[Dxspider-support] Discussion: Informing Users About Registration Requirement for Spotting

[Terry Hunt]

I currently require registration to post spots but I do not require a pasword.  I do have my motd and motd_nor files configured informing users of the need and their status appropriately but have not sent out any announcements.  I would need to read up on those as I have not used that command yet.

Most people I believe are connecting via logging software and the text we send streams by a background terminal window and is never seen.  What users see is the pretty table the logger presents and many loggers even provide filtering for the users apart from the cluster filter which allows our users to remain totally in the dark as to what we do behind the scenes to feed the spotting window.  Not sure how conquer that issue with our distributed model.

I have a thought that runs in the back of my mind a lot and as Kin points out, most people are not interested in posting spots what do we have (not counting Digital RBN spots)
1.  Contesters posting contest spots
2.  Dxpeditions / Special Event Stations
3.  The “few” people who do spot that most of which just want to use their radio, not fuss with technology

Will our spot pool dry up to contests and dxpeditions?  Don’t get me wrong, my goals at this point is to chase DXpeditions and SES and I have a view of the isolated POTA cluster so I'm ok with that but is that our overall goal?  I know we all stood up clusters for various reasons, my main reason was I wanted to see how it worked and while there was a cluster near me, when I contacted the owner I discovered it was just in his house, maintained by someone else remotely and he couldn’t explain it to me so K4HNT-2 was born and I have enjoyed running it now for 2 years.

Not sure my ramblings will make since to anyone but me but I hope so...

Terry, K4HNT

> On Mar 6, 2025, at 4:21 AM, Kin via Dxspider-support <dxspider-support at tobit.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> Faizul,
> 
> No, there is no problem, at least for a few of us who think like you.
> It is necessary to inform the user by all available means.
> Also clarify that you can have callsigns with and without a password. The SSID allows this.
> 
> My experience is that most users are not interested in sending anything to the network.
> 
> Another group is only interested in the big ones, who even if they are not "big" they do have many users. But that is part of the lack of knowledge of the network and false propaganda.
> 
> There are sysops who believe they are going to lose users, and they get nervous, and they are not applying security policies.
> 
> Kin EA3CV
> 
> 
> Enviado desde Outlook para Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
> 
> De: Dxspider-support <dxspider-support-bounces at tobit.co.uk> en nombre de Faizul via Dxspider-support <dxspider-support at tobit.co.uk>
> Enviado: jueves, marzo 6, 2025 9:01:03 a. m.
> Para: iz2lsc.andrea at gmail.com <iz2lsc.andrea at gmail.com>
> CC: Faizul <9m2pju at hamradio.my>; The DXSpider Support list <dxspider-support at tobit.co.uk>
> Asunto: Re: [Dxspider-support] Discussion: Informing Users About Registration Requirement for Spotting
> 
> Agreed, OM. I just want to know, is there anything wrong with requiring users to register with a password as a standard in DX clustering?
> 
> On Thu, Mar 6, 2025 at 3:55 PM IZ2LSC <iz2lsc.andrea at gmail.com <mailto:iz2lsc.andrea at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> I think that recent flooding (hundreds of spots per second) was not generated by an "entity" connected as a user.
>> Here there is already a rate limiter on command a user can send in a certain interval.
>> Just to set the expectation about enforcing the password policy.
>> 
>> 73s
>> Andrea
>> iz2lsc
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -->
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, Mar 6, 2025 at 7:45 AM Faizul via Dxspider-support <dxspider-support at tobit.co.uk <mailto:dxspider-support at tobit.co.uk>> wrote:
>>> Dear DX Spider Community,
>>> 
>>> I’d like to start a discussion regarding the idea of informing users to register before they can use the spot function. While security is important, it is equally crucial that users are aware of such policies to avoid confusion.
>>> 
>>> If some nodes enforce set/register while others do not, users might unknowingly jump from one node to another without understanding why they are unable to send spots. To improve transparency, I propose that we add a notice about this requirement in the Message of the Day (MOTD) and also announce it using ANN. This way, users are properly informed rather than being caught off guard.
>>> 
>>> We are in the AI era now, and it is easier than ever for someone to use an AI chatbot to generate a script that automatically posts spots using random callsigns. Without proper user registration, this could lead to abuse and affect the integrity of the cluster. While security measures are necessary, we must also ensure that users understand what is happening and why these policies are in place.
>>> 
>>> This is just a discussion, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the best way to approach this.
>>> 
>>> 73,
>>> Faizul "Piju" 9M2PJU
>>> 
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