Nothern Utah WebSDR Logo - A skep with a Yagi Northern Utah WebSDR
   
Results of the November 2020 Survey

From approximately November 11, 2020 to November 26, 2020 a voluntary, ten question user survey was open to users of the Northern Utah WebSDR:  343 people responded.

Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's survey!

The purpose of the survey was to determine if we were properly determining the needs and desires of the users of the Northern Utah WebSDR and it is only by feedback from our users that we can possibly know what it is that we are doing right, doing wrong, or (perhaps) ought to consider doing in the future.

What follows below are the questions themselves, the results, and brief discussions.  If you have additional questions, feel free to use the "contact information" at the bottom of this page.  Where applicable, the corresponding results from the 2019 survey (statistics only - not the text responses) are presented.  You may read the 2019 survey results here.

Please note:

For most questions, more than one answer could be selected so totals may add up to more than 100%.



Question #1:  "Why do you use the Northern Utah WebSDR?"



2020
2019
As a general-purpose remote receiver
55%
47%
For spotting DX
18%
9%
For Geographical Diversity
40%
49%
My QTH is too $@^! noisy!
27%
23%
I don't have an HF station of my own and I like to listen to the bands
18%
16%
Other (please specify - 100 char, max.)
13%
16%

The #1 answer this year - "As a general-purpose remote receiver" - displaced the second choice, "Geographical Diversity".

Some of the "Other" answers included:
Discussion:

The most "unfortunate" reason for using WebSDRs has got to be the problem that many users have where they simply can't hear much due to the lack of a good antenna (limitations of HOAs, perhaps), the local noise - possibly due to nearby electronic devices, switching supplies, light, solar electric system, etc.

Alarmingly, the percentage of those who use the WebSDR to escape local QRM seems to have increased a bit, but we hope that this is really due to more people in those situations discovering the WebSDRs rather than their situations getting worse.




Question #2:  "What other WebSDR systems do you use?"


2020
2019
KFS (Half Moon Bay, CA)
67%
65%
KK3EF (Milford, PA)
19%
36%
NA5B (near Washington D.C.)
19%
24%
N4BBQ (Georgia)
6%
14%
University of Twente (Netherlands)
14%
19%
W7RNA
29%
---
KiwiSDR
26%
---
Others WebSDR systems?  (100 chars. max)
7%
18%

New in 2020:  The addition of the questions about the KiwiSDR and W7RNA.

Discussion:


The top answer, "KFS", is not surprising as it is "close" (geographically speaking) to the Northern Utah WebSDR and in many cases, between the two WebSDRs, one can hear stations that might fall into "dead zones" where other stations may simply be too close to your station - or a WebSDR - to be heard.

Added this year to the survey was mention of the KiwiSDR network:  There are five such receivers at the Northern Utah WebSDR that cover (pretty much) from the AM broadcast band through 30 MHz, continuously - and there is a large network of such receivers that can be found at kiwisdr.com.

A few other answers included:


Question #3:  "To what bands do you most often listen?"


2020
2019
160 Meters
10%
10%
80/75 Meters
54%
58%
60 Meters
4%
8%
40 Meters
77%
73%
30 Meters
9%
6%
20 Meters
59%
45%
17 Meters
14%
14%
15 Meters
11%
8%
12 Meters
4%
3%
10 Meters
13%
7%
6 Meters
5%
5%
2 Meters
7%
9%
AM Broadcast Band
12%
10%
Shortwave broadcast bands
14%
14%
Longwave Bands (2200 and/or 630 meters)
2%
5%
Other bands?  (Really?  How?)
1%
4%

Like last year, 40 meters is the clear winner - but 20 meters has replaced 80/75 meters as the #2 answer - possibly due to the increasing solar activity improving propagation on the higher bands.

  Some comments from the "Others Bands" entries:



Question #4:  "Which Northern Utah WebSDR do you use most often?"


WebSDR #1 (Yellow)
71%
WebSDR #2 (Green)
33%
WebSDR #3 (Blue)
11%
WebSDR #4 (Magenta)
32%

As expected, most of the activity is still centered around WebSDR #1 - which makes sense since most nets and roundtables use the 40 and 80 meter bands.  It will be interesting to see how this usage distribution changes over time, and as the propagation improves on the higher HF bands.

We are gratified that our newest server (WebSDR #4) is seeing so much use!

The percentages add up to more than 100% because I forgot to set this question to permit only one answer.



