How do you use your SDR

WA2ZKDWA2ZKD
in KiwiSDR Discussion
I am curious how many people use their unit "only for themselves" and how many people have it online for others to share?

Comments

  • BjarneBjarne
    Well, my s/n 1150 has been "private" since I got it, because my mobile broadband ISP has been unable to provide an APN which supports port forwarding satisfactory. I've now ordered mobile broadband for another ISP, and have hopes that the situation will change. If it does: http://kongsdr.blogspot.no/
  • jksjks
    edited April 2017
    I'd also like to know how many people are reluctant to make their Kiwi public due to bandwidth consumption concerns. Either because their Internet service has a low monthly cap (several to tens of GB) or because the Kiwi doesn't yet have tools for displaying and throttling bandwidth use.

    WA2ZKD
  • BjarneBjarne
    John,
    yes, that is a concern. It's difficult to estimate what an average month will consume. I've decided to start with a 10 GB cap and am prepared to raise to 30, but that's when it's beginning to hurt my wallet. Goarounds would be limiting the number of connections to less than four, and/or give exclusive password protected access to those who are willing to share the economics (and yes, there are a few). Of course, that would close the public KiwiSDR access.

  • G8JNJG8JNJ
    Hi All,

    Mine is fully public 99% of the time.

    I don't think the bandwidth used is excessive, but I'm on a VDSL service with no user cap (as far as I'm aware).

    However it does get very high usage and sometime I have to kick users off so that I can log in and use it myself.

    I have a particular problem in that a lot of Dutch music pirates use my SDR all day long to monitor their own transmissions around 6MHz. 

    What I really need to be able to do is to be able lock out certain frequency ranges or restrict the amount of time individual users can stay on the SDR before getting automatically kicked off. I currently have the inactivity time out set at 15mins but I may have to reduce this still further.

    I now have a second Kiwi on order, so it would be good if I could link them in some way so that they both appear as one Kiwi but with eight possible connections.

    I previously raised this suggestion in this link https://github.com/jks-prv/Beagle_SDR_GPS/issues/48

    I know that there is at least one other station running multiple Kiwis on different ports so I don't think I'm the only Admin who may be interested in this idea.

    Most of the time (when I can log in) I use my Kiwi for general short wave listening and enjoy spotting 'unusual' activity on the waterfall. I also enjoy listening to NDB's, BC stations and Amateur stations. Quite a few of my users seem to listen to HF Aero traffic as well.

    I note that quite a few folks use the WSPR extension (logged as SWUKSDR) especially on the 472KHz band. I've also got antenna switching and this gets used some of the time mainly by the BC listeners in order to try and reduce interference or other stations that are co-channel.

    I think the KiWi has been an excellent purchase and It's certainly re-awakened my interest in Short Wave Listening.

    Well done John, and thanks for all the ongoing support and rapid resolution of any problems that may occasionally arise :-)

    Regards,

    Martin - G8JNJ



    KA7UTonda
  • KA7UKA7U
    I try to keep 3 slices open to the public 24/7. Currently, inactivity timeout is set at 45 minutes. Some people tend to camp on a slice, but most of the time, there is an available slice.

    Some of the local users that have exceptionally high noise levels at the home QTH, use it for a diversity receiver. This type of use is not ideal due to the latency, but at least they can hear the active stations.

    When I'm traveling, I use it to monitor my mobile/portable transmissions and as a diversity receiver. For example, from San Diego, CA I could transmit on 75 meter phone and hear myself about 1 second later on the KiwiSDR from central Idaho. The noise level in the RV Park was usually S9+ on the Icom IC7000, so only very strong signals could be heard, but the KiwiSDR @1520KM away would provide usual reception of the nets. KiwiSDR in one ear (delayed) and the IC7000 in the other ear real time. Takes some getting used to, but works quite well to communicate under adverse receiving conditions on the road with compromised antennas.

    I'm planning to add another KiwiSDR optimized for frequencies above 14MHz.
    Ron - KA7U
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