On the Linux side, Richard found an article on the ARRL Web site which leads to a discussion of OpenOffice (Libre Office) and Scribus, two excellent document preparation suites. On the ham radio side, Russ discusses some useful Android applications which might be helpful to those operators who want to use their devices for logging, CW training, PSK31 digital mode communications and more.

Thank you for all the donations to the Hamvention fund. Russ hopes to see as many folks as possible during his time at the show. LHS will be in the North Hall, booth 131.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Loctite… not just for noisy children any more.

Announcements:

• The Fourth Annual Southeast Linuxfest is scheduled for June 8-10, 2012 in Charlotte, NC.
• Please sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Please join our new Subreddit and contribute news stories, discussion topics, and any other items that may be of interest to our listeners.
• Scott, N8VSI, has tentatively agreed to be our ambassador at the Ohio Linux Fest in Columbus, Ohio in September, 2012.
• It looks like LHS will be at the Dayton Hamvention, May 18-20, 2012 in Dayton, OH. If you’d like to help make that happen, please donate!
• LHS is syndicated by the Kamiak Butte Amateur Radio Association, KB7ARA. The linked repeater sites cover almost all of Washington State, some of Oregon, and a bit of Canada as well. They are IRLP and Echolink connected.
• Ronny, K4RJJ, will be our ambassador at the Knoxville Hamfest on June 8th, 2012. Ronny calls in to discuss the upcoming Knoxville Hamfest, and his previous experiences as LHS ambassador.

Feedback:

• David, KE0AZ, writes to ask if LHS will be at Ham-Com, June 8-9, 2012, in Plano, TX.
• LinuxCanuck writes to defend Kubuntu against Richard’s recent tirades.

Topics:

• IRSSI Tips and Tricks
  • Irssi is a terminal based IRC client for UNIX systems. It also supports SILC and ICB protocols via plugins. Russ offers some tips on making Irssi a bit friendlier.
  • The functionality and ease of use of Irssi can be extended by installing and using third-party scripts. These scripts are written in Perl and available at scripts.irssi.org.
  • Once you download the script file, which we’ll call “dlfile” in the example below, you can install it and have it automatically run with Irssi by performing the following steps:

    # Create the scripts and autorun directories:
    linux> mkdir -p ~/.irssi/scripts/autorun
    # Move the downloaded script file to the scripts directory:
    linux> mv  ~/.irssi/scripts
    # Change to the autorun directory:
    linux> cd ~/.irssi/scripts/autorun
    # Create a link to the downloaded script:
    linux> ln -s ../ . 

  • Some interesting scripts Russ is using:
    • nicklist-away.pl – provides a nick list and shows away status.
    • screen_away.pl – sets the away status when screen detaches.
    • nickcolor.pl – assigns a different color to each nick.
• Our hosts discuss the new release of Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) with the MATE and Cinnamon desktops.

More Feedback:

• Stefano, IZ3NVR and KD2BGM, asks for help finding a good Linux contest logging program that supports SO2R (single operator, two radios) and CW keying. We don’t know of any, but perhaps one of our listeners can offer a suggestion.
• John, KD7AAT, offered a bit of criticism about the political content of episode 79 with Fab.
• Mike writes to extol the virtues of Linux Mint Debian Edition with the XFCE desktop, and hopes Richard will find it a suitable alternative to Linux Mint or Kubuntu. He also suggests Crunchbang Linux. Richard and Russ respond.

Donations:

• Don sent a nice donation for the Hamvention fund. Thanks, Don! We also received donations from Bob K., Charles H., Scott P., Craig B., and Harrison K. Thank you, everyone!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Gold and Steel” by Isaac Graham from the album Empty Vessels.
• “Charly” by Higgins from the album Zs.

In this episode, our trusty [sic] hosts talk with an Ambassdor. Richard’s interview with Ronny is so good it would make Anderson Cooper–well, throw up probably. They also discuss Linux topics like Mint-based distributions and irssi, an IRC chat client, as well as ham radio topics from HSMM to Winlink to contest loggers. The guys respond to a bunch of listener feedback and talk about some new features of the show.

A quick heads up: The interview audio is a little rough with some weird background anomaly. It won’t drive you mad, just make you wonder what was going on on Ronny’s side of the line. We suspect dinner and a seance.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Tornado season has begun in Texas! Check out the videos at kcares.info

Announcements:

• The donations for the LHS to Dayton Hamvention fund have stalled. If you’d like to see LHS return to the Hamvention this year, please make a donation in the next week or two. All donations will go toward the cost of the booth in the vendor exhibition hall. If we fail to raise enough to attend, then the funds will go toward the expenses of producing LHS.

Topics:

• Richard’s Linux Adventures
  • Thank You Kubuntu, for once again obliterating Richard’s boot sectors.
  • Russ suggests using dd to perform what is essentially a low-level format of the drive. For example,

    dd bs=1m if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda

    NOTE: This will totally erase your hard drive! Use caution!

  • Matthew, KC8BEW, in the chat room, suggests using Spinrite to repair a hard drive.
  • Richard declares that Debian is the Jesus Christ of Linux distributions, as it raised his hard drive from the dead, at least temporarily. It was the only distro he found that managed to install grub on the drive.
  • Richard also declares that Linux Mint sucks… at least for him. Audacity caused 100% CPU usage, spell check didn’t work, and it crashes.
  • Also discussed: CentOS, Scientific Linux, Fedora, PCLinuxOS, Xubuntu, lubuntu.
• Richard is writing an ebook on the National Traffic System.
• Russ again suggests Richard try Debian, but Richard says it won’t let him install Firefox. Maybe there’s a hardware issue? (Perhaps memtest might find a memory error? -Ed.)

Donations:

• We received several donations from visitors to the Dalton Hamfest and the KARC Hamfest. Thank you to our ambassador Ronny (K4RJJ) and to everyone who stopped by our booth at those events.
• Russ hoped to interview Roy, KK4ATD, our ambassador to the RARSfest last week. Apparently, the LHS booth was a great success.
• If you’d like to be an ambassador for LHS at an event, email us at ambassadors@lhspodcast.info and visit the Ambassadors link on the web site.

Feedback:

• Fab, co-host of Linux Outlaws, left a couple comments on the website expressing his gratitude for being on the show.
• Bob (W9YA) offers Russ some suggestions for entering the contact exchange information in YFKtest.
• LinuxCanuck left a comment saying he enjoyed the episode with Fab, asks for help getting the feed links on the web site to work, and offers some thoughts about Kubuntu.
• Roy, KK4ATD, the LHS ambassador to RARSFest, calls in to the show and describes the event. He’s also building a repository of ham radio packages for CentOS, called Hamux.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

73 de The LHS Guys

• An absolutely FABulous episode, in which we interview Fab Scherschel from the Linux Outlaws podcast. Fab’s de-facto father-in-law is DC5JM!

Announcements:

• Ronny, K4RJJ, attended the KARC Hamfest over the weekend as the LHS Ambassador. Details, photos and video will be on the web site very soon. Thanks, again, Ronny!
• Roy, KK4ATD, will be our ambassador at the RARSfest in Raleigh, NC on April 7th. Thanks, Roy!
• The LHS Web site now has a ‘Chat’ link which gives you the ability to join the #lhspodcast IRC channel without having a client, straight from the LHS web site.
• LHS hopes to attend the 2012 Dayton Hamvention. Please donate to the cause to help make that happen!
• A recent iOS update broke the Black Sparrow Media app for iPhones, but that will get fixed, soon. Look for new podcasts in the future. Visit blacksparrowmedia.net/join if you’d like to add your podcast to the Black Sparrow Media network.

Interview:

• Russ and Richard interview Fabian “Fab” Scherschel, co-host of the Linux Outlaws podcast.
• Fab transitioned from Windows to Ubuntu in 2007. The biggest issue was games, but he bought a PlayStation 3 to satisfy that requirement. Minecraft runs well on Linux.
• Fab’s primary motivation for Linux Outlaws was to practice his English.
• Our hosts then discuss Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Canonical and Debian.
• We then talk about software patents from a UK and German perspective.
• Fab is switching his servers from CentOS to Debian, primarily because there is no upgrade from one major release of CentOS to another. He also likes to try different distributions so as to maintain impartiality.
• Fab asks how Linux in the Ham Shack began.
• You can contact Fab via Google Plus.

Feedback:

• LinuxCanuck asks for help accessing links and RSS feeds from the website. Everything seems to be working on this end.
• Phil, AK4RQ, recommends the book ‘The C Programming Language’ by Kernighan and Ritchie, originally published by Prentice Hall in 1978. Thanks, Phil.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Vertigo” by Obsidian Shell from their album Evershade, courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Faces Nameless” by Reform the Resistance from their album And It Begins… courtesy of Jamendo.

• Richard says life has been good, lately, except for Linux Mint, but we’ll get into that in a moment. Announcements and feedback are at the end of the show.

Topics:

• Linux Mint Sux!!! (At least, for Richard.)
  • Richard’s never-ending quest for a Linux distro that works for him. In the past few days, he’s tried various Debian-based distributions:
    • Linux Mint 12, with Gnome 3, MATE, and Cinnamon, but he didn’t like any of them. Too few configuration options for the desktop and gtkpod didn’t work, and that was a deal-breaker.
    • Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE): one of the CPU cores wasn’t running; fixed that, installed software and updates, but gtkpod didn’t work there, either.
    • Crunchbang Linux: too minimalist and too much configuration.
    • XFCE on LMDE was close. Richard replaced the Thunar file manager with Nautilus.
    • Xubuntu which is Ubuntu with XFCE. It looked good, was configurable, but lacked a few features.
    • Kubuntu, which is Ubuntu with KDE. He tried installing it from the live CD, which took 25 minutes to complete. After the reboot, it generated all sorts of hard drive errors. While it’s possible that the hard drive did fail, but Richard blames Kubuntu for causing the problem.
• Russ discusses OpenMediaVault, an open network attached storage solution.
  • It’s an alternative to FreeNAS.
  • Debian-based with a simple install process, while FreeNAS is based on FreeBSD.
  • Supports many features of FreeNAS, including CIFS/Samba, NFS, FTP, SSH, BitTorrent (via plugin), TFTP, and DAAP (via plugin).
  • Russ tried it in a virtual machine, and it installed easily. Once installed, all configuration occurs through the web browser.
  • While it’s perhaps not as mature as FreeNAS, it’s also a newer project, so it’s likely to improve. At the moment, Russ prefers FreeNAS, especially v0.7, but OpenMediaVault may very well catch up and surpass FreeNAS.
• Linux Contesting Software revisited. We covered a few in Episode 70, and here are a couple more.
  • Bill, W9YA, one of the maintainers of YFKtest, contacted Richard to inform him that YFKtest has had a major facelift, as well as adding a few features and fixing some bugs. It’s available as v 0.0.10 from the subversion repository. Russ downloaded the compiled version. He picked a contest, filename for the log, entered his call sign, mode, and some other information, but he had trouble entering a contact.
  • Minos Contest Logging Software is a contest logging suite for VHF and UHF Amateur Radio Contests. The current version is 1.5.4, and is available as a download or via the Subversion repository. It’s a Windows application, and there are directions on the Web site for running the application using WINE. If only they’d simply re-release with Linux-native code. Russ tried it and it does run quite well under WINE. It’s an open source project under the BSD license.
• Allstar Link Node Update: Russ now has an Allstar Link node number assigned, 28357. Allstar Link offers several packages: Limey Linux, ACID CentOS or Pickle Linux (for the BeagleBoard). Russ has been trying to get the ACiD version running on his LMDE machine so he can use it with his existing Asterisk installation. Meanwhile, Russ has his Echolink station working, node 54711.

Feedback:

• We received a voice comment from Ed, KB4VWA, who’s having trouble with some MFJ TNCs he recently bought at the Dalton, GA hamfest. Richard responds, though he’s had the least experience with MFJ TNCs. There are several possibilities: wrong on-air baud rate, bad connection, wrong dip switch settings, or poor or filtered audio into the TNC. Try using the jack on the back of the radio for the audio. Maybe the radio is not exactly on frequency?

Announcements:

• The OGG and MP3 feeds for the LHS Music and LHS Up All Night audio streams from the LHS web site have new links, so check your settings. The live streaming feed is mp3, so it works everywhere.
• The wAVEgUIDES podcast joins the Black Sparrow Media network! Visit blacksparrowmedia.net/join/ if you’d like to add your podcast to the Black Sparrow Media network.
• Episode renumbering: Ever since naming episodes 18a and 19a, it’s been bugging Russ, so they were renumbered to eliminate the letter suffixes.
• LHS hopes to attend the 2012 Dayton Hamvention in May. Please donate to the cause to help make that happen!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Requiem For A Fish” by The Freak Fandango Orchestra from their album Tales Of A Dead Fish, courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Boats (Swept Away)” by I Am Not Left Handed, from their album Time To Leave, courtesy of Jamendo.

73 de The LHS Guys

Then there’s some discussion of svxlink, an Echolink client and server application for native Linux environments, Allstar Link, Open Media Vault, contest loggers and a whole bunch of other stuff besides. Ahh, perhaps there is some content here after all. Hope everyone enjoys this episode and can perhaps contribute a dollar or two towards the Hamvention fund. It’s coming up soon and we hope to see you all there.

73 de The LHS Guys

73 de The LHS Guys

• We’re recording live, with music played as we record. Our guest tonight is Harrison, VE2HKW, from the MintCast podcast.

Announcements:

• The Dalton Hamfest will be in Dalton, Georgia on February 25, 2012. The LHS Ambassador is Ronny, K4RJJ. This has probably come and gone by the time you hear this.
• The KARC Hamfest will be held in Marietta, Georgia, March 17, 2012. Our LHS Ambassador is again Ronny, K4RJJ. Thanks, Ronny!
• The Northeast Linux Fest will be in Worcester, Massachusetts on March 17, 2012. We’re still looking for an LHS ambassador for this event. Contact us at ambassadors@lhspodcast.info if you’d like to help.
• Some of you may have noticed that the LHS web site has been down occasionally. For some reason, the server locks up. We can’t tell if it’s a denial of service attack, or an improper configuration, but we’re working on it.
• Paul, KE5WMA, in the chat room, reminds us of the Acadiana Hamfest on March 9, 2012, near Lafayette, LA., and the New Orleans Hamfest on March 24, 2012.
• Happy Mardi Gras!

Topics:

• Linux Utilities – Russ introduces us to some GNU/Linux utilities that provide information about your Linux system’s performance.
  • top shows a list of the processes running in descending order of resource consumption.
  • iftop allows you to monitor connections to your machine and the bandwidth used by each.
  • ifstat reports the amount of data passing through the interfaces every second, or other interval. For example, ifstat -i eth0 10 1 would report how much data moved through the first ethernet port in 10 seconds, and only do this once. Handy for capturing such information in a script program.
  • iotop shows what processes are the top disk I/O users.
  • All of these are command line utilities. Press Q to exit. Check the man pages for other keystrokes that can be used while the utilities run.
• Interview with Harrison, VE2HKW
  • Harrison, VE2HKW, is a recent ham radio licensee and describes his introduction to the hobby, what he likes and doesn’t like, and provides an overview of the Canadian amateur radio licensing structure.
  • Harrison is also a member of the Covey Hill Amateur Radio Club (CHARC).
  • Check out Harrison’s blog and pictures of his ham shack.
  • Tune in to the MintCast podcast on Monday nights, 8:00pm eastern time, 01:00 UTC. Join the chat at irc.spotchat.org, #mintcast
  • You can contact Harrison by email at harrison@mintcast.org or ve2hkw@gmail.com.

Feedback:

• We received donations from Steve S., Paul G., and Bill H. Thank you! These donations will be added to the Dayton Hamvention fund to cover the costs of LHS’ presence at the 2012 Dayton Hamvention in Dayton, OH, May 18-20, 2012.
• LHS had several mentions on Twitter by Neptune78.
• Serge, ON4AA, asks about using the LHS logo to publicize the show. Russ explains that the LHS logo is not Creative Commons licensed, so please ask for permission to use it.
• Larry Bushey of the Going Linux podcast responds to recent comments we made about their show. It’s a love fest!
• Leif, KC8RWR, continues an ongoing comment dialog.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Rainbow Over The Bayou” by Regis V. Gronoff, from the album Hummingbird & Honeybee, courtesy of Jamendo
• “Twist and Shout” by Swamp Daddy, from the album Swamp Daddy, also courtesy of Jamendo.

In the first segment, our hosts discuss three very useful Linux utilities for analyzing system performance on your desktop or server: iftop, ifstat and iotop. Get in-depth knowledge of how to use these tools in order to make your machine run better with fewer bottlenecks. And since Harrison is from a whole other country, it was decided he should tell all of us about amateur radio from a Canadian perspective, including licensing, regulations and operating practices.

Hamvention 2012 is coming up very soon. Please donate to the fund if you can. We hope to see everyone there!

73 de The LHS Guys (and Harrison, too)

• Only 317 days until the end of the world as we know it!

Announcements:

• The Black Sparrow Media application for iPad, iPhone and iPod has been submitted to the iTunes store. It is just awaiting validation from Apple, which may take up to two weeks. We’ll let everyone know when it’s available.
• Special Event Station W0S (Whiskey Zero Sierra) will be operating from the Titanic Branson Museum from April 13-15, 2012, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster. Russ, K5TUX, will be operating the station at some point.

Feedback:

• Scott, AD7MI, asks for help linking APRS and his his Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station with Xastir. Our hosts suggest trying one or both of these:
  • Meteo – Davis weather station platform software for Linux. You can subscribe to the Meteo mailing list by sending a subscription request to meteo-request@lists.othello.ch. It has been several years since Meteo was updated, and is still not at version 1.0. You must download the .tar file from the web site as it does not appear in the distribution repositories.
  • wview- Cross-platform weather station software. It does need an internet connection if you are going to contribute information to various weather sites, such as:
    • Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP)
    • Weather Underground
    • Weather For You
    • awekas

    This program is under active development. Even if it requires a work-around to perform as you wish, it may be worth the trouble. If you’ve ever configured a Linksys router, the web interface of wview looks a lot like that. wview has a support site via Google Groups at http://groups.google.com/group/wview.

  Let us know how you get on, Scott!

• Paul, M0PGX, replied to our recent discussion of D-STAR and suggests trying the AllStar Link Network. Like EchoLink, it allows you to talk to other ham radio operators using just your computer and a microphone, including those operators running D-STAR.

  Russ signed up for the AllStarLink network; it’s very similar to joining EchoLink. AllStar uses the Asterisk VOIP system, and Jim, WB6NIL, is the author of the repeater link software. Russ had success using a Mac computer, but not with a Linux machine.

  Richard sees the biggest problem with EchoLink is that it only allows one connection per IP address, so you can’t have both a server and client at home. The EchoLink site only sees your IP address assigned by your ISP, which limits you to one connect from home. In this respect, AllStarLink appears to better in that it seems to allow multiple connections.

  AllStarLink is available in several combinations of Linux and Asterisk:

  • ACID – based on CentOS
  • Limey Linux – based on embedded Linux and bootable from a flash drive, and runs ONLY on several specific Mini-ITX motherboards.
  • Pickle – a specialized embedded Linux distro designed to operate on a BeagleBoard-xM (and DMK Engineering LOX board).

  Russ then provides an overview of setting up an AllStar Link client.

• Back to Paul’s email, he suggests we use the term “digital mode” when we should say “protocol”, which brings us to…
• Leif, KC8RWR, responded to Paul’s comment that D-STAR specifies a protocol, modulation mode, voice codec, etc. The modulation mode used is GMSK.

  Richard defends the use of “mode” as appropriate as the definition allows it to mean “a method or means of doing something”. For example, CW vs DFCW (dual-frequency CW), where DFCW uses frequency shifts to distinguish dots and dashes, rather than two different lengths of the same frequency, and spaces. Both are CW.

• Leif, KC8RWR, also comments on the possibility that he’s been nitpicking, as well as the use of Q-signals in voice conversations.
• Bill, KE5WMA, suggests that hobos migrate to New Orleans from Dallas this time of year because Dallas doesn’t have Mardi Gras!
• We received a donation from Bill H. Thanks, Big Poppa!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

Please keep those donations coming in for our Hamvention Fund, if you’re able. We want to be a part of Hamvention and we hope you will be, too. Thank you for all you do.

73 de Russ, Linux in the Ham Shack

• We’re a little light on content, but we’ll make up for it with enthusiasm!

Announcements:

• Ronny, K4RJJ, will be the LHS ambassador at the Dalton Hamfest, February 25, 2012, in Dalton, GA. Stop by and say hello.

Topics:

• Linux Mint 12 Review
  • Richard has been using Ubuntu for some time, but he’s been unhappy with the latest version. He’s rediscovered Linux Mint! Version 12 is out, with Gnome 3, Gnome 2, MATE, and Cinnamon, and he gives a brief review.
  • His primary needs: browser, email, Audacity, XChat, and a few others.
  • Using the Gnome 3 desktop, as a desktop fills with icons, a new desktop is automatically created.
  • By moving the mouse to a hot corner, you’ll see a high-level view of all your open applications.
  • Russ has been using Linux Mint Debian Edition, so he’s missing out on the Gnome 3 goodies, at least for now.
  • Our hosts then drift into a discussion of various desktop managers and visual effects.
• WINE: Wine Is Not an Emulator
  • WINE is a collection of libraries for Linux that support Windows library calls from a Windows application.
  • EchoLink, for example, is a Windows application works quite well under WINE on Linux.
  • If you can’t find a native Linux application that does what you want, you may find that WINE will allow you to run the Windows program.
  • There are a couple of different versions of WINE, all based on the core version of WINE.
  • Cedega: a version of WINE that supports a variety of Windows games.
  • CrossOver: a version of WINE that originally focused on supporting business applications such as Internet Explorer and MS Office, but has also expanded to include some games and running Windows applications on a Mac.
  • Richard browses the list of ham radio applications in the WINE application database.
  • Russ talks about installation and configuration:
    • Red Hat/Fedora: yum install wine
    • Debian-based: apt-get install wine
    • Some repositories may not have the most recent version of WINE (1.4 at the time of recording).
    • Under System Tools (in Linux Mint, or Debian) there is a WINE Configuration tool.
    • To install a Windows program under WINE, download the Windows installer application. At the command line, type “wine [name of installer executable]“, and the setup program should proceed just as with Windows. A program icon should appear under the WINE program folder, and the program will, hopefully, run just like in Windows.
    • Some Windows programs will run just fine under WINE; others won’t. Give your favorite a try and see!
  • One of the most-wanted ham radio applications, Ham Radio Deluxe v. 5.0, does not run at all under WINE. If you can find a copy of HRD v. 4, it should work under WINE. Remember, too, the native Linux application fldigi does much of what HRD would do.
  • Russ has also tried the N1MM Logger under WINE, and it worked fine.
  • The Winetricks tool might help get a Windows application running under WINE.
  • The WineHQ forum is a good resource for help.

Feedback:

• We had a donation from William A. Thank you!
• Leif, KC8RWR, continues a comment dialog about the origin of CUPS in Episode 67.
• G8FXM, mentioned LHS in his blog. Thanks, David.
• The Hoosier Hills Ham Club linked to the LHS site and we linked back. Thanks to W.W., KB9TMP.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

After that, we had a request to discuss WINE in a little more depth than perhaps we had touched on in previous episodes. So we take a fairly broad view of the WINE project, how to use it for your applications, what its can and can’t do, and how it can benefit you.

