HamSCI is an organization that was started by people who are both hams and professional scientists with the goal of bringing both communities together. We welcome participation from technically inclined and interested amateur radio operators in partnership with the professional scientific research community, for the advancement of science and understanding of the art of radio wave propagation and radio communications.

HamSCI Google Group Participation Guidelines:

• Posts and discussions on the HamSCI google group are expected be consistent with the bullet points stated in the section below entitled “HamSCI and the Scientific Method.”
• All HamSCI activity is expected to be conducted in a respectful and considerate manner. Discussions should never consist of personal attacks or crude language.
• Members are expected to act in an ethical manner, which excludes the practices of plagiarizing, misusing, misrepresenting, or stealing data or ideas.
• Posts are expected to be of direct interest to the HamSCI community.
• Commercial endorsements, unrelated / inappropriate event advertisements, or other similar material should not be posted.

HamSCI Use of the Scientific Method:

• The scientific method is a core strategy for HamSCI activities.  This implies that research findings, especially those containing potentially unusual or novel results, should first undergo the rigors of this technique before widespread community acceptance.  Discussions may therefore potentially include direct questions and suggestions from the professional research community, along with reference comparisons to previously published material in the open refereed scientific literature.  
• HamSCI members should always be willing to engage in scientific discussions in a spirit of open curiosity and knowledge advancement.  We emphasize that such interactions may include questions on findings, and these are not a sign of disrespect but, rather, of community interest in particular observations or implications.  The scientific method’s practices are a time-tested and vital method for producing a robust finding and avoiding incorrect conclusions based on misleading or potentially biased/flawed results.
• Questions may also be posed about specific methodologies and equipment characteristics, and these are equally important to the HamSCI method and should be treated with an equally open spirit.  Investigations in this area may require follow-up data collection or coordinated measurement activities in partnership with the collective.

Members who violate the guidelines above may have their HamSCI participation privileges revoked at the discretion of the moderators, who retain final authority on interpretation.

If you only do casual operating, you probably don’t need to calibrate your S-meter. This also applies to contesting, as the signal report for most contests has evolved to 59 for Phone and 599 for CW.

On the other hand, if you’re doing scientific research (for example, monitoring signal strength during a solar eclipse like the one that occurred on August 21 of this year) or comparing antennas on the air, then it’s important to make sure your S-meter is calibrated.

What does “calibrating your S-meter” mean? It means knowing exactly how many dB there are between each S-unit. It also means having an anchor point in terms of absolute power. This anchor point is generally accepted to be S9.

But why do we have to go through a calibration procedure? Didn’t Collins Radio make 6 dB per S-unit and S9 = 50 microvolts (-73 dBm into 50 ohms) a standard?

It’s true that Collins did have those values as a standard a long time ago. I believe many individual manufacturers did adhere to 6 dB per S-unit in the early years, but this fell by the wayside because there wasn’t an official document that new manufacturers signed up to. In 1981 the IARU (International Amateur Radio Union) even adopted the Collins standard as a recommendation. Unfortunately a recommendation has no teeth to it.

How do the S-meters on modern receivers compare to the Collins standard? Figure 1 gives tabular data (power in dBm versus S-meter reading) for three of my receivers on 20-Meters. Figure 2 graphs this data. These three receivers do not have a separate preamp switch, so all that is noted is the setting of the attenuator.

Three conclusions can be made from this data.

1. The TS-180 comes closest to the anchor point of S9 = -73 dBm. The other two receivers are off by 7 dB (one is higher, one is lower).

2. The TS-180 and the FT-747 exhibit approximately 5 dB per S-unit down to S3. The OMNI-VI is also about 5 dB per S-unit down to S4, but then takes a radical jump of 10 dB from S4 to S3

3. Below S3, the S-meter on all receivers is only 2-3 dB per S-unit.

This data highlights why you need to calibrate your receiver if you’re doing any kind of serious work. For example, if you’re comparing antennas and one antenna is S2 and the other antenna is S1, you might conclude that the gain difference is 6 dB per the old Collins standard. But by knowing the calibration, the real difference in gain is only 2-3 dB.

How do you calibrate your S-meter? The best way is to use a calibrated RF signal generator and a step-attenuator. Leave the receiver AGC on (otherwise the S-meter won’t work). Note the power in dBm at each S-unit value. Also record the attenuator setting and/or preamp setting. You may even want to take data at different combinations of the attenuator and preamp (if your receiver has separate controls). Note the power in dBm at each S-unit value. Figure 3 shows the test set-up.

