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Ham Radio - W7OTV OTVARC Repeater - Streaming Audio Server

TUNE IN here: http://w7otv.no-ip.org:8000/listen.pls

(Or visit shoutcast.com and search by w7otv or 146.96)

Stream is up 24/7 at 48 kbps with a max of 32 listeners.

You'll need Winamp (free) or compatible player.

The repeater is operated by Oregon Tualatin Valley Amateur Radio Club. The repeater is located on Goat Mountain at 4,219 feet 35 miles South East of Portland, Oregon. The audio stream server is donated by Eagle Eye Computer, Inc.

In the last 30 days we've had 163 listeners from 22 different countries.

Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.

73, Frank K2NCC@arrl.net

So, how's it going? Has the shoutcast stream actually increased the number of people using the repeater? What are the stats on hours per week usage of the repeater?

ZedB once asked:

>>So, how's it going?

It's going well, thank you. I hope all is well for you and yours.

>>Has the shoutcast stream actually increased the number of people using the repeater?

Yes. (When asking about repeater stats, I'm assuming that you mean the repeating done via the Internet, not the actual VHF repeater.)

>>What are the stats on hours per week usage of the repeater?

Each week is different. But, as an average, if I take the 800 or so hours that people have connected to the server in the past 26 weeks, it's about 30 hours worth of tuning in each week.

Some of the following details might be of interest:

The busiest day for the audio server is Sunday, with Thursday not far behind. The busiest time of the day for the server is (not surprisingly) between noon and 1pm. A close 2nd is between 9pm and 10pm. 3pm to 4pm holds as the third most common tune-in hour.

The least used day and time slot is 3am to 4am on Tuesdays.

On average, the listener tunes in for 41 minutes.

Streaming operations started 18JUL06
Total listening time since inception : 33d 11:38:12

2,344 total sessions, 1,171 unique listeners
Average of about 12 sessions per day.

A total of 36 different countries have connected.

The peak number of simultaneous listeners: 8
The server can handle 32, sharing a 15mb connection.

I use Sawmill reporting software for these and other stats.

To see the list of visitor stats for the last reporting cycle, please visit:
http://eagleeyecomputer.com/otvarc/stats.htm

Good questions, thank you! Feel free to tune in some time. You can use the link below or just search http://shoutcast.com for the station w7otv or my call sign.

73. Frank K2NCC
http://w7otv.no-ip.org:8000/listen.pls

re: OTVARC W7OTV Amateur Ham Radio Repeater

Hello all, this is Frank. The W7OTV streaming audio server has been upgraded and the actual repeater system is soon to follow!

In-shop: The streaming audio server is now using a Kenwood 2M mobile rig with a 5/4 mono-band 8' vertical antenna at 30'. Sounds clearer than ever before with a 6db gain.

On-site: The repeater antenna up on Goat Mountain has suffered some damage, but when the weather breaks, the club has authorized a replacement. Meanwhile the repeater suffers occasional loss in sound quality, but still quite readable and clear for the most part.

The stream has been Live 24/7 for over a year now, with 4000+ visitors, listening in from over 50 countries. How cool is that?

The OTVARC W7OTV streaming audio can be heard here: http://w7otv.no-ip.org:8000/listen.pls

Recent activity can be seen here: http://eagleeyecomputer.com/otvarc/stats.htm

Requires a PLS player, such as WinAmp or iTunes.

Club web-site is http://otvarc.org

If you live in or visit the Portland (OR) area, be sure to come by and have dinner with us.. The club meets once-a-month.

Best of the holidays to you and 73!

Frank, K2NCC

Sorry it' been so long...over a year...health issues, mainly.

No, I was not asking if you were successful in increasing internet traffic.

I'm asking if putting your repeater on Shoutcast has increased the level of usage of the repeater - what we hams ought to be doing is increasing the time people spend on the air. Nothing else furthers the purpose of ham radio, really.

