Info
Welcome to W3RGA-1 CC Cluster Node.
In the past I've run AR6 and DXSpider nodes. I find CC Cluster to be best at filtering duplicate and busted skimmer spots.
Contact me with and questions.
Address
The telnet address to access my DX cluster node is w3rga.ddns.net port 7373 (w3rga.ddns.net:7373).
If you have telnet enabled on your PC clicking this link W3RGA-1 will open a telnet window where you can login.
Connecting your Software
Connecting Via N1MM:1. From the main entry window click Window, Telnet
2. In the Telnet window click the Clusters Tab
3. In the Clusters Tab select the Enable live Cluster List and NA only checkboxes
4. From the dropdown select NA - w3rga.ddns.net:7373
5. Click Connect
More information on using telnet in N1MM Connecting Via N3FJP:
1. Click Settings, DX Spotting, Configure
2. For the Telnet Host enter w3rga.ddns.net
3. For the Port enter 7373
4. Click Enable DX Spotting
Watch N3FJP's video How to Set Up DX Spotting Connecting Via Log4OM:
1. Click Connect, Telnet cluster
2. In the Cluster management window click the Connection tab
3. Use the Known servers dropdown and select W3RGA (7373)
4. Click the + sign to add to the Active servers
5. Click Connect
Watch G4POP's video Log4OM V2 Cluster
CC User client program
VE7CC's free CC User client program is a great way to set your filters and options, I'd recommend upgrading to Ver. 3.
If your browser complains trying to download CC User Full Version you can download a copy here.
Your can download a copy of the latest ver 2.448 here.
Your can download a copy of the latest ver 3.0271 here.
There are two ways you can use CC User:
First: You can connect to the CC Cluster node you will be using and set your desired filters and options. Then close the program and connect to the same node using your software described above.
Second: You can connect to the CC Cluster node you will be using and set your desired filters and options. Then do not close the program and use the built-in telnet server option,
see my recommended settings. You will then connect your software to the CC User program using the address 127.0.0.1:7300.
K7TQ's CC User demo.
VE6WZ's CC User & RBN demo.
There is a CC-User groups.io.
Commands/Filters
For the complete list of commands.
If you're not using CC User to set your filters I have some canned filter suggestions you can copy & paste into your telnet window.
RBN/Skimmer Spots
The full-feed of CW, RTTY, FT8 and FT4 Reverse Beacon Network skimmer spots are available if you choose to see them.
Node has redundant connections to both the US and European RBN servers avoiding some of the skimmer spot outages seen on other nodes.
There always seems to me some misconceptions about how skimmer spots are handled on CC Cluster nodes. I'll do my best to explain the algorithm.
Duplicate skimmer spots are dropped for 3 min after you receive the first valid spot, after 3 min a new spot will be sent if the spot is still valid.
So, in a sense you will receive duplicate skimmer spots but only once every 3 min. There is no reason to see the same spot hundreds of times.
I've heard comments that this de-duping algorithm is causing skimmer spots top be missed, this is not the case. You will always receive valid skimmer spots every 3 min.
If a station QSY's during the 3 min de-duping timer you will receive a new spot once it's validated regardless of the timer.
Skimmer spots need to meet these requirements to be considered valid:
• The call must be received by 2 or more skimmers on the same frequency
• The call must be a valid W/VE call, checked against the current database
• The call must have a valid prefix
Additionally, the node keeps a list of known busted skimmer spots that are automatically dropped.
I believe the CC Cluster skimmer algorithm is the best at removing junk skimmer spots with minimal user intervention.
Skimmer related node commands| SET/SKIMMER | Turn on Skimmer spots |
| SET/NOSKIMMER | Turn off Skimmer spots |
| SET/CW | Turn on CW Skimmer spots |
| SET/NOCW | Turn off CW Skimmer spots |
| SET/RTTY | Turn on RTTY Skimmer spots |
| SET/NORTTY | Turn off RTTY Skimmer spots |
| SET/BEACON | Turn on beacon spots |
| SET/NOBEACON | Turn off beacon spots |
| SET/FT8 | Turn on FT8 spots |
| SET/NOFT8 | Turn off FT8 spots |
| SET/FT4 | Turn on FT4 spots |
| SET/NOFT4 | Turn off FT4 spots |
| SET/OWN | Turn on Skimmer spots for your own call |
| SET/NOOWN | Turn off Skimmer spots for your own call |
| SET/SKIMMERDUPES | Turn on duplicate skimmer spots for your own call, shows every RBN node hearing you |
| SET/NOSKIMMERDUPES | Turn off duplicate skimmer spots for your own call |
Up-Time
See the nodes uptime. The node is intentionally taken offline for a short period the end of every month for updates and system maintenance.
Node lives in my network rack where is has access to more than an hour of UPS backup.
I do my best to keep the node up and running 24/7, circumstances out of my control do occasionally take the node offline unexpectedly.
For a good backup node try one of my node partners
AI9T (dxc.ai9t.com:7300)
W7JD-1 (64.57.165.114:9000)
K0XM-5 (dxc.k0xm.net:7300)
N4ZKF-1 (dxc.n4zkf.com:7373)
Crowdsourcing
Spots on the DX cluster are available because of generous operators spotting stations. If you use the cluster please consider spotting stations as well. The more spots the merrier.
Blocking
I'm blocking several bad spotters and known busted calls. If you know of any additional spotters or spots that should be blocked let me know.
Software/Hardware
Node is running VE7CC's CC Cluster software.
DF7GB's SkimCon v2.
Meinberg NTP.
PC is a dedicated MeLE Quieter 4C, Windows 11 Pro, Intel N100, 16GB RAM.
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