As a quick reminder, Hamvention in Dayton is coming up quickly, from May 18-20. As always, if you can spare a few bucks, quid, euros, drachmas, or whatever currency you currently use to help send LHS out to Ohio for the weekend, we’d love to see everyone there. Any little bit will help.

Thank you to all of our listeners, as always. We couldn’t and wouldn’t do it without you!

73 de The LHS Guys

• They barely get the introductions done, and Richard is off on a tangent about the great hobo migration in Texas. All this just  proves Larry Bushey of the Going Linux podcast is right: LHS rambles. More on this in a moment.

Announcements:

• Richard and Russ discuss a disparaging comment Mitt Romney made six years ago about ham radio operators. He’s since reversed his position, at least publicly.
• Larry Bushey says LHS rambles in episode 160 of the Going Linux podcast. You know, Larry, you’re right.

Topics:

• Terminal emulation programs for Linux.
• If you’re interested in running packet radio with your Linux computer, you’ll likely need a terminal emulation program to communicate with your terminal node controller(TNC). There are several Linux tools you can use:
  • setserial is a command-line program designed to set and/or report the configuration information associated with a serial port.
  • microcom is a very basic terminal emulation program. Tip: pressing Control-\ will access the menu.
  • minicom is a menu-driven communications program. It emulates ANSI and VT102 terminals, has a dialing directory and auto zmodem download.
    • At the command line, type “minicom -s” to begin configuration. The first time you run “minicom -s”, you’ll probably want to run it as root so you have write access to the configuration file.
    • The first serial port in Linux is called ttyS0.
    • Most things will work at 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity bit, and 1 stop bit.
    • Text based modem control program.
    • Runs in a terminal screen
    • It’s useful for other serial port tasks, too.
    • Ctrl-A followed by W turns on line wrap, so you won’t have long lines truncated.
    • Install on a Debian-based system by using “apt-get install minicom” or use Synaptic.
    • Press Ctrl-A then X to exit.
  • GTK Term is a terminal emulator written with GTK+.
    • Gets added to the launch menu during installation, but with the name “Serial Port Terminal”, not “GTK Term”.
    • Has a nice looking interface.
    • Easy access to the serial port settings.
  • CuteCom is another graphical terminal emulator, with split input and output screens.

Feedback:

• Sean, AC0VD, writes about http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com. Thanks, Sean. That’s pretty much where the whole badger thing on LHS began. Sean also likes the howto article Installing Linux on a Dead Badger.
• Ilan Rabinovich, of the Southern California Linux Expo, SCALE, sent a voice mail asking that we play promotions for the event. Unfortunately, we’re too late with releasing the LHS episodes to promote SCALE in time. We’ll try to do better next year.
• Richard has posted an article Making Yourself Clear on the Radio, and it received a couple of comments:
  • Tim liked the article and agrees that talking slower helps.
  • Lief, KC8RWR, notes that codes and ciphers are only prohibited when intended to hide the meaning of a transmission.
• We received a donation from Walter J. Thank you, Walter!
• John, KF6EFG, asks what was the open source podcast mentioned in a recent episode. We don’t remember, John, but it may have been any of these:
  • ICQ podcast
  • Tux Radar
  • Linux Outlaws
  • The Linux Link Tech Show (TLLTS)
  • Going Linux
  • Mintcast
  • To answer the second part of John’s question, neither Russ nor Richard will be at the Indiana LinuxFest. If you would like to be the LHS ambassador there, please let us know.
• The Dalton Hamfest in Dalton, Georgia, will have an LHS ambassador on duty! Look for the LHS booth on February 25th, 2012.
• If you’d like your podcast included in the Black Sparrow Media empire, send us an email!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

73 de The LHS Guys

Announcements:

• The free Black Sparrow Media Android app is available now. An iPhone app is in the works. Visit http://blacksparrowmedia.net/ or the Android Market to get your copy.
• Ronny, K4RJJ, has offered to be an LHS ambassador at the Dalton Hamfest, February 25, 2012, in Dalton, GA.
• The Southern California Linux Expo, SCaLE 10x will be (was!) January 20-22, 2012, in Los Angeles, CA. If you will attend and would like to be an ambassador for LHS, please let us know.
• Northeast Linux Fest will be March 17, 2012, in Worcester, MA. Again, if you’d like to be an LHS ambassador for that event, please contact us.

Topics:

• IPv6 – The End is Near (of IPv4)
  • Internet Protocol version 6.
  • If you can, start setting up your devices for IPv6 on your devices that support it. All of the current IPv4 address space has been allocated to the Regional Internet registrars (RIRs). IPv6 is the next version of Internet Protocol with a greatly expanded address space.
  • IPv6 is now the default IP stack for Linux. Unfortunately, many Internet service providers (ISPs) are not yet ready for IPv6.
  • There are IPv6 tunneling services that will forward your IPv6 traffic to IPv4 services:
    • SixXS
    • Freenet6
    • Hurricane Electric
  • If possible, give IPv6 a try. It’s inevitable, so if it works for you, you’ll be that much further along.
• HSMM – High Speed Multimedia, also known as “hinternet” (ham + internet)
  • The advantage is that we can use the normal “Internet” tools and off-the-shelf wifi hardware to provide emergency communications services.
  • One caveat: avoid using channel 1 as it uses the same frequency as AMSAT OSCAR 40 (Note: AO-40 became non-operational in 2004.)
  • Compared with other digital communications equipment, HSMM offers a lot of capability for little investment. The Linksys WRT54GL router is often used with alternate firmware from dd-wrt or OpenWrt.
  • Resources:
    • What is HSMM Microwave Radio?
    • N5OOM’s HSMM Projects
    • Rootenna Project
    • HSMM MESH

Feedback:

• Andrew, AC8JO, updated his blog to acknowledge that the LHS website has been updated and new episodes have been released. Thanks, Andrew!
• Bert, K1OIK, has been a frequent commenter on the website. Unfortunately, the comments aren’t appropriate and he becomes the latest victim of the Ban Hammer.
• To Gary, KN4AQ: contact us via email if you’d like us promote your endeavors.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

• Happy New Year! Sorry for the delay in releasing the last several episodes.

Announcements:

• Would you be interested in the return of Resonant Frequency, the Amateur Radio Podcast, if it cost a dollar an episode? Send your thoughts to Richard via email at kb5jbv@gmail.com.
• Black Sparrow Media now provides an aggregate RSS feed of Linux in the Ham Shack, QSK Netcast, and Resonant Frequency. One feed, three shows! Quite a bargain.
• There is now a (free) Black Sparrow Media mobile app for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android! See blacksparrowmedia.net for details, and send us your feedback.
• Andrew, AC8JO, has a blog that discusses Linux, amateur radio, and other topics. Naturally, he mentions our podcast. Thanks, Andrew!
• Leif, KC8RWR, responded to our comments in episode 67 that Apple created CUPS. According to Wikipedia, CUPS, the Common UNIX Printing System, was developed by a Michael Sweet beginning in 1997, and was later adopted by Apple for OS X. In 2007, Apple hired Michael Sweet and purchased his source code. The Apple website provides a somewhat different version.
  • Apple’s Version
  • Wikipedia Article

  Thanks for the information, Leif. Our advice is to pick the story you like and stick with it!

Topics:

• Channel Bonding for Linux
  • Channel bonding combines two or more network interfaces on a host computer for redundancy or greater bandwidth.
  • By bonding two or more Ethernet links to your computer, you get several benefits, including redundancy, so if one network port fails, the other still works, and greater bandwidth when both (or more) links are running.
  • Based on the Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), though called different things depending on vendor, such as EtherChannel or PortChannel.
  • It’s relatively easy to set up. Briefly:
    • You’ll need an Ethernet port for each link, set up and configured in the normal manner. These ports will likely be called eth0, eth1, etc.
    • Install the ifenslave package, which allows you to create a “bond” interface, say bond0.
    • Create modules.conf file to alias the various ethx devices as bonding interfaces.
    • Modify your /etc/sysconfig or /etc/network/interfaces file (depending on your version of Linux) to include an entry that references the bond0 interface.
    • ifup the bond0 interface, and all the component interfaces should come up.
    • Other configuration settings will set up the failover time.
  • Resources:
    • http://www.linux-corner.info/bonding.html for Red Hat-based systems.
    • http://wiki.debian.org/Bonding for Debian-based systems.
    • Ethernet bonding on linux (Debian based)
    • Ethernet Bonding Configuration in Debian
    • Bonding
  • Our hosts then discuss the utility of load balancing between multiple network interfaces.
• More about the apt-cache utility
  • Russ provides more information about the apt-cache utility for Debian-based systems, previously discussed in Episode 69.
  • The basic syntax of the utility is apt-cache [command] [package(s)]. There are many commands you can use, including:
    • policy [package] shows which repository provided, or would provide, a specified package.
    • depends [package] shows all packages in the repositories that depend on the named package, and which other packages would be installed or suggested.
    • showpkg [package] shows reversed dependencies; that is, which packages depend on the named package, and the MD5 checksum of the package.
    • stats  shows some aggregate sums about all the packages in the repositories included on your system. For example, on Russ’ system:

          Total package names: 42814 (856 k)
          Total package structures: 42814 (2,398 k)
          Normal packages: 32874
          Pure virtual packages: 374
          Single virtual packages: 3670
          Mixed virtual packages: 465
          Missing: 5431
          Total distinct versions: 33706 (2,427 k)
          Total distinct descriptions: 33706 (809 k)
          Total dependencies: 200360 (5,610 k)
          Total ver/file relations: 35248 (846 k)
          Total Desc/File relations: 33706 (809 k)
          Total Provides mappings: 6402 (128 k)
          Total globbed strings: 197 (2,192 )
          Total dependency version space: 789 k
          Total slack space: 65.4 k
          Total space accounted for: 11.5 M

    • unmet shows packages in the repositories with unmet dependencies in the tree, that is, if you attempted to install, would fail.
    • show [package] shows meta information about the package. For example, “apt-cache show adduser” returns:

         Package: adduser
            Version: 3.113
            Installed-Size: 1100
            Maintainer: Debian Adduser Developers
            Architecture: all
            Replaces: manpages-it (<< 0.3.4-2), manpages-pl (= 5.6.0)
            Suggests: liblocale-gettext-perl, perl-modules
            Description: add and remove users and groups
            This package includes the 'adduser' and 'deluser' commands for creating
            and removing users.
            - 'adduser' creates new users and groups and adds existing users to
              existing groups;
            - 'deluser' removes users and groups and removes users from a given
              group.
            Adding users with 'adduser' is much easier than adding them manually.
            Adduser will choose appropriate UID and GID values, create a home
            directory, copy skeletal user configuration, and automate setting
            initial values for the user's password, real name and so on.
            Deluser can back up and remove users' home directories
            and mail spool or all the files they own on the system.
            A custom script can be executed after each of the commands.
            Development mailing list:
      
      http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/adduser-devel/
      
            Homepage: http://alioth.debian.org/projects/adduser/
            Tag: admin::user-management, implemented-in::perl, interface::
            Section: admin
            Priority: important
            Filename: pool/main/a/adduser/adduser_3.113_all.deb
            Size: 217556
            MD5sum: 74c114db96f321f4d097b04ae305600a
            SHA1: 567b8e42dc9b4777ab694f15ca71b7fa159749ef
            SHA256: 3bfea7f2ffcb363e2cc2b701a6e6d2079f7554b4d76194a118916afd2400f5c4

  • Tim Allen’s character in his latest TV show, “Last Man Standing” is a Ham Radio Operator, KA0XTT.

Feedback:

• Kevin, KC9VAN, writes that he’s enjoying the show and just recently received his ham radio license. He also notes that he’s had the most luck with Hewlett-Packard printers under Linux. Thanks, Kevin. Russ has had good luck with Dell printers and generic PCL drivers.
• Leif, KC8RWR, posted several comments about episode 67. He suggests avoiding “all-in-one” printers, and instead, using separate printers and scanners. (I agree! -Ed.) Often, used scanners can be had for very little money. Leif also suggests buying printers with separate cartridges for each color. That way, you’re not throwing away all the colors when just one is empty. He seconds Russ’ suggestion to use a laser printer over inkjet, as the cost per page is less.
• Russ likes the Epson Artisan 835, especially for printing on CDs and DVDs, and it works well with Linux.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

Richard discusses a wireless technology called HSMM or High-Speed Multimedia. This is a networking technique that blurs the line between FCC Part 15 and FCC Part 97, but gives ham radio operators some new and exciting things to try with their off the shelf wireless gear. HSMM has some nice features and will definitely earn you your Boy Scout Geek Cred Badge if you decide to dive in.

Thanks as always to our listeners, present and future. Comments and questions, make sure to send them our way. Donations are also appreciated. If you want to promote yourself, your ideas or your projects, leave us an intro to the show at 1-909-LHS-SHOW. Stay geeky!

73 de The LHS Guys

Speak slowly and clearly

When we say speak slowly and clearly what we mean is sometimes at normal conversational speed  words run together when you are talking on the radio. Most radio equipment doesn’t reproduce all the audio frequencies of human speech or hearing. This can make it difficult to understand what someone is saying on the air. When you have some hearing loss it is even worse. I have some low end hearing loss so most of the time I have to add a speaker to my rig that produces more low frequencies to make the speech ineligible to me in noisy environments.

Annunciate. Some people don’t consider that when they speak they are trying to convey information. I know several people that just engage there mouth and let the words fall out without giving a second thought as to if the person on the other end of the conversation is having to decipher the noises emanating from their mouth. It is sometimes difficult to understand a conversation when you are in the same room with someone if the are slurring and mumbling their words. It is even more difficult when you are on a noisy frequency or using a narrow band width mode like SSB, or D*STAR. When you add the stress of a net situation people tend to speak faster than they normally would. They also tend not to speak clearly. This makes the problem even worse.

Use Standard ITU Phonetics

Another consideration is the use of phonetics. In most cases phonetics can greatly increase your ability to understand and be understood when conditions a frequency are not optimal. Ham radio operators are as a rule a playful bunch so we do things to make talking on the radio more fun like making up funny phonetics for our call sign. Unfortunately during emergency and disaster communications play time falls by the wayside and these home brew phonetics become more of a problem than an asset. Most of the time these home brew phonetics in no way resemble any of the standardized phonetic systems. When These operators find themselves in a situation where they need to be understood their home brew phonetics really don’t help. That is why the ITU Phonetic alphabet is the agreed upon standard for amateur radio emcomm communications. Every radio operator should be able to at least spell their call sign with these phonetics. Memorization of these phonetics is not difficult. Some operators can jump to phonetics without even thinking about it. Since so many letters in the English language like E,B,V,C and others sound so much alike it is very important to know the standard ITU phonetic alphabet.

Do not yell, Don’t whisper

Yelling at a microphone is a problem that has propagated down through the hobby. Many of us have come into the hobby by way of the citizens band service. Operating AM on cheaply made and badly maintained equipment in that service. Many others use sideband radios on a regular bases. On AM and Sideband speaking louder into the microphone can give you a small increase in the output power of your radio. Since we are using primarily FM radio equipment this is not the case. Without going off into an explanation of how FM works lets just say that yelling at your microphone causes distortion making it difficult to understand the information you are trying to convey. Since the equipment that we use on VHF and UHF is Frequency Modulated the Amplitude of your voice can cause more problems than you would think.

Whispering into the microphone also has problems. There are some operators out there that speak very quietly into there microphone. This results in a full quieting signal and barely understandable audio. Some times the microphone gain or deviation on your radio may not be adjusted properly. if you do not speak up while transmitting this can make the problem worse. In the case of a Net Control located in a noisy environment it makes your transmissions unusable. It also waste valuable time while the Net Control attempts to take your traffic. We don’t always have the luxury of calling a net from the comfort of our home.

Don’t eat the microphone.

Eating the microphone or holding it to close to your mouth is another bad habit that has trickled down through the hobby from the days of carbon microphones and the poor quality microphones of the past. Today the microphone supplied with a standard piece of amateur radio equipment is very good. Eating the microphone presents its own set of problems. Holding the microphone to close to your mouth can overdrive the diaphragm in the microphone and audio stage of the radio causing distortion which most often results in muffled audio. You may also experience Flat Topping of your audio signal that is very similar to clipping in other audio equipment. Over deviation of your signal is also a problem you may experience. Over deviation is a problem because most repeaters are equipped with a band pass filter to eliminate unwanted noise on nearby frequencies. This means that in some cases you could be sitting under the repeater running a hundred watts and not be able to key the machine because your signal exceeds the width of the passband. Another problem that may occur from eating the microphone is known as P-pops or Clicks. These are most common when the microphone is held directly in front of the mouth. These are not only annoying but can also make it difficult for net control to understand the information you are trying to convey. It is always best to hold the microphone off to one side of the mouth. I also like to use what I call the “Thumb Rule”. If I am holding the microphone to transmit I should be able to extend my thumb and lightly touch my chin or lower jaw. This seems to be just about the right distance and works well with most radios including hand held transceivers.

Lastly a word on hand held transceivers. Most HT’s come from the factory with the microphone gain turned up higher that mobile radios. So the built in microphones are “Hotter” than one might expect. They are designed to be held a foot to eighteen inches away from your mouth. Eating the microphone on these will cause many of the problems listed above to be much worse. External microphones will depend on the design of the microphone.

Q signals, codes and jargon

Since from time to time we will be transmitting information for use by non-hams such as our served agencies we need to keep Q-Signals, Codes, and Jargon to a minimum. Our served agencies have there own language or jargon and in most cases it doesn’t even remotely resemble the jargon that we use as amateur radio operators. The National Weather Service has its own language for describing weather and that is the only possible jargon that we may need to use. That information will be covered at Skywarn School where it will be covered by the folks that know what they are talking about.

Codes and Ciphers are prohibited by part 97 so they are not appropriate for any reason.

Q-Signals are a problem in amateur radio today because everybody wants to sound like a professional radio operator and they think that Q-Signals help achieve that goal. Q-Signals were designed to make cw operation easier and have no place on a phone (Voice) frequency especially during an emcomm net where the transmission and reception of clear and concise information is critical. Lastly, There is a place for Over, Out and Roger in emcomm communications. Most amateur radio operators tend not to use them correctly. My personal opinion is that if you want to acknowledge a transmission the word “Received” works just fine.

These are just a few of the things that can help all of us improve our communications skills. Clarity in communications is always important. It is even more important when we start to deal with Emergency and Disaster communications. Remember we are not transmitting for ourselves. We are transmitting for everybody.

• The Black Sparrow Media web site has been updated. If you use the aggregate feed from there, you’ll receive Linux in the Ham Shack, QSK Netcast, and Resonant Frequency (or Richard’s Radio Adventures) podcasts.

Topics:

• D-RATS
  • Bruce, VE2GZI, asks for help installing D-RATS on his Linux Mint computer. He tried adding the repository per the instructions on the D-RATS website, but received errors.
  • Richard has several suggestions: Make sure the whole line “deb http://d-rats.com/apt karmic release” gets entered into your sources.list file and that you are using the right repo for your distribution. Linux Mint normally falls a version behind Ubuntu. You might also try the tar file labeled “source” from the website, and use the archive manager to install it. Since D-RATS is written completely in Python, and Dan normally tries to stay with the most current version, check to see if you have the most recent version of Python installed. Finally, you could subscribe to the D-RATS mailing list from the website for more help.
  • Russ adds: If you wish to add the repository via the command line, there are a couple of ways to do it: (a) Edit the file /etc/apt/sources.list and add the “deb http://d-rats.com/apt karmic release” line, OR (b) Create a file in the /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory called, say, d-rats-repo.list, and add the “deb http://d-rats.com/apt karmic release” line to it. However, back in April, 2011, Steve Conklin, AI4QR, said his packaging of D-RATS had been accepted into both Debian Testing and Unstable branches. So, if you’re running Debian or Linux Mint Debian Edition, it’s already in the repository. Just issue the command “apt-get install d-rats”. For Ubuntu, there’s a PPA at https://launchpad.net/~sconklin/+archive/hampackages. That should work with Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx), 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat), and 11.04 (Natty Narwhal). (It may not work with Ubuntu 11.10, Oneric Ocelot, but then again, it might).
  • Ed. Note: After this episode was recorded, the D-RATS website was updated to say:Ubuntu users should use the ubuntu-hams PPA in order to get packages for D-RATS. To install the PPA, go to a terminal and type:

    sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-hams-updates/ppa
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install d-rats

    The package manager will do the rest!

• Chirp
  • Chirp was written by Dan Smith, KK7DS, who is also the author of D-RATS.
  • From the Chirp wiki: CHIRP is a FREE cross-platform, cross-radio programming tool. It works on Windows and Linux (and Mac OSX, with a little work). It supports a growing list of radios across several manufacturers and allows transferring of memory contents between them.
  • Chirp currently supports 41 different model radios from Alinco, Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom, and others.
  • Richard tested it with his Icom IC-91 and IC-2200.
  • Chirp has a bare-bones interface, using a basic spreadsheet style, and is primarily for entering memory channel information. It will allow entry of call signs for D-STAR operation.
  • There are packages for Fedora and Ubuntu, and a source package for all other distributions of Linux. Chirp is written in Python, so be sure to have the latest version of Python installed.
  • There is also a self-extracting .exe file for Windows, and an app package for Mac OS-X. You must install the Python runtime package, available on the Chirp website, for the Mac version.
  • There is a Chirp mailing list, among others, at http://intrepid.danplanet.com/mailman/listinfo/.
  • Russ and Richard then discuss the cost of various D-STAR radios.
• Linux Tip: apt-cache policy
  • Russ offers a tip on how to determine which Debian repository is providing a given package.
  • Use the command apt-cache policy <package name>
  • For example: apt-cache policy libpulse0
  • The results of that command will show you which version is installed, if any, which version would be installed, and all other versions available.

Feedback:

• Dan, K4FD, thanks us for the podcast. It has inspired him to return to the hobby after a 10 year hiatus. Thanks, Dan, and welcome back to the hobby!
• We received a donation from Jim G. Thank you, Jim!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

73 de The LHS Guys

• The 2nd Annual Northeast GNU/Linuxfest will be held March 17, 2012 in Worcester, MA.

Introduction:

• Welcome to another installment of Linux in the Ham Shack.
• After the holidays, consider attending a Skywarn training class so you’ll be prepared for the next storm season.

Topics:

• Contesting software for Linux
  • Ian, KM4IK, wrote that he’s now using Ubuntu 11.04 in his ham shack, but wants suggestions for a native Linux contest logging program. Good question, Ian, and we have a few suggestions. However, as neither Russ nor Richard are contesters, these may or may not be suitable for you.
  • JL Logger is a Java application that supports all of the major contests.
  • YFKlog and YFKtest are curses-based programs that run in a terminal session. YFKtest uses the hamlib libraries for rig control.
  • TLF also runs in a terminal session and uses hamlib for rig control.
  • KB is still in development. It runs in the Gnome window manager. Radio control for the Yaesu FT-1000 only.
  • Fldigi has a built-in logger, and will also work with CQRLog.
  • N1MM Logger has been reported to work under Wine. Others have had problems.
  • Russ tried installing N1MM under Wine, and while the installer ran fine, N1MM didn’t run properly when launched. Apparently, you must have the ALSA libraries installed. Note that the N1MM website warns that you should perform the Full Install, then install the latest update. Do not run the Full Install without first installing the update. Russ also tried the JL Logger, but it crashed. After realizing that it requires that the Java Development Kit, he installed that, but it still crashed. Look for an update in a future episode.
• VLC media player
  • Richard was having an issue with the VLC plugin for Firefox 7.0.1; the LHS music stream would play one song then stop. The VLC Media Player should work.
  • Our hosts briefly digress into a discussion of the DEFCON system; DEFCON 1 is the most serious, while 5 is the least. Hollywood often gets it wrong.

