SKCC Skimmer

SKCC Skimmer connects to the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) to help you find SKCC stations you haven't worked yet for various award levels.

Prerequisites

Windows Executable Version

• No prerequisites - just extract and run!

Source Code Version

1. Python 3.13 or higher (will be installed automatically if missing)
2. uv - Modern Python package manager
   • Windows: Download from https://github.com/astral-sh/uv
   • Linux/Mac: curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Quick Start

Step 1: Configure

Edit the skcc_skimmer.cfg configuration file and replace these parameters with your own information:

MY_CALLSIGN =  'x6xxx'
ADI_FILE    = r'MasterLog.adi'
GOALS       =  'all'
TARGETS     =  'C,T,S'

MY_CALLSIGN: Replace x6xxx with your callsign. (Leave the quotes -- they are important.)

ADI_FILE: Replace 'MasterLog.adi' with a log file in ADI format. It should be your complete master ADI file that contains all SKCC contacts that you've ever made. It can include non SKCC members, which will be ignored. The small 'r' before the string is important and should not be removed.

GOALS: Replace 'all' with one or more of the following, space or comma separated (but not both). When in doubt, leave it as 'all'.

C     - You are working toward your C (intelligently handles both initial C and multipliers).
T     - You are working toward your T (intelligently handles both initial T and multipliers).
S     - You are working toward your S (intelligently handles both initial S and multipliers).
CXn   - (DEPRECATED) Use 'C' instead - handles both initial and advanced awards.
TXn   - (DEPRECATED) Use 'T' instead - handles both initial and advanced awards.
SXn   - (DEPRECATED) Use 'S' instead - handles both initial and advanced awards.
WAS   - You are working toward your Worked All States.
WAS-C - You are working toward your Worked All States, Centurion.
WAS-T - You are working toward your Worked All States, Tribune.
WAS-S - You are working toward your Worked All States, Senator.
P     - You are attempting to accumulate prefix points.
DXC   - You are working toward DX Countries award.
DXQ   - You are working toward DX Member QSOs award.
QRP   - You are working toward QRP awards (1xQRP and 2xQRP).
all   - All of the above.
none  - None of the above.

GOALS Examples:
   GOALS = 'T'
   GOALS = 'T,S,P'
   GOALS = 'T,S,P,WAS,WAS-C'
   GOALS = 'C,P,DXC,QRP'
   GOALS = 'ALL'
   GOALS = 'ALL,-BRAG'          # All awards except BRAG
   GOALS = 'ALL,-BRAG,-K3Y'     # All awards except BRAG and K3Y

Note: Negation (using minus sign) only works with 'ALL'.
Examples like 'C,T,-BRAG' are invalid.

TARGETS: Replace 'C,T,S' with your preferences. When in doubt, just use the default value of 'C,T,S'.

C     - You are helping others achieve their C (intelligently handles both initial and advanced).
T     - You are helping others achieve their T (intelligently handles both initial and advanced).
S     - You are helping others achieve their S (intelligently handles both initial and advanced).
CXn   - (DEPRECATED) Use 'C' instead - handles both initial and advanced awards.
TXn   - (DEPRECATED) Use 'T' instead - handles both initial and advanced awards.
SXn   - (DEPRECATED) Use 'S' instead - handles both initial and advanced awards.
ALL   - All of the above.
NONE  - None of the above

TARGETS Examples:
   TARGETS = 'T,C'
   TARGETS = 'C,T,S'
   TARGETS = 'all'
   TARGETS = 'ALL'
   TARGETS = 'None'

Step 2: Run

Once you've changed these configuration parameters, you can run skcc_skimmer:

Windows Executable Version

Double-click skcc_skimmer.exe

Windows Source Code Version

Double-click run.bat or open a command prompt and type:

run.bat

Linux/Mac Source Code Version

Open a terminal and type:

./run

The first time you run the source code version, it will:

1. Check if Python 3.13+ is installed (install if needed)
2. Create a virtual environment
3. Install dependencies
4. Start SKCC Skimmer

Command Line Options

You can override configuration file settings with command line options:

run.bat [options]  # Windows
./run [options]    # Linux/Mac

Options:
  -c, --callsign CALL     Your amateur radio callsign
  -a, --adi FILE          ADI log file path
  -g, --goals GOALS       Awards you're working toward
  -t, --targets TARGETS   Awards you're helping others achieve
  -m, --maidenhead GRID   Your grid square location
  -i, --interactive       Enable interactive mode
  -v, --verbose           Enable verbose mode

Interactive Commands

While running, press:

• c - Display worked member counts
• g - Display goal progress
• l - List recent spots
• f - List spots nearby (requires maidenhead grid)
• q - Quit

More Information

Visit the SKCC Skimmer web page for the most up-to-date info:

https://k7mjg.com/pages/SKCC_Skimmer/

73, Mark K7MJG