I have noticed an issue a couple of times recently. HRD has a tick box in the cluster options pane labelled ‘Increment SSID’. This has been provided to get around an issue where you potentially lose connection but the cluster does not see it and you remain logged in and unable to reconnect for a short while.

Let me explain the term SSID.

Your normal login will be your callsign. So in my case this would be GØVGS. This is actually GØVGS-Ø. If we increment this it becomes GØVGS-1, then GØVGS-2, GØVGS-3 and so on. The number after the callsign is the SSID. If I am only receiving spots from the cluster, this is no problem and potentially gets around an issue.

The problem is that the cluster software treats each SSID as a different user. This is done deliberately so that someone can have multiple logins to the cluster network without causing a loop.

Because GB7MBC runs a registration system, if I login as GØVGS I will be fine but if I log in as GØVGS-1, I will not be seen as registered and I will not be able to post spots. This will be true for every SSID apart from -0, which is my normal login.

So, if you are struggling to post a spot and you know you are registered, untick the box ‘Increment SSID’, then log out of the cluster. Log back in and all should be well again.

Ian (GØVGS)