Feedback:

• Burt, K1OIK: please contact us about recent emails we’ve received from you. It may be that your email account may have been compromised.
• Leif, KC8RWR, wrote us regarding the discussion of EchoLink clients in episode 66. He tried QTEL and it worked fine. Thanks, Leif. (Also look at SvxLink.)
• Tom, KA2D, who is on the committee for Ham Radio University in New York, asks if there are any LHS Ambassadors in the Long Island, NY area. No, Tom, so you’re it!
• Andy, KC2ZWR, of the Suffolk County Radio Club, will also be at Ham Radio University on January 8, 2012, and offers his services as ambassador for that event.
• Tony, K7ISS, wrote to say he was happy that Richard had a good time at the Texoma Hamarama. Richard blogged about his visit to the event.
• Mike S., sent a VERY generous donation to the podcast. Thank you, Mike!
• The second annual Indiana Linuxfest will be April 13-15, 2012 at the Wyndham Indianapolis West Hotel. Russ is planning to be there, and so should you.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Welcome back to another episode of LHS.

Topics:

• Texoma Hamarama
  Richard attended Texoma Hamarama at the Ardmore Convention Center in Ardmore, OK. He had a great time and describes his adventures. He took a few pictures and wrote a blog entry for the web site.
• HamQTH
  HamQTH is a callsign lookup service that is free and does not require a subscription. Russ gives his review. By registering, you can edit some of your information or use the search results in your logging program. Thanks to Ted, WA0EIR, for telling us about it.
• Adventures in Printing
  • Richard recently installed Linux Mint on his wife’s machine as she was becoming increasingly frustrated with the speed of Windows. He did run into an issue with getting her Lexmark all-in-one printer working, which leads him to a discussion of printing in Linux.
  • CUPS, Common Unix Printing System, originally developed by Apple for OS X, has become the standard printing system for Linux. You can administer CUPS by pointing your web browser to http://localhost:631
  • Most distributions install the Foomatic driver database. Another source of drivers is Gutenprint.
  • If your printer is not listed specifically, you may have success using a generic PCL5, PCL6 or Postscript driver.
  • Also check the Linux Foundation OpenPrinting project to see how well a given printer is supported in Linux. It’s a good idea to visit this site before you buy the printer.
  • Most network printers will be recognized and configured automatically by CUPS.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

73 de The LHS Guys

73 de K5TUX

Well let me see if I can come up with enough words to get all the pictures on this post.

Well October is here and along with the State Fair of Texas in Dallas it is also time for the Texhoma Hamarama in Ardmore Oklahoma. For many years a friend of mine and organizer of this event Henry Allen W5TYD has been trying to get me to make the track to Ardmore and check it out.

So I gathered myself up at 4:30 in the morning put a spark to the B.S.S. Improbable and made my way toward the Indian territories. I had really forgotten that the middle of the night was the only time that it is not a total pain to drive through Dallas. A little over two hours later I found myself in Ardmore. As described the hamfest was very easy to find. The shiny almost new convention center was right off I-35 at exit 33. I exited made a right turn then made another right turn and I was there ( I could never be a Nascar driver ).

The parking lot at the Ardmore Convention Center was more than ample and I was able to find a parking space very close to the front door. Not like Ham Com here locally where you have to park on the other side of town and ride a shuttle bus. Due to a mistake on the website I found myself there an hour before they opened the doors. So I spent some time talking to other Hams that had made the same mistake.

After paying a very resonable $8.00 to get in I roamed around looking at all the wonderful items to be had. At the end of the first row I went down I ran into Jimmy (Pinky) Pinston N5WYT from the Texas Baptist Men who was debating on buying some hardline for the freshly installed commercial repeater at the Baptist Mens building in Dallas. We talked about a few things like ARES in Van Zandt county where he lives and the fact that his license expired at midnight that night. Shame on you Pinky.

Went and sat in on the OK section ARES presentation. Then went and sat in on Andy WY5V’s amateur radio in the park presentation. Andy is king of amateur radio these days. King of ARES in Dallas. Big Chief at the VHF-FM society everything. Spent some time visiting with folks that I have known for years David Kaun N5DBK, Tim KD6FWD, and my little buddy Paul KD5TKO.

I really didn’t come home with anything except some good memories but we had a great time in Ardmore and I expect to go back many times in the future. Russ was not in attendance but you all know how he is.

73 everybody

• Who has a drawl?

Announcements:

• Richard has been reading about Ubuntu 11.10, “Oneiric Ocelot”, due to be released on October 13th. Our hosts hope to have some sort of review in the near future. Richard is also considering trying KDE. (The version of Ubuntu with KDE as default is Kubuntu.)
• Look for another episode of Richard’s Radio Adventures in the near future. It’s recorded mobile, and Richard wonders how to reduce the road noise with Audacity. Russ offers some advice on training the noise removal plug-in for Audacity.
• Richard did not make it to the Belton hamfest this year, but maybe next spring. He’s looking forward to attending the Texoma Hamarama, October 21 – 22, 2011 at the Ardmore Convention Center, 2401 North Rockford Road, Ardmore, OK.
• Richard is recruiting hams for the Kaufman County (TX) ARES group. Please visit the KCARES website for more information.
• Richard re-tells the infamous badger story. Speaking of badgers, you can find the Kiss My Badger tee-shirt, and a lot of other good stuff, at the LHS store.

Feedback:

• Danny inquires about an easy-to-use distribution for a senior and computer novice, perhaps Linux Mint. Our hosts suggest Linux Mint and PCLinuxOS. Note that the Mint live CD does not include the codecs, but the DVD does. If you install from the CD, you can install the codecs later.
• Danny also asks if there is a way to ask the Mumble developers to support screen-reading software. Since Mumble isn’t a GTK-based application, it’s probably not well supported under Orca. You may wish to raise your concerns on the Mumble forum, or on IRC at irc.freenode.net, #mumble, or click the Live Chat Now button on the www.mumble.com website.
• Burt, K1OIK, left a comment regarding Episode 61 entitled “South of the Border”: “I’d like to go south of your borders!” We’re a little worried about you, Burt.
• Michael, KD8GIJ, asks for instructions on removing a dual-boot installation of Linux Mint if he decides he doesn’t like it. You can, of course, just wipe the whole drive and reinstall Windows. You may be able to boot the Windows install media and let it “repair” your installation. However, you don’t really need to remove grub; just make Windows the default and remove Linux from the grub menu. If that’s not acceptable, you’ll likely have to wipe and reinstall Windows to return it to the pre-Linux state.Other suggestions include:
  • install Mint as a virtual machine with Virtual Box.
  • use the Windows Ubuntu Installer (wubi) which will also allow you to uninstall Linux after testing.
  • install Linux to a flash drive and boot and run from that to try it out
  • make an image of the Windows drive before installing Linux, perhaps with PartImage or Clonezilla, and you’ll have an easy means of returning to the pre-Linux-install state.
• John “The Nice Guy” Spriggs, G7VRI, asks about a live Linux distribution reviewed in Episode 62 that contained software to run EchoLink. (I think he’s referring to Andy’s Ham Radio Linux CD). svxlink is the Linux-native EchoLink client, but it is CLI-driven. The Windows client does run well under Wine. You may want to look at qtel, another Echolink client. It’s an older application. In fact, svxlink is based on Qtel.
• John also wonders if the music played on the show is Creative Commons licensed. While most of the music is Creative Commons or podsafe, the music in Episode 62 is not CC or podsafe, but Russ did have permission from the artists to play them.
• John pointed out that the description tags in the podcast audio files were empty. Thanks, John, and rest assured that Russ will be adding descriptions as time permits.
• By the way John, please contact Richard at the email address below as you may be able to help him with some music for another project.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Out of Sight” by White Light Riot from the album “Atomism,” courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Saving Lucidity” by The Way I Am, courtesy of Jamendo.

• It’s a ramblin’ show tonight.

Announcements:

• Texoma Hamarama 2011 will be October 21-22, 2011 at the Ardmore Convention Center, 2401 North Rockford Road, Ardmore, OK. Richard hopes to be there.
• If you attended the Huntsville, AL hamfest in August, let us know if you think it would be a good venue for LHS.
• Thanks, as always, to Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Topics:

• Russ talks about the antenna feedline window passthrough panel he bought at Dayton. He’s also hoping to get a radio in his truck. Richard describes the window passthrough methods he’s used in the past, with foam pipe insulation or air conditioning insulation foam.
• Richard talks about the lack of ham radio activity in his area (Kaufman County, TX): no club, no RACES group, no ARES, etc. He called his ARRL SEC (Section Emergency Coordinator), Walt, KG5SOO, and learned that the local groups weren’t happy with the current ARES manager. The SEC says paperwork is being processed and the new emergency coordinator of Kaufman County, TX is Richard, KB5JBV! Currently, there are just two ARES members, Richard and the Emergency Manager, so if you’re in Kaufman County, TX, get in touch with Richard! (Congratulations, Richard!)
• There’s a new podcast out there: Richard’s Radio Adventures. Look for it on the Resonant Frequency feed.
• In Linux-related news, Russ lets us know that kernel.org was hacked a few weeks ago. Because the code was in an encrypted git repository, it was safe, but they moved it to github, anyway.
• Russ also says there was a brief period that GNU Emacs was packaged and distributed with a binary blob in it, which violates the GPL. It’s since been fixed.
• A security hole in SSL/TLS has been reported.
• Simon, HB9DRV, has sold the rights to his Ham Radio Deluxe software. Our hosts discuss the possible ramifications.
• Richard wanders into a discussion of Arch Linux. It seems there was an issue with Arch not being free (as in speech). However, Parabola GNU/Linux is Arch, but free of all the entanglements.
• If anyone out there is an Emergency Coordinator or Assistant Emergency Coordinator, send an email to Richard about how your EC is going. Richard is looking for advice on how to best set up the ARES EC organization in his county.
• Russ admits that his other podcast, QSK Netcast, has stalled, mostly due to a lack of his available time.
• Since some parts of the LHS website are now subscription only, Russ began researching SSL certificates. He found a couple of places that issue inexpensive or free browser-compatible certificates: CheapSSLs , under $10 per year, and StartSSL will issue personal certificates for free.
• Russ and Richard discuss their love for the Sansa Clips. Russ likes DoggCatcher for listening to podcasts on his Android phone.
• Richard talks about his secret antenna project. He’s now in an area with Codes, Covenents and Restrictions (CCRs) which preclude outside antennas. Years ago, he bought an Arrow dual-band J-pole antenna, and used it for packet and other stuff. Using some military surplus olive-drab fiberglass tent poles, he strapped the J-pole to the top of the tent poles and the poles to the top of an 8′ fence. He assures the neighbors that it’s just a flower pot hanger.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Richard is still in the process of moving, but did get his WinLink rms gateway running as described in a previous episode.

Announcements:

• Jay Forrest has lauched The Linux News Podcast. The podcast will focus on topics such as software freedom, Linux development, Open Source software, Android and mobile devises, security issues, and Linux distribution releases. Our hosts offer their opinions.
• Ohio LinuxFest will be held in Columbus, Ohio on September 9-11, 2011. (Note: Russ will not be there, but maybe YOU can represent LHS. Visit the web site and look at the Ambassadors page to learn how.)
• Texoma Hamarama will be October 21-22, 2011 in Ardmore, OK. Richard might be there, so if you’re in the area, look for him!

Topics:

• Our hosts discuss the ARRL statement regarding HR 607, “Broadband for First Responders Act of 2011″. This bill provides for the re-allocation of the 420-440 MHz band, calling it part of the “Public Safety” spectrum. This is not the case, and we should contact our representatives and voice our opposition to this bill. The ARRL offers sample letters you can send to your representatives.
• Richard and Russ talk about various amateur radio programsfor Linux offered by Ted, WA0EIR.Russ built them all from the available source code on his Linux Mint Debian Edition 10 computer. In order to do so, he installed a number of development libraries:
  • libmotif-dev
  • libxmu-dev
  • libxpm-dev
  • libxbae-dev

  These are header files necessary for the compiler to properly build the programs.

• Each program requires the following commands to compile and install. Change to the directory containing the program and type:

    ./configure
    ./make
    ./make-install

  (You may wish to be root to perform the make-install command.)

• TWLOG – A basic QSO logging program. Useful for day-to-day logging, but not recommended for contest logs. It will export to ADIF. It requires the Xbae Matrix Widget.
• TWPSK – A simple bpsk/qpsk program. Co-written with Hansi, DL9RDZ
• TWCW – A Morse Code trainer that also allows keyboard CW operation.
• TWCLOCK – A world clock application that will also automatically send a CW identifier every 10 minutes.
• Check the /etc/X11/app-defaults directory for the “X resource” files to change the configuration options for these programs. For example, in that directory is a file called twclock that contains the callsign transmitted by TWClock.
• PSK31LX – A curses-based PSK31 program, so it runs in a terminal window or directly in a terminal session. For help, a man page is included. (Type “man psk31lx”.) It makes use of the arrow, control, and function keys. You can choose the audio and serial devices with command line parameters at start. Configuration parameters are stored in your home directory in the file .psk31lx.ini.

Feedback:

• Don, WS4E, asks for Internet resources for handicapped amateur radio operators. He’s familiar with the Handiham  organization, but wonders if there are others.There are many newsgroups and mailing lists dedicated to hams with disabilities. A Google search should return several. The Canadian National Amateur Radio Society site Amateur Radio for the Disabled, has several useful links. Richard mentions Lighthouse for the Blind. The ARRL has a page listing several articles. There’s also a Facebook group, Blind Amateur Radio Operators.
• Petr, OK2CQR, the author of CQRLOG, responds to Torsten’s (K5TOR) problems installing CQRLOG on a 64-bit machine: CQRLOG already has native 64-bit version. There is no need to install the 32-bit version. You can use the ppa at launchpad.net with packages for Lucid, Maverick, Natty and Oneirc. Version 1.2.1 will be part of the Oneiric release as well. More information is here.
• Donation from Paul G. Thank you! If you’d like to donate, please visit the website and click on the Donate link.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Rise” by Rob Warren from the album “Rise,” courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Mechanical Butterfly” by Mechanical Butterfly from the album “Mechanical Butterfly,” courtesy of Jamendo.

• Welcome to another episode of Linux in the Ham Shack.
• Richard has moved to another QTH, and that’s provided some challenges.

Announcements:

• The LHS Ambassador Program needs your help. Russ explains what the LHS Ambassador program is all about and how you can get involved. If you’re interested, please contact us at ambassadors@lhspodcast.info
• Richard gives an update on the archiving of Resonant Frequency, The Amateur Radio Podcast.
• Richard complains about the Internet service at his new location, and Russ offers a tip about using wget -c for downloading large files.

Topics:

• Richard updates us on his AX25 project and moving to a new location.
• The Linux kernel goes 3.0: So what? Russ talks about the new Linux kernel, v. 3.0, recently released, and what you can expect.
• Your first license: What should you expect? Richard describes the process for getting your first amateur radio license. At one time, proficiency with Morse code was a requirement, but no longer. Richard used the Gordon West training materials to prepare. Having a local radio club or another ham can be a great help. There are two volunteer examiner groups: ARRL and W5YI. Both offer training materials for their examinations. When you go to a testing session, be sure to bring the required materials. After you pass the test, check the FCC website for your callsign. It often shows up just a few days after taking the test. Most importantly, after you get your callsign, get on the air!
• Revisiting OpenHatch (see episode 059). Russ discusses the OpenHatch project and how you can contribute to the open source community. There is a simple sign-up process to join OpenHatch. You can use OpenID or several other authentication services. OpenID can be used with several web applications. Once you join, you can specify the various skills you have, and the type of assistance you’d like to provide, such as development, bug fixing, documentation, etc. You can also start a new project or link your own project to OpenHatch. You’ll find development, testing and documentation opportunities.
• Russ gives an update on getting SvxLink to work. He had the build of version 11.05 blow up with an error about missing include files. He Googled the error message and found the answer. So he now has a working EchoLink server using SvxLink on 146.225 MHz. So, while it may be a bit challenging to build, it can work and provides a native Linux EchoLink program. (Thanks to Rick, K9AO, who sent an email that gave Russ the push to finish his SvxLink project.)

Feedback:

• We received a donation from Oscar, N6PAZ. Thank you! If you’d like to donate to the podcast, please click the Donate button on the website. Oscar also visited the LHS booth at Dayton, and left a comment on website expressing his appreciation for the LHS website.
• F8ARR conducted a poll on his website asking what operating system his visitors used in their ham shacks. He found 23% were using Linux! He also linked back to the LHS site. Thanks!
• David, N1EA, tells us that the new website for Vinux is vinuxproject.org. Vinux is a remastered version of Ubuntu, optimized for visually impaired users. It includes several ham radio applications, including TLF (The Left Foot), a console-mode logging and contest program.
• AmiZed (KB2MOB) wrote a very nice review of LHS. Thank you for the kind words!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music

• “Complicated Man” by Lejo Harmeson & Essence from the album “Complicated Man,” courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Don’t Be Harshin’ My Mellow” by Lejo Harmeson & Essence from the album “Complicated Man,” courtesy of Jamendo.

73 de The LHS Guys

73 de The LHS Guys

• Apologies for being late with this episode.

Announcements:

• LHS had planned on attending the Ohio LinuxFest on September 9-11 in Columbus,OH, and the Huntsville, AL hamfest Aug 21-22, but it’s just too expensive. To address that, LHS has started the LHS Ambassadors program where listeners of the show act as representatives for LHS at events. If you’re interested, please contact us at ambassadors@lhspodcast.info
• When you make a donation to LHS, you can choose to appear on the Sponsors page on the LHS website.
• Linux Format magazine, the producers of the Tux Radar podcast, recently reviewed various Linux-related podcasts, and LHS wasn’t even mentioned! Ouch!
• Richard announces the demise of Resonant Frequency: The Amateur Radio Podcast. Richard is looking for a place to post the articles and other content. The podcast episodes are saved at the Internet Archive, and the videos will remain on YouTube.

Topics:

• WinLink and AX.25
• Richard describes his trials and tribulations getting a WinLink packet gateway working under Ubuntu Linux.
• For the most part, Richard followed the instructions provided by Charles, K4GBB: How to install RMS Gate.
• Richard and Russ describe the steps in the Howto and possible pitfalls. Richard notes that you’ll probably want to run the commands as the root user, either by logging in as root or using sudo.
• (Note, near the end of Section 4 of the Howto, it appears the author left out the “wget” in the command to retrieve the script. On the page it reads:

  Get Script – Bernard has written a little Housekeeping script...

  http://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/ax25/rc.init.script && ...

• I think that command should be:

  wget http://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/ax25/rc.init.script && ...

  Note that I’ve shortened the lines with ellipses here. -Ed.)

• Other useful links:
  • AX.25 HowTo
  • HowTo:AX.25 – Ubuntu/Debian
  • How to set up an RMS Gate on Linux

Feedback:

• Andy, KB1OIQ, tells us of his Ham Radio Linux CD, based on Ubuntu Linux 10.10, and includes many ham radio programs.
• Rich, KD0BJT, of the LowSWR podcast, is working on a ham radio-related Linux distribution, too.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Mendes” by Assembly Line Gods from the album “Control: Volume 1.”
• “Pound of Flesh” by Assembly Line Gods from the album “Control: Volume 1.”

Please note that the music in this episode is neither Creative Commons nor podsafe. To support the artist, please visit Assembly Line Gods on Facebook, iTunes or at http://www.assemblylinegods.com.

73 de The LHS Guys

73 de The LHS Guys

• Ohio LinuxFest will be held September 9-11, 2011 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH.
• Linux in the Ham Shack promo from the Low SWR guys. Thanks!

Announcements:

• Our best wishes for a speedy recovery to MadamMoo!
• Our regular hosts are joined by Torsten, XE2/K5TOR.

Topics:

• Firefox 4 has been out a while, and version 5 beta is available at the time of recording. Our hosts discuss. The first thing Russ noted, was the increase in speed! Look for versions 6 and 7 before the end of the year. (As I write this, version 6 has been released. -Ed.)
• Kudos to The Linux Link Tech Show (TLLTS) and their interest in amateur radio. One of the hosts, Joel, aka “gorkon”, W3RAZ, has recorded a couple podcasts for Hacker Public Radio: Episode #738 is an introduction to amateur radio, and Episode #756 explains the basics of radio. Another TLLTS host, Allan, is N3MAW.
• Leo LaPorte of This Week in Tech has started a podcast about amateur radio. (It’s Ham Nation with Bob Heil, K9EID, and Gordon West, WB6NOA, under the TWiT banner and with Leo’s support and occasional participation. By the time you read this, Leo has his license and is now W6TWT. -Ed.)
• Russ describes the Linux from Scratch project that provides instructions for building your own custom Linux system, entirely from source code. Russ plans on providing more details of his experience with Linux from Scratch on a future episode of the QSK Netcast.
• Our hosts tried Ubuntu 11.04, Natty Narwhal, and discuss it, good and bad.
• Russ also tried Fedora 15, and liked the default desktop environment.
• Richard likes PCLinuxOS, and SUSE Linux.
• Linux Mint gets a mention, too.
• In future LHS episodes, look for information about svxlink, an EchoLink client for Linux, and codec2, an Open Source and patent-free audio codec.
• Torsten has had problems installing CQRLog on a 64-bit machine. Russ recommends installing the ia32-libs package to provide the needed 32-bit libraries. In Debian-based distributions, you can install that package with the command “apt-get install ia32-libs”. More information about running 32-bit programs on a 64-bit machine with Debian-based Linux is here.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Vacancy” by Assembly Line Gods, from their album Control (Volume 1).
• The music in Episode #063 is provided with kind permission by Assembly Line Gods from their recent EP release, Control (Volume 1). The track is called “Vacancy.” Follow ALG on Twitter and Facebook and buy their new tracks at iTunes. Thanks, guys!

• Introductions, chit chat, a bit about the Dayton Hamvention, Texas Linuxfest, and the Belton hamfest.
• LHS will be at several events this summer:
  • SouthEast LinuxFest (SELF), June 10-12 in Spartanburg, SC. (Yes, I know, by the time you hear this episode, it’s come and gone.)
  • Huntsville Hamfest August 20-21 in Huntsville, AL.
  • Ohio Linuxfest September 9-11 in Columbus, OH.
  • Stop by and say hello to Russ and Cheryl!
• Richard may be attending the Texoma Hamarama October 21-22 in Ardmore, OK.
• Russ tells us about the sewer failure at Dayton. Only two restrooms in Hara were working Saturday afternoon. Apparently it was fixed by Saturday evening.

