Linux in the Ham Shack

Welcome back, Richard!

Contributors:

Linux in the Ham Shack showed up on Podcast Sniper.

Chris, ZL2CCO, mentions LHS on his blog. Thanks, Chris!

Doug, N6LMX, is listening to Episode 31 and recommends the Griffin SmartTalk Headphone Adapter for the iPod Touch. It adds a microphone to your headphones. He bought his at Fry’s. (You can also find it at Amazon for a little less money. Click through our Amazon store and support the Black Sparrow Media podcast empire! -Ed.)

Announcements:

Texas Linux Fest is Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the Monarch Events Center, Austin, Texas.

Southeast Linux Fest is June 12-13, 2010 at the Marriott at Renaissance Park hotel in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

We met our fund-raising goal for attending Dayton Hamvention 2010! The next goal is to raise enough money for a noise gate for Richard.

Richard expresses his appreciation for everyone’s patience and support during the past few weeks.

Links and Notes:

Amateur radio satellite operation.

Doppler shift

Footprint

Linear transponder: a broadbanded repeater that operates over a range of frequencies.

Satellite tracking: there are programs that will help you find when and where a satellite will appear over your location. This page lists several, including some that run on Linux.

You will very likely need an antenna with gain, and probably a means of moving the antenna to match the trajectory of the satellite as it passes by.

SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) has been superceded by ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station).

Equipment considerations. A VHF/UHF radio with sideband capability is often required, as is a cross-polarized antenna with gain.

More info can be found at the AMSAT site including Keplerian Elements and other tracking tools.

The ARRL publishes several books on satellite operation.

Music:

“Long Way Home” by Kasey Anderson from the album “The Reckoning”

“Amnesia” by Roots of Rebellion from the album “The Looking Glass”

All of us at Black Sparrow Media wish to express our sincere condolences to Richard on the passing of his mother. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Richard and his family. He won’t be joining us this time, so we’ll carry on with a round table episode.

Contributors:

Ted WA0EIR, in snowy Iowa, Andy aka Integgroll on IRC, and Bill KA9WKA join us for a round table discussion.

Jay writes in about the Linux Journal episode (#029) and the analysis of the Amazon Kindle and DRM issues. Our panel talks about the Kindle , e-readers in general, and DRM issues. Russ mentions how Amazon retracted a couple of George Orwell titles.

Google alert tells us that Linux in the Ham Shack and other amateur radio podcasts are being played over a local repeater by Tony VK7AX for the enjoyment of listeners in SE Australia and Tasmania. Good on ya’, mate!

LHS was mentioned on Joe’s (WN2SYZ) blog. Thanks, Joe!

Dave, KG4GIY, posted another mention of LHS at Linux Journal when we talked about software-defined radios (SDR) in Episode 26. Thanks, Dave! Check out the Linux Journal amateur radio content.

Chris, Twitter ID WOKNSS, tweeted about catching up on back episodes of LHS. Thanks, Chris!

LHS was mentioned at the Low SWR podcast website. Low SWR is an amateur radio podcast produced by Rich KD0BJT and Brady KD0BJS. They’re up to eight episodes already! Good job, guys!

The Axis wrote to us, Mint Cast, and The Linux Link Tech Show to thank us all for content about the Linux program screen. We’re glad you enjoyed it. A possible application might be operating digital modes remotely. (Bonus Show Notes Content: The February 2010 issue of QST has a Short Takes article about the Glentek Radio-to-Ethernet Controller. Glentek has a variety of products to facilitate remote operation of an amateur radio station. -Ed.)

Announcements:

Texas Linux Fest is April 10, 2010 at the Monarch Events Center in Austin, TX. You might find Richard or Russ there, so say Hi!

