WebSDR Maasbree sysop messages:

2024
• Nov. 8: The WebSDR computer suddenly switched off at about 20.59 UTC on Nov. 7. Restarted next morning.
• Okt 10: The 2m websdr now also uses fifo file pipes to send 16 bits IQ streams to the websdr.
• Okt 7: Double click on the frequency scale below the bandpass filter now rounds the frequency to the nearest kHz or nearest 500Hz for CW.
See also the message on July 28 2022.
• Sept 3: A second trial of the new version 2.1 of the websdr.
The first trial with version 2.0 was at first not stable as a result of an update.
We did some modifications and call it now websdr version 2.1.
• July 30: A transition is made to version 2.0 of the Maasbree WebSDR.
More info is on: WebSDR 2.0 information.
• June 14: An unreliable USB connector on a NUC computer was reponsible for the 40m receiver crashes.
• June 13: The 40m receiver crashes regularly.
• May 2: The WebSDR will be offline Thursday morning May 2nd for maintenance by the energy provider.
• May 1: WebSDR off line in the morning.
The internet provider changed without notification the IP address to a different IP (CGNAT address space) address.
We couldn't use the ports anymore. It took us three hours and a telephone call to the provider to solve it. Thank you Sir!
• Febr. 4: The update URL button now also stores the bandpass settings for all modes and the memories of the band buttons.
• Jan. 17: The band buttons now have two memories to toggle. The defaults are a SSB and a CW frequency. The preset buttons are deleted.

2023
• Nov.22: The numbers in the S-meter now indicate the peak signal strength in dBm and in S-units. This supports reading the S-meter for signal reports better.
• Nov.9: We had a power failure in the afternoon. Computers needed a restart.
• Sept.11: Instead of the BFO frequency, the CW receiving frequency is diplayed by the vertical yellow line in the middle of the passband.
This makes it easier to tune for zero beat on a CW signal.
• Sept. 9: The Audio Peak Filter (APF) -3dB bandwidth is increased from 33Hz to 66Hz to support higher CW speeds. Tuning is less critical.
• July 11: "update URL" button 🔖 added to save websdr settings using bookmarks: Manual chapter 16
• July 7: The 19 inch rack with the WebSDR hardware is moved to an other room.
• June 9: We replaced the old laptop of the Low WebSDR (80m-20m) with a new NUC computer.
• May 17: The 80m band processing on the "Low" WebSDR crashed. The WebSDR is restarted.
• May 4: The "Low" WebSDR suddenly had long latencies on the 80m, 40m and 20m band. The WebSDR is restarted. We don't yet know what caused it.
• April 29: We had a long internet outage in the Maasbree region from 10.35 UTC to 20.55 UTC.
• April 9: The Label button has been replaced by a header button.
After startup and filling out the call/name, the header part of the page is mostly redundant.
To minimize the need for scrolling, the header can be removed from the page by the Header button (toggle).
• Febr. 28: The GNUradio noise blanker is now also active on the 40m band to reduce the electric fence pulses.
Now the GNUradio noise blanker runs on the 80m and on the 40m band.
• Febr 14: A manual squelch added. The slider sets the threshold in S-units for manual squelch.
Audio is attenuated (not muted) for noise and signal levels lower than the threshold. Squelching is slower for CW.
Mainly intended for CW and crowded bands.
• Febr 12: We had an internet outage caused by a power failure in the Maasbree region.
• Febr 1: The High WebSDR now runs on a small NUC computer to save power. The problem we had Dec 13 2022 was a Linux problem for core 0.
• Jan 11: We have replace the bad LED tube lights, including wiring, in the horse stable and hope the other tube light don't decide to cause QRM also.
Some connectors of the bad tube lights had already turned black. Thanks Wim PH4RTM!