Topic: PulseAudio

• Richard’s son is trying to start his own computer repair business and recently he received a call from Misha who wanted him to fix a sound issue on her Sony Vaio, which dual-boots Windows 7 and Ubuntu 11.04. Sound worked fine in Windows, but not in Ubuntu, and she preferred using Ubuntu. After working with the machine for a while, he figured out that PulseAudio was the problem, and replacing it with ALSA fixed it.
• While researching the problem, Richard discovered PulseAudio problems exist on more than just the Sony Vaio. He also found PulseAudio problems with Ubuntu, Fedora, Open Suse 11 or higher, Arch Linux, Zen, and Sabayon, and with both Gnome and KDE desktops.
• Two sites in particular were helpful:
  • [SOLVED] sony vaio sound problem
  • Fix Ubuntu Audio Problem in Sony Vaio
• Russ and Richard discuss Linux audio problems, and the current state of PulseAudio, particularly with WINE. Russ notes that he’s had no sound problems under Linux Mint.
• Russ describes various ways to troubleshoot PulseAudio issues on Linux.
• In Gnome, right-click on the speaker icon and select sound preferences. From here you can examine the hardware, choose a sound profile, configure your inputs and outputs, and see which applications are using PulseAudio.
• There are a variety of utilities useful for debugging PulseAudio problems:
  • paman (PulseAudio Manager Utility). Install it with the command “apt-get install paman”. It tells you a lot of information about PulseAudio, including “sinks” and “sources”. You can also use it to set volume levels with greater control than with the desktop audio manager.
  • paprefs (PulseAudio Preferences Panel) Install it with the command “apt-get install paprefs”. Allows you to perform advanced functions such as connecting PulseAudio servers together, send sound from one server to another, create virtual sound devices, etc.
  • pavucontrol (PulseAudio Volume Control) Install it with the command “apt-get install pavucontrol”. Allows you to see every application that accesses PulseAudio, set volume levels per channel, and other configuration settings.
  • pavumeter (PulseAudio VU Meter) Install it with the command “apt-get install pavumeter”. Creates a VU Meter window that displays your audio levels.
  • padsp, pamon Install with the command “apt-get install pulseaudio-utils”. pamon will allow you to capture the bytes of audio data. padsp allows you to pipe the audio from an application that does not normally support PulseAudio, into PulseAudio.
  • Remember, you can use the “man” command for help on any of these commands. For example, in a terminal type “man padsp” for help on the padsp utility.
• Check out Ted’s sound card programs for ham radio. They are all now PulseAudio compatible.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

I (Russ) will admit to shirking my duties to some degree. Many things are going on in my life right now and I just didn’t want to deal with editing or recording of late. Richard has also had his share of life problems and we’ve both been out of pocket a few times between Episode #061 and now. I suspect our absence is coming to an end and regular production of LHS will soon resume.

Thanks to everyone for hanging in there with us. We now return you to your irregularly scheduled podcast.

73 de The LHS Guys

73 de The LHS Guys

• The 3rd annual Southeast Linuxfest is scheduled for June 10-12, 2011 in Spartanburg, SC.

Announcements:

• LHS will be at the Dayton Hamvention, May 20-22, 2011, booth 131 in the North Hall. Russ and Cheryl will be there. Stop and say hello.
• LHS will also be at the Southeast Linuxfest, June 10-12, 2011, in Spartanburg, SC. Russ will be giving a talk on Saturday, and Russ and Cheryl will be at the LHS booth.

Feedback

• Dan writes in about a Linux discussion he had at his radio club on March 8, and he mentioned LHS. Dan is also recording his own podcast, “Every Day Linux Use”. Good luck with that, Dan, and let us know where to find the podcast when it’s released.
• B.B., KC5PIY, writes about an article in the February 2011 issue of Linux Magazine discussing the OpenHatch project. B.B. shares his thoughts about how OpenHatch may apply to the podcast and amateur radio. Russ and Richard respond. Unfortunately, when this was recorded, the OpenHatch website was down. (From the OpenHatch website: “OpenHatch is an open source community aiming to help newcomers find their way into free software projects.”)
• Rick, K9AO, sent some detailed instructions for building SVXlink, an open source Echolink client, under Linux, and we’re including it in it’s entirety here. As you may recall from episode 56, Russ had problems with compiling the program.Hi Russ,
  I thought I’d send along the method that I have used to successfully build SVXlink under Mandriva 2010.2 and Ubuntu 10.10. I built the source on Ubuntu 10.10 late last year, so don’t have access to that machine at the moment. I built SVXlink from the latest SVN checkout on this Mandriva box, but this method also works fine for the release tarball.

  I don’t know if you generally use SVN projects, but I’m thinking that you likely do if you are as interested in helping to shape the development of actively developed projects.

  I create a directory called SVN in my home directory, and then do the SVN checkouts from there. Using the SVN checkout command below will create a subdirectory in the folder that you run it in, and then you can do the install from there. You likely are already familiar with this.

  Here are the specifics:

  ——————–
  Get the source:
  svn co https://svxlink.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/svxlink svxlink
  cd to the below directory:
  Build the source branch in /svxlink/trunk/src
  From there:
  make realclean
  make
  su to root
  make install
  ——————–

  If there are any missing deps, these will show up as the compile progresses. As you already know I am sure, you need the devel packages to match the deps to build from source.

  You will see errors, or what looks like errors as the build progresses after a realclean command. But if all of the needed libs and devels are there, the build process will create the necessary configs and then build the app. If you are concerned that the app might not have built correctly, doing another make will have the terminal scroll through the build process rapidly and then complete. If you get that far, do the root install. Then qtel from the terminal will bring up the client.

  There are a number of branches of the source code for SVXlink in development. I recommend the above main trunk first.

  There haven’t been any changes in the Qtel client for a while, so if all you are after is the client part of SVXlink there is no advantage to using cutting-edge SVN. There has been quite a bit of development going on in the server part, so experimenting with the SVN and joining the SVXlink devel list might be a good idea.

  Hope that helps, and keep up the good work.

  Rick, K9AO

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

• The 3rd annual Southeast Linuxfest is scheduled for June 10-12, 2011 in Spartanburg, SC.

Topic 1: JT65

• Richard enjoys the digital modes. Recently, he came across a signal he could not immediately identify, and found it was JT65.
• JT65 is one of the suite of programs in the WSJT package written by Joe, K1JT, and was originally developed for weak signal Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) contacts.
• It’s easier to install than WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter); simply download, extract, and go.
• Because the software is designed to achieve a weak signal contact, information is sent repeatedly. If everything is working well, a simple contact will take about 7 minutes.
• Like WSPR, stations transmit on a two-minute interval, so the computer clock must be accurate.
• One station will “transmit on the ones” meaning he is transmitting on the odd number minutes. Each transmission is usually about 50 seconds. Then, the other station sends on the even minutes.
• Typical contacts are callsign, signal report, and location.
• Signals sound a bit like weather fax, usually a bit above the PSK area on 20m.
• Richard was able to make 10 contacts in 15 minutes with 5 watts into his G5RV at 30 feet, on the 10m band, no less. He then made 5 contacts in 30 minutes on 15m, one of which was to South America.
• WSJT and WSPR are both developed by Joe, K1JT, a physicist and amateur radio operator.
• WSJT and WSPR can be found at http://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/index.html.
• One of the best websites Richard found for learning to use JT65 on HF is “The Complete Bozo’s Guide to HF JT65A by Andy, K3UK”. It hasn’t been updated in a while, but is still a good resource.
• The manual included with the program is very good, too.
• Richard recommends using the second set of messages provided in the program, rather than the default set, as the default does not include a signal report.
• Richard has prepared an “Intro to JT65″ video, available at the RF Podcast website.

Topic 2: Codec2

• Bruce, VE9QRP, back in January, suggested we talk about Codec2.
• From the Codec2 website:
  “Codec2 is an Open Source and patent-free audio codec, currently in alpha testing. It provides good voice rendition at 2550 bits per second, and we expect that its bandwidth will be reduced with continuing development. Its voice quality and latency are an improvement over Speex, when Speex is run at a similarly low bandwidth rate. The original motivation for its development was to provide a completely open codec to replace AMBE+, MELP, and other proprietary codecs for use in Amateur (“Ham”) Radio communications. However, the codec is potentially useful for commercial two-way radio, telephony, and other applications.”
• Russ plays some audio samples, and our hosts discuss how this might be used in ham radio applications.
• The resulting file is in a .wav container and thus can be played by any program that plays .wav files. While the result is adequate for voice, it’s not suitable for music.
• More links:
  • History of the project
  • More background and some how-to information from the author.
  • A PowerPoint presentation by the author.

Feedback:

• We received donations from Dan W., Matt M., Andrew H., and Paul G. Thank you!
• LHS will be at the Dayton Hamvention, in the North Hall, booth 131. We hope to see you there!
• Jim, N2ENN, linked to us on his blog site. Thanks, Jim.
• The Panhandle ARES group linked to LHS on their website. Thanks, guys.
• regexorcist of The Daemon and Penguin Oggcast linked to LHS. Thank you.
• Gary, KE2YK, has syndicated the LHS RSS feed on his eHamStore.net site. Thanks, Gary.
• Burt, K1OIK, thought the clip art of the foo dog (episode 55) looked like Russ.
• B.B., sent a long email, which we’ll discuss in an upcoming episode.
• Danny asked about the podcast that Gene has about Apple. That’s the Tech Night Owl Live program with Gene Steinberg.
• Dave, KI6ZHD, just found the LHS podcast website. Dave has written some documentation for various Linux topics and is a recent ham. His distro of choice is CentOS. He has been documenting his adventures at his blog and thought our listeners might be interested. He asked if we talked about TrustedQSL on Linux, and we did in episodes 43 and 46.
• Leif, KC8RWR, commented about dual-booting a computer with Windows if Linux has already been installed. He suggests using gparted to shrink the Linux partition, creating a Windows partition in the free space, and then installing Windows. Of course, it’s best to just use a spare computer or another hard drive. (We talked about all this in episode 56.)
• Richard points out that version 1.0 of CQRLog has been released.
• Jim, N2ENN, just installed straight Debianand offers a few hints:
  • Extra repositories: In the system/administration tab, there’s a package called software sources. Check them all and click close.
  • Flash vs gnash: don’t worry about gnash. Once the nonfree repositories are selected, open the Synaptic package manager and install flashplugin-nonfree, or from a terminal, type “apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree”.
  • Regarding codecs: all the codecs are already installed, or should be. If not, again in Synaptic, tick good, bad and ugly plugin modules, along with the base plugin.
• Russ received this from a radio club: Steve, N1NXU, wrote that he had a Tripp-Lite power supply that needed repair and he asked them for a schematic. They declined to provide one, so he recommends Astron power supplies, as schematics are included. These are available a most of the ham radio stores.
• John, KF6EFG, attended Indiana LinuxFest and asked Russ for a copy of his presentation from that event. Look for that information on the LHS website in the near future.

Announcements:

• Some listeners have requested a calendar of upcoming LHS events. So, if you have a calendar program that uses ICS calendar feeds, go to the LHS site and on the right side, look for the ‘Follow Us’ heading. Click at the third icon that looks like a calendar. Or, to see the information in your browser, click this https://zmx.bcef.info/service/user/info@bcef.info/LHS-Podcast.html.
• Again, LHS will be at the Dayton Hamvention on May 20-22. We’ll be giving away a computer, so drop by the booth and say hello. Please donate at the website to help defray the costs. Thanks.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• To be added.

In this episode, your fearless hosts tackle some of the hard questions concerning Open Source, namely: 1) Can anyone in free software agree on a set of standards for documentation and development in order to help newer users join the community, and 2) If it is possible, would anyone want to do it? When we’re all done philosophizing, send us your thoughts. We want to know what YOU think.

In this episode of our show, we catch up on almost all of our (very old) feedback and even manage to discuss a couple of items which may interest ham radio and Linux enthusiasts alike: JT65, a weak-signal digital mode, and codec2, a new audio codec designed for low bandwidth, telephone quality, error correction and to be free of patents or encumbrances of any kind. Enjoy.

• Apologies for the delays in releasing new episodes.
• This episode is an interview with Jonathan Nadeau of Frostbite Systems and a user of the Linux screen-reading program, Orca.

Interview:

• Orca is a screen reading program integrated with the Gnome desktop. It’s available for most Linux distributions.
• Russ and Jonathan discuss how a sight-impaired individual might install Linux. There are a couple of Linux distributions that have screen-reader support during the installation: Talking Arch Linux and Vinux.
• Speakup is another accessibility tool, but one that speaks the command line.
• Vinux is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution with Orca built-in, allowing a sight-impaired individual to install it from the CD. Vinux is the distribtion Frostbite Systems normally installs for it’s sight-impaired customers.
• Slackware has a Speakup kernel, and more distributions are including the Speakup module as well. Several distributions can be installed using Speakup. Some instructions are available at the Speakup site.
• Russ mentioned the Quick Learning Techies Show (QLTS) that also occasionally discusses accessibility issues.
• Jonathan discusses the pros and cons of Vinux, as well as his concerns about it being Ubuntu-based.
• Richard asks Jonathan for more details about how Vinux talks a new user through the install.
• If the application is GTK-based, it will likely work with Orca; if it’s QT-based, it probably won’t work with Orca.
• Ted’s software (WA0EIR), including PSK31LX, works via ssh, so the programs are controllable from the command line and would work with the Speakup module.
• Meanwhile, Russ attempts to install Orca during the show.
• Jonathan mentions another podcast he does, This Week in Fedora, and says there is an amateur radio Fedora spin. (I could not find a link to a specific spin of Fedora for amateur radio, but there is a Special Interest Group. -Ed.)
• Frostbite Systems sells desktops and laptops with Linux pre-installed. Customers can choose from Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint, OpenSuse, Ubuntu and Vinux. A portion of each sale is donated back to the distribution chosen.
• Russ asks Jonathan about the hardware he uses in Frostbite systems. All of the laptops/notebooks have all-Intel hardware, while some desktops have nVidia video cards. All are completely Linux-compatible.
• Russ then examines the specifications of some of the Frostbite computers.
• Jonathan also produces several podcasts through Frostbite Media:
  • Frostcast: interviews with project leaders of various GNU/Linux and Free/Open Source projects.
  • This week in Fedora: interviews with people involved with the Fedora project.
  • This week in Debian: interviews with people within the Debian community.
  • Orcacast is on hiatus, but should resume in the not too distant future.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Outtakes:

• Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

This is also the first episode of LHS with a blooper reel left in at the end. Listen all the way to the last so you don’t miss out on any of the fun. Many thanks to Jonathan for his time and expertise, and many thanks to our listeners for making our show so fun to do.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Indiana LinuxFest promo, March 25-27, 2011.

Announcements:

• Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, has announced that he will be recording new episodes of The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Welcome back, Jerry!
• The Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNet Con) has been postponed until Spring of 2012.
• Check out the Resonant Frequency podcast.
• Linux in the Ham Shack will be at the Indiana LinuxFest, March 25-27, 2011 in Indianapolis. Stop by and say hello. LHS will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest and the Ohio LinuxFest.

Feedback:

• Ilan Rabinovitch writes to tell us about the Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 9X), February 25-27, 2011.
  Thanks, Ilan. Sorry we couldn’t include this earlier.
• Kevin, KB9RLW, writes in response to Episode 51 that he agrees that Linux is a good fit for the amateur radio community for several reasons: added flexibility, security, and more choices. Even Windows 7 is still vulnerable and he points to a recent Sophos test. He keeps a WindowsXP virtual machine, in VirtualBox for those Windows applications he must run, though WINE usually works fine. He’s also a fan of The GIMP, OpenOffice, Inkscape, and Scribus. Good points, Kevin, thanks.
• Dave, KA6YQ, points us to instructions for running the DX Lab suite in Linux, which, unfortunately, just says that you can run their software in a Windows XP virtual machine, which isn’t the same as running it on Linux.
• Rick, K9AO, tells us of a native Linux EchoLink client SvxLink. Russ uses the Windows EchoLink program under WINE, but checked out the program. He tried building it from source, because he’s running Debian instead of Fedora, using the posted instructions, without success, but he’ll keep trying.
• Joseph C. sent a donation to the LHS Dayton Hamvention fund. Thank you very much, Joseph!
• Jonathan Nadeau of Frostbite Systems says that if you want to install the extra codecs in Debian, you must first add the multimedia repository to your sources list file (/etc/apt/sources.list). Add the repo, then install the codecs you want. Linux Mint Debian does much of this by default.
  Richard spent most of a day trying to uninstall Gnash and install Flash… without success. And it’s true that IceWeasel and IceDove are the same as Firefox and Thunderbird, but they are one release back. Richard prefers running the current versions.
• Russ tells us that by adding the following line to your /etc/app/sources.list file

  deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing main non-free

  and then doing an apt-get update, you’ll be able to install the non-free codecs.

• Russ and Richard then talk about removing Gnash:

  dpkg --remove --force-all gnash

• Russ recommends GhostBSD if you’d like to play with BSD.
• John, EI7IG, writes that Episode 53 was a “cracker” and that he’s a fan of fldigi, too. He also tells us of APRSISCE32, an APRS client for Windows written by Lynn, KJ4ERJ. John has been running IPV6 in the shack and points us to this article by Geoff Huston. Thanks, John.
• Larry Bushey and Tom Chaudoir of the Going Linux podcast send their regards.
• Russ gives an impromptu review of the Linux Reality podcast by Chess Griffin.
• LHS is a sponsor of the upcoming Indiana LinuxFest, and Lord D. sent his appreciation.
• Mogens, OZ1AKN, asks for help on a couple of topics.Question: Is it possible to automatically start a program under WINE?
  Russ responds with:To make a program under WINE start at boot, look at /etc/rc.d/skeleton for a sample. Copy the skeleton file to the name of the WINE app you want to start, then edit it to start whatever you want to start, such as /usr/bin/wine/echolink.If you want a program to start when the X session starts, click:
  menu -> system -> preferences -> statup applications -> Add a startup app
  In the dialog, give it a name and add the command: /usr/bin/wine <application path>

  Question: How do you reinstall Windows in a dual-boot setup?

  Russ responds with:

  It’s easier to install Windows first, then Linux, as the Linux boot loader will automatically detect Windows and include it in the boot menu. If you install Linux first, then Windows, Windows will overwrite the Linux boot loader.

  Otherwise, if you’re trying to repair a dual-boot system, try booting with a system rescue CD to repair GRUB.

  Google “linux boot ntldr ” to find instructions to tell the Windows NTLDR to also boot Linux.

• Tom H. sent a donation to the Dayton Hamvention fund. Thanks, Tom!
• Frazer writes that the LHS Facebook fanpage seems to be geoblocked in Canada. (Russ has fixed the problem. Thanks, Frazer.)
• Jim, KG9EQ, discovered the podcast while searching for QSSTV and wrote to share his appreciation for the website. Thanks, Jim.
• B.B. in the chat room asked if Jerry Taylor has resumed the Practical Amateur Radio podcast. (Richard’s comments were recorded before Jerry resumed recording episodes.)
• Paul, KC9QYB, has resumed his Teen Radio Journey podcast.
• Brady and Rich recently released another episode of the Low SWR podcast.
• Finally, a note to the ICQ Podcast: We encourage Colin to talk more!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Hopefully we will see everyone at Indiana Linux Fest this weekend in Indianapolis. If you can’t make it, be with us in spirit. Thank you to our listeners for all your support. Please continue to help us get to Dayton if you can, and remember to tell a few of your friends about us.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Hacker Public Radio promo.

Announcements:

• Check out the Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNet Con) website for the latest news and registration information. (Note: the event has been postponed until 2012.)
• Take a look at the LHS website for some new screencasts.

Topics:

• Richard and Russ talk about the origins of the LHS podcast name. See Linux on the Desktop podcast.
• Richard talks about how to build a Delta loop antenna, and using a piece of 75 ohm coax to act as a matching transformer between the antenna and the 50 ohm feed line. He also describes velocity factor for coaxial cable. Here’s an illustration of a 20m Delta loop similar to what Richard describes.
• Just for fun: Fab’s Crap Alert
• linSmith, in the Debian repositories, is a program for plotting Smith Charts, and more.
• Richard then talks about Henry Allen W5TYD, formerly K5BUG, of Texas BugCatcher antenna fame, and the inductors he wound around Plexiglas forms. (Henry ceased production of his antennas in 2009 and has retired. -Ed.)
• Russ uses an Alpha Delta DX-CC multiband dipole, in preference to a G5RV dipole.
• Other antennas mentioned:
  • Barker Williamson
  • Resonant dipole antennas
  • 135′ doublet (I use a 4:1 balun and an LDG autotuner. -Bill)
• Impedance of transmission lines: 50 ohms for communications coaxial cable, 75 ohms for cable TV coaxial cable, 300 ohms for the old TV twinlead, 450 ohms for window line, and typically 600 ohms for ladder line.
• Richard explains Standing Wave Ratio (SWR).
• Richard relates an Field Day story from several years ago… Commodore-64 running packet radio on the tailgate of a truck in 100-degree heat, and burning up the C-64.

Feedback:

• Audio feedback from Frasier K. thanking our hosts for the podcast. He’s currently studying for his ham license via HamTestOnline, and learned about Linux from the podcast. He’s now running Ubuntu 10.10 on his laptop and rockbox on his iPod. He’d like some sort of automatic calendar reminder service to alert him when a new episode will be recorded. Thanks, Frasier, and we’ll look into that.
• Mitch, KC2MBN, says that he enjoys the podcast. He’s now an Extra class licensee, but is new to Linux. He recently tried dual-booting Windows 7 with Pinguy OS and reports some troubles, and asks for some recommendations for a distro. Thanks, Mitch. If you have a spare machine, it would be better to run Linux on that rather than going to the trouble and risk of dual-booting. You might try actual Ubuntu, Debian or Linux Mint. Crunchbang Linux is also easy to install, as is PCLinuxOS.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Bad Boy (For You)” by Rebolt from the album “Made in Spite EP” courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Daylight” by Singleton from the album “The High Seas” courtesy of Jamendo.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Intro from Pete, VE2XPL, host of the wAVEgUIDES pODcAST.
• Promo for the GNU World Order podcast.

Announcements:

• Hello to the new folks in the chat room.
• The Mintcast podcast is either going to stop or will have new hosts after the next episode. If you’re interested in hosting a podcast, contact the folks over there.
• Please spread the word about MAGNetcon, the Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference, to be held May 6-7, 2011 at the St. Louis Union Station Marriott. If you know anyone that might be a sponsor, exhibitor, or speaker, please let us know. Application forms are available on the web site.
• Check out the new website for Resonant Frequency.
• Also mentioned, the Going Linux podcast and Computer America, “America’s longest-running nationally syndicated radio talk show about computers.”