Donations: We’ve achieved our goal! Walter, KV6M, made a second donation (thanks, Walter!), and the remainder was supplied by Beth Lynn Eicher of the Ohio Linux Fest. Thank-you, Beth Lynn! Look for the Linux in the Ham Shack booth at Dayton Hamvention 2010. (Note: the podcast incorrectly identifies Walter as WN3LIF, another Walter that also contributed.  We apologize for the confusion. -Ed.)

Links and Notes:

From the chat room, Ronnie K4RJJ, asks what PDAs would work with sound card digital modes. There’s i-PSK31 that will allow you to use PSK31 with your iPhone and radio. It’s also available via the iTunes store. (Note: I mistakenly said the price was $1.99. The actual price is $5.99. Sorry. -Ed.) There is also some documentation on how to wire the headphone plug for the iPhone for connection to your radio.

Ted rants about the use of macros in digital conversations, and the panel discusses.

The panel discusses the appropriate power levels for digital modes. Lower power, say less than 35W, is usually enough. There are devices, such as the PSKMeter, that attaches to your transmitter output and, along with software, will display your signal so you can avoid splatter. PSKScope is another program for the PSKMeter that provides additional functionality, such as automatic audio drive level control, but only in the Windows version. A Linux version of PSKScope is available, but does not have the automatic drive level control. The other device discussed is the IMD Meter, which is a standalone device that displays your IMD while you are transmitting. No computer or software is necessary.

Next, the panel talks about operating via VHF/UHF satellites. (There’s a good introductory article on the AMSAT web site. Randy, K7AGE, has produced several YouTube videos of various amateur radio activities, including this one where he operates AO-51. Another video from the 2007 Dayton Hamvention shows a similar system.

Bill introduces the microHAM USB Interface III. (That’s the Americas website. There is also a site for Europe. The panel discusses the merits of the device.

We then move to a discussion of Linux Mint 8 “Helena”.

Bill rants about Yaesu microphones on their VHF/UHF radios.

Russ talks about some cloud computing applications: Ubuntu One and Dropbox. The panel discusses the relative risks and advantages of using such services.

Music:

“Don’t Go” by TenPenny Joke from the album “Ambush on All Sides”.

“Mirror of Humans” by Amity in Fame from the album “Dinner for One”.

Texas Linux Fest promo

Contributors:

Shawn Powers of Linux Journal, and a recent guest on LHS, had a house fire. If you can, please help him out.

Google alert says LHS was mentioned in the Niagara Peninsula Amateur Radio Club (NPARC) forums, but it seems to have disappeared.

There’s been a problem with Russ’ email, [email protected], so please also copy Richard, [email protected], on any email until the problem is resolved.

Michael, DL4MGM, advises WSPR users to make sure their transmitters are on frequency, so as to avoid encroaching on the visual QRSS, particularly on 30m. He also suggests using “sudo su” to get a root shell session.

Ted, WA0EIR, writes to express his appreciation for Episode 029, and the plug for his website.

Google Alert tells us that a French website, al-aide.com, reprinted the post about Episode 029.

Announcements:

Texas Linux Fest will be held in Austin, TX on April 10, 2010, at the Monarch Event Center. You might even find a Linux in the Ham Shack host there! Tracy, one of the organizers of the event, is also starting another Linux-related podcast. Keep an eye on his website for the first episode.

We’re nearing our goal of raising $750 for the LHS expedition to the Dayton Hamvention in 2010. Please click on the Donate button and make a donation, as every little bit helps. Thank you!

Links and Notes:

There has been a lot of ham radio involvement in the relief efforts in Haiti, through such groups as the Texas Baptist Men and SATERN. Russ points us to this YouTube video containing a contact with HH2JR, demonstrating the effectiveness of ham radio in emergency communications.

