Future WebSDR servers - Northern Utah WebSDR

Northern Utah WebSDR

KD7EFG

Newer WebSDR Servers:

If, what and when?

Testing of newer WebSDR software

We are looking into the possibility of migrating to a platform other than the PA3FWM WebSDR currently in use. While there are several options out there such as "Phantom WebSDR" and UberSDR. This has the advantage of using simpler hardware (and RX-888 or similar) to receive HF bands, presenting the user with a single interface for the entire HF spectrum - much like the KiwiSDR or even the University of Twente WebSDR, also operated by PA3FWM.

While we have not yet "spun up" a test server running Phantom WebSDR or UberSDR but we are in communications with others who have done so and have also been trying out a few of them that are online - but this has led us to a few observations:

It's not as stable. Reports from others who have been testing it have reported that it's a bit of a fight to get it going - and it requires a bit of babysitting to to keep it working properly. In contrast, the PA3FWM WebSDR is extremely stable and robust.

It's a bandwidth hog. Whereas each, individual user of the PA3FWM WebSDR need consume only 40-50kbps of bandwidth for audio, waterfall and control, the typical configuration of the Phantom WebSDR or UberSDR results in each user requiring somewhere in the range of 200-500 kbps.

To support just 200 users - which is a common load for the Northern Utah WebSDR - would require approximately 100 megabits of Internet bandwidth, and that is simply not available at the remote Northern Utah WebSDR receive site at this time. The reason for this seems to be (unnecessarily?) high audio encoding rates and an inefficient means of conveying the waterfall display as currently implemented in Phantom WebSDR and UberSDR.
Requiring nearly a half megabit of also strains the connectivity of many individual users - particularly those who may have tenuous (e.g. mobile devices and satellite connections, poor connectivity overall, etc.) Internet connections and/or "metered" ("pay per gigabyte") data plans.

Potentially marginal performance of a single, wide-band receiver coving all of HF.

Simply connecting a single, wideband receiver - like a KiwiSDR, RX-888, Web-888, Red Pitaya or similar to an antenna will likely result in mediocre performance - particularly if this system is located in an area with a very low noise floor - the result being that performance of the receive system, particularly on the upper HF amateur bands, will be rather poor compared to a typical amateur receiver in terms of sensitivity and the ability to handle large signal levels.
This issue is solvable - and articles on doing this (which may well involve constructing specialized hardware that isn't available commercially) may be found in the "Technical" pages of the Northern Utah WebSDR and other places - but the need and means of doing this may not be known to many who attempt to use this hardware.

If you peruse the Northern Utah WebSDR's web sites you'll note that we do cover all of HF on some receivers (KiwiSDRs) as well as a number of the shortwave broadcast bands. Further investigation will reveal that these resources get relatively little use compared to the amateur band receivers. Between these observations as well as results of surveys and correspondence with users indicate that most users do NOT really care about frequencies other than amateur bands for the most part - and that there's something to be said about simplicity of operation when one can simply select an individual amateur band rather than have to pick it out from a 30 MHz wide display..

We expect that Phantom WebSDR, UberSDR - and possibly others - will eventually mature to the point where they are both stable and suitable for large numbers of users and be optimized for both processor and network bandwidth utilization - but that day is not yet today.

Questions? Use the contact info on the About page to let us know.

Additional information:

For general information about this WebSDR system - including contact info - go to the about page (link).

For technical information about this WebSDR system, go to the technical info page (link).

For a list of questions and answers, visit the FAQ page (link).

For more information about the WebSDR project in general - including information about other WebSDR servers worldwide and additional technical information - go to http://www.websdr.org

Back to the Northern Utah WebSDR landing page