AmateurRadio.com

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

Introduction:

• The 10th Annual Ohio LinuxFest will be held September 28-30, 2012, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
• Another riveting episode even though Richard has been attempting unassisted human flight. (We’re all worried about the consequences should he succeed.)
• Our special guest tonight is Rob Hawkins from the mintCast.

Announcements:

• If you’re a subscriber to LHS, you can access the Etherpad, download episodes without music, and you’ll soon have the option of episodes in .flac format.
• Remember the Black Sparrow Media app for iPhones, iPads and Android devices. It’s free! With it, you can listen to all of the podcasts in the Black Sparrow Media group.
• Please consider donating to the podcast! Click the Donate link.
• Check out the KF8GR Linux Ham Home Page. Even though it hasn’t been updated in several years, much of the information is still relevant.
• Richards suggests a Linux/Amateur Radio “best on the web” award. Your web site should have at least one page devoted to Linux or Linux and Ham Radio. Send your nominations to [email protected]. If accepted, the LHS hosts will provide an award graphic for your website, and a link to your site from LHS.
• Richard also found this TechNewsWorld article “Why Ham Radio Is Still Handy”.

Topics:

• Interview with Rob Hawkins of the mintCast podcast.
• Rob describes his move from Ontario, Canada to Houston, TX, and drops this bombshell: “Texas is nothing like Ontario!” Rob is an engineer by training. His first computer encounter was an IBM 370 mainframe and Fortran at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. His first personal computer was a Radio Shack Color Computer and his first Linux exposure was with Slackware and several dozen floppy disks. He’s been using Linux Mint since version 8.
• Rob goes on to describe how he came to the mintCast.
• Our hosts and Rob then move on to various technology topics:
  • The current state of Linux Mint.
  • UEFI – Unified Extensible Firmware Interface.
  • Software patents.
  • Windows 8 and possible opportunities for Linux.

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:

• “The Napalm Theory” by Ophyra, from the album Post Mortem, courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Velvet Embracer” by Diablo Swing Orchestra, from the album The Butcher’s Ballroom, courtesy of Jamendo.

Introduction:

• Promo: Ohio LinuxFest 2012 will be held September 28-30, 2012, at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in downtown Columbus, Ohio.
• LHS community sends their good wishes to the victims and their families in Aurora, CO.
• Our hosts recommend Etherpad for collaborative document editing.

Announcements:

• Ham Holiday Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, July 27-28, 2012, Biltmore Hotel.
• Texas Linux Fest, San Antonio, Texas, August 3-4, 2012, Norris Conference Center.
• Texoma Hamarama Ardmore, Oklahoma, October 26-27, 2012, Exit 33 – I-35: Ardmore Convention Center.
• Watch the Events Schedule on the LHS website for more events!
• Click the Amabassadors link on the website and volunteer to be an LHS Amabassador at a Linux or ham-related event.
• 20th annual Gainesville Hamfest Gainesville, Texas, Saturday, August 25, 2012, Civic Center.
• Joplin Hamfest, Joplin, Missouri, August 24-25, 2012, Holiday Inn Convention Center. Look for Russ and Cheryl!
• Russ is anxiously waiting for delivery of two (okay, three) Raspberry Pi computers. Call the LHS voice line 909-547-7469, or send an email to [email protected], and tell Russ what to do with his Rasperry Pis. Wait, that doesn’t sound quite right, but you get the drift.

