Tag: packet

Show Notes #090

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Introduction:

  • Join us this episode as our intrepid hosts, Richard and Russ (mad posstcatter!), interview John Hays of NorthWest Digital Radio.

Topics:

  • Interview with John Hays (K7VE) from NorthWest Digital Radio.
  • John has been a licensed amateur radio operator for 40 years. His wife and all of his children are hams, too!
  • A couple years ago John gave a presentation at TAPR, and discussed his wish for a reasonably priced radio for digital communications with just a few connections: antenna, power and Ethernet.
  • Bryan Hoyer (now K7UDR) approached John and volunteered to build one. Their collaboration (with Basil Gunn) resulted in NorthWest Digital Radio.
  • Their first product will be the UDR56K-4 Universal Digital Radio, planned for availability in early 2013.
  • John goes on to discuss the features of their digital radio and some of the design decisions the company made.
  • Specifications (subject to change, of course):
    • 25W 70cm Transceiver
    • 4800 to 56Kbps
    • FSK, GMSK, 4FSK
    • Open Source Linux Platform -- a full Linux-based web server is built-in. It uses the Debian kernel, running on an ARM processor (faster than a Raspberry Pi).
    • Web Interface over Ethernet
    • 4 USB Host Ports
  • Applications:
  • The radio can be completely controlled through the web interface or the command line.
  • John talks about other potential applications for their radio platform.
  • Keep an eye on the website for more information and to sign up for email announcements.
  • You may also be interested in John's blog.

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.

LHS Episode #090: Purple Hays

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Here we are at Episode #090, just 10 away from the century mark. Things have been rolling along fairly smoothly, and except for Russ being deathly ill for the last eight days, there's not even a lot to complain about. In this episode, we have yet another interview. This time it's with John Hays, K7VE, of Northwest Digital Radio. These guys are producing an entirely new purpose-built radio platform called the UDR56K. This technology promises to be a great advance in the amateur radio arena as well as in the computing arena. It's a bit of kit that's going to find a use in almost every radio amateur's shack. If you want to find out why, please sit down and take a listen to this episode of LHS. We promise you will not be disappointed.

73 de The LHS Guys

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LHS Show Notes #074

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Introduction:

  • They barely get the introductions done, and Richard is off on a tangent about the great hobo migration in Texas. All this just  proves Larry Bushey of the Going Linux podcast is right: LHS rambles. More on this in a moment.

Announcements:

Topics:

  • Terminal emulation programs for Linux.
  • If you're interested in running packet radio with your Linux computer, you'll likely need a terminal emulation program to communicate with your terminal node controller(TNC). There are several Linux tools you can use:
    • setserial is a command-line program designed to set and/or report the configuration information associated with a serial port.
    • microcom is a very basic terminal emulation program. Tip: pressing Control-\ will access the menu.
    • minicom is a menu-driven communications program. It emulates ANSI and VT102 terminals, has a dialing directory and auto zmodem download.
      • At the command line, type "minicom -s" to begin configuration. The first time you run "minicom -s", you'll probably want to run it as root so you have write access to the configuration file.
      • The first serial port in Linux is called ttyS0.
      • Most things will work at 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity bit, and 1 stop bit.
      • Text based modem control program.
      • Runs in a terminal screen
      • It's useful for other serial port tasks, too.
      • Ctrl-A followed by W turns on line wrap, so you won't have long lines truncated.
      • Install on a Debian-based system by using "apt-get install minicom" or use Synaptic.
      • Press Ctrl-A then X to exit.
    • GTK Term is a terminal emulator written with GTK+.
      • Gets added to the launch menu during installation, but with the name "Serial Port Terminal", not "GTK Term".
      • Has a nice looking interface.
      • Easy access to the serial port settings.
    • CuteCom is another graphical terminal emulator, with split input and output screens.