Richard talks about using Linux scripts to automate D-RATS transmissions (auto-QSTs). This script downloads weather information and formats it for sending through D-RATS.

cd /home/richard/drats/current_conditions

rm KHQZ.TXT

wget -q ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/data/observations/metar/decoded/KHQZ.TXT

rm current.txt

sed ‘/Mesquite,/,/Pressure / !d’ KHQZ.TXT > khqz1.txt

echo -e " " » current.txt

cat khqz1.txt » current.txt

For more information on using the BASH shell and scripting, see:

Learning the BASH Shell from O’Reilly Media. (Shameless plug: You can buy the O’Reilly book through the blacksparrowmedia Amazon store)

Advanced BASH Scripting Guide

Russ discusses the Linux “screen” command.

bash (Bourne Again Shell) is one command shell program. There’s also csh, tcsh, korn, and others.

psk31lx is a PSK31 program for a terminal session.

If you have a Linux distribution with the Amateur Radio repository, such as Debian, Ubuntu, or Linux Mint, psk31lx should be available there. You can then install it with the Synaptic package manager, or with the command

More about screen:

A Guide to GNU Screen

How do I Use Multiple Screens on One Terminal over ssh session?

Linux Screen Tutorial and How To

Power Sessions with Screen

GNU Screen

screen switches and command keys

Visit us on the IRC channel #lhspodcast at irc.freenode.net or call the voice message line at 888-455-0305, or +1 417 429 4069.

Music:

“Flash in a Bottle” by Dead Heart Bloom from the album “In Chains.”

“Things Happen Fast” by Fuzzy Logic.

Contributors:

Last episode we talked about WSPR. Eddie Bennett, G3ZJO, wrote an article about running WSPR under Linux, and that article is available on the LHS website. He has several other blog pages, too.

Don, WS4E, wrote that he recently acquired an iPhone and was interested to see that there is a Ustream app for it, but the app only plays pre-approved streams. He wonders if the LHS and RF podcasts will be available on Ustream. Russ did contact them, and LHS is now available on the Ustream iPhone application.

We received a pingback from Ben, VK5JFK, to the article on the LHS website, Linux Mint 7 - Refreshing

Paul, KC9QYB, of teenradiojourney.com, writes about a problem he was having with a file server. They recently upgraded it to the latest version of Ubuntu server, on a separate partition. He wonders how he can recover the data from the other drives and partitions. Russ answers. Essentially:

Identify the “old” drive device name. You can search through the results of the dmesg command to see which devices are detected at boot. Let’s assume your old data is on drive /dev/hda1.

Create a directory in the /mnt directory on your new drive (or partition) to serve as the mount point. We’ll call it root:

Mount the old drive:

Now you can copy or move files from the old drive at /mnt/root to the new drive.

Similarly, you can create other directories in /mnt for other partitions, such as /var, /usr, /home, or whatever you might need.

A Twitter mention from timls about listening to the podcast.

Announcements:

Links and Notes:

Interview with David Lane, KG4GIY, and Shawn Powers of Linux Journal. Shawn is the Associate Editor and David is a contributing author, blogger, member of the Reader Advisory Board, and amateur radio operator. The January, 2010 issue of Linux Journal is devoted to amateur radio topics.

The very first issue of Linux Journal is available online, and also contained an article about ham radio.

David’s blog post about ereaders.

David is also the Emergency Coordinator and RACES officer for Prince William Cty, VA. David discusses the use of Linux in emergency communications.

Mentioned in the chat room: David Freese, W1HKJ, the author of fldigi, also has NBEMS, Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System, for Linux.

The group discusses how packet radio networks operate.

This leads to a discussion of what, if any, types of encryption are allowed in amateur radio transmissions.

Linux Journal has their “virtual ham shack” at https://www.linuxjournal.com/ham/, which includes a forum. David has recently started a thread there about software-defined radios.

The panel discusses what appears to be an increase in ham radio software for the Linux community.

Russ asks the panel their opinion about the new evil empire, Google, and specifically Google Wave and Google Voice.

What about Google DNS? https://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/ (The panel mentions “Cricket’s book”, which is DNS and BIND, by Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu, published by O’Reilly.)

With Oracle’s purchase of Sun, what will happen to MySQL?

