N8GNJ.org

N8GNJ's Meadow Day 2023 Experiment

Wow... it's been way too long since my last post on this blog.

Disclaimer - In what I’m describing in this post, to avoid any confusion that I’m trying to claim that any of this involves Amateur Radio, I decided to call this experiment Meadow Day (1). 

Meadow Day 2023 Experiment - Overview

In Zero Retries 0104 Request to Send, Starlink Field Day? I mentioned casually:

Now that I’m a Starlink customer, I consider communications with little terrestrial infrastructure required to be a mostly solved problem, especially when you factor in the increasingly capable battery plus solar units providing power. The combination of the Starlink hardware, battery plus solar, and Starlink subscription isn’t cheap… but it’s amazingly capable… in fact, a paradigm change. But that’s a story for a future issue of Zero Retries. Teaser - Imagine an app that ran on a laptop or Raspberry Pi that connected to another (roaming) Starlink terminal (on battery power), transferred a large file, and then “logged the contact”?

As I woke up yesterday morning (2023-06-24), I thought briefly about ARRL Field Day (2). Because of recent family events, I haven’t been able to devote much time to preparation for Field Day activities, and couldn't devote the entire day to attending a local Field Day event. But I did have a few hours… and the idea came to me fully formed, that I actually could try out “Starlink Field Day” as a proof of concept. I decided that the goal would be to "work" a few Amateur Radio Operators using broadband Internet connectivity via Starlink.

Again - to avoid any confusion that what I'm describing here involves Amateur Radio, I decided to call this experiment Meadow Day. 

Right after morning coffee time I assembled the various pieces I would need and hauled them out of N8GNJ Labs into the middle of my large yard, and started plugging them all together. To my delight… but not quite surprise, it all worked.

What I wanted to test out was, was it practical to “deploy” a Starlink system in “emergency” conditions - on battery power? Short answer, Yes. Even though it was overcast, the solar panel output at least 20 watts, and when there were “widely scattered sunbursts” the solar panel put out as much as 80 watts. The Starlink required typical 60 watts, so the battery on the EB3A trended down slowly.

It worked surprisingly well. I recorded the notes for this post using the temporary Starlink connection as described, and completed the post with the "expedient" Starlink connection that is my sole Internet connectivity in N8GNJ Labs and my office.

Major elements of my Meadow Day "station:

• Starlink terminal - Starlink antenna (Dishy McFlatface), Starlink indoor unit (power supply / Wi-Fi access point), and the Starlink Ethernet adapter.
• Bluetti EB3A battery / power supply
• Generic 100 watt solar panel
• Cisco VOIP telephone (acquired as surplus)
• Macbook Air laptop with USB headset
• Table, chair, beverage, logging sheet

Similarities with Field Day:

• Simulate emergency conditions such as loss of power and other infrastructure.
• Communicate using only what you can carry or transport.
• Set up a communications facility (station) independent of existing communications infrastructure. While it's allowed in the Field Day rules to use an established Amateur Radio station, the intent is "get out into the field" to set up a temporary communications facility (which is what I chose to do for Meadow Day).
• Communicate "out of region" to bypass assumed loss of local communications infrastructure.
• Have fun doing so.

Differences with Field Day:

• I had no desire to accumulate contacts for "points" or other aspects of the overall contest structure of Field Day.
• I was only going to operate for a few hours.
• Field in my case was my house's yard, which is ~ 1 acre.
• Meadow Day was going to use technology of 2023 - Starlink, laptop, VOIP telephone, video conferencing, and a portable battery bank being charged with a solar panel.

 

Meadow Day 2023 Experiment - Photos

Basics of Meadow Day:

• Set up portable table and a camp chair
• Set up solar panel supplying power to portable battery bank
• Set up Starlink terminal in the yard (remote from the desk)
• Set up VOIP phone (connect to Ethernet adapter on Starlink)
• Set up laptop (connect to Starlink Wi-Fi)
• Connect to a number of friends using various videoconference systems (as the most demanding test of broadband capability).

 

N8GNJ Operating Position for Meadow Day 2023
Photo by Tina Stroh KD7WSF

 

N8GNJ Operating Position Desktop 1
Photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

 

N8GNJ Operating Position Desktop 2
Photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

 

Bluetti EB3A Display (poor visibility in direct sunlight)
Photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

 

Generic 100 Watt Solar Panel
Photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

The solar panel was casually positioned, leaning on a corner of the table. It was not optimized for angle or orientation, and it was a bit overcast. I have verified that in direct sunlight, it does generate the rated 100 watts (~12 Volts @ ~8.3 Amps). 

 

Bluetti EB3A Status via iPhone App (via Bluetooth)
Screenshot by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

 

Cisco VOIP Phone Configuring Itself
Photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Funny story about this Cisco VOIP phone... I bought a small lot of these from someone six months to a year ago. I just grabbed this one out of the bin I had stored them in, and intended this to be just a "prop" for this story. For fun, because I had an Ethernet port available, I plugged it in. To my amazement, it connected to the host system (that this phone was removed from) and configured itself! I picked up the handset and got a "dialtone" (which was likely generated internally by the phone) and then dialed a couple of digits, and it worked. Not only were these phones not wiped of their configuration, but these phone's MAC addresses apparently weren't deleted from the host system. I'm sure that I could have dialed out with this phone, but I didn't want any accusation of "hacking" the host system. But it was obvious that VOIP works completely normally with Starlink.

 

Starlink Power Supply and Wi-Fi Access Point
Photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

 

Dishy McFlatface "deployed" (oriented Northwest)
Photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

This is the stand that each Dishy McFlatface (yes, that's the actual product name) is shipped with. It's intended as a starter as Starlink works best with an unobstructed view of the sky, which generally dictates a roof or tower mount. I was lucky that I have a large yard with few tall obstructions.

 

Approximate view of the sky of Dishy McFlatface. Note minor tree obstruction at bottom.
Photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

 

Starlink Status (1) via iPhone App (via Wi-Fi)
Screenshot by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Note that the phone is in Airplane mode - Wi-Fi connectivity only.

 

Starlink Status 2 via iPhone App (via Wi-Fi)
Screenshot by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

For approximately the first 24 hours of operation, in a combination of downloading data from the Starlink satellites, trying different azimuth / elevation settings (Dishy has both attitude and rotational motors, though they're rarely used), and and observing outages with various satellites, Dishy will eventually orient itself to provide optimum connectivity. My Dishy orients itself to the Northwest where there are few obstructions.

 

Meadow Day 2023 Experiment - Contacts

One goal of Meadow Day was to utilize a number of different videoconference systems. Like almost all broadband Internet access systems (other than fiber), Starlink prioritizes downlink speeds over uplink speeds, so it was an interesting test to see if the various videoconference systems would work acceptably on Starlink, especially in this ad-hoc quick setup.

Prior to recording the following screenshot images, I verbally asked each participant for their permission to record a screenshot, and all agreed.

Contact 1 - Cale Mooth K4ACK via (Google Gmail) email

My first Meadow Day contact was to Cale Mooth K4ACK to try to set up a "contact", but he was busy and replied back to me later in the day. But his reply confirmed that there were no issues in using email via Starlink even with the quick setup.

 

Contacts 2 and 3 - Ken Koster N7IPB (left) and Bruce Miller KC7IAY (right) via Jitsi videoconference

Screenshot image recorded by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

Neither N7IPB or KC7IAY noted any issues with my video or audio quality.

 

Contact 4 - Merideth Stroh KK7BKI via Apple Facetime videoconference

Screenshot image recorded by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

KK7BKI didn't note any issues with my video or audio quality.

 

Contact 5 - Budd Churchward WB7FHC via Zoom videoconference

Screenshot image recorded by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

WB7FHC didn't note any issues with my video or audio quality.

WB7FHC recorded the video of our 26 minute conversation. We did a brief overview of what I was trying to accomplish with Meadow Day.

Video link My thanks to WB7FHC for editing our video conversation to a watchable 9 minutes.

 

Contact 6 - Steven Roberts N4RVE via Facebook Messenger videoconference

Screenshot image recorded by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

N4RVE didn't note any issues with my video or audio quality.

