Linux in the Ham Shack

Recorded on December 8th, the anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon.

Contributors:

Matt, KC8BEW, tells us about a new Linux forum at Linux Journal for amateur radio topics.  The January, 2010 issue of Linux Journal has several amateur radio related articles.  Add  https://www.linuxjournal.com/ham to your bookmarks.  Look for an interview with a couple folks from Linux Journal on the episode to be recorded on January 5, 2010.  And thanks to Kent, VE4KEH, for the plug in the forum over there.

Kent, VE4KEH, sent in an audio segment, to be included later in this episode.  If you’d like to submit an audio segment, please send it in .ogg or .mp3 format, if possible.

Another message from Kent suggests a topic for a future show about installing distros from live .iso files to a flash drive with persistence.  (Check out the Pen Drive Linux site.)

Rich, KD0BJT, and his son Brady, KD0BJS, have started their own podcast, called Low SWR.

A WordPress blog by Gary, KE2YK, references an article by Martin, AA6E, about Linux and amateur radio.

The Fresh Ubuntu podcast website has linked to the LHS website.  They’re also on Freenode IRC at #freshubuntu.

The Bluff County DX Association of LaCrosse, WI linked to the LHS website.  Thanks!

Ben, VK5JFK, left a comment on Bill’s review of Linux Mint 7 asking if Xastir runs under Linux Mint.  Yes, it does, and I’ve posted an article on the website about it.

Ed, KC5NT, writes to say he enjoys the podcast and is 100% Linux in the ham shack.  He describes his radio activities and made a donation to the fund to send LHS to Dayton in 2010.  Thanks, Ed!

Jason, NT7S, has a link to LHS in his blog, Ripples in the Ether.

Richard sent some feedback to the Going Linux podcast and got mentioned in episode 86.

The technet.147120.com blog also linked to LHS. They hold an on-air technical net in the Orlando, FL area on Wednesday nights on the 147.120 repeater (103.5 Hz PL).

Announcements:

Donations: We received donations from: Ed KC5NT, Bill KA9WKA, Doug N6LMX, John EI7IG, and Walter WN3LIF.  Thank you all for your very generous donations.  It looks like we’re well on the way to sending Russ and Richard to Dayton in 2010.

Thanks, again, to Dave and John of Gamma Leonis for the theme music for the show.  www.gammaleonis.com

Links and Notes:

Kent, VE4KEH, supplied an audio report about the Ontario GNU/Linux Fest.

Russ reviews Ubuntu 9.10 netbook remix.

Russ rants about the Evil Empire – no, the other one.  Google.  Specifically, Google DNS.

For more information about configuring BIND, see the International Systems Consortium.

Richard reports on his D-RATS project running on a Dell Latitude CPt.  It was running Xubuntu Linux, but he moved to  CrunchBang Linux, and it’s working much better.

KB3CVA has a telnet BBS online at www.phantombbs.net.  Check it out.

Music:

“Fade Your Heat” by Val Davis from the album “Immortal”

“Didn’t I?” by Shane Jackman from the album “Equilibrium”

Contributors:

Russ recommends the movie Carnival of Souls.

Wish Russ a Happy Birthday on December 5th!

Jos invites everyone to attend Camp KDE 2010 in San Diego, CA on January 15-22, 2010.

Announcements:

Donations from Paul KC9QYB, Joel, and Walter. Thank you! (And congratulations to Paul on getting his Technicians license!)

A Google alert says the LHS website showed up in linuxzine.com, probably because of our sponsorship of Linux Mint.

You can leave feedback via our toll-free telephone line at 888-455-0305.

Links and Notes:

Richard talks about using an old Dell Latitude laptop for mobile operations. After many trials and tribulations and resetting the BIOS, he managed to install Xubuntu, and has D-RATS installed.

Russ installed Ubuntu 9.10 on a machine. He tried 64-bit Linux Mint 7, but it failed.

Richard wanted to run DSL or Puppy on the Latitude. DSL booted, but he couldn’t get the network card to work.

From the chatroom, N3JIM asks what virtualization software Russ is using. Currently, VMWare Server 2.02, but it doesn’t play nice with newer kernels. So, Russ is planning on moving to Sun’s VirtualBox.