Finally, you should calibrate your S-meter on the different bands to be totally accurate. A good example for doing this is my OMNI-VI - on 160-Meters the delta between S-units is a dB or two different from the 20-Meter data, and the absolute power at S9 is several dB different compared to 20-Meters.

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A FLEX-6000 series SDR transceiver or receiver can be operated as a Reverse Beacon Network node by using the DAX IQ stream feature to pass I/Q streams to CW Skimmer via the SDR-Bridge software. Recording of this I/Q data for submission to HamSCI can easily be performed as well. The FLEX-6300 and 6400 provide up to two 96KHz steams, and the 6500, 6600, and 6700 provide up to four 192KHz streams.

This guide documents the software configuration needed to skim one or more bands using a FLEX-6000 series transceiver. It assumes the user's computer already has a recent version of SmartSDR installed and working. It was written using SmartSDR v1.10.16.

Users with older FLEX series SDRs using the PowerSDR software (FLEX-1500, FLEX-3000, and FLEX-5000) can skim and record a single band by following instructions in this guide provided by FlexRadio Systems, then proceeding to the CW Skimmer Configuration section of this tutorial.

Notes

It is suggested, particularly for users of Windows 10, that you run Windows Update and install all available updates before beginning this procedure. In some cases it has been observed that major Windows updates break SmartSDR or SDR-Bridge components, and necessitate reinstallation of these programs before DAX and CAT work properly.

Users with radios capable of GPS reference clock stabilization should use this if they are able to do so, as this will result in excellent frequency stability of the recorded data.

CW Skimmer, along with SmartSDR, can consume significant system resources when many signals are on the air, as is expected during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party. Any first or second generation Core i5 or i7 quad-core CPU should be adequate for skimming several channels, and newer dual core systems are likely to work well as also. Older single and dual-core systems may not run well. A system was tested with two channels on a Core i7-2600K system with 8GB RAM, and ran very well. If the system becomes bogged down, minimize SmartSDR to reduce the CPU load.

Finally, it is possible to get the CW Skimmer/DAX interfaces into "weird" states, in which CW Skimmer is operating but is misaligned in frequency, or displays artifacts in the CW Skimmer band scope that are not seen in the SmartSDR panadapter. These issues have been observed most often following an abrupt shutdown or disconnect of the radio, but can occur in other cases as well. Below is an example of artifacts in CW Skimmer that were not seen on the radio panadapter:

In the situation in which the above screenshot was made, disabling the DAX IQ channel feeding CW Skimmer did not cause the two bright bands to disappear, as would be expected. In addition, the bands remained in place when the panadapter was tuned. Situations like this may necessitate restarting the computer and radio, or reinstalling some or all of the software. See the "Troubleshooting" link at the end of this procedure for possibly helpful resounces.

Software Installation

Several additional programs need to be installed at first. It is recommended that the default installation paths are accepted, particularly with CW Skimmer and SDR-Bridge. If they are not, additional configuration of these programs may be needed to ensure that CW Skimmer finds the updated configuration files created by SDR-Bridge for correct operation.

1. Install SDR-Bridge from http://www.qrv.com/sdrbridge.html
2. Install CW Skimmer from http://www.dxatlas.com/cwskimmer/ - the program will operate in trial mode for 30 days. Purchase a license to use it beyond this period.
3. Download Reverse Beacon Network Aggregator from http://reversebeacon.net/pages/Aggregator+19 - this program is a portable .exe which does not require installation. Place it in any non-system folder (not in C:\Program Files or C:\Windows).
4. Install the Meinberg NTP client (see next section).

Meinberg NTP Client Installation

If you plan to record the I/Q data, it is recommended to install the Meinberg NTP client from https://www.meinbergglobal.com/english/sw/ntp.htm to keep the PC's clock synchronized tightly during operation. Other NTP synchonization programs for Windows, such as Dimension 4, are also suitable. To complete this:

1. Download the installer for the Meinberg NTP client from the above link, and begin the installation. Proceed until the "Files have been installed" screen:
   
   
    
2. On this screen, the option "Want to use predefined public NTP servers?" is disabled by default. Change the option (shown above in yellow) to an appropriate region for your location.
3. Complete the installation. It should be acceptable to use the SYSTEM account for the NTP client when asked.
4. To ensure the NTP client is operating correctly, open the Start menu, and under "Meinberg", run "Quick NTP Status". A text window is displayed:
   
   
   
   In this output, each line denotes an NTP server to which NTP is using for time synchronization. When NTP is running correctly and has brought the clock within a reasonable synchronization, an asterisk will be displayed at the beginning of the line for one of the NTP servers. Once this state is achieved, NTP can be considered to be running correctly.