Question #4:  "What band(s) are missing to which you might be interested in listening?"


This was a "fill in the blank" question - and most respondents said "none", but here are a few of the other answers:




Question #6:  "Would you consider donating to help keep the Northern Utah WebSDR online?"


2020
2019
No
10%
25%
Yes - PayPal is fine
24%
50%
Yes - I prefer direct donation (e.g. check)
6%
21%
Is there another method of support other than the above that you have in mind?
---
13%
Yes - I've not done it yet, but I'm still considering doing so
27%
---
I would like to, but I can't do so at this time
32%
---
I would do so, via Patreon
1% ---

The good news here is that most respondents would consider donating to keep the Northern Utah WebSDR online.  As of lat 2019, we make a concerted effort to acknowledge every donation - no matter how small - see the "Donations" page for a list of benefactors.  Those who send us money the "old fashioned" way (check, cash in the mail) will also get a thank-you card in the mail.

Some of the responses to the question about "another method of support" include:



Question #7:  "What is your Amateur radio license class?"


2020
2019
Extra Class
52%
54%
Advanced Class
5%
6%
General Class
27%
22%
Technician Class
3%
5%
Novice Class
0%
1%
Not licensed - I just like to listen!
9%
9%
Licensed in another country - what class?
4%
4%

Not surprisingly, most of the respondents indicated a license class that included HF privileges.  We hope that more of those that are "HF Curious" - but don't have a license that offers wide HF privileges - will "discover" and use the WebSDR and get inspiration from it, eventually getting an appropriate license and get on the air:  We are pleased that those who "just like to listen" are using the WebSDR:  Be sure to spread the word!

Responses in the "Other Country" class indicated a few of our Canadian, European and Indian friends - and a few people who also use the WebSDR as a bit of a "utility" - perhaps to check the signal quality of shortwave broadcast stations or other types of HF operations.




Question #8:  "Do you find useful some of the features that we've added to the Northern WebSDR servers (DSP noise reduction, notch filter, 'High Boost')?"


2020
Yes
87%
No
9%
Comments/suggestions
4%

Earlier in 2020, we introduced these DSP functions to the original WebSDR code and since then, we have shared this with many WebSDRs around the world - and it would appear that most people like them.

A few comments about these filters other than "Yes, they are great!" include:



Question #9:  "What new feature(s) would you like to see implemented at the Northern Utah WebSDR?  (We can't promise anything - we're just curious, but we'll see what we can do!)?"

This was a "free form" question and most answers were along the lines of "None - it works great for me!".  Some of the other answers include:
Comment:  Absent this year were any comments about having issues with audio on Apple devices or when using the Chrome browser.  We worked hard to remedy these issues or provide work-arounds in late 2019/early 2020 and widely shared this information with other WebSDR operators and we are pleased that these efforts appear to have paid off.




Question #10:  "Did you know that there are pages with FAQs (frequently-asked questions), technical information and news about what's going on at the Northern Utah WebSDR?"

In response, 67% percent said "Yes" and 33% said "No" (it was 57% and 43% in 2019).  It's worth noting that links to these "other" pages may be found along the right side of the landing page and all of the WebSDRs themselves.


In case you missed it, here are some of the many pages on this web site that include a wealth of information:


Important comments about the survey data:

This survey was conducted using Survey Monkey which severely limits the access to the results  for the "Free" version, allowing visibility only to 100 of the responses.  If I wish to pay $25/month (for a minimum of a 12 month subscription) I could get all of the data - but that isn't going to happen as we have more important things to spend money on - like maintaining a WebSDR!

What this means is that there were actually three surveys, all with the same questions, to accommodate the anticipated volume of responses.  While most survey responses were recorded, simple math indicates that some of them were missed when the surveys weren't "changed" before the count exceeded 100.




Contact information:

If you wish to find out how you can contribute to this project, or if you have any questions/comments that weren't answered on the "latest news", "FAQ" or "technical info" pages, you may send an email to the following address:

            sdrinfo@sdrutah.org.

Alternatively, you can send email/snail-mail to KA7OEI using the information found at QRZ or the FCC database.

Important:

If you wish to contact us, please avoid using an email service that has one of those "Please fill in this form to reply" type of SPAM filters.  If you really want a reply, please have the courtesy to allow us to do so without having to fill out a form and supply extra personal information to who knows where, etc. - I wasn't planning to sell or give out your email address, anyway!



Additional information:

Go to the Northern Utah WebSDR landing page

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