Feedback:

• Bruce, VE2GZI, writes to express his appreciation for the episode about GNU-Radio (Episode 84). It inspired him to try getting it to work under Linux Mint 11, but it’s been a struggle, and he asks for help. Russ managed to compile it on Linux Mint Debian Edition. Jlindsay in the chat room said he ignored the build script, and just did a cmake and make. Also make sure you have the proper version of portaudio installed. Bruce also tells us he’s waiting for his Hong Kong Dongle. ’nuff said.
• Scott, N9LJX, says he’s always had trouble with rig control, via Hamlib, and his FT-900, and wonders if that’s been improved. He’s happy to hear that yfktest works with Winkey USB. Russ looked at the Hamlib website about Yaesu radios, and saw the status listed as “.1 untested”, which indicates poor, if any, support for that radio. Richard suggests avoiding the USB or USB-to-serial adapter. Instead, buy an inexpensive serial port card for the computer and connect the radio to a real serial port.
• Someone in the chat room asked about a good personal cloud storage solution. Russ likes ownCloud. and has described it in episode 9 of his QSK Netcast.
• Jeremy, KB7QOA, sends a long email thanking us for the show, discussing his gradual move toward Linux, and wonders if he could have a version of the podcast without the music. Well, Jeremy, if you’re willing to subscribe to the show, you’ll soon have the option of a music-free feed.
• Grant, AA9LC, has embarked on a project to establish a Linux computer in his hamshack. He met Russ at the recent Dayton Hamvention, and has been trying to boot the LHS disc he received there, but it wants a username and password. He’s also tried Linux Mint 11 and is “mostly impressed.” As the disc contains nothing more than Linux Mint Debian Edition, Russ suggests the username may be one of “root”, “mint”, or “linuxmint”, and no password. However, it should boot directly into a “live” mode desktop without ever asking for a username or password. If that doesn’t help, Grant, let us know and provide a few more details about when you’re asked for the username and password. Russ and Richard also provide some hints about managing sound card audio.
• Look for Russ on Episode 124 of the Mintcast.

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:

• “I’m Doin’ Fine” by Lorenzo’s Music from the album Solamente Tres Palabras, courtesy of Jamendo.
• “We All Fall Down” by Lorenzo’s Music from the album Just Had to Let You Know, courtesy of Jamendo.

Hello, listeners! Welcome to the 87th installment of Linux in the Ham Shack. The past couple of episodes have been full of interviews, logic, and information. In short, we’ve totally jumped off our normal bandwagon. In order to fix that, we’ve put together an episode that contains a lot of banter, insight, musing, laughing, music and good times. Somewhere in the middle you’ll find information on Linux, Open Source software, ham radio logging applications, answers to listener feedback, compile instructions for source builds and mention of a secret recording where Russ takes over another podcast and rules the world. Make sure to listen from beginning to end. You’re not going to want to miss a single second.

73 de The LHS Guys

Despite my interest in boat-anchors I do find myself peeking ‘over the wall’ from time to time and taking a look at new and emerging technologies. After several demonstrations from friends I had become convinced of the incredible potential of software defined radios and even found thinking about owning one … one day.

Software (Linux) : After poor results with the software running on MS Windows I moved across to Linux and got it working well there. I can’t point you to a single howto for this because I used several different guides and tried a few things before it started working. The most helpful, and probably all you really need, are the build-gnuradio script which gets hardware support and gnu-radio running and the “Getting Started With RTL-SDR” page by Tom Nardi which covers installing Gqrx. All the software used is in development and requires familiarity with the command line to install and use at the moment.

Introduction:

• Back from Dayton and ready to go.

Topics:

• Dayton Hamvention 2012
  • LHS had the same booth as last year at North Hall #131. Estimated attendance was 25,000 individuals. Russ recounts the experience. Thanks to Matt, KC8BEW, who stopped by and helped out at the booth. The LowSWR podcasters stopped by, too.
• FCC Dismisses Texas Ham’s Fourth Petition, Calls it “Repetitive”
  • Our hosts discuss.
• Contest logging for Linux.
  • Several people at Hamvention asked about contest logging software for Linux, but Russ was at a loss for a recommendation. Upon his return, he discovered…
  • SO2SDR Contest Logging Software
  • Stefano, IZ3NVR/KD2BGM was trying to get so2sdr to work under Linux Mint and while it would compile, it did not run, so Russ set about trying to get it going.
  • It’s not packaged for Debian or Fedora, so it must be built from source, available at the link above.
  • The program is written in Qt, so it can be run on devices which support that environment, including Linux and Windows. Of course, Qt must be installed in order to compile so2sdr.
  • Russ also had to install the following packages on his Linux Mint machine: portaudio19-dev (NOT libportaudio-dev; apparently, libportaudio-dev is too old), fftw3 and fftw3-dev
  • The compilation procedure consists of:

