AmateurRadio.com

It is about time I updated one of my more popular posts, The Incomplete List of Ham Radio iPhone Apps from 2011. This was a challenging task back then and has gotten more difficult as the number of ham radio apps for the iPhone has greatly expanded. Still, I will give it a shot and appreciate your feedback to make the list better. I am only evaluating iPhone apps, not iPad apps, since I don’t use an iPad.

In general, I will focus on free or low cost (less than $5) apps that I am actively using.

From the Simple Utility Category:

 Maidenhead Converter (Author: Donald Hays, Cost: Free) Handy app that displays your grid locator, uses maps and does lat/lon to grid locator conversions.

Ham Radio Handbook (Author: Antonis Miliarakis Cost: Free) This app provides some basic ham radio info: Q Signals, Country Prefixes, Band Plans and RST signal reporting.

UTC Time (Author: Michael Wells, Cost: Free) A simple app that displays UTC time and local time.

Ham I Am (Author: Storke Brothers, Cost: Free) A handy app that covers some basic amateur radio reference material (Phonetic alphabet, Q Signals, Ham Jargon, Morse Code, RST System, etc.) Although I find the name to be silly, I like the app!

There are quite a few good apps for looking up amateur radio callsigns.

CallBook (Author: Dog Park Software, Cost: $1.99) Simple ham radio callbook lookup with map display.

Call Sign Lookup (Author: Technivations, Cost: $0.99) Another simple ham radio callsign lookup with map display.

CallSigns (Author: David Fleming W4SMT, Cost: $1.99) This is my favorite ham radio callsign lookup. The features are not much different than the others I have listed but the graphics are nicer and the user interface a little cleaner. I am sure this is mostly personal preference.

There are a few repeater directory apps out there:

iHAM Repeater Database (Author: Garry Gerossie, Cost: $4.99) Geolocation repeater directory. This seems to work well.

RepeaterBook (Author: ZBM2 Software, Cost: Free) I’ve only used this one a bit but it seems to work well and its free.

If you are an EchoLink user, then you’ll want this app:

EchoLink (Author: Synergenics, Cost: Free) The EchoLink app for the iPhone.

There are quite a few APRS apps out there. I tend to use these as my needs are pretty simple….just track me, baby!

iBCNU (Author: Luceon, Cost: $1.99) The first APRS app I was able to get running. It just turned on and worked. It integrates the aprs.fi mapping into the app, so it is easy to use. I recommend this one for most casual APRS users.

Ham Tracker (Author: Kram, Cost: $2.99) APRS app, works OK, uses external maps such as Google and aprs.fi. “Share” feature allows you to send an SMS or email with your location information.

Satellite tracking is another useful app for a smartphone:

ISS Lite (Author: Craig Vosburgh, Cost: Free) A free satellite tracking app for just the International Space Station. It has annoying ads but its free.

ProSat Satellite Tracker (Author: Craig Vosburgh, Cost: $9.99) This app is by the same author as ISS Lite, but is the full-featured “pro” version. Although it is a pricey compared to other apps, I recommend it.

For Summits On The Air (SOTA) activity, there are a few apps:

Pocket SOTA (Author: Pignology, Cost: Free) A free app for finding SOTA summits, checking spots and accessing other information.

SOTA Goat (Author: Rockwell Schrock, Cost: $4.99) This is a great app for SOTA activity. It works better when offline than Pocket SOTA (which often happens when you are activating a summit).

For Technician License training, I like the HamRadioSchool.com app. (OK, I am biased here as I contribute to that web site.)

HamRadioSchool (Author: Peak Programming, Cost: $2.99) There are a lot of Technician practice exams out there but this is the best one, especially if you use the HamRadioSchool license book. They also just released the General practice exam, too.

For a mobile logbook:

HamLog (Author: Pignology, Cost: $0.99) I am not too keen on the idea of keeping a log on an iPhone, but it does come in handy once in a while. More importantly, HamLog includes a bunch of handy tools including UTC Clock, Callsign Lookup, Prefix list, Band Plans, Grid Calculator, Solar Data, SOTA Watch, Q Signals and much more.