 

Contact 7 - Bill Vodall W7NWP via Signal videoconference

Screenshot image recorded by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

W7NWP didn't note any issues with my video or audio quality.

 

Contact 8 - Dewayne Hendricks WA8DZP via Signal videoconference

Screenshot image recorded by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

WA8DZP didn't note any issues with my video or audio quality.

 

Completed N8GNJ Meadow Day 2023 Logsheet.
Photo by Steve Stroh N8GNJ

 

Meadow Day 2023 Experiment - Conclusions

What was remarkable about my experience with Meadow Day 2023... was how unremarkable the experience was.

The Bluetti EB3A portable battery / inverter unit with the 100 watt solar panel just worked to provide AC power to operate the Starlink terminal and Cisco VOIP phone. I connected my laptop to the EB3A's USB-C port to charge it (that cost a bit of battery power). If the day had not been cloudy (direct sunlight) the solar panel would have provided a surplus of power.

When using Starlink as an emergency communications system, it's impressive just how plug and play Starlink is:

• Pull everything out of the box,
• A bit of minor mechanical assembly,
• Connect the cables,
• Place Dishy so that it can see the (as unobstructed as possible) sky (avoiding pointing at obstructions like trees will get online faster),
• Apply power to the router,
• Do a bit of configuration (name, password) in the phone app (only required for the initial setup),
• And… done! Online (via Wi-Fi) at broadband Internet speeds.

Within two minutes of powering up the Starlink, it was providing a broadband Internet connection. I cheated just a little bit knowing that in my area, Dishy McFlatface "prefers" to be facing Northwest, so I saved a bit of time by placing it in that orientation.

To be online at broadband speeds, capable of doing realtime video at reasonable quality, using no local infrastructure, required perhaps fifteen minutes of setup.

Could be better:

• The Bluetti EB3A, rated at 268 Wh (Watt Hours) was probably inadequate for extended operation (with no solar input) of the loads of:
  • Starlink terminal
  • VOIP phone (AC power adapter)
  • Laptop charging / operation
  • Small light (for nighttime operation)
  • Incidental charging - phone, etc.
• Newer, slightly more expensive solar panels are larger (provides more power), flexible, and lighter.

I deem "Meadow Day 2023" a success!

 

Notes:

(1) I didn't want there to be any confusion that my experiment had anything to do with Field Day, thus I created the title "Meadow Day".

(2) The Field Day event held during the Summer is ARRL Field Day. There is also Winter Field Day that is independent of ARRL.

 

Note - This post was actually completed and posted on 2023-10-16, but it will appear in the blog timeline as 2023-06-25, when I should have written and posted it.

New Acquisition from Craigslist - Kenwood TS-130SE HF Radio

Of late I've been scanning the "Electronics" section of Bellingham Craigslist. My radius on Craigslist is set pretty tight so I only see items that are in Whatcom County or perhaps a bit into Canada (which I ignore as a useless exercise at the moment).

A couple of days ago I saw this mention:

Short wave radio equipment - $200

Used short wave radio equipment. Kenwood HF transceiver TS-130SE; Astron RS-20A amplifier; MFJ HF SWR WATTMETER model MFJ-816; MFJ antenna tuner model# MFJ-16010; kenmore handset model # MC- 35S; all the necessary cords. This was my dad's equipment. I have never used it. I have little knowledge of how it works. It does power on. No holds. First person who shows up.

The Astron RS-20A "amplifier" is, of course, a "20 amp" 120V AC to 12V DC power supply, and the "kenmore handset model # MC- 35S" is a Kenwood handheld push-to-talk microphone.

I need more radios / projects like I need... well... you know. But this was too good to pass up - the price was reasonable, and it was right here in Bellingham.

My primary criteria was that for me to be interested in it, it must be 100% solid state (no vacuum tubes). In my opinion, life is too short to deal with vacuum tubes. (Mostly... I have some vacuum tube equipment solely out of nostalgia.)

Per Universal Radio's page on the Kenwood TS-130SE:

(Image courtesy of Universal Electronics)

The Kenwood TS-130SE is designed for SSB and CW modes in the 80 through 10 meter ham bands including the 30, 17 and 12 meter bands. All solid-state technology is input rated at 200 PEP input on SSB, 160W DC on CW. The TS-130SE features a 100 Hz digital display with analog subdial. (This transceiver does not have general coverage receive).