Feedback:

• Richard, KR4EY, writes about CW… wait, we did this one in Episode 52.
• John, KC8DAX, weighs in on the Windows vs. Linux debate: there are hams that will buy a wire antenna and there are others that will build one. He thinks it’s the same thing with operating systems. Would you want a radio you couldn’t open? Our hosts discuss.
• We received a donation from Charles to help send Linux in the Ham Shack to the 2011 Dayton Hamvention. Thank you, Charles!
• Joe, K1RBY, recently discovered the podcast and is catching up, but is having a problem using gpodder to retrieve episodes. Yes, Joe, there is a bug in one of the WordPress plugins on the web site that contributed to the problem (see lhspodcast.info for a description of the problem.) It has been corrected.
• John, K7JM, also had the problem with gpodder and sends his appreciation for the fix.
• Richard, KJ4VGV, tells us that he is a new amateur radio operator since May and has published an article: Antenna Restrictions: Are They a Catastrophe Waiting to Happen? Good job, Richard!
• James, N2ENN, comments about our episode 52 when we discussed Unity, and offers his thoughts on Wayland, Debian and Ubuntu. Our hosts discuss, and digress to a discussion of browsers, plugins, drivers, ALSA and PulseAudio on Debian vs. LinuxMint Debian Edition. They also commment on Bill Meara’s (of SolderSmoke fame) efforts to get WSPR running under WINE in Ubuntu.
• Paul, KE5WMA, writes “PIC micro controllers are getting more popular in HAM projects. Any suggestions on programming software and boards?” Well, Paul, Linux does still support serial ports, but this may be a good topic for another show. You might find something useful in the many hits returned by a Google search on “Linux PIC programmer”.
• B.B., KC5PIY, asks for help with getting Windows programs for programming radios, such as the Icom IC-2820H and IC-706 MkIIg, running under Linux. He’d also like an APRS client. Richard recommends UIView as an APRS client for Windows, and Xastir for Linux. Russ suggests that most of the radio programming applications will run under WINE in Linux. Also, check out CHIRP, free Linux software for programming a variety of D-STAR radios. You may also want to explore the D-RATS mailing list. It’s not likely you’ll be able to dual-boot Windows and Linux on that netbook, but you can install Ubuntu Linux using WUBI, which would allow you to run Linux within Windows, or install Linux to a USB flash drive using Pen Drive Linux.
• Craig, KB5UEJ, writes about learning IPv6: “I went through the Hurricane Electric certification program and really learned lots about IPv6. I’m now running IPv6 on my home using HEs IPv6 tunnelbroker service. It’s no longer the big bad scary thing that it used to be.” Russ also talked about IPv6 on episode 6 of his QSK podcast.
• Matt shares his thoughts about building “simple” projects from junk box parts and the similarity to running Linux.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Balboa” by Ness from the album Fiesta, courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Crawling Back In” by Deathalizer from the album It Dwells Within, courtesy of Jamendo.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Happy New Year!
• The Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNetcon) will be May 6-7, 2011 at the St. Louis Union Station Marriott. If you know anyone that might be a sponsor, exhibitor, or speaker, please let us know. Application forms are available on the web site.
• Donations are now being accepted to send LHS to the Dayton Hamvention 2011, May 20-22. Please click on the Donate button on the website.
• Donation received from Charles (no call sign given). Thank you, Charles!
• The podcast RSS feed lost it’s title after a podPress upgrade. This has been fixed.
• We’ve been informed of a RSS feed problem for some podcatchers that use the XML tag. Joe, K1RBY, emailed us about this problem when using gPodder, but a solution has yet to be found. Anyone else see this problem? Let us know! (Ed. Note: The problem has been fixed and will be detailed in episode 54.)
• Look for new episodes of Resonant Frequency in 2011!

Topic:

• An interview with David Freese, W1HKJ, the primary author of fldigi.
• Dave, now 72 years old, has been licensed continuously since 1957 and is retired from the U.S. Coast Guard. He had been maintaining gMFSK, a Gnome multimode HF terminal program, and decided to create fldigi to prove he could still write code. He started with UNIX, then MINIX, and has been with Linux since the beginning. He’s been writing ham radio programs since the 1970′s. His software will run under Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, OSX, and Puppy.
• flpuppy, aka digipup, is also available from Dave’s site. This is a version of Puppy Linux with fldigi, a logbook, and a geodesic calculator already installed.
• Other developers are Stelios, M0GLD, Leigh, WA5ZNU, and Skip, KH6TY.
• Much of the underlying code in fldigi is from the original gMFSK program, in particular the modem code. Other modes have been added since, along with the GUI.
• Dave says there are about 2500 users of fldigi and he spends 50 hours per week on coding and support.
• Other projects Dave is involved with include:
  • NBEMS (Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System), consisting of fldigi, flarq, flwrap, flmessage, and flrig, all using the Fast Light Toolkit.
  • flwkey for sending Morse code via the winKeyer chip.
  • A computer-aided transceiver (CAT) program that controls the Kachina 505DSP transceiver.
• Dave describes how he came to develop fldigi using C++ and FLTK.
• More features of fldigi:
  • Version 3.21 of fldigi, now in alpha test, will have the capability of sending and receiving weatherfax. It will also have an embedded browser that will work with all the PSK modes and RTTY. It has a built-in log book that stores records in ADIF files.
  • While not designed specifically for contesters, fldigi is adequate for casual contesters.
  • Fldigi will generate Cabrillo reports for many contests.
  • The online documentation is quite extensive, at about 140 web pages, with many illustrations. There are sample screenshots of the waterfall display for various modes and audio samples of them.
• Much of the modem code in DM780 is from fldigi.
• Rick Ellis wrote code that allows the N1MM logger to display the waterfall.
• Gary, WB8ROL, “Mr. Olivia”, modified fldigi for his own purposes, calling it fldigirol.
• More cool features of fldigi:
  • Many of the controls in fldigi have different reactions to left-, middle- and right-click. For example, rolling the mouse wheel over the macro buttons will scroll them!
  • The mouse tab in the waterfall configuration allows you to customize how the waterfall reacts to mouse wheel movement. You can also change the rig frequency by dragging in the waterfall.
  • Dave recommends turning on the control hints feature (tooltips). Click Configure, User Interface, General tab, check “Show tooltips”.
  • Dave describes the “QSY” and “Store” buttons.
  • Dave talks about how to use the Reed-Solomon Identification (RSID) features.
  • The “SPOT” control allows you to search for specific strings in a PSK signal, such as “CQ CQ” or “de”, allowing the program to automatically post “spots” on the PSK reporter site.
  • Dave then discusses the “Map It” macro feature.
• To keep up with the alpha test group, you can subscribe to mailing lists on the Berlios alpha test web page.
• Dave offers kudos to Ed, W3NR, who answers 95% of the problem reports, and Rick in Michigan who is the principal man for audio interfacing issues.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Which Road Takes Me Home” by Fatblueman from the album “Back to Winnipeg,” courtesy of Jamendo.

Yes, we know we talk about FLDIGI a lot in our program. We try not to beat it to death. But if you use this program, there is so much information packed into this interview, you’re going to learn at least a dozen things you didn’t know about FLDIGI, even if you use it every day. So sit back, strap in, and join us on this thrill-packed ride into the dark and seedy innards of your favorite digital mode app. We were impressed; you will be too.

73 de The LHS Guys

We have taken care of the feed building issue, but those who use gPodder must still delete and re-add the Linux in the Ham Shack feed to their podcatcher in order to fix this problem. That will ensure that your version of gPodder has the correct RSS feed build date and you will receive new episodes as they are released.

Thank you for your attention, and if you have any further questions make sure to send them our way!

73 de The LHS Guys

• Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.
• Bill, KA9WKA, joins the podcast this evening.

Topics:

• Richard reviews a new ham radio podcast, wAVEGUIDES pODCAST, hAM rADIO…wITH a tWIST!!!, by Pete Landry, VE2XPL.
• We then discuss various podcasts:
  • Hacker Public Radio
  • Eerie Radio
  • The Linux Action Show
  • ICQ Podcast
  • Ubuntu UK Podcast
  • Linux Outlaws
  • Resonant Frequency
  • Practical Amateur Radio Podcast (currently on hiatus)
  • TuxRadar
• Richard test drives GNOME Shell and Unity after hearing about them on the Going Linux and Mintcast podcasts. It seems Ubuntu 11.04 will ship with Unity as the default desktop manager. He installed GNOME Shell on his eMachines test computer running Ubuntu 10.10. You launch GNOME Shell with command “gnome-shell –replace”. After a reboot, your default desktop manager will return.
• Neither Russ nor Bill have played with either one, but that doesn’t stop us from discussing them at length.
• Russ discusses Android applications for hams:
  • Callsign DB
  • Ham (Solar/Band conditions and QRZ lookups)
  • HamSatDroid satellite tracking
  • IRLP Finder
  • DX Cluster for Android
  • Amateur Radio Call Log
  • Echolink
  • Ham Radio Apps for your Android

Feedback:

• Richard, KR4EY, writes that Morse code is not dead! And 30m is his favorite band.
• Burt, K1OIK, says Richard looks awful cute with that pink bow in his hair. (We’re still wondering about that one.)

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Fat Blue Christmas Swing Medley” by Fatblueman from “A Fat Blue Christmas”
• “Kiyoshi Kono Yoru (Silent Night)” by Fatblueman from “A Fat Blue Christmas”

So spend time with your families and enjoy all of the wonderful things that life brings at this time of year, and hopefully all the year through. And if you find the time, curl up on the sofa with year headphones next to the roaring fire, crank up LHS and sit back and enjoy our gift of holiday cheer.

73 and Happy Holidays de The LHS Guys

• Thanks, again, to Gamma Leonis for the opening and closing music for the show.
• LHS Merchandise is available at PrintFection and Cafe Press. LHS items make great Christmas gifts! Or, make a donation by clicking the Donate link on the website. Donations cover such things as the telephone lines, server fees, and more. Thank you!

Topics:

• Articles seem to be popping up at www.amateurradio.com designed to get us talking about Linux and Amateur Radio. The latest one is by Anthony, K3NG, self-proclaimed radio artisan. Our hosts discuss his assertions that:
  • Ham Radio Deluxe, DXLab, and N1MM software all beat any Linux offerings. (Note: Russ has found that both Ham Radio Deluxe and N1MM logger will run under WINE in Linux. DXLab, on the other hand, will not.)
  • There is more amateur radio software available for Windows than Linux.
  • CQRLOG is an adequate Linux program for casual logging, but not great for contesters.
  • “Quite simply, if one intends on using Linux exclusively in the hamshack they have to lower their expectations and requirements for logging and are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to contesting.”
  • He does praise fldigi, but still claims Windows software is better.
  • In summary, he thinks hard-core contesters may wish to stay with Windows. Our suggestion: run Linux and write a program that works better!
• Russ talks about his success with WSPR and Echolink.
• He found that instead of using “dpkg -i” to install the latest Debian WSPR package, use “dpkg -x”. You’ll extract the files to the current directory. You then run the program from a terminal session in your home directory using “./wspr”. If you run it that way, instead of letting it install, it seems to work a lot better. The Gnome launcher doesn’t seem to work with that sort of installation, but running it from a terminal works well.
• Russ has Echolink running under WINE v1.13. This version of WINE was chosen for it’s native support of PulseAudio, which made configuring EchoLink much easier. Russ’ node is on 146.225MHz simplex, Echolink node 54711.
• Russ then tells us why Echolink and IRLP are different and why IRLP might be “better.” (Hint: Echolink may not have an amateur radio anywhere in the link, while IRLP definitely uses a radio somewhere in the link.)

Feedback:

• Scott, HL2/AD7MI, sends his appreciation for the discussion in Episode 50 of his blog entry about his Ubuntu installation, and adds a note about problems with running CQRLOG under 64-bit Linux. He says you can install CQRLOG on a 64-bit machine, but it will only work with the 32-bit version of hamlib. Unfortunately, that breaks 64-bit fldigi, which expects the 64-bit version of hamlib. This issue has been reported on both the linuxham Yahoo group and the CQRLOG forum. Scott has also successfully installed Xastir, and is looking forward to receiving a MicroHAM III interface.
• Matt, KC8BEW, asks “What is a good and easy Linux distribution for a web server?” Russ recommends a plain vanilla installation of Debian server, without the X-windows environment, and either Apache or nginx (a light-weight web server).
• Dave, M0DCM, tells us of his success running fldigi and CQRLOG under Ubuntu 9.10 on an Acer Aspire A0751h netbook. Well done, Dave!

Donations:

• A very generous donation was received from Gerrit R. Thanks, Gerrit!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Steel Concrete” by Mad Mav from the album “Black Sheep II”, courtesy of Jamendo.

We no longer broadcast video via Ustream, but we do have a live audio feed. Just point your streaming audio player at http://stream.lhspodcast.info:8008/lhslive starting about 30 minutes prior to air time (8:15pm CT). You can join in the chat room scene as well with your favorite IRC client. We are at irc.freenode.net in channel #lhspodcast. The channel is available 24/7, even when we’re not doing a live show. Join in when you can and chat with other LHS listeners. During the live show, #lhspodcast becomes our chat room and our live connection with YOU.

Cheers and 73 from the LHS Guys

Announcements:

• Russ talks about his California trip: attending the Large Installation Systems Administration conference (LISA).
• The 50th episode is a milestone – Richard explains why. See also The Internet Archive.
• Lord Drachenblut reminds us of the upcoming Indiana LinuxFest in Indianapolis, Indiana. If you’d like to register, use the promotional code LHSPODCAST50 (all capital letters) and you’ll get a $15.00 discount on the ticket.
• Music in this episode is from 20lb Sounds, fronted by Dan Lynch of Linux Outlaws fame.

Topics:

• Scott, AD7MI, posted an article on his blog about moving to an all-Linux ham shack. Richard and Russ discuss the article, including Shackbox Linux, Ham Radio Deluxe, CQRLog, and more. Ultimately, Fldigi and CQRLog resulted in “100% Linux Nirvana”.
• Scott also asks what we think would be the ideal Linux-based ham shack. Russ describes his shack, which he thinks IS ideal. Our hosts then discuss various soundcard interfaces:
  • RigBlaster
  • MicroHAM
  • Rascal
• Most sound cards work fine, and Russ recommends the SoundBlaster series over all, but suggests staying away from the SoundBlaster Audigy SE (model CA0106) sound cards as they don’t seem to work well (or at all) under Linux.
• Richard likes his Yaesu FT-897D. Most modern rigs allow a fixed-audio level connection to the computer sound card, as well as computer rig control. Russ has the Kenwood TS-570D, and it, too, is well-supported in the Linux ham libraries.
• Russ and Richard discuss the fact that most hams don’t log VHF/UHF contacts, other than in contests or toward an award.
• The FCC, created by the Communications Act of 1934, included the requirement to maintain a log book in the rules. Sometime between 1983 and 1986, this requirement was dropped as the FCC determined that the information was of little use to them. (If someone can point us to a reference that identifies when the exact rule change occurred, please let us know. I was unable to find the specific change online. -Ed.)

Feedback:

• Leif, KC8RWR, writes that Internet over EME (earth-moon-earth) isn’t likely to work due to the high latency involved. (This may be in reference to a comment in Episode 48.) NASA and DARPA are involved in a Deep-Space Internet project.
• Leif also asks “Isn’t Morse code dead?” and wasn’t it replaced by “Gerke Code”? Our hosts discuss.
• Craig, KB5UEJ, writes that he thinks Russ’ audio is louder and muddier than Richard’s in episodes 46 and 47. Russ agrees that the audio on a few of the recent episodes did suffer, but should be much improved now.
• Grant, KC9SJQ, comments that he doesn’t see a link to Russ’ screencast about SSL anywhere. Yes, it somehow disappeared, but Russ is working on it. He’ll either find the file or redo it.
• William, KB9TMP, sends his comments about Episode 48 where we discuss KE9V’s article that questioned the relevance of amateur radio.
• Craig, KB5UEJ, commenting about WSPR, says that you can run less than 5W on an FT-897 by reducing the audio drive from the computer to the radio. Richard points out that the reduction is often not uniform across the audio freqeuncies used, so some intelligibility may be lost. He had that problem with packet, but he’ll try it with WSPR.
• Matt wants to know the artist and title of a song in Episode 48. The song was “Endline (Choose Nothing)” by I Am Not Lefthanded from the album “Yes Means No”. Check out the show notes for Episode 48 for a link to the song.

Donations:

• Scott, AD7MI, sent a donation just before we recorded! Thanks, Scott.
• If you’d like to help the podcast, please consider making a donation. It’s easy! Just a click on the Donate button on the web site.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• Redemption Song performed by 20lb Sounds.
• Jimmy Carter, also by 20lb Sounds.

In this episode, we talk about life, love and amateur radio. OK, not really. But we touch on a number of interesting topics including the necessity of logging in amateur radio, theoretical nonsense like Internet via Moonbounce and, thanks to a couple of missives from AD7MI, we wax philosophical on our ideal ham shacks–computers running Linux included of course.

Thank you for being a listener of our show. If you’re new: Welcome! Please tell everyone you know where they can find us. And keep fighting the good fight.

73 de The LHS Guys

73 de The LHS Guys

Ubuntu 10.10 – Maverick Meerkat

Russ upgraded from 10.04 to 10.10, which isn’t particularly easy. as 10.04 is the long-term-support (LTS) version, but 10.10 isn’t.

There is a command line command to upgrade:

do-release-upgrade

which will work, but you must first make a change in the Ubuntu software center. Click Edit -> Software Sources -> Updates tab. At the bottom of the Updates tab, there are three options for the release upgrade: Never, Long-term Support Only, and Normal Releases. You must select “Normal Releases”. Russ then issued the do-release-upgrade command. Once the downloads were complete, the upgrade just took about 45 minutes. A reboot is necessary due to the newer kernel.

The desktop background is a bit different, but otherwise it looks and runs much the same as 10.04. Russ had some performance issues with 10.04 on some of his machines. He thinks 10.10 runs much better.

Summary of changes

• GNOME updated to current 2.32 version.
• Gnome desktop manager (gdm) version 3. Russ thinks it looks more like OS-X.
• Evolution updated to version 2.30. Russ thinks they should drop Evolution entirely. There would be room for GIMP if Evolution were deleted.
• Shotwell replaces F-Spot as the default photo manager. F-Spot replaced GIMP in a previous release due to space issues, and now Shotwell replaces that. Isn’t this kind of silly?
• Gwibber updated to use Twitter’s new authentication scheme.

Kubuntu changes:

• More updates to KDE.
• Updates to Qt, and KDE (4.5.1).
• Switched to PulseAudio. Russ says: BOOOOO!, because he’s unhappy with all audio systems on Linux.

Ubuntu Server changes:

• Eucalyptus updated for cloud computing environments.

Kernel update:

• 2.6.35-22.33 Based on 2.6.35.4 upstream stable kernel.
• Support for i586 and older processors, and i686 processors without the conditional move opcode (CMOV), has been dropped. Bad news for older machines.

WSPR was highlighted in the November, 2010 issue of QST.

• What is WSPR? From the WSPR Users Guide:WSPR (pronounced “whisper”) stands for “Weak Signal Propagation Reporter.” The WSPR software is designed for probing potential radio propagation paths using low-power beacon-like transmissions. WSPR signals convey a callsign, Maidenhead grid locator, and power level using a compressed data format with strong forward error correction and narrow-band 4-FSK modulation. The protocol is effective at signal-to-noise ratios as low as –28 dB in a 2500 Hz bandwidth. Receiving stations with internet access may automatically upload reception reports to a central database. The WSPRnet web site http://wsprnet.org/drupal/ provides a simple user interface for querying the database, a mapping facility, and many other features.
• Developed by Joe Taylor, K1JT.
• System Requirements:
• SSB receiver or transceiver and antenna.
• Computer running the Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, or OS X operating system.
• 1.5 GHz or faster CPU and at least 100 MB of available RAM.
• Monitor with at least 800 x 600 resolution.
• Sound card supported by your operating system and capable of 48 kHz sample rate.
• If you will transmit as well as receive, an interface using a serial port to key your PTT line or a serial cable for CAT control. Linux and FreeBSD versions can also use a parallel port for PTT. Alternatively, you can use VOX control.
• Audio connection(s) between receiver/transceiver and sound card.
• A means for synchronizing your computer clock to UTC.

Richard’s setup:

• Yaesu FT-897D Transceiver.
• G5RV Antenna.
• Rascal GLX sound card interface.
• Ubuntu 9.10.
• 3 gigs of memory and an Intel 3.0 Ghz CPU.
• Onboard sound card.

Installation:

• Richard downloaded what looked like the .deb package from the web site.
• He used Gdebi to unpack and install it, but could not get it to stay running. Every time he tried to do anything it crashed.
• After reading the Linux installation instructions from the user guide, he attempted to install it in the manner described:
• Download the appropriate file from http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wspr.html, place it in your home directory, and run the following commands in a terminal

$ sudo dpkg --instdir=. -i wspr_2.00r1714_i386.deb
$ cd WSPR
$ ./wspr

• This resulted in a program that would receive after some fooling around with the sound card, but no rig control, and no transmit.
• As a last resort, Richard downloaded the Windows version and loaded it under Wine, which gave him rig control, transmit, and receive, without much of a problem.
• It did leave him with a few minor annoyances: he has to start it from the file manager with “Open with Wine” from the directory “.wine/Drive_c/Program Files/WSPR”. The menu bar at the top was only partially functional, but he thinks it has to do with his USB mouse, as keyboard control works fine.
• Richard was heard in Argentina on 40m running 5 watts and reported on the wsprnet site.
• WSPRNet website
• WSPR net offers a wide variety of information on the network in real time.
• Page of stations currently active on WSPR.
• Map of stations that can be filtered by callsign and/or band.
• Offers dicussion forums for Q and A, setting up schedules, and general WSPR discussion.

Donations

If you’d like to help the podcast, please consider making a donation. It’s easy! Just a click on the Donate button on the web site. Every dollar helps. Or purchase some LHS merchandise at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!

Contact

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music

• “Monument” by Shearer from the album “Monument,” courtesy of Jamendo.
• “This Love” by Spinous from the album “Empathy,” courtesy of Jamendo.

After that, Richard and I tackle the WSPR protocol for ham radio again. When it was discussed the first time around, neither of us had much of an idea what it was or how it worked. Armed with a broader understanding and a lot more experience, we talk about what works and what doesn’t work with WSPR, how to get it up and running on your system and what we like and don’t like about it.

Following that it’s on to witty banter, a passel of badgers, some hijinks, censorship, feedback and more entertainment than you can shake a wet hedgehog at. Thanks for tuning in. We love you all.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Please sign up for the LHS mailing list. Visit the Bluecows List server and click the lhspodcast link to subscribe. It’s very low volume, so don’t hesitate to sign up.
• The Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNetcon) will be May 6-7, 2011 at the St. Louis Union Station Marriott. If you know anyone that might be a sponsor, exhibitor, or speaker, please let us know. Application forms are available on the web site. Registration will begin December 1, 2010. There will be a live music concert and cocktail hour at the close.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Promote the LHS podcast by adding a link to the show in your email signature. Paul, M0TZO is doing his best. Thank you!
• The Ohio Linux Fest 2010 LHS raffle winners are:
  • Third Prize: LHS Baseball Cap – Dave S., AA8AA
  • Second Prize: LHS T-shirt – Klaatu of the GNU World Order podcast
  • First Prize: Hacked ZipIt Instant Messenger device with RootNexus userland (a derivative of Debian) and 2GB MiniSD – Rain C.
  • Congratulations to all.

Donations:

• We received a donation from Torsten H. Thank you!
• If you’d like to help the podcast, please consider making a donation. It’s easy! Just a click on the Donate button on the web site. Every dollar helps.

Topic:

• This week, Russ, Richard and guest Bill, KA9WKA, have a round-table discussion of an article Russ read on the internet. Jeff, KE9V, posted the article “Ham Radio’s Lost Future” and raises a number of valid points, but also some controversal ones. Our hosts discuss this at length.
• What do you think? Is ham radio still relevant? Are amateur radio operators still innovating? Or is ham radio regressing into its past? Please send us your comments.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info. Contact Bill at ka9wka@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Leaf Blower” by Asylum Street Spankers from the album “What? And Give Up Show Biz?”
• “Endline (Choose Nothing)” by I Am Not Lefthanded from the album “Yes Means No,” courtesy of Jamendo.

As it turns out, his recent article disappointed me quite a bit as well. I don’t want to give much away, but suffice it to say the outlook Jeff paints is fairly bleak. At the same time, some of the points are valid and overall the essay was fairly thought provoking. Because of that, Richard, Bill (KA9WKA) and myself decided to discuss Jeff’s recent article. We also have our usual assortment of announcements, banter, gripes and response to feedback. So settle in for an interesting episode. We all had a good time. We hope you do, too.