Well, that’s my list. Any other suggestions?

Helge DF8LS has just published a web page showing how to send and receive email on HF using Winlink and the SCS Tracker TNC. I just sent an email to myself (isn’t this one of the signs of madness?) and it was received, so the instructions are obviously good!

A Winlink session on HF

Mention of Winlink seems to cause strong emotions in some quarters. Personally I think using ham radio to send and receive email is rather cool, even if it is too slow to use for today’s level of email use. It’s a pity more hams don’t activate their Winlink account, which is callsign @ winlink.org .

If you use APRS then you can also send and receive email by that means using a feature called APRSlink. The trouble is, I use it so infrequently that I forget the commands. It would be wise only to use it if the APRS channel is quiet like it is here.

I think I narrowly avoided a battery fire or explosion in the shack this morning. For the last 18 months or so I have been using my old HTC Touch 2 smartphone as my 2m APRS iGate (I hated it as a phone.) All that time it has been sitting in the desktop cradle talking to my Kenwood TM-D710 TNC via a Bluetooth connection and providing a 24/7 gateway that is silent (unlike my PC) and uses less power.

This morning Colin M0XSD sent me an APRS message and I took the phone out of the cradle so I could use its keyboard to reply. I noticed that it felt quite hot. After about 5 minutes conversation the battery died. Having been on permanent charge that should not have happened.

My dead Touch 2 battery – can you see the bulge?

I took the still warm Li-Ion battery out of the phone and noticed there was a distinct bulge on both sides of the casing. So I suppose that it was on the way to exploding or catching fire. Unfortunately the phone won’t work with the battery removed and powered only from the desktop cradle. So my G4ILO-2 iGate is off the air. I will think again about the wisdom using a permanently-charged smartphone as an iGate in the future!

I had a recent email from John, WB2OSZ regarding using the raspberry pi for APRS and he has developed an application that looks like a very slim APRS beacon and digipeater for aprs called Dire Wolf . I have yet to investigate it further but for all those with an interest head over to Johns website and take a look. Here is the address.

From what i can see the application acts as a soundcard modem and tnc for programs like Xastir and APRSIS32. I think this needs some further investigation

Introduction:

• Welcome to another episode of Linux in the Hamshackedness, where the Chocolate Shake Fairy visits Richard.

Announcements:

• LHS now accepts micropayment donations via Flattr. It’s been successful for the Linux Outlaws guys, so we’re giving it a try here.
• We now have a countdown timer on the Web site that shows the time remaining until the next live recording. Of course, now that we’re recording on Wednesdays, we’ve decided to move back to Tuesdays. That will happen in January. Keep an eye on the web site for the dates. (Tuesday, January 8, 2013, as of this moment.)
• We also have a Google Community for Linux in the Ham Shack. It’s a great method for leaving feedback, show suggestions, questions, hate mail or anything else.
• The Dayton Hamvention 2013 will be coming up soon, so we’ve added the donation thermometer to the website. Please make a donation and help send LHS to Dayton again in 2013.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list, too.
• Gnorman has a bio on the LHS About Us page.

Topics:

• Raspberry Pi in the Ham Shack
  • Russ has been working on getting an Echolink node running on his Raspberry Pi.
  • He’s chosen Raspbian as the operating system, which is based on Debian Wheezy.
  • Installation consists of downloading the iso, using dd to copy it to a secure digital card (SD flash memory card), booting the Raspberry Pi with the SD card, and following the prompts to install.
  • VK2MEV has posted instructions for configuring a Raspberry Pi as an Echolink node.
  • So far, Russ has Raspbian installed, as well as svxlink and qtel, but has not yet connected it to the usb sound card or attached it to his Rascal GLX interface to control the radio. Another option would be to use the Pi’s GPIO bus to control the radio instead of a digital mode interface.
  • VK2MEV also has a page describing WSPR on a Raspberry Pi. (Another page is VK2MEV’s blog on WSPRnet.)
  • Ted, WA0EIR, says he thinks some folks have his PSK31LX program running on a Raspberry Pi.
  • Russ mentions that there is a Slackware build for the Raspberry Pi.