Matt points out that Ubuntu will remove Gimp from the default installation beginning with Ubuntu 10.04.

Short Wave Listening, a topic suggested to Russ at Ohio Linux Fest.

Receivers: Ten-Tec RX-320D, a PC-controlled, shortwave receiver. Ten-Tec supplies Windows software, but there is aLinux program, too.

An article describing the receiver and it’s application.

Other radios are available from Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, and C. Crane.

Russ talks about the Radio Shack DX-440 shortwave receiver he used (aka Sangean 803A).

Digital Radio Mondiale

Time Synchronization Stations - you can syncrhonize your PC clock to a national standard: WWV, CHU.

Software: MultiMode 5.9.2 (for Mac OSX), fldigi, Radio Explorer.

Things to hear: Numbers stations, Letter stations.

Antennas: very similar to what you would need for a transceiver. Random wires and tuned dipoles, will work, too. Look for a receiver that has an external antenna jack.

Where to listen: Amateur radio bands, international broadcast bands.

QSO Radio Show can be heard Tuesdays from 05:00PM to 07:00PM ET, 2100 to 2300 UTC at 7415KHz (WBCQ radio).

Coast to Coast AM

Check Amazon for antennas, receivers, and SWL-related books. (Remember to use our Amazon link for your purchases.)

Passport to World Band Radio (Also available at Amazon).

KO4RB asks if we’ve had any specific experience with an active antenna for shortwave listening.

Music:

“Say Hey (I Love You)” by Michael Franti & Spearhead from the album “All Rebel Rockers”

“The Only Life” by Justin Roth from the album “Shine”

Contributors:

Russ visited a Ham Radio Outlet in Virginia and bought a new Yaesu FT-7900R for his truck.

Richard bought a Kenwood TS-50, some wire and antennas at the Belton hamfest, but hasn’t installed them yet.

John, EI7IG, says you don’t need AX.25 support in the kernel to run XASTIR, since you’re running the TNC in KISS mode. He also says that APRS is useful for emcomm events, disseminating local weather information, and passing short text messages.

Tim, KI6BGE, recommends Resonant Frequency, Linux in the Ham Shack, and SolderSmoke in his October 29 blog entry.

Announcements:

Links and Notes:

Roundtable discussion with Kent VE4KEH, Paul from TeenRadioJourney, Matt KC8BEW, and Jim N3JIM.

Jim runs Mac OS X and FreeBSD.

Matt runs OpenSUSE, Ubuntu, Windows XP, and Linux Mint.

Paul runs Windows XP and Ubuntu.

Kent was running Debian, but now runs CrunchBang and Linux Mint.

Topics include running packet, buying TNCs at hamfests, digital modes, fldigi, remote control operation of radios, EchoLink, IRLP, CW, 6 meters, repeaters, the HAARP project, 2m Slim Jim antenna, J-Poles, handy talks, and Richard loses his mind.

Music:

Contributors:

Kent, VE4KEH, writes in the forums that the Debian Testing updates have caused him some problems. Richard suggests not using the Testing distribution, while Russ disagrees.

Do any of the ham radio digital protocols support full TCP/IP? Can we load a web site via packet radio?

Commentsabout Episode #025:

Alex, OZ9AEC, says that he’d rather attend an Ubuntu launch party every six months, rather than a Windows party every six years. 🙂 He provided a link to an Ubuntu 9.10 Release Party Map.

Jim, N3JIM, defends APRS (Automatic PACKET reporting System), saying it’s more than just vehicle tracking.

www.aprs.org says it’s “automatic packet reporting system”

www.aprs.net says it’s “automatic position reporting system”

Our hosts discuss the apparent usefulness, or lack thereof, of APRS.

Announcements:

Links and Notes:

Joe, NE3R, provides this audio segment about minicom, a Linux terminal application for connection to serial port devices. Check out Joe’s blog.

Audio from Russ at Ohio Linux Fest:

Talking to Jim, KB3ORA.

Handing out DVDs of the first 22 episodes.

Matt, KC8BEW, provided some ham radio gear to use at the booth. Thanks, Matt.