Requires 13.8 VDC at 19 Amps. 9.6 x 3.8 x 11.7 inches 12.3 lbs. (241x94x293 mm 5.6 kg).

So, reasonable features / vintage, reasonable story for selling, price was reasonable, and it's local.

So I went for it last night. I contacted the seller, we met up, and I came away with a copy paper box full of about 30 pounds of radio equipment.

The seller was glad that it went to another Amateur Radio Operator.

I confirm the weight! One won't be backpacking this radio anywhere. All of the gear looks in reasonable shape, just a bit dusty.

One thing I liked about the TS-130SE is that it looks like a reasonably simple, basic rig which I appreciate since despite my decades as an Amateur Radio Operator, I'm an HF Newbie. I know all the theory, but...

Manual Hunting

The hunt online for the TS-130SE user manual started inauspiciously. The first site I found had the TS-130SE listed as a "Boating Accessory". That should have been a clue. To download the manual, I tried the "captcha" three times and "failed". Apparently that site is clickbait to help train some Artificial Intelligence.

The second site, despite being "Kenwood Ltd." immediately clued me that I wasn't in the right place with the mention of "Cooking Chef".

Finally, ManualsLib was "reasonable" though to download the PDF they put all kinds of tricky buttons around the actual Download link. But I did get a PDF of the TS-130SE User Manual downloaded, and it's now printed. ManualsLib injects an unobtrusive footer into each PDF page, and that's a reasonable compromise for being able to find this manual (scanned at reasonable quality), download it as a PDF at no cost , and for ManualsLib not to get ripped off wholesale by some other site profiting from their work. (Assuming, of course, that ManualsLib actually did this initial scan of the user manual. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.)

I'm looking forward to powering up the TS-130SE and hopefully using it (gently, power reduced) on HF data modes. The new home has some good possibilities for HF wire antennas.

 

Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Copyright © 2022 by Steven K. Stroh

Better Day with the ID-1 - Success

Ten days ago I had a frustrating day trying to get one of my three Icom ID-1 radio / control heads mounted. Today was better.

As I explained in my earlier article, the mounting threads on one of my ID-1 radios was (apparently) supposed to be M4 with a 0.7 thread. The first unit that I tried to install like the above just... didn't... fit. I spent 15 minutes at the local Ace Hardware with the ID-1 radio in hand trying various metric screws, and concluded that that radio unit was threaded for M4 0.7 thread machine screw... but only two or three threads would engage.

After some back and forth with the good folks on the D-STAR23cm mailing list, I thought to try another of my ID-1 radios and sure enough, those other units had no trouble accepting an M4 0.7 machine screw. All I can conclude is that the previous owner of the "troublesome" ID-1 radio tapped the threads for a screw type other than the original M4 0.7 thread. Since I have three ID-1s, I installed one of the other ID-1s whose threads were M4 0.7.

One of the best tips I got from the list was from Al Massaro KF5SMH that he bought his metric hardware from Lowes. It was news to me that a big box home improvement store would have such a specialized item, but sure enough, my local Lowes has the best selection of small metric machine screws that I've seen in my area - different heads, threads, and lengths.

When I get to the "troublesome" ID-1, since I can get a decent installation even using only 2-3 threads, I'll probably just go with that, as these radios won't ever be subjected to the stresses of mobile usage (from me). My interest in the ID-1 its unique "128 kbps" data capability, athough there is a 1240 - 1300 MHz analog FM repeater in my area. Thus, this ID-1 might be the rare data radio in my radio stack that does have its microphone connected.

Second was the mystery of the bracket. Tom KC9ONY on the D-STAR23cm mailing list provided some additional detail, and a clue that a MB28H bracket might work. That was good news for me. Ham Radio Outlet put those brackets on their discontinued list a few weeks ago and I bought two for some used Icom IC-28A / IC-28H / IC-38A / IC-48A radios I had that had no brackets. So that was an easy fit test, and yes, the Icom MB28H bracket does fit the ID-1!