Feedback:

• Cory, KD0QEA, asks if there are any “hangout” radio frequencies for LHS hosts and listeners. Well, Cory, there are none due to lack of time for the hosts to get on the radio. However, perhaps our listeners would like to establish an LHS net. Email your suggestions for bands, frequencies and times and we’ll announce them on the podcast. When Russ gets his Echolink node/Raspberry Pi running, he’ll be there more often. The node number will be 54711 (LHS11 on the telephone pad).
• Doug, N6LMX, left a voice mail about the Raspberry Pi. He has one and wonders which ham radio apps can be used on the Pi. He’s also using Raspbian as the operating system. Doug will be attempting to create a media center with his, as well as ham radio applications. Russ suggests running the Pi headless and using ssh from a smartphone or tablet to access it. That would avoid having to carry a monitor and keyboard around with the Pi. It’s likely that most of the popular Linux ham applications, such as fldigi, would work fine with the Pi, though you may need to compile them yourself. As for the media server idea, the Pi may not be quite powerful enough. Raspbmc is based on XBMC, and might be the best option. Ted, WA0EIR, has several Linux ham radio applications that should work quite well on the Pi. Richard also wonders if there are folks running APRS on the Pi, and there’s at least one. Thanks for the voice mail, Doug. We appreciate it.
• Dave, M0DCM, has been catching up on the show, and responds to episodes 95 and 96. He uses 75-ohm coax as a feedline with a 1:1 balun to horizontal and vertical dipoles, and is able to bypass his tuner on 21 and 24MHz. He goes on to describe his Linux and radio activities. Thanks, Dave.
• Thanks to everyone who sent happy birthday messages to Russ.
• Gorkon, aka Joel, says there may have been a problem with the ogg version of episode 96. Russ will take care of it if he finds the problem.
• Mike, from Sugarland, TX, has been trying to use N3FJP’s Amateur Contact Log (ACLog) program for logging, presumably under WINE, but it crashes and he wonders if anyone else has had any experience with this. If any of our listeners have tried ACLog under Linux, let us know, or respond on the Google+ LHS community. Russ suggests forcing WINE into 16-bit compatibility mode.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at [email protected], Russ at [email protected], or both at the same time at [email protected].
• 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:

• None this episode.

Welcome once again to the Wonderful World of Linux in the Ham Shack. As indicated in the title, this episode is full of Sheer Hamshackedness. If you’re unsure what that is, we encourage you to pour yourself a nice glass of dark beer or a 100-proof spirit of your choice, put on your headphones and immerse yourself in the pure hedonism that is LHS. And if you believe any of that, we have a large vehicular conveyance over the East River in New York City up for sale as well. Anyway, we talk a little bit about Raspberry Pi computing, APRS, WSPR, Echolink, svxlink, Qtel and a bunch of other stuff in this episode. Hope you enjoy, as always.

73 de The LHS Guys

My APRS-based temperature monitor has now worked flawlessly for half a year. APRS stands for Automatic Packet Reporting System so it can send much more than temperature data, the chief usage is really for GPS position reports.

But I just needed a temperature monitor and here are the readings for December. As one can see, there were no days with temperature above freezing. At 800 m elevation in the mountains of Telemark in Norway, this is not unexpected for this time of year and makes for good skiing!

I use a Quanzheng TG-25AT handheld with a quarter-wave whip antenna on 144.800 MHz. Its signals reach the LD3GT digipeater at 1845 m above sea level. Although I don’t have direct line of sight, the low power (1 Watt) setting is adequate as the distance is only 10 km. The APRS-beacon is an OpenTracker USB set up for transmission every 15 minutes. An external DS18S20 temperature sensor which measures the outside temperature is connected to the 1-Wire® bus of the OpenTracker USB.

Thanks to the infrastructure providers: The Tønsberg group of NRRL (LA1T) who operate the LD3GT digipeater, probably the one with the largest coverage in Southern Norway (Gaustadtoppen). Thanks also to the various operators who receive packets from LD3GT and pass them on to the internet, and thanks to aprs.fi for processing and displaying the data on their excellent web site!