SDR.hu closed to non-hams?

brett_saylorbrett_saylor
in General Chat
Did I miss the email? Checking https://sdr.hu/ this morning I see that you can no longer access the kiwiSDRs from that link unless you (a) are a ham and (b) register with the website.

When did this happen?

Brett Saylor W3SWL
owner, Penn State kiwiSDR

Comments

  • mbottmbott
    It's going to take me a bit of time to work through how I feel about this development. Been a SWLer since 1967 who never got my ticket. My kiwi is registered there .... or was.

    --
    Mike
    OhioSWL
  • PowernumptyPowernumpty
    edited January 2020
    First I've heard,
    With things like GDPR and probably some countries not wanting their sheeple to have access to dissenting voices I bet there are "pressures".
    If Andreas has to focus on other work to put food on the table reducing his exposure makes some sense.
    It doesn't stop a private individual sharing their radio, or another site listing radios, just takes burden off of the original author.

    Stu
  • brett_saylorbrett_saylor
    Not directed to either of the previous posters, just a general rant...

    It's his site and he can do what he wants, but the first I heard about the change was when a non-ham, frequent user emailed me with a "WTF?" question and I had no explanation.

    SDR.hu has sort of become like google.com, with everyone knowing to go there to access the network. Will the kiwiSDR developers continue to integrate to it via the admin interface, or will another "open" directory come about?

    I like the map interface at http://rx.linkfanel.net/ BTW, except for that pesky Google error message - I know that means moving to another mapping framework.

    Brett W3SWL
  • BjarneBjarne
    The requirements for the registration process has been the same all the time I think, the difference is that you can't access the site without being registered. When I signed up in 2017, I was allowed to register with a "shortwave call", basically SWLKQ40LS in my case, and I was admitted.
    mbottzachliang
  • brett_saylorbrett_saylor
    Did not ever see the registration link before, Bjarne - thanks for that insight.

    He now says access is only available to someone holding a valid amateur call sign, and has added some code to the registration page to reject a call that isn't a "valid" ham call (not sure how that's being done).
  • BjarneBjarne
    One I know was able to register with his grid code just minutes ago.
  • LonecrowLonecrow
    Yeah noticed that too. I had a login to them already so it was no biggy.
  • mbottmbott
    Registering with SWL+grid code was how I registered my kiwi --- I had forgotten about that.
  • G8JNJG8JNJ
    edited January 2020
    There's still

    http://kiwisdr.com/public/

    http://rx.linkfanel.net/

    https://ve3sun.com/KiwiSDR/

    Among others.

    But it's a pity the sdr.hu site that is linked from the KiWi GUi and other prime sites is no no longer open access, especially when all the other sites still freely open.

    Maybe the links on the KiWi GUI and Quick start guide will have to be amended to add some alternatives to sdr.hu

    Regards,

    Martin - G8JNJ
  • BjarneBjarne
    Are the three links above dependent on the kiwi being registered at sdr.hu? I ask because I really do not want to be available via sdr.hu when the site has blocked my account. But I still want to be publicly available.
  • ka9qka9q
    Has he given a reason for requiring a login? Many websites seem to have done this, or at least added captcha challenges, to defend against high-volume abuse. That might be the case here.
  • linkfanellinkfanel
    > Has he given a reason for requiring a login? Many websites seem to have done this, or at least added captcha challenges, to defend against high-volume abuse. That might be the case here.
    He makes some mentions of his broader motivations in his blog post of last December (https://blog.sdr.hu/): it's largely personal insatisfaction over directions the project took and his control over that. As you can gather from his FAQ, he favors a focus on amateur radio, and requiring a login tied with an amateur callsign would be a way to enforce that.
    > Are the three links above dependent on the kiwi being registered at sdr.hu? I ask because I really do not want to be available via sdr.hu when the site has blocked my account. But I still want to be publicly available.
    http://kiwisdr.com/public/ is a registration system working in parallel and completely independently from sdr.hu. Just like with sdr.hu, getting your KiwiSDR listed on http://kiwisdr.com/public/ is optional, and you can get it listed on one platform without the other. It's the main data source for third-party websites about the KiwiSDR network, as Andr?s has a tighter control over access to data from sdr.hu, as you've seen.

    http://rx.linkfanel.net/ and https://ve3sun.com/KiwiSDR/ too I believe get their list of KiwiSDR receivers from http://kiwisdr.com/public/ Your receiver will still appear there even if you disable sdr.hu registration, as long as you enable http://kiwisdr.com/public/ registration.
    > SDR.hu has sort of become like google.com, with everyone knowing to go there to access the network. Will the kiwiSDR developers continue to integrate to it via the admin interface, or will another "open" directory come about?
    I guess the other "open" directory is now http://kiwisdr.com/public/
    > I like the map interface at http://rx.linkfanel.net/ BTW, except for that pesky Google error message - I know that means moving to another mapping framework.
    That pesky error message is gone now and the move to another mapping framework has just been done! See http://www.valentfx.com/vanilla/discussion/1917/rx-linkfanel-net-receiver-map-moving-to-leaflet
  • jksjks
    edited February 2020
    Thanks Pierre for the detailed answers to questions I missed during during that hectic time. As you say, the latest admin interface does indeed now separate the sdr.hu and kiwisdr.com/public registration (see image below). Note that registration on kiwisdr.com does not require a key.

    The instructions for the reverse proxy service have been updated to say you can now simply email us a request to receive an API key for use with the proxy (if you are not going to register on sdr.hu). You can also email us and tell us your sdr.hu API key, if you are registered there, to be used with the proxy (the previous method).

    image

    Attachments:
    https://forum.kiwisdr.com/uploads/Uploader/34/625af97d60e625d686938f334baece.png
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