The bad news is that yes, the MB28H bracket is discontinued, and today I just purchased the last one in stock at Ham Radio Outlet. Other vendors might have one in stock (Google) if you have an ID-1 without a bracket.

In case HRO removes this listing, here is the text from HRO's MB28H page:

ICOM IC-MB28H
Mobile Mounting Bracket for FM Mobiles - IC-27 - IC-28 - IC-2350 - IC-208 - IC-2710 etc
Mounting bracket for most Icom VHF UHF mobile radios.
Fits radio Width of 141mm (5.5") screw spacing 50mm (2.0"), for the following series of Icom radios.
IC-27, IC-37, IC-47
IC-28, IC-38, IC-48
IC-2350
IC-207
IC-208
IC-2100, IC2200, IC-2300
IC-2710, IC-2720
IC-208
ID-800
ID-880
[does not fit Icom V-8000]

The mounting base I used for mounting the ID-1 control head and radio (and all my radios) is a small 10" deep black cutting board intended for use in a bar. The one I chose is prefectly sized for the wire racks I use for my radios.

Next challenge is getting the ID-1 powered up, perhaps updated, and communicating over the air.

Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Copyright © 2021 by Steven K. Stroh

 

Frustrating Day with the ID-1s

I spent several hours today finally breaking out of storage my three used Icom ID-1 radios. Icom discontinued the ID-1 a couple of years ago and they started to come onto the used market at somewhat reasonable prices. I'd always wanted one back in the day, and finally they were affordable used. I have a special fondness for the ID-1 because I was at the Digital Communications Conference (1996, I think) where the ID-1 was unveiled to the US market. (The reception of the crowd to that unveiling is quite the story, for another time.) I had not checked them over really before now - they arrived at times when I wasn't prepared to do anything with them, so they just got put safely into storage for later resurrection and usage.

I'm now preparing to put one of them into my data radio shelf system, and I now discover that I have only one with a proper bracket out of the three radios. Even if I had noticed back then, they were sold working, including only what was shown in the eBay sale photos.

That said, I'm unimpressed with Icom's documentation for the ID-1:

• There's no mention of the part number of the bracket for the radio. It's going to take some significant research to figure out the part number for that bracket to see if it's still available (used on other Icom radios).
• There's no mention in the documentation of the screw size on the body of the radio. Almost every other radio I have has the thread type and and maximum allowed length stamped or stickered on the side of the radio near the screw threads for the bracket. I'm going to have to get a Metric thread pitch gauge to (gently...) figure out what the socket thread is.

Glancing through the documentation, it's going to be quite the interesting challenge to get these radios programmed and back on the air. The software apparently was written for Windows 2000, but I've seen mentions of it being used on later versions.

Ah well, at least it was a beautiful day with the shop doors open as I played with radios (my version of a day out in the fresh air and sunshine).

Thanks for reading!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Copyright © 2021 by Steven K. Stroh

Back in Bellingham

My wife and I have been traveling a lot since March, but that's mostly over now, and we're be back in Bellingham for a long stretch now.

Just in time to enjoy the mild summers here in Western Washington. As I type this, the shop doors are open to the fresh air and sunshine... and the flies.

After being gone for so long, the shop needs some immediate attention for the next couple of weeks. But, on the short list is

• Keep pumping content into Zero Retries.
• Flash the firmware for my high-power AREDN node, install it outside, and see if I can hit the nearby AREDN node.
• Set up my 2-year old HamWAN gear (still in the box) temporarily on a tripod in the driveway and attempt a connection to the HamWAN node on Lookout Mountain. It's still in the box because the porch of our rental house (where I intended a temporary installation) was completely scoured by the high winds in Whatcom County during the Fall and Winter. Thus, my outdoor radio gear setups will be either very temporary (set it up, experiement, tear it down) or very permanent. "Quick" installs of outdoor gear aren't a good thing.
• Build two (of, I don't know how many) Nexus DR-X units for some experiments with fldigi's flamp.
• Begin an agenda for the upcoming "reign of terror" upon becoming President of the Digital Group of the Mount Barker Amateur Radio Club as of 2021-09-01. For obvious reasons, my short list for that position includes an update of that portion of MBARC's website.
• Get all the radios on my radio rack properly mounted on platforms.