Feedback:

  • Sean, AC0VD, writes about https://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com. Thanks, Sean. That's pretty much where the whole badger thing on LHS began. Sean also likes the howto article Installing Linux on a Dead Badger.
  • Ilan Rabinovich, of the Southern California Linux Expo, SCALE, sent a voice mail asking that we play promotions for the event. Unfortunately, we're too late with releasing the LHS episodes to promote SCALE in time. We'll try to do better next year.
  • Richard has posted an article Making Yourself Clear on the Radio, and it received a couple of comments:
    • Tim liked the article and agrees that talking slower helps.
    • Lief, KC8RWR, notes that codes and ciphers are only prohibited when intended to hide the meaning of a transmission.
  • We received a donation from Walter J. Thank you, Walter!
  • John, KF6EFG, asks what was the open source podcast mentioned in a recent episode. We don't remember, John, but it may have been any of these:
  • The Dalton Hamfest in Dalton, Georgia, will have an LHS ambassador on duty! Look for the LHS booth on February 25th, 2012.
  • If you'd like your podcast included in the Black Sparrow Media empire, send us an email!

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 #074: The Great Hobo Migration

Posted on by Russ Woodman

2012 is rolling along nicely and Linux in the Ham Shack is rolling along with it, bringing you new ways to use your computer with amateur radio, and sometimes just technology for fun (and maybe profit). This time around, the guys break into politics -- just slightly -- and get a few grievances of their chests. In the middle segment, Richard and Russ discuss terminal emulation, something a radio amateur might need for accessing modems built into rigs or running packet TNCs. Finally, our intrepid co-hosts open up the mail bag and respond to listener feedback. If you would like to contribute feedback, please do so by sending us e-mail at info@lhspodcast.info or calling in on our voice line at +1-909-547-7469.

73 de The LHS Guys

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

LHS Show Notes #064

Posted on by Russ Woodman

Introduction:

  • Apologies for being late with this episode.

Announcements:

  • LHS had planned on attending the Ohio LinuxFest on September 9-11 in Columbus,OH, and the Huntsville, AL hamfest Aug 21-22, but it's just too expensive. To address that, LHS has started the LHS Ambassadors program where listeners of the show act as representatives for LHS at events. If you're interested, please contact us at ambassadors@lhspodcast.info
  • When you make a donation to LHS, you can choose to appear on the Sponsors page on the LHS website.
  • Linux Format magazine, the producers of the Tux Radar podcast, recently reviewed various Linux-related podcasts, and LHS wasn't even mentioned! Ouch!
  • Richard announces the demise of Resonant Frequency: The Amateur Radio Podcast. Richard is looking for a place to post the articles and other content. The podcast episodes are saved at the Internet Archive, and the videos will remain on YouTube.

Topics:

  • WinLink and AX.25
  • Richard describes his trials and tribulations getting a WinLink packet gateway working under Ubuntu Linux.
  • For the most part, Richard followed the instructions provided by Charles, K4GBB: How to install RMS Gate.
  • Richard and Russ describe the steps in the Howto and possible pitfalls. Richard notes that you'll probably want to run the commands as the root user, either by logging in as root or using sudo.
  • (Note, near the end of Section 4 of the Howto, it appears the author left out the "wget" in the command to retrieve the script. On the page it reads: 
    Get Script – Bernard has written a little Housekeeping script...
    https://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/ax25/rc.init.script && ...
  • I think that command should be: 
    wget https://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/ax25/rc.init.script && ...

    Note that I've shortened the lines with ellipses here. -Ed.)

  • Other useful links:

Feedback:

  • Andy, KB1OIQ, tells us of his Ham Radio Linux CD, based on Ubuntu Linux 10.10, and includes many ham radio programs.
  • Rich, KD0BJT, of the LowSWR podcast, is working on a ham radio-related Linux distribution, 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 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:

  • "Mendes" by Assembly Line Gods from the album "Control: Volume 1."
  • "Pound of Flesh" by Assembly Line Gods from the album "Control: Volume 1."

Please note that the music in this episode is neither Creative Commons nor podsafe. To support the artist, please visit Assembly Line Gods on Facebook, iTunes or at https://www.assemblylinegods.com.