Note that if the NTP configuration file needs to be edited, it is necessary to then restart the NTP service. This can be accomplished by using the "Restart NTP Service" option in the Start menu program group, but in recent versions of Windows, it needs to be run as administrator to work. Alternatively, from a command prompt with administrator privileges, execute "net stop ntp", then "net start ntp".

SmartSDR Configuration

The following steps are done to configure SmartSDR to send IQ data to DAX:

1. Start the radio and SmartSDR. Open one panadapter for each band you intend to skim. In each panadapter, open one slice receiver. Tune each slice to a frequency near the frequency range to be skimmed. In the screen below, the SDR has been set up for skimming the CW sections of 20M and 40M:
   
   

In this example, slice A is in the 20M band, and slice B is in the 40M band. Slices cannot be moved between panadapters - if you need to do this, close the slice, and use the "+ RX" button on the left to open it in the appropriate panadapter.

1. In each panadapter, click on the DAX button on the left side of the panadapter. In the menu that appears, assign each panadapter a unique DAX channel:
   
   

In this example, the DAXIQ channel for the 20M panadapter is 1, and the DAXIQ channel for the 40M panadapter is 2.
 

1. In DAX Control Panel under "IQ Streams", enable each stream by clicking the button next to the frequency. The buttons will appear blue when enabled (shown below.) Set the Sample Rate for each channel to 96000.
   
   
   
   The example shows a FLEX-6300, which provides two I/Q streams. Users of the FLEX-6500, 6600, or 6700 will have four streams available.

SDR-Bridge Configuration

SDR-Bridge handles the bridging of the DAX IQ data to one or more instances of CW Skimmer. Start SDR-Bridge with SmartSDR already running. SmartSDR should display a client connection announcement when this occurs. Then, do the following:

1. Under the Edit menu, select Settings. In the box that appears, enter your callsign into the "Call" box for each channel (by default they are "F1EX", "F2EX", and such.) Close the window when done.
2. Under the "Assign" column for each DAX channel, select the slice that was placed in each channel when SmartSDR was configured earlier:
   
   
    
3. Click the "Skim" checkbox next to the first IQ channel to start CW Skimmer. Note that if this is the first time starting Skimmer, try this more than once if it doesn't start within a reasonable time.
4. At first, CW Skimmer will likely be tuned to a frequency not within the DAX IQ frequency window. In SmartSDR, click and drag the panadapter background to adjust the panadapter frequency center. This should be enough to cause CW Skimmer to synchronize to the center frequency.
   
   At this point, Skimmer should be actively decoding the CW signals within the passband.
   
   Note that the Skimmer waterfall display should move smoothly, without hesitation or jerkiness. If not, it is likely that the decoder is not working properly either, and you are advised to restart it.
    
5. To tune the 96KHz window, click and drag the panadapter in SmartSDR. The "Stream" column in SDR-Bridge gives the current passband limits. Adjust the passband to something appropriate for the CW band of the band.
6. Repeat this procedure for each additional band to be skimmed. Each additional band being skimmed will open another instance of CW Skimmer.

CW Skimmer Configuration

Most of the CW Skimmer configuration is already done by SDR-Bridge, so no additional configuration should be needed to get decoding working. Additional configuration is needed, however, to enable the Telnet server in each Skimmer instance to send spots to RBN Aggregator.

1. In CW Skimmer, open the View menu, and select Settings. Select the Operator tab. Fill in all of the fields correctly - in particular, it is important that your 6-character grid square is correct.
2. Select the "Telnet" tab. Ensure that "Enable Telnet Server" is checked. The port and password should be left as is - this login is used by SDR-Bridge to control Skimmer when the panadapter center frequency is changed.
   
    
3. Click OK to save the settings.

RBN Aggregator Configuration

The RBN Aggregator receives spots from the CW Skimmer instances and forwards them to the Reverse Beacon Network. The connection should be configured to receive spots from the CW Skimmer instances. No further configuration is needed for the connection to RBN. To connect RBN Aggregator to the CW Skimmer instances, do the following:

1. Open RBN Aggregator by launching the .exe file.
2. Under the "Connections" tab, enter your callsign, the password (if configured) and the port number for the first Skimmer instance, as configured in the previous step. If the port number was not modified, it should be 7310. The IP address can be left as default.
   