73 de The LHS Guys (and Bill)

• Richard is about to replace Linux Mint, due to problems with XChat causing lock-ups. Russ already replaced Linux Mint with Debian Sid.
• The UstreamTV video feed is going away. We will broadcast live audio only after this episode. Beginning with episode 48, visit http://stream.lhspodcast.info:8008/lhslive, or use the link on the web site, to listen to the live show. For chat, use the FreeNode IRC server (irc.freenode.net), #lhspodcast channel.
• The Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNetcon) will be May 6-7, 2011 at the St. Louis Union Station Marriott.
• Episode 39 of Linux in the Ham Shack was released on Hacker Public Radio. That was the episode in which Russ and guest Claudio M. discuss various open source topics.
• Russ appeared on Linux Basement episode 62, but only briefly due to audio problems. Also, Chad is a quasi-badger.

Donations:

• Mitch D., Bill A., and Jim C. sent donations. Thank you!
• To support the podcast, please click the Donate button on the website or buy one of the LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!

Topics:

• OpenOffice has forked! (Thanks to Russ of The Techie Geek podcast for the link.) The Document Foundation is an independent open source version of OpenOffice called LibreOffice. This version of OpenOffice will be maintained separate from, and without dependence on, Oracle. For extensions to the package, see the FSF Extension list.
• CQRLog Revisited: A fully featured ham radio logging program for Linux.
  • Documentation link
  • The authors (Petr OK2CQR and Martin OK1RR) recommend using the binary installer instead of compiling manually. There is a source package that can be installed but the authors say it is easier to help the users if the binary package is used. It has been tested on several distributions including the latest versions of Slackware, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mandriva, Fedora and OpenSuSE Linux. CQRLog must have hamlib installed to work. Note that CQRLog is probably not in the distribution repositories, but hamlib is in the repositories of most Debian-based distributions.
  • Again, you must have the current ham libraries installed. In Ubuntu, that is libhamlib2, version 1.2.10-3.
  • Award Tracking:
    • DXCC, DX Century Club, awarded by ARRL for working 100 “countries”.
    • WAZ, Worked All Zones, awarded by CQ Magazine for working all 40 CQ zones.
    • ITU Zones, like CQ Zones, defined by the ITU. Used for some awards and contests.
    • IOTA, Islands On The Air.
    • WAC, Worked All Continents.
    • WAS, Worked All States.
  • Club logging, like OMISS, 10-10 International, etc. This is found under the membership tab of the Preferences dialog box (File -> Preferences).
  • Allows you to track contacts for clubs or special stations.
  • Lots of preconfigured databases, but also has the ability to add databases for other clubs.
  • There is also Logbook of The World (LoTW) integration, as long as you have Tqsl and Tqslcert installed. (Listen to episodes 43 and 46 of LHS for more on LoTW and Linux.)
  • FLdigi integration! Fldigi must be installed and functional, of course. CQRlog runs in offline or remote mode while running FLdigi. Fldigi is in control. Use FLDigi in the normal way and CQRLog will pickup the information and log it.
  • Xplanet integration.
  • There is currently no other function than DX Cluster spot displaying in true azimuthal projection with correct angles (azimuth) and distances. Alternatively, a map without projection, ie. the globe as seen from the space, can be selected.
  • Additional notes area, which allows you to add extra information to a contact such as picture and text files. This area can contain text, html, pdf, and image files.
  • Other nice features:
    • Automode
    • Group editing
    • Easy DX Cluster setup
    • Bandmap
    • Propagation Window, a simple window providing propagation indices as provided by the NOAA Space Weather Center. CQRLOG does not include any propagation forecast module but keen users can estimate many parameters just from the supplied data.

Feedback:

• Google Alert: In the ask.elmershack.com forums, AC0QW asks, “What podcasts do you like related to ham radio?” N3JIM recommended Linux in the Ham Shack. Also mentioned: SolderSmoke and The Practical Amateur Radio podcast.
• Google Alert: In the forum for the Podnutz podcast, Tom asks, “Who else in the forums does a podcast or videocast? I am experimenting (struggling) with doing one on a different subject (Ham radio) and would like to get some inputs from people who are doing shows now.” computerteq responds, “There is a podcast called Linux in the ham shack. http://lhspodcast.info/ I personally am not into ham radio, but they might have some info for you. They had a table set up at the South East Linux Fest when I was there.”
• Frazer emailed us that he has experienced problems with the podcast feed, both .mp3 and .ogg. (He also will soon take his license test.) Give it another try, Frazer, and let us know how it goes.
• Gorkon from The Linux Link Tech Show talks about the LHS and QSK podcasts, and Ohio Linux Fest over at geardiary.com.
• Randy, K7AGE, has a video chat where he mentions Resonant Frequency and LHS. Russ wishes he would use his name, not just “Bill and another fellow”.
• Mention of LHS on The Techie Geek Episode #71.
• Link to our site from listener KC8LPZ. We linked back.
• Bryan, drtelnet, followed us on Identi.ca. Everyone go follow a fellow ham!
• LHS site via BSM is mentioned by Chris 2W0PHP using his signature at the Transmission 1 forums. Everyone should add “For quality amateur radio and Linux information, visit http://lhspodcast.info.” to their email signature files.
• We have been linked from www.amateurradio.com. We linked back.
• Russ rants about KE9V stopping the Cornbread Road podcast series in favor of going to a commercial outlet.
• Frazer B. on Facebook comments that he’s using Ubuntu 10.4 and is studying for his amateur radio license in Canada. Good luck, Frazer, and let us know how it goes.
• Don, WS4E, writes that both Crunchbang Linux and Linux Mint now have versions based directly on Debian. The Mint project is experimental, but Crunchbang has announced that the next version will be based on Debian Testing. Don has tried both, and is staying with the Crunchbang product.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Superglue” by Heifervescent from the album “The Glue Factory”, courtesy of Jamendo.
• “To a Friend in His Climb” by “Men in Route” from the album “‘Ndemo!”, courtesy of Jamendo.

This time around, Richard has been looking a little deeper into CQRlog, a great logging program for Linux created by OK2CQR.  We talked about this program in a past episode and we’ve mentioned it a few more times in passing. This time we’re getting down deep into the features and all of the integrations CQRlog has with other ham radio applications. We also address our usual announcements, feedback, other technical topics and throw in a bunch of witty banter just to keep things interesting. Thanks, all, for staying with us while we try and get back to a regular podcasting cycle. Keep listening and keep spreading the word.

73 de The LHS Guys

We will still maintain a live chat room as well. In order to access it, you will need to use an IRC client (e.g. irssi, X-Chat, Colloquy, etc.) and connect to irc.freenode.net on port 6667 (the default). Once there, connect to the channel #lhspodcast. Note that this channel is active all the time and there are several LHS listeners who are always handy to ask questions of or to simply chat with. The live audio stream will start working approximately 30 minutes before each live broadcast. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send them our way.

73 de The LHS Guys

The winner is: Jim, K5LAD!

Congratulations, Jim. Your Linux in the Ham Shack swag (T-shirt) is on its way to you as we speak. Thanks for entering the drawing. Until next time, happy listening!

73 de The LHS Guys

• John, KF6EFG, commenting on the OGG vs. MP3 debate in episode 43, agrees that MP3 is the preferred file format because that it is supported by most media players. He realizes that OGG is superior, but until vendors like Apple support it, it will not gain on MP3. Richard thinks it’s because Apple cannot add DRM to OGG files. Russ thinks that if Apple did use OGG, they’d sell more iPods. In any case, LHS will not drop the MP3 feed.
• Lief, KC8RWR, writes a detailed reply to comments Randall, KC4WZE, made in episode 44 about running the same applications on cell phones and computers. There is a way to hack an Android phone to run Debian, or run Android on your desktop. Check out the TuxPhone project. Richard and Russ discuss.
• John, EI7IG, was interested in the discussion of Logbook of The World in episode 43. He pointed us to www.rickmurphy.net/lotw for a newer version of TrustedQSL created by Rick Murphy, including a Linux version. Russ tried it and it works. (Ed. note: The softare is no longer available on Rick Murphy’s site. Evidently, it has been obsoleted by Trusted QSL 1.13 from ARRL. Linux source packages to compile the library and program are available from the LoTW Instructions page.)
• David, M0DCM, writes that he was recently at the Telford Hamfest and found that Linux was represented there, thanks to the Shropshire Linux User’s Group and MAXPAK, the Midlands AX25 Packet Radio User Group. They had demonstrations of Linux machines running Fldigi and WSPR, showing just how far Linux has come. They gave away a bunch of Ubuntu CDs, some to LHS listeners! (A couple UK podcasts for ham radio and Linux are the ICQ Podcast and the Ubuntu UK Podcast.)
• Russ was at the Joplin ARC Hamfest and had the LHS booth there. He gave away 20 Ubuntu 10.04 CDs. WebSDR was a big hit, too.

Announcements:

• May 6-7, 2011: MAGNet Conference in St. Louis, MO. See magnetcon.info for information. If you know anyone that might be a sponsor, exhibitor, or speaker, please let us know. Application forms are available on the web site. Registration will begin December 1, 2010. There will be a live music concert and coctail hour at the close.
• Links to LHS merchandise have been added to the LHS website. Click the SHOP! link under the banner.

Topics:

• Websites of interest:
  • Ubuntu Linux for Hams, by Bert, AB0VI, was featured on the main ARRL web page.
  • My Ham Shack provides a free personal web page for ham radio operators. Lots of guys post pictures of their shacks, QSL info, equipment list, etc.
  • It’s More Complicated Than That!. A blog by one of the Ubuntu developers, Steve Conklin, AI4QR. Recently, he’s been working on controlling a Softrock software defined radio (SDR) with Linux.
• Linux ham software:
  • More ham radio applications are showing up in the Linux repos, like PSKmail, bulletin board programs, and more. Richard begs for someone to update the 2001 Linux Amateur Radio AX.25 HOWTO.
  • CallGit, a callsign lookup tool that retrieves data from QRZ.com.
  • gPredict, a real-time satellite tracking and orbit prediction program.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Balrog Boogie” by Diablo Swing Orchestra from the album “The Butcher’s Ballroom.”

After the Dayton Hamvention, Southeast Linux Fest, Joplin ARC Hamfest and Ohio Linux Fest, things have slowed down a bit on the event front, but we’re just starting up again when it comes to the show. So please stay tuned, tell your friends about us, and make sure to pick up a shirt or a ball cap. These are high quality items, and the only way you can get them is online or when we’re at an event close to you. Also, check out the new BADGER WEAR! You can find a link to all of our merchandise at the top of this Web site. Have a good week, everyone, and thanks for listening!

73 de The LHS Guys

• No Richard tonight as he’s suffering through another power and Internet outage.
• The eighth annual Ohio LinuxFest (How Will Free Change the World?) will be held on September 10-12, 2010 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Linux in the Ham Shack will be there; will you?
• This episode is a round-table discussion with Dennis (Bear1), Beth Lynn Eicher, Moose, and Rob, all from Ohio LinuxFest.

Discussion:

• Moose discusses the OLF programs and the vendor expo. The majority of the conference content is on Friday and Saturday. LPI and BSDA testing will be conducted on Sunday. There will be keynote addresses from Stormy Peters and Christopher “Monty” Montgomery. John “maddog” Hall will give talks on Friday and Saturday. New tracks this year are a medical track and an Ubuntu-specific track (Ubucon).
• List of speakers.
• OLF Schedule.
• Ubucon is new at OLF this year, which is a month before the next release of Ubuntu.
• Beth Lynn announced that the pre-party will be held at about 8:00pm Friday night at the Frog Bear and Wild Boar bar, one block west of the Drury Columbus Convention Center. It is sponsored by Nagios.
• Rob talks about the vendor exposition and sponsors at OLF on Saturday. There will be a gaming area this year and a mock-up of a hotel room in the middle of the expo area.
• Sine Nomine Associates is providing the tee shirts, and Pantek is providing the tote bags.
• SUSE, KDE, Red Hat, Fedora, and, of course, LHS will be there, too.
• The group offers encouragement to Russ and Cheryl on their planned MAGNet Con in 2011.
• Register for Ohio LinuxFest at ohiolinux.org. The number of registered attendees proves to the sponsors that their support is worth the investment.
• Moose talks about the OLFU training sessions and exams.
• Bear reminds us that OLF is produced by an all-volunteer staff. How can you help? OLF still needs volunteers to help out at the conference. Even if you can’t attend,
  you can help spread the word.
• Tee Shirts, flyers, banners, and other promotional material was designed by WRL Advertising.
• Moose discusses the Diversity in Open Source workshop, the Open Source Medical Track,
  and a variety of classes aimed at all levels of interest and experience.
• Rob adds that he’s looking forward to seeing the LHS booth at the expo.
• Bear reminds us that OLF is a great opportunity to meet many of the people directly involved in the development of the open source products we use every day.
• Finally, Beth Lynn points out that other popular open source projects are also represented, like FreeBSD and BeOS. You do not need to know anything about Linux to attend OLF! There is something for everybody, so please register and attend. Students are welcome, too.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music and promo.

73 de The LHS Guys

As it turns out, congratulations go out to Mark, N4TIR, for his winning raffle entry. Thank you to everyone who participated in the drawing, and to everyone who stopped by our booth to talk about geek tech, amateur radio, Open Source or simply to say hello. We want everyone to know that we had a great time and we’ll definitely be back next year.

Oh, the prize is a ZipIt Z2 personal IM device. It’s a neat toy by itself, but we’re also throwing in a 2GB miniSD card and some instructions on how to turn your ZipIt into a Linux-based computer so you can have some real fun with it. Enjoy!

73 de The LHS Guys

• The eighth annual Ohio LinuxFest will be held on September 10-12, 2010 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Linux in the Ham Shack will be there; will you?
• Russ is in a bad mood, tonight. Send him lots of feedback!
• Black Sparrow Media was intended to be similar to Hacker Public Radio, a clearing house for several podcasts, and Russ has ressurected it. Currently, we have LHS, Resonant Frequency, and Russ’ latest venture, the QSK Netcast.
• Another all feedback episode.

Donations:

• Paul, KE5WMA, sent a donation. Thanks, Paul!

Feedback:

• We had several listeners comment about the possibility of releasing LHS only in OGG format:
  • Email from Frasier say that he votes for keeping the MP3 feed as he relies on his iPod to listen. We’ll be keeping both formats for the foreseeable future. There is the RockBox OS for most iPod models, which would allow you to play OGG files, but that would replace the existing OS on the iPod and break iTunes.
  • David, KG4GIY and the ham radio editor for Linux Journal, comments on the web site that he also votes for the MP3 version, again because he subscribes with iTunes. However, in about a month, he’ll be converting to Fedora and will no longer use iTunes.
  • Matt, KC8BEW, has a couple of thoughts about the MP3 vs OGG debate: if you’re a Linux user, you should be able to convert to whatever format you want. However, MP3 is probably more convenient for most people. Our hosts note that xiph.org has components that make it possible to play OGG in Quicktime and iTunes, but once you take a file out of the feed, then it ends up in the iTunes music library, and not in the podcast category.
  • Charles, KJ4VEB, comments on the web site that he would be more than willing to try the OGG format. We agree that there are benefits to OGG, but there are too many listeners that rely on the MP3 feed to abandon it at this time.
• Ross, WI0N, says he’s writing a Windows TCP/IP client application that uses AGWPE (SV2AGW Packet Engine) winsock layer to get digitized packet data and satellite telemetry through a RigBlaster plug and play device, but would like a Linux solution. Does Fldigi have the lower level layer that works with the sound card to digitize and format KISS data, or does it sit on top of that layer like Ham Radio Deluxe does? Our hosts suggest reviewing the Fldigi documentation and source code and the AX.25 website.
• Following up in a voicemail, Ross thinks the Linux soundmodem driver might provide the ASCII stream he’s looking for from the /dev/soundmodem0 device. Russ agrees that it looks like the AX.25 kernel module does support getting the data stream from the soundmodem device. Richard suggests contacting Phil, KA9Q, as he’s involved with this type of work.
• WW (Bill), KB9TMP, replies to Russ’ comments in episode 42 about Field Day sites not being handicapped accessible. The Hoosier Hills Ham Club in Bedford, IN does make an effort to make their activities wheelchair friendly. Thanks, Bill!
• Paul, KE5WMA, wrote in via the live support link on the web site asking about a good Koch Morse Code trainer in Linux. There is a SourceForge project, that does both Farnsworth and Koch. There may be others. (Ed. note: Paul, you may find other CW programs via the Hamsoft Linux Software index.) Ross, in the chat room, also provides a link to the CWirc site that provides “an X-Chat plugin for sending and receiving raw Morse code over IRC”. Thanks, Ross.
• Rich, KD0BJT, from the Low SWR podcast, and Dan, KG4JCL, said they have had problems getting LHS episodes with gpodder. Firefox, too, failed to get the feed. Russ suggested deleting and re-adding the feed in gpodder, and Rich said that worked for him.
• Randall, KC4WZE, writes a long email about episode 39: He thinks that for Linux to gain widespread acceptance, we need to create a new perception of Linux much like the difference between a PC and a Mac. Right now, most people identify PCs with Windows, so we need to create a new device name for computers running Linux, like “Tux”. Most people understand the difference between a Mac and a PC, so the difference between a PC and a Tux would be similar, as long as all Tux applications can run on all Tux computers. Our hosts discuss this topic, and mention such companies as System76 and Penguin Computing, that already provide machines designed with Linux in mind and with Linux pre-installed.
• Randall continues with a discussion of embedded Linux appliances. He suggests the possibility, for example, of the same media playing application running on your cell phone, portable video player, desktop computer, car radio, and television. Our hosts discuss the practicality of this concept.
• Finally, Randall comments that a Linux “Tux” netbook might be the next “killer” device. Our hosts discuss this. There are already a variety of devices running Linux, such as the Android smart phone, the Archos 5 internet tablet, Archos 7 home tablet, TiVo DVR, Boxee Box media center, and Roku digital video player. (The TomTom line of GPS units also run embedded Linux. -Ed.)
• Thanks for the thought-provoking email, Randall.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music and promo.

Music:

• “Too Smart for Me” by A. Rex from the album “Who Said I Was Running?”.
• “Hold My Own” by Bryan Litchfield.

Thanks for taking the time to download us and being an ever-faithful listener. We would be nothing without you and we want to let you know that we appreciate each and every pair of ears that hears us every fortnight. Don’t forget to send us your feedback, whether it be as a comment on the Web site, a voice mail submitted via our toll-free hot-line or an e-mail to one or both of us. Also, please don’t forget about making donations or buying some of our LHS merchandise if you have the wherewithal to do so. Enjoy our current offering and we’ll be back live in a week for more rowdy fun.

73 de The LHS Guys

• The drawing for the Southeast Linuxfest prizes will be next episode.
• Problems with GoDaddy prevented the download of the last episode for a time. It seems to be fixed now, but we may be moving to another hosting company.
• Visit https://wiki.edubuntu.org/UbuntuHamsNets for a list and schedule of ham radio nets for Ubuntu users. Everyone is welcome!
• Some listeners reported problems playing the OGG file of the show with VLC. All episodes through #35 worked, but #36 and later did not play in VLC.  The problem was that the cover art image was too large for the OGG file metadata specification (64KB), which caused VLC to choke. The Totem player was not respecting the specification and would play the file anyway. The cover art image was reduced to less than 64KB, and the OGG version of episodes 36 onward have been repaired and should now play properly in VLC.
• Would you object if LHS was only available in OGG format? Let us know!
• LHS has an online assistance feature! There’s a Live Support button on the right-hand side of the LHS web page that will initiate an interactive chat session with the hosts of the show, if they’re online.
• The “Thesis” WordPress theme has caused controversy as it’s not GPL, but because WordPress is open source, and the theme is a derivative of the WordPress program, then Thesis should be GPL, too. See the articles on Geckotribe and Mixergy for more on this topic.

Donations:

• We received donations from Jonas and Ross, both in the chat room tonight. Thank you!

Feature:

• Richard and Russ discuss Logbook of the World, TQSL, and support for Linux.
• Dave, KG4GIY, sent along some information about TQSL support for Linux being dropped by ARRL, which would cause problems for applications such as CQRLOG.
• There is a SourceForge project that provides software to build the TQSL libraries under Linux. Russ came up with the following procedure to build the software under Ubuntu, or you could just try executing:

sudo apt-get install trustedqsl

• Building TrustedQSL under Ubuntu

  1. Install the required libraries:

     sudo apt-get install libssl-dev libexpat1-dev zlib1g-dev g++ build-essential

  2. Download and extract the tqsllib and TrustedQSL software from SourceForge
  3. A minor change is required in the openssl_cert.cpp file from the tqsllib package to add an if statement allowing it build on recent versions of Linux with openssl 0.9.8. In patch format, the code for this update is at the bottom of this section.
  4. Execute the following commands to build the library:

             # ./configure
             # make
             # make install

• Again, if you’re using Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, or similar Debian-based Linux, you can simply type

  sudo apt-get install trustedqsl

  and not bother building the library yourself. In the end, your Accessories menu will contain tqslcert, used to get the certificate from ARRL, and TrustedQSL, used to encrypt your ADIF log data and submit it to LoTW.

• Applications like CQRLOG will then work with LoTW.
• Russ describes the process for obtaining a certificate from the ARRL.
• The ARRL also seems to contradict itself in its support of Linux. On the Resources page, under the entry for CQRLOG for Linux, it says “Please note that ARRL does not support Trusted QSL for Linux.” However, the FAQ page says “At present one needs to use a computer with Windows or Linux operating systems to use TQSL and TQSL Cert.”
• Richard suggests we all should send a letter to the ARRL demanding Linux support in LoTW.
• Paul, KE5WMA, in the chat room points us to the Ubuntu Linux for Hams article posted July 26, 2010 at ARRL.

        --- openssl_cert.cpp.orig    2010-08-05 12:14:50.382465127 -0500
        +++ openssl_cert.cpp    2010-07-27 19:18:45.728049007 -0500
        @@ -1290,6 +1290,8 @@
                                     attrib->set = 1;
         #elif (OPENSSL_VERSION_NUMBER & 0xfffff000) == 0x00907000
                                     attrib->single = 0;
        +#elif (OPENSSL_VERSION_NUMBER & 0xfffff000) == 0x00908000
        +                            attrib->single = 0;
         #else
         #error "Unexpected OpenSSL version; check X509_ATTRIBUTE struct compatibility"
         #endif

Feedback:

• Scott, N9LJX commented on the web site about his desire for a decent logging program for Linux that interfaces with LoTW. CQLog is close, he says, but lacks in the award tracking area. So, unless we can offer an alternative, he’s staying with Windows and the DXLab suite. Russ and Richard discuss CQLog (a Windows program) and CQRLOG (a Linux program). Perhaps, at the moment, Windows and the DXLab suite is the best solution for you, or you might try running Windows in a VirtualBox session under Linux.
• Jason, KB9LAF, asks if we know of any Linux software that will run his Icom ICPCR-1000 receiver. Russ found this article in the Ubuntu forums. (Ed. note: Here are a couple possibilities: A Python application that will run under Windows or Linux, and IcomLib.)
  He also mentions Pendrive Linux as a means of running Linux from a USB drive.
  Thanks, Jason. We talked about that in Episode 19.
• Kallie asks if the New Logo contest would reopen and asks why it was cancelled. There were no entries, so Russ paid for a new logo. But feel free to submit your art, if you wish.
• Tim, KI6BGE, writes about his trouble with PCMCIA wired and wireless network cards under Linux Mint 9 LXDE on his IBM T21 laptop. They used to work with SUSE. Any suggestions? Russ and Richard discuss. They suggest running lsmod under Ubuntu to determine which drivers are loaded when the network cards work, then check what lsmod shows under Linux Mint, determine what’s missing, and modprobe the missing drivers.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music and promo.

