking on a system-defined label is very convenient to
those people, particularly since, unlike the "memories" which use
cookies, they are not specific to the computer on which they were set
up.
To "de-clutter" things a bit, there are two
sets of labels: One set that is presented between 5 AM and 5
PM MT (the "Day" labels)
and another that is presented between 5 PM and 5 AM MT (the "Night" labels).
"Automatic
Direction Finding" and "Decoding
CW".
Both of
these functions are available via the KiwiSDRs:
The "TDOA" extension can be used to determine the
approximate
location of an HF transmitter - the accuracy being subject to the
vagaries of ionospheric propagation, the strength/signal quality of the
target signal at the other
receivers that the users chooses to participate in the location-finding
(it takes at
least three
receivers) and whether or not the signal is singular (e.g. the only one
being transmitted.) Using the TDOA extension
requires a bit of a learning curve - see the KiwiSDR
FAQ for more
information.
There is a CW decoder, also on the KiwiSDR - but it,
like
many CW decoders, doesn't hold a candle to a "trained ear" - and it is
not nearly as good as some of the fancy heuristical algorithms used by
the
"pay for" CW decoders out there. (In other words, there isn't
known to exist a"really good" open-source CW decoder).
Question
#8: "Did you
know that there are pages with FAQs (frequently-asked
questions),
technical information and news about what's going on at the Northern
Utah WebSDR?"
In response, 57% percent said "Yes" and 43% said "No". It's
worth
noting that links to these "other" pages may be found along the right side
of the landing page andall
of the WebSDRs themselves.
In case you missed it, here are some of the many
pages on this web site that include a wealth of information:
Donating
to/supporting the Northern Utah WebSDR
- Information about donating to help support the Northern Utah WebSDR:
You may user PayPal - or not, choosing instead to send a
donation
directly.
Technical
Information
- The pages here likely have more technical information than you will
ever want about the gear used at the Northern Utah WebSDR - including a
few pictures and some schematics.
Latest News
and known issues
- This is a "log", ordered chronologically, about pretty much everything
that is happening and has happened at the Northern Utah WebSDR, whether
or not it
has affected service.
Northern Utah WebSDR
FAQ
- Have a question about something related to the Northern Utah WebSDR?
You might find it here - but if you can't, there's always the
email
address!
Audio problems
with Apple/Chrome/Safari?
- One of the many
people that have had issues with Chrome, Safari (or Apple, in general)?
Read this page to see if there is an answer.
Contact
information:
If you wish to find out how you can contribute to this project, or if
you have any questions/comments that weren't answered on the "latest
news", "FAQ" or "technical
info" pages, you may
send an email to the following address:
Alternatively, you can send email/snail-mail to KA7OEI
using the information found at QRZ or the FCC database.
Important:
If you wish to contact us,
please avoid using an email
service that has one of those "Please fill in this form to reply" type
of SPAM filters.
If you really
want a reply, please have the courtesy to allow us to do so without
having to fill out a form and supply extra personal
information to who knows where, etc. - I wasn't planning to sell or
give out your
email address, anyway!
Additional information:
For technical information about this WebSDR system, go to
the technical
info
page(link).
For the latest news about this system, visit the latest
news page (link).
For answers to possible questions, visit the FAQ
page (link).
For more information about the WebSDR project in general -
including information about other WebSDR servers worldwide and
additional technical information - go to http://www.websdr.org