   
3. Click Connect. After a few moments, Aggregator should display "Connected to the CW Skimmer operated by..." in green text.
4. Go to the Skimmer Traffic tab, and watch spots from the primary Skimmer appear. If you see spots appearing, the primary Skimmer instance is connected to Aggregator.
5. To connect the other Skimmer instance, go to the Secondary Skimmers tab. In this tab, enter the connection details for each of the second skimmers. Click the "C" button in each applicable row to connect that skimmer:
   
   
    
6. Go back to the Skimmer Traffic tab, and ensure that spots appear from each skimmer. The number in the first column of each spot indicates which skimmer it originated from - skimmer 0 is the primary skimmer, and skimmers 1 and up (highlighted in the following screenshot) are from the Secondary Skimmers panel.
   
   Also note that not all spots are sent to the RBN network. Only spots with a "+" between the time and frequency are sent - spots with a "-" are not sent.
   
   
   
   At this point, configuration is complete and your Flex is running as an RBN Skimmer.

Raw I/Q Data Recording

Recordings of the raw I/Q data from the RBN nodes are valuable to the HamSCI project, and can easily be made using the built-in CW Skimmer I/Q recorder feature. A recording from a single 96KHz stream will generate about 560KB per second of data, or about 2GB per hour. Follow the procedure below to record I/Q data.

1. In one of the Skimmer windows, click the I/Q Recorder icon to open the I/Q Recorder panel:
   
   
    
2. Click the leftmost icon in the I/Q  Recorder panel to select the folder where the recordings will be saved to. Use a unique folder for each Skimmer instance, as the files are not named by band.
   
   
    
3. Click the Record button to start recording. The recording continues until the Record button is clicked again. The files are named by date/time, and are split into a new file about once every hour.
   
   You should see the recording time incrementing. If it is not, then the recorder is not running. This is usually because the folder selected for the recording output is not writable.
    
4. Repeat this procedure for the remaining Skimmer sessions.

Troubleshooting

For general issues getting SDR-Bridge and CW Skimmer working, refer to the excellent troubleshooting guide by Al, NN4ZZ.

Submitting recordings

After the contest ends, please follow the procedure under the "Uploading to Zenodo" section of the HamSCI Wideband Recording How-To Guide to upload the recordings. As Zenodo has a 50GB limit per data set, please upload the recording for each band as a separate data set where this makes sense. If it is not feasible to upload this much data following the contest, please contact HamSCI so we can make arrangements to get the data via another method.

A QS1R SDR can be used in conjunction with CW Skimmer Server to operate an RBN receiver capable of receiving 7 bands simultaneously. While skimming can be performed using only CW Skimmer Server and RBN Aggregator, using the CWSL_Tee and CWSL_File software allows simultaneous decoding and I/Q data recording of each received band.

This guide documents the software configuration required to operate a QS1R in simultaneous skimming/recording mode. It assumes no software is already installed. Users who have already installed RBN Aggregator and CW Skimmer Server may skip the appropriate sections of this document, and focus on integrating CWSL_Tee and CWSL_File with their existing installations.

Notes

It is suggested, particularly for users of Windows 10, that you run Windows Update and install all available updates before beginning this procedure. It is undesirable for the system to reboot automatically during the data collection period, particularly if it is left unattended.

CW Skimmer can consume significant system resources when many signals are on the air, as is expected during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party. Any first or second generation Core i5 or i7 quad-core CPU should be adequate for skimming several channels, and newer dual core systems are likely to work well as also. Older single and dual-core systems may not run well. A system was tested with several channels on a Core 2 Duo E6750 system, and it ran very well. It is recommended not to run any SDR software such as HDSDR simultaneously, as this consumes significant CPU resources.

Software Installation

Several additional programs need to be installed at first.

1. Install CW Skimmer Server from http://www.dxatlas.com/cwskimmer/ - the program will operate in trial mode for 30 days. Purchase a license to use it beyond this period.
2. Download Reverse Beacon Network Aggregator from http://reversebeacon.net/pages/Aggregator+19 - this program is a portable .exe which does not require installation. Place it in any non-system folder (not in C:\Program Files or C:\Windows).
3. HDSDR, while not needed for operating CW Skimmer, may be used to verify that CWSL_Tee is working properly, and that recorded I/Q files worked as expected. Its use is referenced in this document, and it may be downloaded from http://www.hdsdr.de/.