Russ visits with Beth Lynn Eicher and Rob Ball, both of OLF, and Doug Vann of Duo Consulting talks to Russ about Drupal.

Richard talks about his visit to the Belton HamEXPOin Belton, TX.

FlexRadio was there.

Sidewinders on Two radio club.

Henry Allen, K5BUG, was offering his Texas Bugcatcher Antennas.

Richard met Dr. David Woolweaver, K5RAV, the ARRL West Gulf Division Director.

Donate to the fund to bring Richard and Russ to Dayton Hamvention 2010.

Look for new topics in future shows, such as reviews of other Linux distributions such as ARCH Linux, Slackware 13, and OpenSUSE 11.1.

Russ talks about getting his amateur radio station back on the air. He put up a new antenna, an AlphaDelta DX-CC trap dipole for 80-10m. He also acquired a Rascal GLX sound card interface, installed fldigi, and made his first digital mode contact with PSK31 on 20m! Yay, Russ!

Russ has also discovered IRLP.

Paul, from TeenRadioJourney.com, made a donation to the Dayton fund. Thanks, Paul.

We’re looking for a new logo for Linux in the Ham Shack. Any and all submissions will be considered.

Music:

“So Hard” by A. Rex, from the album “Moving Backwards”

“Drive” by Barb Carbon

Contributors:

Paul, from TeenRadioJourney.com, mentions LHS on his blog.

Russ Wenner from The Techie Geek podcast joins us in the chat room.

Kent, VE4KEH, in a post in the forums, says he heard Russ on an episode of Hacker Public Radio, and wonders if an appearance on Linux Outlaws is next. He also asks about a Windows 7 launch party. Our hosts respond.

Kent also posts a comment in a thread about Acer dropping support if you install Linux on one of their computers. Kent asks which manufacturers are Linux friendly? He also wonders why Acer creates two partitions on their laptops.

threethirty from Linux Cranks sent congratulations about LHS getting a mention in an LXer.com article Ohio LinuxFest Report

Matt, KC8BEW, in a comment about Episode 22 asks if Chirp will support radios other than Icom D-Star.

Announcements:

Ken S. made a generous donation to the fund to send Linux in the Ham Shack to Dayton HamVention, 2010.

Look for Richard at the Belton HamEXPO on October 3rd. in Belton, TX. Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, of The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast will be there, too.

Links and Notes:

Russ talks a bit about being at Ohio Linux Fest. He was in “podcasters row” in the exhibit hall, along with the Northeast Ohio Open Source Society, The Linux Link Tech Show, and the Security Justice podcast. Russ shares some interviews and audio he recorded:

Interview with Matt, KC8BEW.

Russ plans on taking Linux in the Ham Shack to Dayton Hamvention, 2010.

Jim, KB3ORA, stops by the booth.

Questions in the chat room:

Russ Wenner from the Techie Geek Podcast, asks: is ham radio an expensive hobby? Richard opines.

HamTests.net is a good resource. The European site is HamTests.co.uk.

Do you need to learn Morse code? Nope, but it’s even more popular now.

Do you need a high antenna? Not necessarily. Russ discusses. The ARRL has several good books on antennas.

Paul Shirey asks if shared folders on different machines can be combined. Possible, but difficult.

Richard talks about APRS and XASTIR.

One of the requirements for using APRS under Linux is that you must have the AX.25 packet radio protocol support in the kernel.

To determine if your kernal has AX.25 support, enter this command in a terminal:

If you get a result something like this:

c0510ddc r trans_net_ax25_table

then AX.25 support is built into the kernel. If you receive nothing, then you’ll need to recompile the kernel with AX.25 support. (Most of the current versions of Ubuntu and Linux Mint have AX.25 support.)

For more information, see the HowTo:AX.25 article on the XASTIR wiki.

Richard describes configuring XASTIR.

Bottom line: it’s not all that hard to set up. Read the wiki. There are how-to articles for many different operating systems.

From the chatroom, someone asks about the throughput of the various data modes in amateur radio.

Music:

“Like This” by STEEP from the album “STEEP”

“Lost” by Trainlight from the album “Now You’re Alone with Ghosts”