Have you been able to measure an increase in usage of the repeater itself? How many hours per week is the repeater actively used for QSOs?

I see lots of internet-related ham stuff, but always wonder if it really helps ham radio, or is a diversion to keep people from even bothering to pick up a microphone.

TIA,

ZedB

[quote="k2ncc"]ZedB once asked:

>>So, how's it going?

It's going well, thank you. I hope all is well for you and yours.

>>Has the shoutcast stream actually increased the number of people using the repeater?

Yes. (When asking about repeater stats, I'm assuming that you mean the repeating done via the Internet, not the actual VHF repeater.)

>>What are the stats on hours per week usage of the repeater?

Each week is different. But, as an average, if I take the 800 or so hours that people have connected to the server in the past 26 weeks, it's about 30 hours worth of tuning in each week.

Some of the following details might be of interest:

The busiest day for the audio server is Sunday, with Thursday not far behind. The busiest time of the day for the server is (not surprisingly) between noon and 1pm. A close 2nd is between 9pm and 10pm. 3pm to 4pm holds as the third most common tune-in hour.

The least used day and time slot is 3am to 4am on Tuesdays.

On average, the listener tunes in for 41 minutes.

Streaming operations started 18JUL06
Total listening time since inception : 33d 11:38:12

2,344 total sessions, 1,171 unique listeners
Average of about 12 sessions per day.

A total of 36 different countries have connected.

The peak number of simultaneous listeners: 8
The server can handle 32, sharing a 15mb connection.

I use Sawmill reporting software for these and other stats.

To see the list of visitor stats for the last reporting cycle, please visit:
http://eagleeyecomputer.com/otvarc/stats.htm

Good questions, thank you! Feel free to tune in some time. You can use the link below or just search http://shoutcast.com for the station w7otv or my call sign.

73. Frank K2NCC
http://w7otv.no-ip.org:8000/listen.pls[/quote]

ZedB wrote:Sorry it' been so long...over a year...health issues, mainly.

Well, I hope you're feeling better! A year is a long time, so must have been serious. I wish you the best of health.

I'm asking if putting your repeater on Shoutcast has increased the level of usage of the repeater ...

That's would be difficult to track. I would have to survey users of the repeater to know.

However, I do know recently of one person who listened to the repeater's Shoutcast audio and decided to get his ham license because of it. So, at least one more user of the repeater (and a new ham) now because of the streaming audio server!

... what we hams ought to be doing is increasing the time people spend on the air. Nothing else furthers the purpose of ham radio...

In spirit, I agree with that. It's the lack of knowledge that I think keeps people from doing more as hams. So many hams get their licenses then shrug their shoulders and say "now what?" Or, even worse, they do something a certain way for 50 years and hardheadedly fall behind in an opportunity to refresh their level of interest.

Have you been able to measure an increase in usage of the repeater itself?

No, nor is it the purpose of the streaming audio.

It's primarily intent was so that repeater users could listen in while they were out-of-range. Like, if I went on vacation and still wanted to listen in to my home repeater.

But, as mentioned above about the new ham it brought in, there does seem to be at least some 'backwards' listening. People find it on the Internet, and if they're local they can tune in live if they have a 2M capable radio.

How many hours per week is the repeater actively used for QSOs?

Recently, not many. The repeater has been up-and-down since winter, but will soon be repaired. That's not in my control. Meanwhile, I have it streaming a different local repeater.

However, I will record the audio for seven days and see. It's a VOX recorder (no silence is recorded), so I'll be able to see specifically how many hours it was used in that time. I'll report that number back here in a week.

I see lots of internet-related ham stuff, but always wonder if it really helps ham radio, or is a diversion to keep people from even bothering to pick up a microphone.

I often see 'old-school' types fishing for validation or applying dismissal to what they don't endorse. If that's not you, I apologize for the assumption. The tone of your replies have lead me to believe that's been your driving point. You seem to imply that the Internet has somehow diminished the hobby.

