AmateurRadio.com

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

Introduction:

• Only 317 days until the end of the world as we know it!

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 [email protected]. 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:
    • Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP)
    • Weather Underground
    • Weather For You
    • awekas

    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 http://groups.google.com/group/wview.

Let us know how you get on, Scott!

We received a donation from Bill H. Thanks, Big Poppa!

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:

• To be added.

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.

This is something pretty cool. CQ Communications, the publisher of CQ Amateur Radio (CQ magazine), CQ VHF, Popular Communications and WorldRadio Online will begin publishing electornic versions of their magazine starting this coming October. 

Richard Ross, K2MGA, made the announcement a couple days ago and Editorial Director Rich Moseson, W2VU, explained how the digital editions would be supplimental and not replace the print versions. He said they would also have added features to the digital versions as well.

“Versions will be available for a variety of online and mobile platforms and will be hosted by Zinio, one of the top names in the e-magazine hosting business. This will assure that our magazines will always be able to take advantage of new technology when it becomes available.”

Cover of CQ Communication's World Radio Magazine

Some of the added features will be links to websites, as well as audio and photo albums as well as video and software. He also added that with the continuation of the print magazines, readers will still have the tactile experience we are all familiar with.

This is a good thing in my opinion. It’s melding the two worlds and laying the ground work for the next generation to discover this magazine. In 20 years, I predict that most publications will be digital, while print slowly fades from the foreground. I’m sure they will still make printed versions, but not as much. It’s also better for the environment.

According to the article over at Southgate’s website, “The digital launch will begin in late October with the November issue of an enhanced, multi-platform, version of WorldRadio Online, which will again become a paid-subscription publication; followed by November CQ, which, appropriately, is the magazine’s first annual Technology Special. The fall issue of CQ VHF and the December issue of Popular Communications will round out the introductions. Digital editions will be available by single copy and by subscription.”

No word though on pricing for digital versions though. I would suspect, it’ll be much cheaper compared with the print version.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, Albany’s #1 Rock Station website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.

After only 78 views on the website yesterday, I figured I should step up my game. One aspect of Ham Radio that I started to look at was Digital Amateur TV. The analog version, while still around, I’m sure is fun, but digital seems more my speed, being a Ham and a Geek. So here are a few things to kind of wet the appetite for Amateur Television. One is a simple link to a website in the Netherlands, with all kinds of information on digital amateur television. It’s in English, so don’t worry about busting out your Dutch to English dictionaries or Google Translate. There is also a nice site from a group in Ohio with some great info. I saw the link for this a while ago in QST, I think.

The other is just the guys from Ham Nation talking about Amateur Television. Now I haven’t seen this episode yet, but it’s one that I really should sit down and watch. So, here ya go.

73.

Rich also writes a Tech blog and posts stories every Tuesday and Thursday on Q103, The Rock of Albany’s website, as well as Amateur Radio stories every Monday thru Friday on AmiZed Studios and hosts a podcast called The Kim & Rich Show with his fiance’ Kim Dunne.

I’ve been slow to adopt digital communications for a very practical reason: between the day job and writing books, I spend ten to twelve hours a day on a computer keyboard. When I get on the air, I prefer my keyer paddle or microphone when I reach out and touch. But friends kept evangelizing about the wonderment of PSK31, and I kept seeing rare DX entities that I covet being spotted on PSK31 and RTTY, so I finally bit the bullet. Well, sir, I have seen the light! I am officially converted!

I was on the verge of doing a quick and dirty hookup just to get a feel for the stuff but I had an order I was submitting to DX Engineering anyway so I included a SignaLink USB in the shopping cart. Of course, I managed to order the wrong interface cable for my Kenwood TS-2000…it would have worked but I would have had to plug and unplug the microphone…but DXE handled the swap seamlessly. And in no time, I was PSKing with the best of ’em. Downloading and setting up my software
of choice took most of the time. The SignaLink only required setting some jumpers internally for my radio. The manual and an extra sheet were well-written, though I did have to go to the Internet to get some tips on working with Microsoft Vista. That should make it into the standard manual soon, I would hope.

I confess I did quite a bit of RTTY back in the ’70s, when we used old, noisy, oil-and-sprocket-slinging surplus teletype machines and boxes of fan-fold paper. I recall that back then, unless you were blessed with pretty decent power, and with constant duty that required a hefty amp and power supply, the mode was susceptible to QRM as well as drifting, and more. I did enjoy it, despite these drawbacks.

But I’ve quickly learned there is no comparison with PSK31. I have not even tried RTTY yet due to my fascination with this narrow, narrow mode. Friends told me, but I didn’t believe them. When I was ready to go and tuned the receiver to 14.070 and heard that caterwauling bunch of cats in heat, I smirked and said to myself, “Self, there is no way you can pull any intelligence out of all that screeching!”

But there on the waterfall (I use Ham Radio Deluxe Digital Master 780 software) were a good dozen clearly defined traces. I could copy any one of them. I tried a couple of them so dim I could hardly see them in the clutter and got almost solid print on them, too. Finally, I clicked on one and saw it was a UA9. When he finished his QSO and called CQ, I answered, making sure to keep the power level low…about 20 watts…as advised. He came right back and we proceeded to have a nice chat. I’ve had a bunch since, all over Europe, the US, and South and Central America, mostly on 20 and 17.

Just the other night, I gave UX1IW a call and, as I have grown accustomed to, he came right back. We were chatting away (he gave me an RSQ of 599) when I noticed each of my wattmeters were barely moving off the peg. Huh? Oh. I had been using the amp on CW earlier in the evening and had left the RF out on the TS-2000 on 35 watts. With the audio out from my sound card set as usual, I was barely running 5 watts!

So, I’m evangelized. I do wish there was a little less reliance on the canned macros, one of the other things I did not like so much in the old RTTY days. But all in all, I am darned impressed with this PSK31 stuff.

Moral of the story is that we can always learn something new. And it is always surprising how something as simple as trying a new band or mode can reinvigorate our interest in this wonderful hobby.

As if I need reinvigorating!

73,

Don Keith N4KC
www.n4kc.com
www.donkeith.com
http://n4kc.blogspot.com

Promo:

• The 3rd annual Southeast Linuxfest is scheduled for June 10-12, 2011 in Spartanburg, SC.

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 http://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:
  • History of the project
  • More background and some how-to information from the author.
  • A PowerPoint presentation by the author.

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/[email protected]/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 [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 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.