Tag: digital

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Show Notes #076

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Introduction:

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:

        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 https://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.

LHS Episode #076: BIG PAPA

Posted on by Russ Woodman

After our quick renumbering, we come now to Episode #076. It didn't start out as an all-feedback episode, but that's how it wound up. The best part is, we had such good feedback from our listeners it made an entire show. As it also happens, most of our discussion revolves around digital mode communication for amateur radio using Linux. We touch on D-Star, Echolink, IRLP, Allstar Link and more. If you're interested in using computers to connect to your radios and talk around the world using a multitude of digital technologies, including VoIP, this is the episode for you.

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.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

LHS Show Notes #060

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Promo:

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 https://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:

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.