I believe the Internet has been a huge boon for ham radio. I can assure you with confidence that, if not for the Internet, we'd have fewer hams today than we do.

Besides, who cares how they use that license, so long as they're using it and sharing what they learn and experience!

Personally, I'm not in the hobby to rag-chew, though you probably couldn't tell from my verbose posts! Being an old radio-intercept guy from the Army, I still love learning about propagation, antennas, signal analysis.... pretty much anything to do with the science of radio.

For the sake of demonstration, here's one simple example of how the Internet has helped my ham radio experience:

I'm sitting here, typing this reply, while watching an HF digital waterfall on the second monitor. PSK31 traces all over the place. The old TS-830S is hooked to the computer, the computer to the Internet.

So, here I go, I'll break with you and send a CQ DX.

[several minutes later]

I'm back. Some goof in California replied to my DX call. I'm in Oregon.

Now I click one button to look at a map and I can see all the stations who've heard me. Toronto Canada, Massachusetts, several Cali stations, Texas, Florida and a local guy have all reported they've heard me. And they didn't need to be sitting at the radio with a mic in their hand to do so.

It also gives me a list of what stations I've heard. Automatically.

My last report shows that I've heard 180+ stations in the last 24 hours. From 13 different countries.

It's a near-instant propagation reporter. Imagine the benefits!*

All this would not be possible without the Internet.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, look here:
http://www.pskreporter.info/pskmapn.html

So, yes, the Internet helps ham radio. Whether you're looking up a callsign, troubleshooting a problem, taking a practice test, or just giving your two-cents in a forum; It's all good.

Vy 73, de Frank K2NCC
http://evokefrank.googlepages.com

* I pretty much just leave the radio on all day now as it makes one a virtual beacon. With no transmission necessary. Anyone that doesn't know Ham Radio Deluxe and Digital Master 780, Google it or email me for a link to the latest download.

Just as a pursuit in curiosity and FYI for the group, here's the latest numbers:

Streaming audio server has been running for 521 days.

4,970 visitors. 56 countries.

Top 10 countries:

1 United States
2 Germany
3 Canada
4 United Kingdom
5 Netherlands
6 France
7 Sweden
8 Finland
9 Switzerland
10 Spain

Total time connected (listening): 59d 08:15:32
Average time each user is connected: 00:34:23
Maximum concurrent connections: 9

Not bad for a little P3 computer and a $25 VHF rig in the corner!

If anyone wants to know how to do the same thing with their local repeater, drop me a message. I'll share everything I know for free.

f

k2ncc wrote:However, I will record the audio for seven days and see. It's a VOX recorder (no silence is recorded), so I'll be able to see specifically how many hours it was used in that time. I'll report that number back here in a week.

After seven days, a total of about 40 hours of actual conversation occurred on the repeater. Comes out to a little under six hours a day of use.

f

[quote="k2ncc"][quote="k2ncc"]However, I will record the audio for seven days and see. It's a VOX recorder (no silence is recorded), so I'll be able to see specifically how many hours it was used in that time. I'll report that number back here in a week.[/quote]

After seven days, a total of about 40 hours of actual conversation occurred on the repeater. Comes out to a little under six hours a day of use.

f[/quote]


I'm impressed. I had thought repeater usage was way down. Here in the San Francisco Bay area, it's highly unlikely you'd find a repeater that gets six hours of usage per day.

Yes, I'm old school. Yes, my health problems can last a while. In three years, I'll be a centurion, so I'm pretty pleased that I'm still around.

Do I think the internet has diminished ham radio? Hmmm....it should have been possible for it to improve ham radio, but I fear it's taken some away. But that's what all innovations do - they evolve things.

Your own description is interesting. Thanks to the software and hardware you described, you were able to improve your personal knowledge of propagation. While transmitting very little. If there is a thing that ham radio does better than any other hobby it is being able to connect two people who otherwise don't have access to the internet. It is sad how often we know the bands are open - but nobody's using them to make QSOs. The DXing community has always been a bit of a problem here...if the person sending CQ is one they've already worked, then they don't bother getting on the air.

I find it interesting that the number of stations on HF at any one time seems lower than it used to be. Until contests come along - the bands are more crowded now than in years past during contests. I wonder why.

I just worry that as we head full speed into the future, that we'll break with the past also. Human kind does not grow by replacing things...it grows by adding things. This is, ultimately, what makes humans different from animals - we care about those humans we'll never meet, sometimes because they died before we were born, and sometimes because they'll be born after we die. The more we focus only on the "latest and greatest", the less likely we are to remain in contact with that which went before.

I"m not a complete stick in the mud. My station (shared with others in a home) includes PSK31 and we do have echolink on the station computer, although I personally did not find it interesting.

Very happy to hear that your repeater's availability got someone interested enough to get licensed. Hopefully, they're using their license - which, as you know, is required only to transmit. Anybody can listen and watch the propagation map, hi.

73 and keep up the enthusiam

ZedB

In three years, I'll be a centurion...

I hope to live as long, preferably in fine health (42 now).

So, you've been around since Alexander Bell and Marconi. Heck, you've even been around longer than the ARRL!

Thanks to the software and hardware you described, you were able to improve your personal knowledge of propagation. While transmitting very little.

That's true. Though I do get on the air quite a bit. I don't generally participate in contests, but still call CQ several times a day. And I pounce on call at least two or three times a day on average.

I just recently stepped out of a tube-hybrid rig. Wow, I'm loving computer control of the radio. Going from twisting 12-knobs to change bands to single-clicking with the mouse is a whole new experience! But I am SO glad I learned about plate currents, drive, etc. before moving on to a simpler rig.

Most people I've met never did anything more than punch in a frequency and hit PTT. I think they've missed out.

Meanwhile, I've been a ham for three years (as of today!), two of those years on HF, and I'm just about to log my 1000th HF contact.

Fortunately, I work where I play and can spend 8+ hours a day in front of a radio. Every day.

God, I need a life.

I find it interesting that the number of stations on HF at any one time seems lower than it used to be. Until contests come along - the bands are more crowded now than in years past during contests. I wonder why.

I don't have the time on-the-air as many might. So, I can't speak for past years. But in the last week I've seen, as of this moment, 1400+ stations from 23 countries. And that's only PSK. I would speculate that many phone operators are moving towards digital. Especially in light of less-than-ideal band conditions. I'm sure by the time you reach that 100-year mark, you'll see more activity than you do today.

The more we focus only on the 'latest and greatest', the less likely we are to remain in contact with that which went before.

I agree that it's important to remember your history. Not just on an archived social-political scale, but even more recent trends and experiences. It's important to hold on to what 'went before'. So long as it doesn't interfere with that evolution of which you speak.

Unfortunately, like chivalry and silversmiths, ham radio is a dying art.

It's already a specialized field. How many people have you mentioned the hobby to and they say something like "Oh, people still use that?" And considering ham radio's claim-to-fame is "When all else fails.", I can understand why so few are familiar. Seldom does all else fail.

... echolink on the station computer, although I personally did not find it interesting.

Amen. I guess I'm a bit of that old-school in my opinion of "pinging DX". I am a fan of "real" radio, but I would not consider anyone enjoying IRLP, Echolink, etc. any less of a ham. Like medicine or law, radio offers so many branches of study. And everyone's in it for their own reasons and interests.

... and keep up the enthusiasm, ZedB

I hope I will! So tell me, after being a ham for so long, is there a point where the enthusiasm fades? I'm surprised by how many of our older club members, though capable, don't GOTA much.

It's been a pleasure ZedB, and an interesting read of your replies. Drop me a line or a QSO request any time.

Vy 73, de Frank K2NCC

Recent update of stats can be seen here:
http://eagleeyecomputer.com/otvarc/stats.htm

f, k2ncc