                  qmake
                  make
                  sudo make install

  • so2sdr compiled and ran fine. It did complain that it wanted a parallel port for switching between radios, but you can ignore that if you don’t need to do that.
  • Russ gives an overview of the features and capabilities.
  • There are a few drawbacks:
    • An apparent lack of SSB support? It seems to be CW-only.
    • Frequency input checking is broken.
    • Keystrokes are not intuitive, but are well-documented.
  • However, the built-in help file is quite useful.

Feedback:

• E-mail from Larry, KG4Q, extolling fldigi and JT65-HF. He wishes there was a version of JT65-HF for Linux. Well, Larry, there is! You can download the source here. Also, WSJT does JT65, too.
• Chris, K4FH, caught up with Russ at Hamvention and talked about his Linux in the Ham Shack presentation. He managed to put together a fine bunch of slides completely without our help. Sorry, Chris!

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:

• “Down Today” by Jonathan Coulton from the album “Artificial Heart”.
• “Sucker Punch” by Jonathan Coulton from the album “Artificial Heart”.

Introduction:

• Tornado season has begun in Texas! Check out the videos at kcares.info

Announcements:

• The donations for the LHS to Dayton Hamvention fund have stalled. If you’d like to see LHS return to the Hamvention this year, please make a donation in the next week or two. All donations will go toward the cost of the booth in the vendor exhibition hall. If we fail to raise enough to attend, then the funds will go toward the expenses of producing LHS.

Topics:

• Richard’s Linux Adventures
  • Thank You Kubuntu, for once again obliterating Richard’s boot sectors.
  • Russ suggests using dd to perform what is essentially a low-level format of the drive. For example,

    dd bs=1m if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda

    NOTE: This will totally erase your hard drive! Use caution!

  • Matthew, KC8BEW, in the chat room, suggests using Spinrite to repair a hard drive.
  • Richard declares that Debian is the Jesus Christ of Linux distributions, as it raised his hard drive from the dead, at least temporarily. It was the only distro he found that managed to install grub on the drive.
  • Richard also declares that Linux Mint sucks… at least for him. Audacity caused 100% CPU usage, spell check didn’t work, and it crashes.
  • Also discussed: CentOS, Scientific Linux, Fedora, PCLinuxOS, Xubuntu, lubuntu.
• Richard is writing an ebook on the National Traffic System.
• Russ again suggests Richard try Debian, but Richard says it won’t let him install Firefox. Maybe there’s a hardware issue? (Perhaps memtest might find a memory error? -Ed.)

Donations:

• We received several donations from visitors to the Dalton Hamfest and the KARC Hamfest. Thank you to our ambassador Ronny (K4RJJ) and to everyone who stopped by our booth at those events.
• Russ hoped to interview Roy, KK4ATD, our ambassador to the RARSfest last week. Apparently, the LHS booth was a great success.
• If you’d like to be an ambassador for LHS at an event, email us at [email protected] and visit the Ambassadors link on the web site.

Feedback:

• Fab, co-host of Linux Outlaws, left a couple comments on the website expressing his gratitude for being on the show.
• Bob (W9YA) offers Russ some suggestions for entering the contact exchange information in YFKtest.
• LinuxCanuck left a comment saying he enjoyed the episode with Fab, asks for help getting the feed links on the web site to work, and offers some thoughts about Kubuntu.
• Roy, KK4ATD, the LHS ambassador to RARSFest, calls in to the show and describes the event. He’s also building a repository of ham radio packages for CentOS, called Hamux.

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.