PileUpNet - A Networked System for Real-Time Scoring of
Pile-Up Competitions
As the title suggests PileUpNet is a separate piece of
software developed by the author for pile-up competitions
similar to those conducted each year at Dayton by the Kansas City DX
Club. A detailed description of the
system can be found in this
issue of PileUp! published
on-line by the Contest
Club of Finland in the fall of 2008. It is also the system referenced
in the "CW Pileup Competition 101" article in the November/December
2011 issue of the National Contest Journal. A detailed step-by-step guide for
setting up and running the system is also available as well as a separate document describing the network setup procedure for Win 7.
Interested readers are referred to the guide document for a
detailed description of the system and how to use it. It has been used
in the following pile up competitions so far:
- August 2008 Summerfest Pile Up Competition
in Austin, Texas sponsored by the Central Texas DX and Contest
Club
- August 2009 Summerfest Pile Up Competition
in Austin, Texas sponsored by the Central Texas DX and Contest
Club
- March 2010 W5FOC Meeting in Austin
- March 2011 W5FOC Meeting in Lafayette, Louisiana
- May 2011 Dayton CW Pile Up Competition sponsored by the
Kansas City DX Club
- July 2011 W0DXCC CW Pile Up Competition sponsored by the
Kansas City DX Club
- August 2011 Summerfest Pile Up Competition
in Austin, Texas sponsored by the Central Texas DX and Contest
Club
PileUPNet is a networked configuration of four applications: a
PileUp Host, a Player, a Manual Logger, and a Real-time Scoreboard.
With the exception of the Host application the number of clients of
each type is optional. Since the Host is the central managing agent
there can only be one Host. The system is currently sized for six
players, two manual loggers, and four scoreboards.
The Host Application
is the
central applicaton in the system. It is used by the
competition administrator
to manage the test, serves as a network hub, and has
responsibility for performing the following tasks:
- Controlling the playback of the audio file on each of the
player machines
- Monitoring the status of each of the player machines and
alerting the administrator of any connection problems.
-
Scoring
each of the participant's logs in real-time from inputs received from
the Player Applications
- Time-stamping
the score of each participant for use in the real-time playback ("Morse
Race") on the scoreboard
-
Receiving
and scoring logs submitted from each of the Manual Loggers
- Creating pseudo time-stamped scores
of participants whose logs were submitted from Manual Loggers
-
Posting
the results via communication with a Scoreboard Application
-
Ensuring
orderly conduct of the competition including ensuring that a new
contestant or manually entered log does not inadvertently zero out or
replace the log of a prior contestant.
-
Rescoring
all entries in case an error is found in the valid callsign checklist
- Performing post-analysis, for each
of the valid calls, of the percentage of the players that had good copy
on that call.
- Performing
post-analysis for each of the players showing the calls correctly
copied and the percentage of all the players that copied the same calls.
The Player
Application
is the application used by the competitors to log the call signs they
copy as a pile-up audio file is played on their machines under
the control of the Host. Each entered call is sent to the Host as well
as logged locally on the player machine.
The Manual
Logger Application
is the application used by administrative assistants to enter
the
logs of competitors who have elected to log on paper. Following
completion of the manual log entry the log is submitted to the Host
over the network for grading and presentation on the scoreboard(s).
The Scoreboard
Application
is
a separate application whose only role is the real-time presentation of
scores
received following grading and ranking from the Host. It is an optional
piece since the Host application also contains a scoreboard but with
somewhat less scoreboard functionality. A feature of the
scoreboard application that increases spectator interest is
the
"Morse Race" view of the results. This feature, which was added for the
2011 Dayton
competition, allows playback of the top five
finishers thus far in the competition while at the same time showing in
real-time how the current competitors are doing vs the top five and
identifying at the end of the session any new members of the top five.
Scores
of the top five and current players are shown in real-time with
advancing bar graphs. The most effective presentation of the scoreboard
is via either a digital projector or an HDMI connection to a large flat
screen HDTV.
In addition to the above applications the system contains a Utility Application
which is used to install the proper files on each machine depending on
it's assigned role in the system. The system contains a few old audio
and checklist files but does not include the capability to produce new
files. If that is desired it is the responsibility of
the
user is to supply an audio wave file and a checklist text file listing
the valid calls on the audio file. The audio can be either CW or SSB
but to date the system has been used primarily in CW pileup
competitions.
Networking and Other Requirements
The system has been run on peer-to-peer networks and on wi-fi networks
in both cases using a mixture of machines running XP and Windows
7. Some adjustments may be required to the security settings of each
machine and certain hibernate and screen saver features should be
disabled. It is also advisable to disable the tap feature on the touchpad of any player machine.
System Availability
I continue to update PileUpNet with the latest version dated August
11, 2011. If you need an update to your current version or you are
interested in using PileUpNet for your own pile up
competitions or have questions concerning it's use that are not
answered in the above documents please contact me at
73/Chuck/NO5W
Copyright: C.W. Sanders, NO5W
Last Updated: 14-December-2011