History

DX-Central DotCom was born in February, 1999. The site was a project to help me (N0VD) find some QSL information for some missing QSLs I was trying to confirm. After spending countless hours on the net "surfing" from site to site looking for various QSL managers, routes, direct addresses, etc., I thought it would an interesting project to gather information from many place and "warehouse" this information on a single website; the site being much like a library. The first incarnation of DX-Central was very straight forward and fairly simple. However, after having the site online for several months, I quickly learned that the initial design could have used some improvemnets. While there was a lot of information available on the site, the user interface was somewhat "confusing" for some guests.

Future

This design represents the third incarnation of DX-Central DotCom. Since the early days of DX-Central, the site has grown exponentially. Many new features have been added to the site since it was first launched, including a seperate cluster node which is accessable via telnet. I continue to maintain the DX-Central website and telnet cluster in my spare time at no cost to the guest. I hope to continue to offer this service to the ham community for free. But as with most things in this world, the cost of providing this site is going up. I may at some time in the future be forced to ask for user contributions to help support the site and cluster, however, this would be a last resort. The DX-Central website and telnet cluster reside at the offices of Sullivan & Associates in Springfield, Illinois, USA. The two servers sit on a T1 pipe connected directly to the Internet. This provides quick access to the website and cluster node. The website and cluster node are on commercial grade servers and the goal is to provide as close to 100% uptime as possible. It is a pleasure to provide this service to the ham community. I have received many emails voicing your appreciation for the site and cluster in addition to many suggestions. If you find the site useful, drop me an email and tell me what you like about the site and/or cluster. And of course, if you find something you dislike, please let me know about that also. I continue to incorporate your ideas in the each redesign, so your feedback is appreciated. Enjoy the DX-Central website and Cluster. As long as there continues to be guests visiting the site and cluster, I will continue to provide the service. 73 es Enjoy! Kelly - N0VD