2022
• Dec 15: The call or name is displayed again in the "waterfall" text.
• Dec 13: One core of the NUC wasn't stable, so we changed back to a laptop for the High WebSDR. WSPR is active again on 15m, 12m and 10m.
We have to replace some LED tube lights in a stable with horses to solve the QRM on 80m. The present tube lights have bad (cheap) connectors.
• Dec 7: Changed to a small NUC computer for the High WebSDR to reduce power consumption. WSPR on 15m, 12m and 10m temporary disabled.
• Dec 1: The minimum frequency tuning step is set to 1Hz using code from the Utah WebSDR (was 31.25Hz). Tks Clint KA7OEI.
• Nov 22: We hope to be able to make an appointment with the owner of the stable next week to solve the 80m QRM.
• Nov 13: The 80m QRM of the stable at 600m seems not completely to be solved. We will have to check all the wiring.
• Oct 16: From now on only the tuning frequency will be displayed as "waterfall" text.
• Oct 14: 80m QRM is solved: Wim PH4RTM has improved the wiring in the stable and added ferrite cores.
• Oct 13: installed another laptop for the High WebSDR.
• Oct 10: the laptop for the High WebSDR crashed yesterday, pse QRX.
• Oct 8: It seems we found the 80m QRM source: bad fire-hazardous wiring for LED tube lights in a stable with horses.
Next week we will help the owner improving the wiring.
• Oct 2: The 80m QRM source was present for a longer period. We had enough time to find the location.
It is not at a distance of 350m, but at 600m! Also in the direction measured with the null of the loop antenna. Next week we will contact the owners.
• Sept 30: We expect next tuesday to look for the new 80m QRM source. We have contacted the owners.
The loop is rotated back in order to hear this 80m QRM source again and to measure when it is present. This helps us finding the source.
• Sept 29: The loop antenna is rotated about 90 degrees to null the new 80m QRM.
The null pointed in the direction of the qrm source at a distance of 350m. We have yet to check with the owners what the source is.
Ofcourse the other QRM source we nulled before, can be present now (or then).
• Sept 26: At the moment we experience occasionally +10dB local qrm on 80m. We are working on it :(
• Sept 5: Again a major internet outage in the Maasbree region:
Maasbree, Egchel, Nederweert, Grashoek, Heel, Kessel, Leveroy, Meijel, Ospel, Roggel, Weert
Started at 06.00 UTC and lasted until abt 17.40 UTC
• July 28: Zoom feature added: now fully zooms in when clicking twice with the mouse on the same frequency on the bottom in the black frequency scale.
• July 27: Last Firefox update (103.0) now needs also activating audio by the button "Audio start".
You can changing the Autoplay Firefox settings for the WebSDR: Autoplay Firefox setting , or by: Other Autoplay Firefox settings
• July 15: Tuning frequency is added to the users info "waterfall" text. When no name or call is set only the frequency is displayed.
• June 18: The loop antenna is rotated back to its original orientation. Null is now east/west again.
Main reason is nulling a local QRM source.
We will try to enable the GNUradio noise blanker also for the electric fence pulses present on the other bands. But the present laptop can not handle it.
• June 9: Added Noise Reduction, APF and Manual Notch. WebSDR functions implemented for the Utah WebSDR by Clint KA7OEI.
They were kind enough to share the code with us. Thanks Clint! See for more info about usage in: Manual WebSDR Maasbree
See Utah page: Northern Utah WebSDR Digital Signal Processing
• June 6: A short period no internet because of a local power failure at 09.15u UTC.
• June 1: Software bug in DWN/UP buttons solved.
• April 19: The higher 17m-10m bands are made available on the HF High WebSDR: sdr.websdrmaasbree.nl:8902
• April 12: The loop antenna is rotated about 90 degrees to minimize the electric fence pulses.
• March 29: The GNUradio noise blanker (on 80m only) is set a bit more aggressive. Especially during the day we receive multiple very strong electric fence pulses. The very strong pulses are not completely blanked. A weaker part of it can leak through.
• March 12: The antenna is updated with a new mast pipe and an improved PCB version of the broadband loop amplifier.
• March 4: We had a major fiber-optic internet outage this morning and last night, sri.
• Febr. 19: One wind turbine lost his blades in the storm. The other one is approximately in the direction of the null of the loop antenna.
• Febr. 18: Noise (qrm) every 40kHz on 80m/60m is caused by two new small wind turbines at a distance of 70m. Noise level depends on wind speed. Thanks to energy transition.
• Febr. 11: Users info "waterfall" text length is limited to 10 characters. A "|" is in the plot instead of the IP address when no name or call is set.

2021
• Dec. 29: A new domain name is now in use for the Maasbree WebSDR. The new links are:
HF WebSDR:
hf.websdrmaasbree.nl or sdr.websdrmaasbree.nl:8901
2m WebSDR:
2m.websdrmaasbree.nl or sdr.websdrmaasbree.nl:8905
Our info site:
www.websdrmaasbree.nl or websdrmaasbree.nl
• Dec. 27: Somehow we lost our dynDNS domain name on Christmas Day (not a good day for that).
• Dec. 25: Starting this morning the dynDNS link to the WebSDR seems to have some problems. For the moment use http://83.128.92.165:8901/ instead.
• Dec. 21: A new noise blanker is now in test on 80m. It is programmed in GNUradio and operates between de RSP1a driver and WebSDR software.
• Dec. 3: Exploited noise shaping further.
On 80m the quantization noise is reduced by 11dB. On 40m and 20m it is reduced by 18dB.
As a result the effective number of bits to the websdr is now 9.83 bit on 80m and 11 bit on 40m and 20m.
20m now runs on 1024kHz enabling a 460kHz bandwidth for full coverage of the band. We are testing 1024kHz for stable operation.
See also the updated: Manual WebSDR Maasbree and SDRplay RSP1a technical info
• April 15: Running WSPR on 80m, 40m and 20m using the call PH4RTM (see Manual).
Thanks Bas ON5HB for the cooperation and especially PA3FWM for making it possible with the WebSDR software.
• Jan. 19: The waterfall brightness is equalized over all bands (no change in S-meter reading).
On 80m/40m/20m (RSP1a receivers): noise shaping now lowers the quantization noise by 8dB (was 4dB). The noise shaped outside the band is masked.

2020
• Dec. 19: Problem with Firefox update solved. Chrome, Edge and Firefox don't need the shift key anymore for frequency scrolling on the frequency scale.
Solved it in cooparation with Bas ON5HB and Clint KA7OEI (Utah WebSDR) and by looking in the code of the WebSDR Twente.