Look for David at the Linux Journal chatroom on freenode IRC, in the #linuxjournal channel.

Check out the Linux Journal store, too.

Music:

“Let’s Get It Started” by Oh No Not Stereo from the album “003”

“Miss America” by Beyond 7 from the album “Revelations Per Minute”

Contributors:

Walter, WN3LIF, writes to express his appreciation for the podcast. He has successfully interfaced his FT-450 to his Linux Mint system.

Terry, KV6M, alerted Richard to a link spam entry in the forums at blacksparrowmedia.com.

Bob, VE3SRE, recently found the podcast, and has been a user of GNU/Linux for many years. He’s found a good contest logging program, but neglected to mention which one. Let us know, Bob!

Paul, KC9QYB, of teenradiojourney.com, Kent, VE4KEH, and Bill, KA9WKA, join the roundtable discussion this episode.

Announcements:

Check out Russ on Hacker Public Radio! In episode 0494, Klaatu interviews Russ at Ohio Linux Fest.

Another generous donation came from Jim, W9GNG. Thanks very much, Jim! LHS is well on the way to their goal for sending Richard and Russ to the Dayton Hamvention 2010! If you’d like to donate, click on the Donate button at the Linux in the Ham Shack website.

Links and Notes:

The ARRL has an article about Senate Bill 1755 being passed in the Senate and now moves to the House of Representatives for consideration. A roundtable discussion ensues.

Kent, VE4KEH, joins the roundtable to discuss WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter), written by Joe Taylor, K1JT. See also the WSPRnet page for recent observations.

When you install the .deb package, it may not create a desktop icon. The program installs, by default, into the /WSPR directory. So, you may need to run it by doing the following in a terminal window:

Of course, you’ll also need a soundcard interface to your radio. Once running, you should go to the Setup -> Station parameters menu option and enter your callsign, grid square, transmit power, and set your audio device and rig control preferences.

It can even be used on the experimental 600m band, if you have a license to operate there. On July 28, 2009, the FCC granted the ARRL a modified license for WD2XSH. This modified license allows the experiment to operate with 45 stations across the continental USA, Alaska, and Hawaii. So, unless you’re one of the stations specifically authorized to operate on 600m, you should only provide reception reports, and not transmit on that band.

One final note about WSPR: you must have your computer clock set very accurately. The easiest way is to set up an NTP client on your computer to synchronize your computer clock to one of the network time protocol servers. Here is an article on setting up a Ubuntu client, which should also work for Linux Mint. Or…

If you RIGHT CLICK on your desktop clock and select “set date / time”, there may be an option to automatically set the time. You can select the ntp.ubuntu.com server so you don’t overload the public servers.

Paul recently built a Pixie II QRP CW transceiver kit.

Bill Meara, M0HBr/CU2JL/N2CQR, of the SolderSmoke podcast is also a fan and practitioner of WSPR.

Bill, KB3CVA, has a telnet BBS online at https://phantombbs.net.

Russ discusses a gizmodo article about Microsoft patenting the sudo command. It’s not likely that the patent is enforceable. Don’t Panic. 🙂 Articles on ars technica and Information Week have a more realistic slant on the issue.

Tip: to eliminate having to enter your password each time you use the sudo command:

First, edit the /etc/sudoers file using the visudo utility. It is considered insecure to tweak the /etc/sudoers file manually.

$ sudo visudo /etc/sudoers

Uncomment this line by removing the # character:

So it now looks like this:

and save the file.

Finally, add your user name to the sudo group. For example, to add user russ to the sudo group:

Log out and in, and enjoy sudo without the password prompts.

Of course, if you just want to avoid repeatedly typing your password for a session, you can issue the command:

which will give you a bash terminal session as root, and you can then issue several commands as root without the need for typing sudo at all.

Music:

“Inside Joke” by Little Thom from the album “Bottomfeeders”

“A Little Bit of Riddim” by Michael Franti and Spearhead from the album “All Rebel Rockers”

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