Connections

A connection takes spots from one source, runs them through your filter, and sends the ones that pass to zero or more destinations. It is the piece that decides which spots reach you.

Why you’d use it

You chase parks on 20m CW and only care when someone is on the air in North Carolina. A connection on Parks on the Air with Band is 20m, Mode is CW and Park, summit, or location contains US-NC sends you those activators and nothing else.

How it works

Every spot that arrives from a source is checked against each connection on that source. If it passes the filter, Long Lines sends it to every destination linked to the connection. Matching runs right after each batch of spots is stored, and once a minute as a backstop, so a spot reaches the sender within seconds of arriving. How long it then takes to reach you depends on the destination (see Destinations).

A few rules govern what goes out:

• One source per connection. You pick it when you create the connection and can’t change it later. To use another source, create another connection. IOTA is the exception in name only: it makes a DX Cluster connection with an island rule.
• No destination, no spots. A connection runs only while it is on and linked to at least one enabled destination. You can save one with no destinations; it stays off until you add one.
• A disabled destination doesn’t count. If every destination on a connection is turned off, nothing is sent, even though the connection’s switch still shows on.
• One copy per destination. If two of your connections match the same spot and both send to the same destination, the destination gets it once.
• Repeats. Repeat spots for the same station limits how often one callsign comes through. With At most once per 10 minutes (the default), after a spot of K4ABC goes out, further K4ABC spots on that connection are skipped for 10 minutes. The callsign is compared as spotted, so K4ABC and K4ABC/P count as two stations here. Pick Every spot to turn this off.
• Turning a connection off stops new matches and drops the spots it had queued but not yet sent. The same happens when you remove a destination from it.

You can have up to 100 connections.

Set it up

1. Open Connections and select New connection.
2. In Pick your source, choose a source and select Continue. Each row shows its average spots per hour. Reverse Beacon Network is marked “High volume. Needs a callsign filter”.
3. Type a Name, for example NC parks on 20m.
4. Under Filter, add rules. Select Add rule, then choose a Field, a Condition and the Values. Leave the filter empty to pass every spot. See Filter rules for each field.
5. Choose Repeat spots for the same station.
6. Under Destinations, select Add destination and pick one or more of your destinations. If you have none yet, the menu offers Add one on the Destinations page.
7. Check the Preview card on the right. It shows how many of the last 200 spots from the past 24 hours on this source would have passed, with up to four examples.
8. Select Save connection.

The Enabled switch is on for a new connection. It stays greyed out until the connection has a destination.

Reading the preview

The preview uses the source’s most recent spots from the last 24 hours, up to 200. It runs your filter on them as the matcher would, but it ignores the repeat setting and whether the connection or its destinations are on.

• “37 of the last 200 POTA spots would pass” is a fair guide to volume.
• “This passes everything. Add a filter or expect a lot of messages.” means the filter lets every recent spot through.
• “Nothing recent passes. That can be fine for a narrow filter.” is normal for a filter on one callsign who isn’t on the air.

The Connections list

Each card shows the source, the filter in words (such as Band is 20m and Mode is CW), the destinations, and a status line such as “Once per 10 min · 37 of the last 200 POTA spots passed”. The switch turns the connection on or off. Delete asks first; the connection’s destinations are kept.

Shortcuts that start a connection for you

Several pages fill in a new connection. Nothing is saved until you select Save connection.

Where	What it fills in
Create connection on a source page	The source
Get alerts for KK4PWJ on a callsign profile	Your chosen source, Callsign is KK4PWJ, named “KK4PWJ on the air”
Get alerts on a callsign group	Your chosen source, Callsign group is in the group, named “{group} on the air”
Get alerts for US-2763 on a reference page	The program’s source, Park, summit, or location is US-2763, named “Activators at US-2763”
Create a Parks on the Air connection in a goal warning	Parks on the Air, with the goal rule

Common setups

Your club on any band, from POTA. Source: Parks on the Air. Rule: Callsign group is in Club roster. Repeat: At most once per 30 minutes. Destination: your club’s Discord channel.

A rare one on the DX Cluster. Source: DX Cluster. Rules: Callsign is VP8PJ Or Callsign is 3Y0J. Repeat: Every spot, so you see each new frequency. Destination: a push destination with Urgency set to High.

Hear yourself on RBN. Source: Reverse Beacon Network. Rules: Callsign is KK4PWJ And Band is 20m. Repeat: At most once per 5 minutes. Destination: a webhook that logs the signal reports.

When it doesn’t work

The switch is greyed out. The connection has no destinations. Add one under Destinations and save.

The card says “Waiting for a destination” or “Paused”. The first means no destination is linked; the second means the connection is off.

The preview shows spots passing but nothing arrives. Check that at least one linked destination is enabled; the connection’s switch doesn’t show this. Then check the destination itself on the Destinations page for Failing, Paused or Relay offline. Also check the repeat setting: with At most once per hour, an activator who keeps getting spotted reaches you once an hour.

Save connection stays disabled. The name is empty, a rule row has an invalid value (shown in red under the row), or, on Reverse Beacon Network, a group of rules has no Callsign or Callsign group rule.

“You can have up to 100 connections.” You’re at the account limit. Delete one first.

A new RBN connection’s preview shows nothing. Long Lines matches RBN spots only for stations that some live connection names, so a callsign nobody watches has no stored spots to preview yet. Save the connection with an enabled destination and spots start flowing.