Meinberg NTP Client Installation

If you plan to record the I/Q data, it is recommended to install the Meinberg NTP client from https://www.meinbergglobal.com/english/sw/ntp.htm to keep the PC's clock synchronized tightly during operation. Other NTP synchonization programs for Windows, such as Dimension 4, are also suitable. To complete this:

1. Download the installer for the Meinberg NTP client from the above link, and begin the installation. Proceed until the "Files have been installed" screen:
   
   
   
    
2. On this screen, the option "Want to use predefined public NTP servers?" is disabled by default. Change the option (shown above in yellow) to an appropriate region for your location.
3. Complete the installation. It should be acceptable to use the SYSTEM account for the NTP client when asked.
4. To ensure the NTP client is operating correctly, open the Start menu, and under "Meinberg", run "Quick NTP Status". A text window is displayed:
   
   
   
   In this output, each line denotes an NTP server to which NTP is using for time synchronization. When NTP is running correctly and has brought the clock within a reasonable synchronization, an asterisk will be displayed at the beginning of the line for one of the NTP servers. Once this state is achieved, NTP can be considered to be running correctly.

Note that if the NTP configuration file needs to be edited, it is necessary to then restart the NTP service. This can be accomplished by using the "Restart NTP Service" option in the Start menu program group, but in recent versions of Windows, it needs to be run as administrator to work. Alternatively, from a command prompt with administrator privileges, execute "net stop ntp", then "net start ntp".

CW Skimmer Server & RBN Aggregator configuration

CW Skimmer Server and RBN Aggregator require minimal configuration to integrate them with the Reverse Beacon Network after their installation.

1. Start Skimmer Server. Under the Operator tab, enter your name, callsign, and grid square.
2. Leave the settings in the Telnet tab at their defaults - this should allow RBN Aggregator to connect without any additional configuration.
3. Start RBN Aggregator by double-clicking the file. Under the Connections tab, enter your callsign in the Callsign box, then click Connect. RBN Aggregator should then retrieve the name and grid square from Skimmer Server when it connects. If this occurs, RBN Aggregator is now receiving spots from Skimmer Server.

CWSL_Tee Configuration

In a configuration with CW Skimmer Server and a QS1R, Skimmer Server interfaces directly with the QS1R. This simplifies operation, but in such a configuration no other programs can access the data from the QS1R. The CWSL_Tee.dll library allows multiple programs to access the data streams coming from the QS1R - in this usage case, CWSL_Tee allows Skimmer Server to operate live while CWSL_File simultaneously records the data to the hard drive.

To configure Skimmer Server to run behind CWSL_Tee, do the following:

1. Download CWSL_Tee.dll, CWSL_Tee.cfg, and CWSL_File.exe from https://github.com/HrochL/CWSL - look under the 'bin' subdirectory.
2. At the above link, follow the procedure in the description, labeled "Installation procedure is as follows". Note that while CWSL_Tee.dll and CWSL_Tee.cfg should be placed in the Skimmer Server directory (typically C:\Program Files\Afreet\SkimSrv), CWSL_File.exe should be placed in any folder on the hard drive which will be used to store the recorded data, as this program does not have an option to direct its output files to another folder or drive.
3. Turn on the QS1R and connect it to the computer. Start CW Skimmer Server. At this point, CW Skimmer will likely connect to the QS1R, load the FPGA code, and start operating. Select the bands that should be skimmed using the checkboxes in the 'Skimmer' tab.
4. Under the 'Skimmer' tab on Skimmer Server, set the 'Receiver' option to 'CWSL_Tee' as shown below:
   
   
    
5. Close Skimmer Server by right-clicking on its System Tray icon. Power off the QS1R, then power it on again. Start Skimmer Server and verify that CWSL_Tee is still selected as the receiver. At this point, Skimmer Server should be receiving data from the QS1R through CWSL_Tee.

To verify that CWSL_Tee is in use, open HDSDR. When the "Choose which External HW should be used by HDSDR" box appears, select 'Extio_CWSL.dll'. The SDR should begin operating, and a band select window should appear:

If this window is present, HDSDR is receiving data through CWSL_Tee, and it should be possible to set up the recorders. Note that in this mode, the HDSDR IF cannot be tuned - this is because each 192KHz data stream is fixed in frequency by Skimmer Server.

At this point, you can start RBN Aggregator and connect it to Skimmer Server.