Music:

• “3 Ghosts I” by Nine Inch Nails from the album “Ghosts I”.
• “Discipline” by Nine Inch Nails from the album “The Slip”.

But since we got lucky, you can now listen to us talk about our newest features and endeavors, our problems with the ARRL, the status of Logbook of the World, listener feedback, live chat room discussion, installing Linux Mint on an ancient laptop, ham radio software for [that other OS] and much, much more. And hey: Go buy a shirt. Please?

73 de The LHS Guys

• Richard is at his father’s place due to problems with his Suddenlink connection at home.
• Ohio LinuxFest 2010 is on the horizon. Russ hopes to be a speaker this year. It will be held September 10-12, 2010 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH.
• Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNet Con). Russ and Cheryl are organizing this event, which is tentatively scheduled to be held May 6-7, 2011, at the St. Louis Union Station Marriott in St. Louis, MO.
  They’re looking for speakers, sponsors, organizers, and attendees. If you’re interested or can help, please visit the web site.

Donations:

• Please consider making a donation to Linux in the Ham Shack to help defray the costs of producing the show, attending shows, file hosting, etc. There’s a convenient Donate link on the web site, and you can use a credit card or PayPal.
• You can also support the show by purchasing LHS merchandise at cafepress.com/lhspodcast or printfection.com/lhs.
• Thank you!

Feature:

• Russ discusses his trip to Southeast Linuxfest June 11-13, 2010.
• Russ gave a talk on Open Source and Amateur Radio. The talk was recorded and will be available at some point.
• Thanks to everyone involved for their efforts in organizing SELF:
  

  Foundation Officers

  • President: David Yates
  • Vice President: David Nalley
  • Treasurer: John Yeary
  • Secretary: Mike Major

  Board Members

  • Speaker Coordinator: Jeremy Sands
  • Community Coordinator: Amber Graner
  • Volunteer Coordinator: Jas Eckard
• Field Day, 2010, was held June 26-27. Russ and Richard discuss the event and how it combines an emergency preparedness exercise and a contest.
• Russ used to attend Field Day in Maine with the Aroostook Amateur Radio Association (K1FS).
  This year, he visited the Nixa Amateur Radio Club (operating as N0A) and the
  Southwest Missouri Amateur Radio Club sites.
• One suggestion: make your Field Day sites wheelchair accessible!
• Send us your Field Day stories!

Feedback:

• Don, WS4E, sent us a picture of him standing outside the Red Hat Summit in Boston wearing his LHS T-shirt. Thanks, Don!
• Jan, PA9QV, linked to us in his blog, Varying Frequencies. Thanks, Jan!
• Eldon, WA0UWH, also linked to us on his blog. Thanks, Eldon!
• Dave, M0DCM, in the UK writes that he enjoyed Episode 40, and comments about Fldigi, xdx, gpredict, and wsjt.  He uses Xastir, too. He wonders if there is an HD SSTV application for Linux.  His club has asked him to find a good Linux alternative to WinPack. Richard discusses. These could be topics for future shows.(Ed. note: Jean-Paul, F6FBB, has written a packet BBS application for Windows and Linux.)

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Send hate mail to Bill at ka9wka@lhspodcast.info.
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music and promo.

Music:

• “Paper King” by Noxious from the album “Revilutia”, courtesy of garageband.com.
• “Enslaved by Pain” by Severed Fifth (Jono Bacon), from the album “Denied by Reign”.

73 de The LHS Guys

73 de The LHS Guys

• Russ, Richard and Bill discuss the 2010 Dayton Hamvention.
• Thanks to Rob of the Ohio Linux Fest who provided 100 copies of the Ubuntu Live CD to give away to anyone interested.
• Some of the new equipment shown at Dayton:
  • Kenwood TS-590S
  • Yaesu FT DX 5000 HF/6m transciever.
  • Icom IC-9100 HF/VHF/UHF/D-Star transciever
  • Wouxun KG-UVD1P, an inexpensive 2m handytalk from China.
• Russ and Cheryl recorded some audio at Dayton.  Several fans of the show stopped by, including Bill KA9WKA, Rich KD0BJT and Brady KD0BJS from the Low SWR Podcast, and Matt KC8BEW.  An avid listener, G3ZTB from Leeds, England, chatted with us a few times, as well as several others from around the world.
• Aluma Towers
• DX Engineering
• Luso Towers
• Begali keys
• Elecraft P3 Panadapter
• LHS Dayton Raffle winners:
  • Linux in the Ham Shack caps: KC9OLI and W8PJW
  • Linux in the Ham Shack T-shirts: K9LNX and WD8E
  • Grand prize, an Alinco DJ-175T 2m HT: N4KMC

Feedback:

• Hal left a voice mail after his visit to the booth at Dayton and asks about installing Ubuntu to a flash drive. Russ describes the process. Also see: Ubuntu Installatoin to USB Stick or from Windows, see UNetbootin.
• Randall, KC4WZE, writes to Russ that appreciates that Richard now has a noise gate, but says it needs adjusting, because he can still hear Richard rant and rave.
• LHS got a mention on Episode 57 of The Linux Basement. Thanks, Claudio! Claudio was our guest on Episode 39.
• LHS was also mentioned in the Gear Diary blog post about SouthEast LinuxFest 2010.
• Eldon, WA0UWH, mentions us on his blog.
• Stephen Spector, a member of the Xen project team, mentions LHS in his blog at NetworkWorld.com.
• Don, WS4E, comments on the web site: what happened to LHS episodes on ustream.tv? Not all get recorded over there.
• Scott, AD7MI, mentions us on his blog entry about his visit to Dayton.
• Randall, KC4WZE, also asks Richard about FSK on HF… what are the tones or the frequency shift of FSK? Richard discusses.
• Randall asks Russ about the relative sizes of one distribution over another, in terms of disk space and memory. He can see there would be differences if all the drivers were statically linked, but believes they are now dynamically loaded. What makes one distro different from another? He then lists a bunch of services he’d like to have running. Russ responds.
• Randall, again, writes about yanking Richard’s badger.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Thanks, too, to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music and promo.
• Bill is looking for a job as an IT manager in the NE Illinois area. Please send leads to billgrzanich@gmail.com. Thanks!
• Next time, SouthEast LinuxFest, Field Day, and more.

Music:

• “When Will It End” by Even Further
• “Cold Blood in the Night” by Guta

Don’t be alarmed, however. We keep the dated material to a minimum and move directly into things that are much more current and much more interesting, including questions about the “lightness” of distributions, how to install Ubuntu on a USB stick, a super geeky radio question and much more. Not only that, this may have been the most fun episode we’ve recorded so far. For those who want to brave the unedited version of this one, there are belly laughs aplenty. Check out the stream feed in the right column for that. Just remember, unedited means just what it says.

We haven’t been pushing donations lately so here’s a small tug on your subconscious: If you have a spare few dollars, please consider helping us with our hosting expenses so we can continue to bring you the show long into the future.

73 de The LHS Guys and Bill

• This will be an all-feedback episode, ala the Going Linux show.
• Warren, N0XLT, wrote to Russ back in May. He’s catching up on the podcasts, and wonders what programs are available for Linux with similar features to Ham Radio Deluxe or DX Labs,, such as rig control, logging, digital modes, etc. Fldigi, xdx, xlog, gpredict, Hamlib and more have been mentioned on previous episodes. Our hosts discuss.
• Google alert: LHS was mentioned at K7JM’s web site. Thanks, John.
• Google alert: LinuxPR press release for Southeast LinuxFest, and Russ was a presenter.
• Bob, no call, enjoys the podcast. He wonders why the Ogg version of the podcast doesn’t play on VLC under Windows. Russ has tested the Ogg files with VLC on Windows 7, Mac OS-X and Linux. Maybe a newer version of VLC will help. Let us know what you discover, Bob.
• Danny, KJ4UHI, is a new linux user and uses Orca as a screen reader for the visually impaired. A future episode will cover Linux accessibility tools for the handicapped. Any listeners with experience with Orca or other accessibility software, contact us!
• Jonathan, no call, recently listened to Episode 38. He is a daily Orca user, and offers his assistance. Thanks, Jonathan.
• John, KF6EFG, wrote asking for a small section of the show that covers changes to the licensing and privileges regulations over the years, and trends in the hobby. He also notes that the web site has been slow. (The ARRL has a nice band plan map on their site.)
• Doug, KB3TOA, met Russ at the Dayton Hamvention, and is catching up on old episodes. He’s trying to follow the show on Twitter. Follow the podcast on Twitter with the user name “lhspodcast”. Doug also sent a donation. Thanks, Doug! Listen to a future episode for the results of the drawing.
• Danny asks how he might hear the unedited podcast. Click on the LHS Up All Night link under the Streaming Audio heading on the right side of the page. You’ll need an application that will play an Ogg stream, like Totem or VLC, etc. Or join us on UStream for the live show.
• Danny also asks if Richard is kidding about wearing a kilt, and if not, is it from Utilikilts?
• The Northwest Tasmania ATV Group has been running episodes of LHS on Tuesday evenings. Thanks, guys! They operate on a linked repeater system and IRLP nodes 6616 and 6124.
• Lynn, K5AVJ, asks what people use for calendaring. Paper? Phone app? Web app? Program? Smart phone? Mozilla Sunbird, Apple iCal, Mozilla Lightning, Google Calendar, and Scalix are some possibilities.
• Listeners William and Frasier made donations to the show. Thanks!
• Larry Bushey of the Going Linux podcast commented on the web site that he listens to the podcast and loves us, too.
• Don, WS4E, writes that he’s been a long-time listener to LHS and Resonant Frequency. He’s tried many ham radio applications under Linux. What are the current favorite programs for rig control, logging, digital modes, award tracking, etc. That will likely be an entire episode. (And see the links earlier in this show notes page.)
• “xPureEvilx” in the chat room asks what is the best Linux distribution for an older, slower machine? Richard recommends Crunchbang Linux Lite. He uses it on his 133MHz Dell Latitude with 128MB of memory. There are others, like Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux. Check out Ted’s site, http://wa0eir.ham.org, and look at his applications, too.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Leave us a voice mail at 1-888-455-0305  or 1-417-200-4811. Note the new number!

Music:

• “Hey Allright” by The Cool Waters Band from the album “One More One”.
• “Good Life” by Souldier of Fortune

73 de The LHS Guys

• No Richard this time due to other commitments. In his stead, our special guest host is Claudio M, co-host of Linux Basement.
• Claudio describes his background, history with Linux, and his role at Linux Basement.
• Russ comments that many people at the Dayton Hamvention wondered what he was selling, and were shocked to discover that Linux was free. In fact, Russ was giving away Ubuntu 10.04 CDs, courtesy of Ohio Linux Fest. This observation leads to a discussion about the perceived value of Linux is proportional to it’s cost. In other words, the fact that open software often costs nothing leads many to think it is somehow less useful than software that must be purchased.
• Russ suggests that the fact that Linux has no budget for marketing may be one of the reasons that many people are not aware of Linux. A discussion of the role of marketing and Linux advocacy ensues. Claudio mentions the Fedora Ambassador program.
• Sheldon (of The Big Bang Theory) prefers Ubuntu!
• IBM did air some Linux commercials. Perhaps they were too abstract or too focused on the enterprise?
• Should Linux and free/open-source software attempt to be the dominant software, or should it remain a niche platform?
• Linux still has a reputation for being harder to install and harder to use.
• If Linux is to grow it’s market share, isn’t marketing necessary and how would it be funded?
• Claudio notes that it’s rare for anyone to install an operating system from scratch, as most people purchase a computer with the OS already installed, and that operating system is usually Windows. When ASUS introduced the Linux-based netbook, it did not make it clear that it would not run Windows programs.
• So how do we market Linux? Russ thinks Linux has been most successful when people are not aware that it’s Linux, as in many commercially successful embedded Linux products.
• Claudio suggests that the Linux distributions tailored to the new user, such as Linux Mint or Ubuntu, will ultimately spread the awareness of Linux and free software. He also thinks that world-domination is not necessary or even consistent with the core values free choice and free software.
• Look for Chad on Twitter at @chadwollenberg, Claudio on identi.ca at @claudiom, and look for #linuxbasement on IRC on freenode.net. There is also a Facebook fan page, search for Linux Basement. Email Claudio at claudio@linuxbasment.com or Chad Wollenberg at chad@linuxbasement.com.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.

Richard was unable to record for Episode #039, but luckily I was able to find a worthy surrogate for this particular show. Chris and Bryan over at The Linux Action Show had prior obligations and didn’t respond quick enough, respectively, but we hope to have them on a future episode. However, ClaudioM decided he didn’t have anything better to do and was able to swing by and offer his thoughts on a couple of intriquing concepts suggested by visitors to the Dayton Hamvention: 1) How do we promote Linux and Open Source and should it be promoted, and 2) Why does the perception that Linux is harder to use than Windows persist?

I found this to be a rather insightful episode and I hope you do as well. Thank you to everyone who visited Linux in the Ham Shack in Dayton and in Spartanburg, and please enjoy this latest installment of the program.

73 de The LHS Guys (and ClaudioM)

• Resonant Frequency is back in production! Check out rfpodcast.info for more information and look for the latest episode, #41, in the usual places.
• Look for LHS merchandise at http://cafepress.com/lhspodcast and at http://www.printfection.com/lhs. A little bit of each purchase goes to help with the podcast expenses.
• We’re planning a future episode about Orca – a text-to-speech application for Linux. If you or someone you know is using Orca or another text-to-speech Linux application, share your experience! Contact Russ or Richard with any information you might have.
• Visit the LHS channel on IRC at irc.freenode.net, channel #lhspodcast.
• Look for random LHS episodes and music on the streaming audio links on the LHS web site.
• Russ will be speaking at 2:00pm on Saturday, June 12th, at the SouthEast LinuxFest, June 11-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC. He will be giving a talk on Linux and Ham Radio.
• Russ will be starting up a mailing list for LHS show information. Watch the LHS web site for information on signing up.
• Thanks to Rich, KD0BJT and Brady, KD0BJS of the Low SWR Podcast for recording an introduction to this episode.

Feature:

• Richard discusses installing an HF rig in his vehicle.
• Always connect the radio directly to the battery. You’ll have more current available and less noise.
• Look for rubber grommets in the firewall to pass your wires into the passenger compartment.
• Warning! Not all Powerpole connectors are Anderson Powerpole connectors! Some hamfest specials look the same, but don’t work as well.
• Most mobile 40m and 75m antennas are not very broadbanded, so you will probably need an antenna tuner to cover the whole band.
• Richard digresses into a brief discussion of Ubuntu 10.04. Russ was in a recent episode of the Fresh Ubuntu podcast.
• Russ likes the looks of the Scorpion Black Widow HF antenna.
• Welcome to K5AVJ who is running Linux Mint, and to VE2XPL, running Ubuntu 10.04.

Feedback:

• Gary, KE2YK, writes about the discussion of ebook readers in Episode 31 and suggests this link to an old Radio Shack catalog as an example of a compromise between electronic and paper media. Visit Gary’s Random Oscillations blog, and his online store at http://www.ehamstore.com/.
• Andy, OE4DNS, recently became a ham, is an avid Linux user, and just discovered the podcast. He’s a member of of the Metalab hacker space in Vienna, Austria. Andy responds to a question in Episode 37 from KJ4UHI about Morse code programs for Linux, and Andy suggests the Learn CW Online website provided by DJ1YFK. You can even export practice sessions to .mp3 files. Andy also recommends finding a hacker space in your area at the Hackerspaces web site. Fabian Kurz, DJ1YFK, is also the author of YFK Log. VE2XPL in the chat room also likes the Learn CW Online web site.
• Tom is a first-time listener to the podcast with Episode 37, and thinks we spent too much time promoting merchandise.
• Bruce, VE2GZI, writes to say thanks for the podcast and looks forward to seeing us at Dayton.
• Albert commented on the web site that we should let The Linux Link site know about the new LHS web site and feeds.
• Darryl, VK5HZ, just caught up to Episode 33. He’d love to have LHS visit the linux.conf.au conference held in January each year. In 2011 it will be in Brisbane, Queensland.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-429-4069, or record an introduction to the podcast and have a chance at winning $25.

Music:

• “Music is His Mistress” by The Savannah Leigh Band from the album “City of Grey”
• “Hey Mr.” by Matt Ellis from the album “Tell the People”

Now that I’m home and most of the work that piled up on me while I was away has been tackled, I got the podcast we recorded before the event finished and here it is.  There’s no Dayton content this time around. That will come next time. The drawing for the Alinco radio and the other Linux in the Ham Shack swag will happen on Friday and we’ll announce all the winners in the next show and on the Web site so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, enjoy some interesting feedback from listeners and some insight into Richard’s latest mobile rig install. Keep the feedback coming, visit our Printfection and Cafe Press stores and pick up an item or two, and get ready for next year in Dayton. Linux in the Ham Shack will be back.

73 de The LHS Guys

• Listen to The Bad Apples GNU/Linux Oggcast.
• LHS has a presence on identi.ca at identi.ca/lhspodcast.
• LHS will be at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention, May 14-16, in booth 265 in the North Hall (NH0265). See hamvention.org for more information.
• Russ will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest, June 11-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC.  He will be giving a talk on Linux and Ham Radio.

Donations:

• We received donations from Peter, Walter and Maddie (daughter of Bill, KA9WKA).  Thank you!  Donations help defray the hosting expenses.
• Jim, W9GNG, sent Richard a noise gate!  Thank you, Jim!
• LHS merchandise is now available at http://www.printfection.com/lhs.  There are a variety of shirts, mugs and other items.  Every item purchased will help the podcast.  If you’re interested in caps, wall clocks, or hoodies with the LHS logo, visit our store at http://www.cafepress.com/lhspodcast.  A portion of each sale goes to the podcast.  If you visit Dayton wearing or carrying an LHS item, you could win a prize!

Feature:

• Resonant Frequency is still on hiatus as Richard is still in the process of moving the site to a new host.  Watch the LHS web page for more information as it develops.
• Ubuntu 10.04 will be released on April 30.  Russ has the second beta test version running and discusses the new theme and other changes.  It boots much faster, but once running, it seems slower than the previous release, at least on his hardware.
• Pete, VE2XPL, in the chat room asks which version of Linux would run best on his 500MHz Pentium II machine.  Richard recommends trying Crunchbang Linux Lite.  Russ agrees, and suggests that just about any distribution might work with one of the light-weight window managers, such as FVWM or XFCE.  Other possibilies are Damn Small Linux, or one of the netbook remix distributions.

Feedback:

• Danny, KJ4UHI, writes and leaves an audio message about Frostbite Systems and passing his Technicians license test.  He asks where he might get recordings to study Morse code. Richard discusses various options.  There are some Linux applications, like cwcp.
• Gary, KE2YK, also left an audio message. Visit his Random Oscillations blog, and his online store at http://www.ehamstore.com/.
• Mark, KC4GIA, wonders about Linux support for syncing his Zune audio player.  Our hosts discuss this.  One possible source of information is the Zuneboards site.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-429-4069, or record an introduction to the podcast and have a chance at winning $25.

Music:

• “Company Graveyard” by BB Chung King and the Buddaheads from the album “Howlin’ at the Moon”
• “Free Love” by Derek James from the album “Stray”

This has also already been announced, but I’d like to promote our merchandise shops once again. If you’d like T-shirts, tote bags and lots of drinkware items with the cool new Linux in the Ham Shack logo on them, take a trip over to http://www.printfection.com/lhs and pick up an item or two. You’ll be helping us out with a small donation and advertising the show to your friends, family and colleagues. If caps or wall clocks are your thing, http://www.cafepress.com/lhspodcast has exactly what you need. They make great gifts, too. And every purchase helps Linux in the Ham Shack out with our hosting expenses.

Hopefully we’ll see a lot of our listeners at the Dayton Hamvention this month, and hopefully we’ll have many more faithful followers by the end of the event. Thanks as always for downloading the show, and make sure to leave us a comment. Don’t be a stranger.

73 de The LHS Guys

• OGGCamp will take place at The Black-E in Liverpool on the 1st and 2nd of May.
• The 2010 Southeast LinuxFest is set for June 12-13 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC.
• Look for Russ on Shortcast #0003 of the Fresh Ubuntu Podcast.
• LHS has a new audio promo for the show! So far, it’s only been played by the Working in the Open podcast.
• Jerry, KD0BIK, again mentioned LHS as a good Linux podcast on a recent episode of The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Thanks, Jerry!
• We received no entries for our logo contest, so Russ bought one! Check out the new website design and logo and let us know what you think. LHS merchandise is coming soon!
• Russ and Richard will be at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention, May 14-16, in booth 265 in the North Hall (NH0265). We hope to see you there!
• Russ will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest, June 12-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC. Russ will be delivering a talk on ham radio and Linux.
• Richard has a noise gate! It was a gift from Jim, W9GNG. Thanks very much, Jim!
• Due to problems with the existing service provider, the LHS website has moved to lhspodcast.info. If you have a web page with a link to Linux in the Ham Shack at blacksparrowmedia.com/lhs, please change it to lhspodcast.info. Blacksparrowmedia.com will be going away in the near future.
• The other show, Resonant Frequency, is still on hiatus, but those links will be changing, too. Watch this space for more information.
• Look for LHS in IRC at irc.freenode.net, channel #lhspodcast. Join us!
• LHS, along with other podcasts on the Tech Podcasts Network are now available on the Boxee and Roku media players.

Feature:

• Richard and Russ discuss XDX, an X-windows client to connect to a DX-cluster, written by Joop Stakenborg, PG4I.
• In Linux Mint, Ubuntu, or Debian, you can use

          apt-get install xdx

  to install the program. Setup is simple:

  • Click Settings, then Preferences. Enter your call sign, and if you have your radio connected to the computer and it can be controlled by the hamlib utilities, click the “Enable hamlib” checkbox. Click OK.
  • Click Host, Connect… and enter the information for your favorite DX cluster. Visit the AR-Cluster Node List web page to find one near you. Russ used k2can.net, port 4000. Click Connect. (If a port is not specified, try 23.)
  • Type your call sign and press enter to log in. The cluster may ask a few questions to confirm your name and location.
• Spots appear in the upper window pane. Prompts from the host appear in the middle pane, and your entry goes in the bottom pane.
• If you wish to send a spot, look in the help file for examples such as:

          dx 28002.2 xz7a worked with 80m dipole!!

• In general, it’s “dx” followed by the frequency, the station you’ve spotted, and a comment.
• Other commands are documented in the help file.
• Another web page that lists cluster nodes is www.ng3k.com/Misc/cluster.html.

Feedback:

• Along with the noise gate, Jim, W9GNG, sent a letter expressing his appreciation for the podcast and tells us a bit about his background.
• Jim, N2ENN, writes a response to our discussion of his email back in Episode 034, again condemning the state of drivers in Linux. Thanks for the response and discussion points, Jim.
• Thanks to Gary, KE2YK, for mentioning the podcast at every opportunity, and his donation! Donations will be applied to hosting costs.
• William (Bill?), KB9TMP, recently discovered the podcast via Resonant Frequency. He’s also a new Linux user, but is having trouble finding help, and he comments about “old” hams and “new” hams. Our hosts respond.
• Danny, not currently a ham, is blind and studying for his license test. He’d like to use Linux with Orca and wonders what hardware is best and what other Linux programs for ham radio are suitable for the blind user. Check out the Courage Center Handiham System and Frostbite Sytems. There is a version of Ubuntu for the visually impaired called Vinux, and a version of Arch Linux for the blind. Ask around your local amateur radio club, too.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
• Leave us a voice mail at 888-455-0305 or 417-429-4069. Record an introduction to the podcast and have a chance at winning $25!

