Tag: arrl

LHS Episode #083: Smokey & The First Lady

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Welcome to the 83rdest episode of Linux in the Ham Shack. Freshly back from the Dayton Hamvention, Russ jumps in by telling everyone his experience at the show this year. The short version: It was great! From there, things move on to a question of FCC rules, at least in the mind of one ham.

One of the topics that kept repeating at Hamvention was: What is a good contest logger for Linux? Up until recently, it was hard to think of one. The ncurses-based application yfktest is out there, but thanks to IZ3NVR, our hosts discuss a new option. Tune in to find out what. There's also some feedback, occasional rambling and hardcore lunacy. Everything you've come to expect from an episode of LHS.

73 de The LHS Guys

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Show Notes #082

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Introduction:

Announcements:

  • The Black Sparrow Media Mobile App for iPhone/iPad and Android has been updated. You can now listen to all of the old episodes, as well as new ones, via the app. wAVEgUIDES episodes are now included, as well. All streaming content is now available for iPad/iPhone. Please download and enjoy. It's at the Google Play marketplace, as well as via the Black Sparrow Media website, and it's still free!
  • The LHS Hamvention fund drive was a success! LHS will be at Dayton Hamvention 2012, May 18-20, in the North Hall of the Hara Arena in booth 131, the same place as last year.
  • Russ fixed a website bug that may have been causing some visitors to see the Black Sparrow Media site when surfing to LHS. Thanks to John, EI7IG, for pointing it out.
  • Please sign up for the LHS mailing list at https://lists.blacksparrowmedia.net/mailman/listinfo.
  • Please join the LHS subreddit and contribute show topic ideas, news of interest to our listeners, or just about anything else.
  • Please tell your friends about the show.

Topics:

  • Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, in his recent Surfin' column on the ARRL website, recommends open source Apache OpenOffice and the desktop publishing software Scribus. Note, LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice and is also quite functional. Both offer word processing, spreadsheets, database and presentations. Scribus may have a steep learning curve, but it's a very powerful program. Easy tasks are easy to accomplish. Complex projects may take more effort to learn. Also note that many open source programs, like OpenOffice, Libre Office and Scribus, are available for Windows, OS X, as well as Linux.
  • Take a look at the ham radio section at Linux Journal which also has links to their Ham Shack forum.
  • Richard discovered several open source ham radio applications at Sourceforge: ircDDB_gateway, CQiNET, phppredict, contest loggers, fldigi, paclink-unix, OpenMOR, software for SDR radios, Ham Radio Net Logger, and more. So, don't just look in your distributions repositories for applications. You may have to compile the programs from SourceForge yourself, but it may be worth the trouble.
  • Finally, a reminder to visit KE2YK's Random Oscillations website.
  • An overview of ham radio apps for Android phones, available at the Android market, aka Google Play:
    • Morse Code apps:
      • Morse Decoder ($4.99)
      • Morse Code Reader (Free)
      • Morse Trainer Lite (Free)
      • Morse Trainer ($2.99)
      • Morse Code Trainer (Free)
      • Morse Code Keyboard (Free)
      • Morse Code Teacher ($3.99)
    • QSO Logging:
      • Amateur Radio Call Log (Free)
      • HamLog ($0.99)
      • Hamroid Free (Free)
      • Hamroid ($6.53)
    • Miscellaneous:
      • QSY (Free)
      • DroidPSK ($4.99)
      • DXCluster ($2.49)
      • DTMF ($2.49)
      • Echolink (Free)
    • A few more from Bill:
      • APRS Viewer (Free)
      • Ham Radio Tools (Free)
      • Who Is Calling Me? (Free)

Feedback:

  • Ronny, K4RJJ, regrets that he won't be able to act as the LHS ambassador at the Knoxville hamfest. If you'd like to be our representative at the Knoxville, or any other event, please contact us via the Ambassador link on the website.
  • Roy, KK4ATD, reiterates how much fun it is to be an LHS ambassador.
  • Chris, K4FH, says he offers a presentation at club meetings he calls Linux in the Ham Shack. He's hoping Richard or Russ has some material they can share.

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:

  • "Gunpowder Chant" by Diablo Swing Orchestra from the album "The Butcher's Ballroom," courtesy of Jamendo.
  • "L.E.O." by Oleg Serkov from the album "Epoch Symbol," courtesy of Jamendo.

LHS Episode #082: Hamroids

Posted on by Russ Woodman

In a world first, or maybe just podcast first, the guys throw caution to the wind and actually product an episode with some real Linux and ham radio content. We know it's shocking, but sometimes--just sometimes--a miracle happens and you get the belly laughs along with something to stimulate your gray matter. We can't promise this will happen in the future, but this time you're safe.

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

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LHS Episode #048: Better Late Than Never

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Linux in the Ham Shack took a bit of an unintended hiatus over the last month. We're in the process of trying to catch back up to where we're supposed to be. The current episode recording schedule has been posted and is accurate. We're going to do a couple of broadcasts two weeks in a row and then the next three releases will be coming out in rapid succession so we're back on track.

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

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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: