QSOnow.com - STATIONS ON AIR

Enter Your:

Callsign

Operating mode, from the dropdown box

Operating Frequency in Khz eg 7040, 14059, 28045 etc

Locator string, like IO83WK

Operating power

Click the Add Your Station button

You will be taken to a filtered list of stations using your mode and frequency band.

Stations looking to make a QSO list their callsign here, along with their operating mode (CW, SSB etc) locator, and transmitter power. Once you have made your own station active you will see a distance and heading to each station from your own QTH. Your listing in the Active Station List remains active for one hour. But, you have some choices around refreshing your entry. If you finish a QSO and want to go back to the top of the list hit the refresh button. If you change frequency or mode, update your details and refresh the entry. As you remain active your list entry remains active.

Why should you list your station? Quite simply to help people find you so you can have a QSO. But there are a range of other reasons too. For a club night training session use the freeform club field to group and organise the event. Or maybe to find other SKCC/FISTS/SMC/GQRP members who are also looking for other members.

This is not a commercial venture, it is a service from one amateur radio enthusiast to others. It is FREE to use and will remain so. Development and hosting is a private project, and its cheaper than Golf and much more fun!

The list is organised in time order, meaning the most recent entries and updates appear first. To access the filtering features logon with your callsign. The main features are:

• The Active Service List - shows the stations known to QSOnow.com
• The Active Service List - can be filtered after Logon
• The Active Service List - can show a wide range of modulation types
• Modulation Mode - The primary Modulation Mode is CW
• Modulation Modes - SSB/AM/FM/Digital and internet services are available to enter
• RBN Data - CW data is collected from the RBN feed and an RBN icon appears
• A Slow CW Modulation Mode is provided which is free of RBN data
• In CW Modulation Mode a smaller green number next to CW indicates the morse speed in words per minute
• Listener - if a station is simply listening it can indicate this with the Listening Modulation Mode
• Callsign - Click the callsign entry to jump to the station's QRZ.COM page on a new tab
• Time Remaining on List - The small yellow number next to the Modulation Mode icon show shows the number of minutes left on the list
• Refresh Your Entry - Clicking this button reset the List time, putting your station back to the top
• Club Id - when set the Active Station List only shows stations with the same Club Id
• Club Id - use Club Id for nets and stations who are also members
• Band - A band filter limits the Active Station List to the chosen band
• Band After Logon - The Active Station List is filtered to the band you set via the Frequency box setting
• CQ Zone - Limit the Active Station List to a single CQ Zone
• CQ Zone - A link to a CQ Zone map is available by clicking the column title
• Filters - Club Id, Band and CQ Zone can be combined
• Maidenhead Locator - When provided the Active Station List shows distance and heading to the station from your QTH
• SPOTS - a station can indicate it can hear another station by clicking the green spot icon
• SPOTS - the number of unique spots made is shown by a small green number next to the icon
• SPOTS - the current spot count is reset when you Refresh your station entry
• Nation - indicates the country/region the callsign is from

I decided to avoid using a user registration process and in doing so hopefully make the site less attractive to hackers and life easier for users. At the moment there is no obvious security and following a rudimentary risk assessment I felt it appropriate to try this approach. The worst case is someone else posts your station or personal callsign. Since this is public information it is hardly much of a loss or a valuable asset to copy. Under the hood I have made provision for some rudimentary security, commensurate with the risks identified. Most of the automated probe scanning tools black hat hackers use are looking for very particular exploit points, non of which are built into this site. One cookie is used to provide service continuity in your browser between refreshes and logons. There are NO tracking cookies at all. This site has no interest in knowing who you are, where you go on the web or in linking you to any databases. I shall run this experiment in open access until it is broken by hackers or abusers and it needs to be fixed.