LHS Show Notes #025

Contributors:

  • Paul, from TeenRadioJourney.com, mentions LHS on his blog.
  • Russ Wenner from The Techie Geek podcast joins us in the chat room.
  • Kent, VE4KEH, in a post in the forums, says he heard Russ on an episode of Hacker Public Radio, and wonders if an appearance on Linux Outlaws is next. He also asks about a Windows 7 launch party. Our hosts respond.
  • Kent also posts a comment in a thread about Acer dropping support if you install Linux on one of their computers. Kent asks which manufacturers are Linux friendly? He also wonders why Acer creates two partitions on their laptops.
  • threethirty from Linux Cranks sent congratulations about LHS getting a mention in an LXer.com article Ohio LinuxFest Report
  • Matt, KC8BEW, in a comment about Episode 22 asks if Chirp will support radios other than Icom D-Star.

Announcements:

Links and Notes:

  • Russ talks a bit about being at Ohio Linux Fest. He was in "podcasters row" in the exhibit hall, along with the Northeast Ohio Open Source Society, The Linux Link Tech Show, and the Security Justice podcast. Russ shares some interviews and audio he recorded:
    • Interview with Matt, KC8BEW.
    • Russ plans on taking Linux in the Ham Shack to Dayton Hamvention, 2010.
    • Jim, KB3ORA, stops by the booth.
  • Questions in the chat room:
    • Russ Wenner from the Techie Geek Podcast, asks: is ham radio an expensive hobby? Richard opines.
    • HamTests.net is a good resource. The European site is HamTests.co.uk.
    • Do you need to learn Morse code? Nope, but it's even more popular now.
    • Do you need a high antenna? Not necessarily. Russ discusses. The ARRL has several good books on antennas.
    • Paul Shirey asks if shared folders on different machines can be combined. Possible, but difficult.
  • Richard talks about APRS and XASTIR.
    • One of the requirements for using APRS under Linux is that you must have the AX.25 packet radio protocol support in the kernel.
    • To determine if your kernal has AX.25 support, enter this command in a terminal:
      grep ax25 /proc/kallsyms

      If you get a result something like this:

      c0510ddc r trans_net_ax25_table
      c05127a0 r trans_net_ax25_param_table

      then AX.25 support is built into the kernel. If you receive nothing, then you'll need to recompile the kernel with AX.25 support. (Most of the current versions of Ubuntu and Linux Mint have AX.25 support.)
      For more information, see the HowTo:AX.25 article on the XASTIR wiki.

    • Richard describes configuring XASTIR.
    • Bottom line: it's not all that hard to set up. Read the wiki. There are how-to articles for many different operating systems.
  • From the chatroom, someone asks about the throughput of the various data modes in amateur radio.

Music:

  • "Like This" by STEEP from the album "STEEP"
  • "Lost" by Trainlight from the album "Now You're Alone with Ghosts"

LHS Show Notes #024

Richard and Russ are the Penn and Teller of Amateur Radio podcasting.

Contributors:

  • Doug, N6LMX, recently acquired an old Dell Inspiron 3500 notebook and decided to try Linux Mint on it. For some reason, probably processor and memory, it stalled before it got started. Same with Ubuntu 9.04. However, Xubuntu 9.04 works like a charm.
  • Joe, NE3R, sent an audio message about minicom. Thanks, Joe. Look for it in a future show.
  • Google alert about a LHS mention in John's Blog.
  • Paul in the chatroom asks about connecting a Linux machine to a shared Windows printer. Russ suggests browsing to https://localhost:631 to bring up the CUPS administration page and configuring the printer there.

Announcements:

  • New streaming audio on the web site. New URL: https://stream.lhsinfo.org:8008, or go to https://lhsinfo.org and look for the links on the right side of the page.
  • Look for Richard at the Belton HamEXPO on October 3rd. in Belton, TX. Russ will be at Ohio Linux Fest on September 25-27 in Columbus, OH.
  • Welcome Bill, KA9WKA, as the newest member of the Black Sparrow Media production team. Bill will be compiling the show notes for Resonant Frequency. (And, now, LHS too. Email comments, corrections, suggestions to ka9wka at blacksparrowmedia dot com. -Ed.)

Interview:

Topic:

  • Richard discusses programming radios using Linux
    • Richard tries programming his Vertex VX-150 using Wine under Linux. The programming software installed fine, but when he tried downloading the data from the radio to the computer, he received errors, probably due to a mismatch in the serial port speed. Next, he tried programming his Icom IC-91AD. The software installed and recognized his serial port, COM1, and he was able to program the radio.
    • Tim, KI6BGE, in the chatroom, says the IC2200H D-Star program works the same way.
    • KB3GTN in the chatroom says he's had good luck programming his Kenwood TS480 within Linux, using his own program.
    • Tim, KI6BGE, says the Icom ID800 and IC2200H use the same programming cable, but different software.
  • A Ustreamer asks which Linux distributions we're using. The summary is Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, SpearMint, CentOS, OpenSUSE, and Debian.

Music:

  • "Terra Firma" by Garrett Wall from the album "Sky Pointing"
  • "All of the Above" by Garrett Wall from the album "Sky Pointing"

LHS Show Notes #022

Contributors:

  • Email exchange with Herve, of Shackbox Linux.  If you found it useful, please consider donating something to the project.
  • Voice comment from Rodney (aka R0dzilla) KJ4OHH: he asks for more information on Echolink and Echolinux. Our hosts respond with CQiNet and QTel.
  • Rod, KJ4OHH, postsin the forum:  If you install a 32-bit program under 64-bit Linux Mint 7, then install a 32-bit application, getlibs may not find the 32-bit libraries, so you have to get them from the Ubuntu repository:
    $sudo getlibs --distro Ubuntu --release jaunty nameof32bitprogram

    And congratulations to Rodney on getting his license!

  • VK5HZ in IRC says Echolink does work in Wine, at least for him.
  • Joe, NE3R, runs packet and uses an old TNC with firmware from the 1980s.  He runs XASTIR with an MFJ TNC and minicom.
  • Ken, WA3FKG, posts in the forum:  Acer says if you replace windows with Linux on one of their machines, you've voided the warranty.
  • Tony Malloy re-Tweeted on identi.ca when Episode 019a came out.  Thanks, Tony.
  • Damon, NN7B, asks "Which packet program do you use for Linux?"  It's probably easier to use a TNC in KISS mode, rather than trying to do software packet.
  • David, KF5BCM, wants a noise gate on Richard. 🙂 He says hears Richard breathing loudly on Episode 15.  (Make a donation and maybe that will help fund the equipment.)
  • turtles7, in the forums, suggested a topic for a future show: mobile installation hints. He recently installed a mobile in a minivan, and still has high SWR.

Interview:

  • Interview with Beth Lynn Eicher of the Ohio Linux Fest.
  • Beth Lynn talks about the training opportunities at OLF, exhibitors, and the history of OLF.

From the chat room:

  • Why don't we do shows on Linux basics? We did. Check out the older episodes. If there's something we haven't covered, let us know.
  • What is a "Crank"? See Linux Cranks.  (ogg format, explicit)
  • How to play .ogg files in iTunes.
  • KJ4OHH just bought a 8GB Sansa Fuze for $39. Refurbished Sansa Clips are often available at buy.com and newegg.com for good prices, too. They play OGG files natively.
  • Check out Shackbox Linux, too.

Music:

  • "Out of It" by Brad Sucks from the album "Out of It".
  • "Fallen from Grace" by Shawn Harris from the album "Temptation".

LHS Episode #026: Junk in the Trunk

irlpBack from Baltimore and ready for more ham radio, Linux and Linux in the HAM Shack. I had originally planned to get this episode out before I left for the Large Installation System Administration conference in Maryland, but it didn't work out that way. I even brought all the audio with me to assemble the podcast during my off time at the conference. It turned out there wasn't any off time, so I wound up having to finish up when I got home. That being said, I have to admit this is my favorite episode so far.  It seems like Richard and I are finally getting the hang of this podcast thing. We truly appreciate all our listeners. It makes the time, effort and money of putting out this program worth it.

In Episode #024, we bring you some final wrap-up from Ohio Linux Fest, including interviews with ham radio operators, Linux users, Beth Lynn Eicher from OLF, members of the Drupal project and more. We answer listener comments and questions, of which there are many, and I talk about my getting back on the air and include my new experiences with digital communication via ham radio, from PSK to IRLP. Grab a drink, sit back and enjoy this episode of Linux in the HAM Shack. And if you have a spare couple of dollars, drop them in the can so we can bring our show to the national ham radio convention in 2010: The Dayton Hamvention.

73 de Russ, K5TUX