Category: Show Notes

LHS Show Notes #047

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Announcements:

  • 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.

LHS Show Notes #046

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Announcements:

  • 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:

LHS Show Notes #045

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Announcements:

  • 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:

LHS Show Notes #044

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Announcements:

  • 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".

LHS Show Notes #043

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Feature:

  • 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:
  • 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: