hamdx.org

hamdx.org is an alternate OTP provider for some digital mode applications. The authors of those applications have not recommended hamdx.org. However, you may have reached this web page after seeing a message (cluster spot or FT8 decode) that hamdx.org is being used right now by one specific station.

Getting Started

hamdx.org works the same as other OTP providers, but has its own https://hamdx.org URL that you can enter into your app settings. We recommend that you change your settings carefully, as shown at this documentation link:

Please avoid any misconfiguration that could later cause you to miss "verified" messages for major DXpeditions. Although you could just temporarily enter https://hamdx.org for our server, the documentation link shows a better way to maintain your settings.

Club Stations

IMPORTANT: If hamdx.org shows OTP verified for a club station, it often does not mean that the club station licensee, owner, or QSL manager has subscribed to hamdx.org or is recommending hamdx.org. Our system may be used by an individual operator of the club station. When OTP is verified (i.e., over-the-air numbers match numbers that your app retrieves from hamdx.org), then some assurance is added at the operator level. However, even for exactly the same club station callsign at a different time:

hamdx.org avoids producing "verified" or "invalid" messages for these different operator situations.

Rationale

We are at the top of the sunspot cycle. You may be seeing DX openings on 10 or even 6 meters, where there are many unused frequencies. Yes, you are allowed to move off of 28.074 and 50.313! Even if you are not a "rare DX" station, thousands of people may want to work you. DX stations that, for example, are in the Top 200 Most Wanted (but not Top 100) have sometimes completed more than 230 non-robotic digital QSOs in one hour. Even after weeks of operation, peak rates are sometimes only twenty percent below that. However, there is one major concern: some HF bands have just a small sliver of frequencies in between the CW sub-band (which is not appropriate for digital) and the SSB sub-band (which may even be prohibited for digital), and there are substantial digital-mode communities apart from DXers. Thus, a possible code of conduct is proposed here.

Code of Conduct

This applies to persons who use hamdx.org when sending (rather than receiving) OTP. There may be very few, because no public launch is planned.

Issue Statement: It is, at best, inconvenient when a major DXpedition is ready to answer their hundreds of digital callers on a suitable frequency, but all suitable frequencies are in use by other persons who attract far fewer callers. There may be several ways to address this, and the ideas below are only one possible starting point.

Although several digital modes effectively occupy a few kHz of bandwidth because the DX chasers are spread out, there are unique digital modes (often used with OTP) where the DX station's signal extends over more than a kHz of bandwidth (or requires a specific range around 300 to 500 Hz). To use the available frequency spectrum in the best way, please keep in mind: