LHS Show Notes #065

Introduction:

  • 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.

LHS Show Notes #061

Promo:

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.