Recording

Once Skimmer Server is operating through CWSL_Tee, the CWSL_File program is used to record the data from a given band. This program is run via the command line, and records a single band per instance. Therefore, to record every band being skimmed, multiple instances of CWSL_File are run simultaneously.

Note that CWSL_Tee should not be placed in the C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86) directories - these are not writable without administrator privileges, and attempting to record to these directories will result in no file output.

Recording a 192KHz band segment was observed to produce slightly under 1MB/s of sustained disk writes. At this rate, recording 7 bands for 24 hours would produce about 440GB of output. It is expected that any modern 1TB or greater hard drive should provide enough write bandwidth to sustain the recording of 7 bands simultaneously for the duration of the event.

To initiate recording follow the procedure below:

1. Open a command prompt. Navigate to the directory in which CWSL_File.exe is located.
2. Run CWSL_File.exe without any arguments to display the usage information. Note the BandNr and Scale Factor arguments - each of these is a single number.
   
   For the QS1R, the Scale Factor should be set to 8. The BandNr argument is a number from 0 - 6 representing one of the selected bands. In Skimmer Server,  under the 'Skimmer' tab, band 0 is the first selected band, band 1 is the second, and so forth. This is shown in the screenshot below, in which the red numbers next to the band segment selection panel denote the BandNr that corresponds to each band.
   
   Additionally, the -L argument should not be used, such that the filenames are generated using UTC times rather than local times. It is recommended that the '-Q' argument is used such that CWSL_File makes a new output file every 15 minutes. This ensures that as many timestamps as possible are recorded during the recording session.
   
   
3. Start the first recorder, using a command line such as 'cwsl_file 0 8 -Q'. The output should look like the following:
   
   
   
   The first band is now being recorded. Leave the command prompt in this state until it is time to stop recording, then stop the program via Ctrl-C.
    
4. Start the remaining six recorders using the above procedure, incrementing the BandNr by 1 for each other recorder. Note that each recorder doesn't need to be in its own folder - the files are named uniquely by band. Below is what a typical recording session will look like:
   
   

Verifying recordings

HDSDR can be used to replay recordings made with CWSL_File, which is useful in verifying that the recording was made correctly. To do this, open HDSDR, then click the green Play button. Select the file to be replayed, then verify that the replay contains the expected signals. During this, you can power off the QS1R to ensure that the data is coming from the recording, and not from the receiver.

Submitting recordings

After the contest ends, please follow the procedure under the "Uploading to Zenodo" section of the HamSCI Wideband Recording How-To Guide to upload the recordings. As Zenodo has a 50GB limit per data set, please upload the recording for each band as a separate data set where this makes sense. If it is not feasible to upload this much data following the contest, please contact HamSCI so we can make arrangements to get the data via another method.

You will now be redirected to the list of SEQP participants.

How do you make sure you are spotted by the RBN?

The RBN is made up of automated receivers running the CW Skimmer Server or RTTY Skimmer and RBN Aggregator software. In order to be spotted, these pieces of sotfware must recognize your transmission as (1) calling CQ and (2) having a valid call sign.

The automated "CW Skimmer" receivers will decode any transmission beginning with CQ or other words indicating the station is soliciting QSOs. i.e. "running."  CQ words include TEST or QRZ, for example.  The CQ word may have one other word between the CQ word and the call sign.  For example, "CQ TEST", "CQ SEQP", "TEST SEQP", "QRZ SEQP", and so forth will be detected as a CQ if they are followed by a call sign.  "CQ TEST N0AX" or "CQ SEQP N0AX" will work equivalently.  It is important, however, to send the entire message at the same speed and do not speed up parts of the message in order to save time.

In addition to the CQ-equivalent keyword, the Skimmer programs must be "convinced" that the callsign is really a callsign.  For this purpose Skimmers use a file which determines whether a prefix pattern has been used on the air recently, and divides prefixes into 3 classes - unknown, encountered infrequently, and common.  Calls with unknown prefixes - such as some of the special commemorative prefixes beloved by Europeans - can require up to 4 repetitions before they are spotted, while other common ones like N4 can require as few as two. 

As a practical matter, contesters have discovered that  a new prefix can lead to many fewer spots than a more common one, so people should be encouraged to avoid using exotic callsigns during SEQP. Most US 1x1 calls should by ok, as these are used frequently and their pattern should already be established. The Commemorative Canada 150 prefixes will also work fine as they have been explicitly added to the RBN pattern file in January 2017.