Music:

• “Dead Penguin by 3 Blind Mice from the album “Good Grief”
• “Sahara” by Lochinvar from the album “Fire Eyes”

Oggcamp in the UK is next on the list. Then there will be ham fests and Linux fests all over the country and the rest of the world for the rest of the spring, summer and early fall. Linux in the Ham Shack will be represented at the Dayton Hamvention in May and at the Southeast Linux Fest in June. I’m also trying to start a new Linux fest called the Mid-America Linux Fest which will be held in early November. It’s possible that could be November of 2010, but it’s more likely to be November 2011. If you want more information about the Mid-America Linux Fest or are willing to volunteer your time or services, please check out the Web site at http://midamericalinuxfest.org.

And yes, I know this episode of Linux in the Ham Shack is late. Life has been very busy of late and I think all of our listeners for your eternal patience. We hope to see you at the live recording of Episode #037 on April 27th at 8:00pm.

73

• Texas LinuxFest is Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Marchesa Event Center in Austin, Texas.
• OGGCamp will take place at The Black-E in Liverpool on the 1st and 2nd of May.
• The 2010 Southeast LinuxFest is set for June 12-13 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC.
• Due to problems with the existing service provider, the LHS website has moved to lhspodcast.info.
• iTunes will be okay, but all other RSS feeds will need to update as the content is moved.
• The new email address is info@lhspodcast.info. Messages will go to both Russ and Richard.
• The last four episodes are in the RSS feed, but older episodes are unavailable at the moment. They will be there eventually.
• Russ is working on making all the episodes available via BitTorrent.
• Look for Richard at Texas Linux Fest on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Marchesa Event Center in Austin, Texas.
• Russ and Richard will be at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention, May 14-16, in booth 265 in the North Hall (NH0265). We hope to see you there!
• Russ will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest, June 12-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC. Richard may be there, too!
• Peter and Paul, who run hamtests.org, hamtests.net, and hamtests.co.uk are consolidating the websites. Please use hamtests.co.uk for everything. Tell them you heard it here, first.
• Wayne, aka Azimuth, KB7CFD, reminds us of the Idaho State Convention 2010, April 23rd through 25th, 2010 at the Holiday Inn at Boise Airport, 3300 S. Vista Avenue, Boise, ID.
• Resonant Frequency is on hiatus.

Feature:

• Our guest tonight is Stormy Peters, executive director of the GNOME Foundation.
• By the way, GNOME is pronounced “guh-nome”.
• Stormy discusses the purpose of the foundation, her role in it, and the GNOME project.
• The Ubuntu 10.04 release will change the default location of the window controls in the “Light” theme.
• GNOME 3 is expected in September, 2010. New features include the GNOME Shell and the Activity Journal using the Zeitgeist engine. It should be available as a beta test option in Ubuntu 10.04.
• Stormy and our hosts discuss some of the new features in GNOME 3, scheduled for release in September, 2010.
• Check out Episode 011 of the Today in Tech Radio podcast for GNOME 3 installation tips.
• There will be, in GNOME 3, a “dock-like” area on the desktop to receive notifications without changing the focus of your active application.
• To become involved in the GNOME Project, visit the GNOME Project website. GNOME will also have a presence at the Texas LinuxFest.

Feedback:

• John, EI7IG, writes about the music in the show, and likes it. He also thinks the show has become too long. Russ responds.
• We received a donation from Carlie toward the noise gate for Richard. Thanks, Carlie.
• Gary, KE2YK, gives a glowing review of LHS in his blog KE2YK’s Random Oscillations. Thanks, Gary!
• Gary also writes about CrunchBang Linux and S******x Air.
• Dave, M0DCM, writes he is a new Ubuntu user. He runs xastir, too. He recently found the podcast and has nearly caught up on all the episodes. He’s introduced Linux and LHS to his father and his local radio club, Charlie Delta Amateur Radio Club. Thanks, Dave!
• Mark, KC4GIA, is a long-time Linux user and expresses his appreciation for the podcast. He recently found WebSDR.org, which is a Software-Defined Radio receiver connected to the Internet, allowing many listeners to listen and tune it simultaneously. He wants to know if there are any Linux programs to allow him to use his Zune. (Look for more on these subjects in the next episode.)
• MonsterB mentions LHS on monsterb.org. Thanks!
• Audio feedback from Travis, KD5UND. He’s recently switched to S******x Linux. He’s also promoted the LHS podcast on his local net, too. Thanks, Travis!

Contests:

• $100 for the winning Linux in the Ham Shack logo submission.
• $25 to a random audio introduction to the podcast recorded on one of the phone lines.
• See the website for more details.

Music:

• “When We’re Old” by Beautifully Mad from “Moonlight Cactus”
• “In the Storm” by Big Softy from “Big Softy”

We are currently in migration from Hostican to our new hosting, which includes a mix of BlueCows Technical Services and GoDaddy. During this process, some of the Web site features may come and go, but rest assured everything will be back online eventually. I believe most everything is working now except for the OGG feed and I am working on that. It is very important that everyone switch over to the new RSS feeds in your podcatcher of choice. We wouldn’t want you to miss a single episode. Click or hover over the RSS Feed links on the left-hand side of the main Web page for the correct new URLs. And remember, our new e-mail address is info at lhspodcast dot info. That will go to both of us.

Don’t forget about the current contests. Don’t forget to show up at the Texas Linux Fest in April, the Southeast Linux Fest in June and the Ohio Linux Fest in September. Don’t forget to tell 200 of your closest friends about the podcast. Don’t forget to donate to the noise gate fund. And don’t forget to have fun listening to the show!

73,

The LHS Guys

It’s been another harrowing month in the Information Technology department.  Fortunately, no lives were lost in March due to unsafe practices, so we’ve got that going for us.

There was a loose network cable, which caused a number of lost packets.  If the packets are primarily zeros, there is little danger as they tend to roll into the corners.  The ones, however, have a tendency to fall pointy side up, which can be quite painful.  I was able to clean them up with an Ethernet.  I did consider blocking the area with a firewall, but a wall of fire in the workplace just didn’t seem very safe.

There was a concern about the Conficker virus, so I wiped down all the servers with hand sanitizer.  This seems to have been effective, as no new virus infections have been reported.  It does make the servers a bit slippery, though.  That could be an issue for next month’s inspection.

No server crashes were reported in March, though we kept our hard hats on, just in case.  I’ll need to order new steel-toed boots, as the rack-mounted servers are harder to boot than servers sitting on the floor.  I’ve cautioned everyone in IT to stretch before attempting to boot the servers that are higher in the rack, as we don’t want anyone to pull a hammy.

There were a couple of instances of CD-image burns, which were treated with ice.  No blistering was evident, but the CD drives did spark a bit as the ice melted.

It was suggested that alarms be installed on the servers to indicate when they are backing up.  We wouldn’t want anyone hurt and the alarms should provide sufficient notice to get out of the way.  Flashing lights are already in place.

Respectfully submitted,

-Bill
Manager, Information Technology

• Lord Drachenblut, one-time ham radio operator, IRC denizen and podcaster of Ten Buck Review. Lord D has appeared on several other podcasts, including:
  • The Linux Link Tech Show
  • Lotta Linux Links
  • Something Kinda Techy
  • Linux Cranks

  and has been a Linux user for seven or eight years. He uses Linux for everything except for one application that he runs in a virtual Windows machine (Grapevine, the LARP admin utility).

• Jonathan, KB1KIX. Jonathan holds a General class license and has been a ham for a bit over 6 years. He got started with shortwave listening. He’s been using Linux for 10 years and uses it for about 80% of what he does.

Announcements:

• Southeast Linux Fest is June 12-13, 2010, at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC.
• Texas Linux Fest is Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Marchesa Event Center in Austin, Texas.
• OggCamp will take place will take place at The Black-E in Liverpool, England, on May 1-2, 2010.
• Format change: We’re trying a new format. We’ll still have three segments, but rearranged into housekeeping, feature, then feedback. Let us know what you think.
• Russ is trying to organize a Mid-America Linux Fest in Missouri.
• We received a donation from Craig toward a noise gate for Richard. Thanks, Craig.
• LHS will be at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention in booth 265 in the North Hall (NH0265). See hamvention.org for more information.
• The other podcast, Resonant Frequency, is on hiatus for a while.

Contact info:

• Russ: k5tux@blacksparrowmedia.com
• Richard: kb5jbv@blacksparrowmedia.com
• Phone: 888-455-0305 (toll free) or +1-417-429-4069.

Contests:

• Logo contest: Send your logo for Linux in the Ham Shack as a product and as a podcast, preferably in scalable vector graphic or tiff format, or a large-sized image in a lossy format such as jpeg. We’d like to use it for T-shirts, banners, etc., and have it available before the Dayton Hamvention. The winner will receive $100! Send your submission to one or both of the email addresses above.
• Intro contest: Record your introduction to the show. We’ll use them all. You can record it yourself and email the file, or call us on the phone and record the introduction there. Entries received via the telephone will have two chances to win. We will choose one of them at random to receive $25.

Links and Notes:

• OpenSolaris
• Debian
• openSUSE
• Harve’s Hamshack Hack
• Linux Mint
• Ubuntu
• Lord D prefers Debian and Kubuntu, but has recently begun exploring Fedora 12, and found it to support the Broadcom wifi chips without having to install a proprietary driver. Russ says Linux Mint also supports the Broadcom network chips.
• Russ has a thumbprint scanner from Thomson Microelectronics that he has not been able to get working under any operating system. Lord D suggests a goat sacrifice may be necessary.
• Richard opines that Linux has progressed to the point where it’s better for a new computer user than the other OSs. The panel discusses.
• Our panel talks about feature bloat in browsers and performance issues. Everyone seems to like the xmarks add-on to Firefox.
• Modular vs monolithic kernels. AX.25 kernel support is available as a module under recent versions of Linux Mint, and appears to be available under Fedora, too.
• Jonathan would like to see a Linux application similar to the Windows program Outpost for packet messaging.
• Jim, E2ENN, sent an email in response to Episode 31 and raised several issues about Linux drivers. Our panel discusses this message at length.
• Nouveau: Accelerated Open Source driver for nVidia cards
• The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric S. Raymond.
• Open FirmWare for WiFi networks
• XFree86 vs. Xorg
• Knoppix

Music:

• “I am a Battery” by The Society of Rockets from the album “Future Factory”.

The format is a little bit different this time based on some feedback from listeners. If you like what you hear or would rather have us go back to the way things were, let us know. We’re interested in what you think. Our topic tonight is a thought provoking e-mail that we received before last episode from Jim, N2ENN. Hopefully we’ve given it an honest appraisal.

Please send us your feedback, your questions and your donations to obtain a noise gate for Richard. Also, enter our two contests for a chance to win real money! And stay tuned for our next recording. We have a very special guest interview coming up. You won’t want to miss it.

73 from the LHS Guys

• Steve posted a message at the Resonant Frequency forums and asked about the early episodes not being available on iTunes. That was a “feature”, but Richard “fixed” it. Going forward, once we hit 50 episodes, older ones will drop off the feed to iTunes, so you’ll need to go to the web site to get them.
• Chris, ZL2CCO, posted a link to the LHS site on his blog. Thanks, Chris!
• Via snail mail we received a donation and feedback from Tom, NC0O. He’s been enjoying the podcast and sent a donation to support the Dayton expedition. Thanks, Tom!
• Walter, KV6M, writes to clear up a mistake from Episode 31. We incorrectly attributed the penultimate donation to the Dayton fund to Walter, WN3LIF, but it was, in fact, from Walter, KV6M. Sorry, Walter, we’ve corrected the show notes, and thank you for the donation, and correction. We’re sorry for the confusion.
• Doug, N6LMX, sends his greetings and wonders what happened to a message he sent some time ago and was never mentioned, so he sent it again. (Richard had been holding it for the other show.) Doug wonders which Linux distribution Richard chose for his old Dell Latitude laptop. Richard chose Crunchbang Linux Lite. Also mentioned, the Midori browser.
• Larry, W0AY, writes to express his appreciation for Episode 31. He would like to see Richard get a mute switch for his microphone. Thanks, Larry, and we’re currently soliciting donations for a noise gate for Richard.
• LHS got a mention in an anonymous comment in the Linux Journal forums.
• Chris, K3DC, mentions LHS in a presentation he prepared, perhaps for a club meeting.
• Another LHS mention in an IRC log posted to pastebin.
• Jim, N2ENN, writes to offer some information about microphones in response to Bill’s microphone rant in Episode 31, and discusses Linux drivers. Thanks for the information, Jim. We’ll talk more about this in a later episode.
• Glynne, KD5VQD, offers his wallet-sized reference card for the phonetic alphabet. Thanks, Glynne. Russ will post it in the Articles section of the Linux in the Ham Shack web site.
• Klaatu mentions in his blog that he enjoyed the song “Flash in a Bottle” by Dead Heart Bloom in Episode 30.
• Others have commented that they enjoyed the song “Don’t Go” by Tenpenny Joke that was featured in Episode 31.

Announcements:

• Southeast Linuxfest v2.0 is set for June 12-13 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, SC! Russ is planning on being there, as is Klaatu.
• Texas Linux Fest will be Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Monarch Events Center, Austin, Texas
• Logo Contest: The Linux in the Ham Shack logo needs an update, and we’d like a new logo before the 2010 Dayton Hamvention. Please submit your original logo, preferably in .tiff or .svg format, or in a very large .jpg, to Russ and/or Richard. Deadline is March 31, 2010. If selected, you will win $100!
• Program Intro Contest: Record your Linux in the Ham Shack introduction and send it along. Record it on your computer and send the sound file, or call 888-455-0305, or 417-429-4069, and record your intro via the phone. All entries will eventually be used, but one winner will be chosen at random and will receive $25. Recordings made via the phone numbers will have two chances to win.
• Send your submissions for either contest to Russ k5tux@blacksparrowmedia.com or Richard kb5jbv@blacksparrowmedia.com.
• We’ve been having problems with our hosting service. It’s likely that the Black Sparrow Media sites will be moving sometime in the next few months. Check the web site for details as they develop.
• Look for Linux in the Ham Shack at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention. We’ll be in the North Hall, booth #265 (NH0265).
• Our new donation goal is to raise sufficient money to purchase a noise gate for Richard. Every little bit helps, so please click on the Donate link and send along a dollar or two.

Links and Notes:

• Callsign lookups: the FCC Universal Licensing System (ULS), and QRZ.com.
• Our hosts talk to Klaatu, well-known podcaster and IRC denizen (as notKlaatu). (see The Day the Earth Stood Still). Klaatu is involved with several podcasts, including The Bad Apples, available through Hacker Public Radio, Fedora Reloaded, Linux Cranks, Today in Tech Radio, and others. He can often be found on irc.freenode.net in about any channel with Linux in the title.
• Russ and Klaatu talk about using xmodmap to remap keyboard key assignments. Klaatu discussed that in episode 5×04 of The Bad Apples podcast. More info is available in the show notes for that episode. He also has an article describing how you can also remap the Control key to the Caps Lock key.
• Soylent Green
• THX 1138
• Klaatu uses talk.fedoraproject.org to record some of his podcasts.
• Sansa Clips
• Setting MTP (Media Transfer Protocol) or MSC (Mass Storage Class) on the Sansa Clip (Follow the link in that article for instructions.)
• ROCKbox open source firmware for mp3 players.
• The Linux Outlaws podcast. (We love Fab! And Dan, too.)
• Check out the cool pictures of Unix desktops.

Music:

• “Bessie’s Secret” by Heifervescent from the album “Murder in the Garden.”
• “Breathing on Another Planet” by No, Really from the album “Rust.”

This episode of Linux in the Ham Shack is jam-packed with content. We have a special guest from around the Interwebs that you will likely know if you listen to other podcasts about Linux. The show did run a bit longer than usual, but there is just so much in it I couldn’t begin to tell you everything you’re going to hear. I do hope that you’ll stick around for the entire episode because there are some goodies near the end that you will not want to miss out on, including how you can win significant cold, hard cash.

Thanks to our special guest, our live participants and to everyone who listens to the show. PLEASE, tell everyone you know about us, and that we’re not just for amateur radio enthusiasts. Technofiles, geeks, Linux and FOSS addicts and just about everyone will gain something from the podcast. Oh, and due to a couple of technical problems, the audio quality in this episode is poor in a few places. I did the best I could. Next time it’ll be better. Have a great week!

73 de Russ and Richard

Contributors:

• Linux in the Ham Shack showed up on Podcast Sniper.
• Chris, ZL2CCO, mentions LHS on his blog. Thanks, Chris!
• Doug, N6LMX, is listening to Episode 31 and recommends the Griffin SmartTalk Headphone Adapter for the iPod Touch. It adds a microphone to your headphones. He bought his at Fry’s. (You can also find it at Amazon for a little less money. Click through our Amazon store and support the Black Sparrow Media podcast empire! -Ed.)

Announcements:

• Texas Linux Fest is Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Monarch Events Center, Austin, Texas.
• Southeast Linux Fest is June 12-13, 2010 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
• We met our fund-raising goal for attending Dayton Hamvention 2010! The next goal is to raise enough money for a noise gate for Richard.
• Richard expresses his appreciation for everyone’s patience and support during the past few weeks.

Links and Notes:

• Amateur radio satellite operation.
• Doppler shift
• Footprint
• Linear transponder: a broadbanded repeater that operates over a range of frequencies.
• Satellite tracking: there are programs that will help you find when and where a satellite will appear over your location. This page lists several, including some that run on Linux.
• You will very likely need an antenna with gain, and probably a means of moving the antenna to match the trajectory of the satellite as it passes by.
• SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) has been superceded by ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station).
• Equipment considerations. A VHF/UHF radio with sideband capability is often required, as is a cross-polarized antenna with gain.
• More info can be found at the AMSAT site including Keplerian Elements and other tracking tools.
• The ARRL publishes several books on satellite operation.

Music:

• “Long Way Home” by Kasey Anderson from the album “The Reckoning”
• “Amnesia” by Roots of Rebellion from the album “The Looking Glass”

This episode is a little heavy on the radio side of things. However, don’t be deterred. Richard gives us a lot of great information about satellite technology, concepts such as Doppler shift, transponders, antenna polarization, the science of orbits and much more which will appeal to your inner geek whether you’re into ham radio, computers or just science and technology in general. Have a great week, and we look forward to seeing everyone in the chat for the next live recording on Tuesday, March 2nd.

In the month of January I came down with the flu. I was only actually sick for about a week but I lost my voice for nearly a month. I was able to record LHS thanks to the editing skills of Russ.

Since the start of this month we have had an emergency surgery concerning my sons girlfriend and a yet to be named grandchild. I lost my mother right after that. Then I had to move my son out of his apartment in a hurry and my other son injured himself due to an altercation with an inmate at work. Add to that the largest snow storm I ever remember in this part of Texas and a power outage of more than 48 hours here. I have been a little busy.

My Fans are important to me. you folks have been with me for a long time and I will get a fresh Episode of RF out ASAP. We will be recording LHS tomorrow night and I will be there.

Thank you for your patience my loyal friends and listeners.

Richard KB5JBV

Contributors:

• Ted WA0EIR, in snowy Iowa, Andy aka Integgroll on IRC, and Bill KA9WKA join us for a round table discussion.
• Jay writes in about the Linux Journal episode (#029) and the analysis of the Amazon Kindle and DRM issues. Our panel talks about the Kindle , e-readers in general, and DRM issues. Russ mentions how Amazon retracted a couple of George Orwell titles.
• Google alert tells us that Linux in the Ham Shack and other amateur radio podcasts are being played over a local repeater by Tony VK7AX for the enjoyment of listeners in SE Australia and Tasmania. Good on ya’, mate!
• LHS was mentioned on Joe’s (WN2SYZ) blog. Thanks, Joe!
• Dave, KG4GIY, posted another mention of LHS at Linux Journal when we talked about software-defined radios (SDR) in Episode 26. Thanks, Dave! Check out the Linux Journal amateur radio content.
• Chris, Twitter ID WOKNSS, tweeted about catching up on back episodes of LHS. Thanks, Chris!
• LHS was mentioned at the Low SWR podcast website. Low SWR is an amateur radio podcast produced by Rich KD0BJT and Brady KD0BJS. They’re up to eight episodes already! Good job, guys!
• The Axis wrote to us, Mint Cast, and The Linux Link Tech Show to thank us all for content about the Linux program screen. We’re glad you enjoyed it. A possible application might be operating digital modes remotely. (Bonus Show Notes Content: The February 2010 issue of QST has a Short Takes article about the Glentek Radio-to-Ethernet Controller. Glentek has a variety of products to facilitate remote operation of an amateur radio station. -Ed.)

Announcements:

• Texas Linux Fest is April 10, 2010 at the Monarch Events Center in Austin, TX. You might find Richard or Russ there, so say Hi!
• Donations: We’ve achieved our goal! Walter, KV6M, made a second donation (thanks, Walter!), and the remainder was supplied by Beth Lynn Eicher of the Ohio Linux Fest. Thank-you, Beth Lynn! Look for the Linux in the Ham Shack booth at Dayton Hamvention 2010. (Note: the podcast incorrectly identifies Walter as WN3LIF, another Walter that also contributed.  We apologize for the confusion. -Ed.)

Links and Notes:

• From the chat room, Ronnie K4RJJ, asks what PDAs would work with sound card digital modes. There’s i-PSK31 that will allow you to use PSK31 with your iPhone and radio. It’s also available via the iTunes store. (Note: I mistakenly said the price was $1.99. The actual price is $5.99. Sorry. -Ed.) There is also some documentation on how to wire the headphone plug for the iPhone for connection to your radio.
• Ted rants about the use of macros in digital conversations, and the panel discusses.
• The panel discusses the appropriate power levels for digital modes. Lower power, say less than 35W, is usually enough. There are devices, such as the PSKMeter, that attaches to your transmitter output and, along with software, will display your signal so you can avoid splatter. PSKScope is another program for the PSKMeter that provides additional functionality, such as automatic audio drive level control, but only in the Windows version. A Linux version of PSKScope is available, but does not have the automatic drive level control. The other device discussed is the IMD Meter, which is a standalone device that displays your IMD while you are transmitting. No computer or software is necessary.
• Next, the panel talks about operating via VHF/UHF satellites. (There’s a good introductory article on the AMSAT web site. Randy, K7AGE, has produced several YouTube videos of various amateur radio activities, including this one where he operates AO-51. Another video from the 2007 Dayton Hamvention shows a similar system.
• Bill introduces the microHAM USB Interface III. (That’s the Americas website. There is also a site for Europe. The panel discusses the merits of the device.
• We then move to a discussion of Linux Mint 8 “Helena”.
• Bill rants about Yaesu microphones on their VHF/UHF radios.
• Russ talks about some cloud computing applications: Ubuntu One and Dropbox. The panel discusses the relative risks and advantages of using such services.

Music:

• “Don’t Go” by TenPenny Joke from the album “Ambush on All Sides”.
• “Mirror of Humans” by Amity in Fame from the album “Dinner for One”.