# Telnet session resets every few minutes

**URL:** <https://forum.hamalert.org/t/telnet-session-resets-every-few-minutes/1311>\
**Category:** Support\
**Tags:** done\
**Created:** [February 14, 2025, 9:05am UTC](https://forum.hamalert.org/t/telnet-session-resets-every-few-minutes/1311 "2025-02-14T09:05:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NN7M](https://forum.hamalert.org/user_avatar/forum.hamalert.org/nn7m/32/259_2.png) [@NN7M](https://forum.hamalert.org/u/NN7M)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 9:05am UTC](https://forum.hamalert.org/t/telnet-session-resets-every-few-minutes/1311/1 "2025-02-14T09:05:47Z")

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I have been using telnet to get dx spots in RUMlogNG for a long time. Often, the telnet session is lost but immediately logs back in automatically. Sometimes it loses connection every minute or two.

Is there a way to prevent this from happening?

Thank you.

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**Author:** ![HB9DQM](https://forum.hamalert.org/user_avatar/forum.hamalert.org/hb9dqm/32/5_2.png) [@HB9DQM](https://forum.hamalert.org/u/HB9DQM)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://forum.hamalert.org/t/telnet-session-resets-every-few-minutes/1311/2 "2025-02-14T15:39:09Z")

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I can reproduce this issue with RUMlogNG on my Mac. Analyzing the network packets with tcpdump, I found that RUMlogNG actively closes the connection and then immediately reconnects if it has not received any spots for exactly 210 seconds. Given that HamAlert pre-filters the spots (unlike regular DX clusters), it’s quite common to not have any spots for more than those 3½ minutes. Also, the TCP keepalives that I implemented to appease firewalls and NAT engines that like to terminate idle connections (see [Sometimes not receving alerts for a DXCC - #5 by HB9DQM](https://forum.hamalert.org/t/sometimes-not-receving-alerts-for-a-dxcc/686/5)) do nothing to keep RUMlogNG from disconnecting – it wants to see application layer data.

Perhaps the author of RUMlogNG can make this hard-coded timeout configurable (or add an option for it to be disabled).

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**Author:** ![SQ6JNX](https://forum.hamalert.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SQ6JNX](https://forum.hamalert.org/u/SQ6JNX)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 10:24am UTC](https://forum.hamalert.org/t/telnet-session-resets-every-few-minutes/1311/3 "2025-12-02T10:24:36Z")

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I am experiencing the same issue in N1MM.

Maybe HamAlert can send notification (message) every 90 seconds or so? Like “No new spots, this message is to keep your software happy”?

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**Author:** ![HB9DQM](https://forum.hamalert.org/user_avatar/forum.hamalert.org/hb9dqm/32/5_2.png) [@HB9DQM](https://forum.hamalert.org/u/HB9DQM)\
**Post date:** [October 21, 2026, 9:31am UTC](https://forum.hamalert.org/t/telnet-session-resets-every-few-minutes/1311/4 "2026-10-21T09:31:56Z")

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Application layer keep-alive has now been implemented. If no spot was sent for four minutes, the cluster prompt will be resent by the Telnet server.

> <https://github.com/hamalert/hamalert-server/issues/24>
>
> Repost of https://forum.hamalert.org/t/telnet-session-resets-every-few-minutes/1…311
> 
> N1MM (and others, i.e. RUMlogNG) try to reconnect to telnet source when there are no incoming messages for specific periods of time. Can hamalert send "fake spots" every now and then (like 120-180 seconds) just to keep N1MM (and others) happy? Like:
> 
> \`\`\`
> No new spots, this message is to keep your software happy.
> \`\`\`
> 
> PS: It has nothing to do with keep alive telnet packets, N1MM (and others) just ignore these.