AmateurRadio.com

It's the holiday season, and our gift to our listeners is a brand new podcast. During my time at Ohio Linux Fest back in September, several of the participants who visited the Linux in the HAM Shack booth provided topic ideas for the program. I recently dug those topics up and Richard and I will be tackling them over the next few episodes. In Episode #026, the topic we decide to visit is shortwave listening, including hardware and Open Source software for that very purpose. SWL is a way for non-hams to approach the hobby without encountering mic fright, and a way for existing hams and non-hams alike to explore the world of radio frequency communication, whether it be foreign broadcasts, pirate radio, amateur radio or time beacons. With several manufacturers of equipment still in business, SWL is by no means a lost art, and may be an interesting extension to the amateur radio hobby for those who don't currently participate in it.

Several thank yous go out to those who donated to the Dayton Hamvention 2010 fund. With my upcoming matching contributions we'll be about halfway to our goal. Please keep those donations coming, even after we've met our goal, so we can continue to improve our equipment, our hosting and our program. As always, thank you for downloading Linux in the HAM Shack. Please send us your feedback and questions, and please tell everyone you know about us--through word of mouth, blogging, social networking, whatever it takes. Our listenership continues to grow, and we hope that trend continues for years to come.

73 de Russ, K5TUX

Linux in the HAM Shack #015 is here! I still believe that I can get these out on a regular basis but lately I find that life is very, very busy. However, I think Episode #015 is worth the little extra wait. We’ve got lots of feedback from listeners, our first donation (!) and two informative segments.

In the first of our informational segments, Richard describes his installation of Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) and gives his thoughts and general appreciation for the system. In the second segment, I ramble on about SSH (secure shell) and all of its various uses, from logging into remote systems to copying files to forwarding X applications to a local machine. I’d say it even turned out pretty coherent thanks to some extensive editing. Just kidding. Maybe.

Enjoy the episode, and don’t forget to flood us with that feedback.

Welcome to the second episode of Linux in the HAM Shack. In this edition, we respond to listener feedback from the introductory episode. Everyone has been very positive and encouraging, and we’ve been looking forward to getting the second podcast done.

We take a fairly in-depth look at Linux distributions that will get you up and running with ham radio applications and rig control quickly and easily. From Debian to Digipup and other ham-radio-based distributions in between, we look at methods of installation, software repositories and desktop environments.

Thanks for listening, and please remember that feedback. We read every word!

Russ – K5TUX