WX7V/5 RBN Node Set up and Configuration

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 I've been running a node on the Reverse Beacon Network - RBN - for the past several years and recently had to rebuild my Win11 workstation that serves as the host.  Unfortunately some of the configuration settings for RBN didn't carry over, so this time I've decided to document for future reference.

My setup is pretty simple, as I use my FlexRadio 6600 as the spotter SDR when I'm not using it on the air.  CW Skimmer is the workhorse.  It gets IQ Signals via SmartSDR DAX, and forwards decoded spots to Aggegator 6.7 to post on the RBN Network.   

Since I leave the flex running all of the time anyway, so I figure I'm not "using it up" for the RBN work (hi hi).   The only limitation is that I typically run 1 slice, and 1 skimmer, which means spotting on the band I'm currently listening too on the OCF Dipole for the lower bands, and the HexBeam for the upper bands.   

Note:  I do plan to set up a dedicated SDR and a magnetic loop antenna later this year so that I can cover all the ham bands at once.   The gold standard is the Red Pitaya SDRlab 122-16.  For the receive antenna I have a 6LVP magnetic loop that should work great.  A dedicated T/R switch might be necessary, but that is a future project.

On the local workstation, I'm currently running SmartSDR 4.1.5 and using Windows WDM drivers for the audio chain between DAX-IQ and CW Skimmer.   WDM works better than MME, but both break from time to time across Windows updates.  WDM (Windows Driver Model) is kernel-level audio stack that has lower latency and , while MME (Multimedia Extensions) is an older, legacy protocol with better support for older hardware. WDM allows audio sharing between apps, whereas MME generally locks the device to one application at a time.

Configuration:

FlexRadio: Enable DAX IQ channel 1 in SmartSDR client (or the Maestro) and in SmartSDR DAX with 48 KHz sample Rate











CW Skimmer: 

Radio tab - SoftRock, and make sure sample rate matches the DAX-IQ sample rate.




Audio tab - Pick WDM drivers and select the matching DAXIQ channel for the signal I/O.  Choose a different Audio I/O device.  The matching DAX Audio channel works best, but the default audio output might work.  










RBN Aggregator: 

This is what a healthy Aggregator screen should look like.  The connections tab should match the network details in your CW Skimmer network tab (I use the defaults).   

Populate the operator details on the Combined and Secondary Skimmers tab and you're done











Make sure you see spots being sent to RBN on main aggregator tab.  You can then test via the RBN website.  Replace my spotter call with your own.

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