On the longer term list for Summer 2021:

• The things I mentioned in this presentation
• Antennas, poles, and coax. Amateur Radio Station N8GNJ suffers from an acute deficiency of "aluminum-in-air".
• As much radio fun as I can think of!

If you're a reader of this blog, and you're in radio range of the Mt. Constitution (Orcas Island) 224.48 MHz repeater, give a call. I'm usually monitoring.

Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Copyright © 2021 by Steven K. Stroh

Zero Retries Newsletter Has Launched

After a long gestation, my newsletter for Advanced Amateur Radio, Zero Retries, launched on 2021-07-09.

You can sign up for it at https://zeroretries.substack.com. Archives of previous issues are available.

Despite Zero Retries keeping me busy, I'll to post progress report articles here about my progress at Amateur Radio Station N8GNJ.

Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
Copyright © 2021 by Steven K. Stroh

Bought Another Kenwood TM-V71A

I just placed an order for another Kenwood TM-V71A with Ham Radio Outlet (HRO).

Photo courtesy of Kenwood USA

During a visit to Portland, OR, my wonderful wife Tina KD7WSF asked me if there was anything I "needed" at the Portland branch of Ham Radio Outlet (HRO). I told her that I was torn about buying another Kenwood TM-V71A, despite having several already. On one hand, I didn't have an immediate need for another one. On the other hand, it seems likely to me that the TM-V71A will become another victim of the ongoing chip shortage and will eventually be discontinued as several nice Amateur Radios already have been. If I ever wanted another TM-V71A I should probably buy a new one now instead of taking my chances on the used market.

If you haven't been following the chip shortage, there is an industry-wide chip shortage driven by a powerful combination of factors, including a major chip factory being destroyed by a fire, manufacturers in China buying up as many chips as they can find on the market in fear of being cut off from buying other chips due to US government sanctions, and the huge ramp in demand for all kinds of consumer electronics because of staying at home during the pandemic of 2020-2021. Even automobile manufacturing is being affected, so I doubt a mature radio for a small customer base like Amateur Radio data communications would be prioritized for chips. Thus, if there's a radio that you've been thinking about and you can get it now, you probably should get it now as there's no guarantee that when your lusted-after radio goes out of stock, it will be returned to production when chips are more widely available. If you just can't get certain chips, and that forces a re-design, it generally makes more sense to create a new product.

At least, that's my calculus for this purchase. Unfortunately the Portland HRO didn't have any at their store, so the "walk out with one in my hands" fun wasn't to be. Fortunately other HRO stores have some in stock at the moment. If I was going to get another, the time is now. Tina agreed with my logic, so my newest TM-V71A is on its way to me.

For Amateur Radio Operators in the Pacific Northwest, HRO offers a very nice perk - drop shipping to the Portland HRO store. Instead of having your radio delivered to your home (usually in a state that has sales tax), you can arrange to drop ship your radio to the Portland HRO and pick it up there. Because it was "delivered" in Oregon which has no sales tax, HRO doesn't charge you sales tax. While everyone should pay their fair share in taxes... "... just sayin'..."

Why "stock up" on another TM-V71A? Basically, it's the best, easiest to use radio for "basic" data communications experimentation. (I plan to do a lot of experimentation with data communications this coming summer, including building loaner units for friends to experiment with me.) Mostly because the TM-V71A has the semi-universal 6-Pin MiniDIN "data" connector for easy interfacing with sound card modes. Few other radios these days offer the 6-Pin Mini-DIN.

Other features of the TM-V71A to recommend it for data communications:

• Dual-band radio - 144-148 MHz and 440-450 MHz
• Transmit power up to 50 watts
• With some cleverness, you can use both bands simultaneously for data. Connect one data device to the microphone and speaker and connect another data device to the 6-Pin MiniDIN "data" connector. Of course, any device connected to the microphone and speaker will be "slower speed" such as the traditional 1200 / 2400 / 4800 bps Audio Frequency Shift Keying (AFSK) packet radio modes.
• The operating frequency and mode (duplex, etc.) can be controlled remotely via an RS-232 serial port (special Kenwood 8-pin MiniDIN cable required). Thus you can script a computer to have the TM-V71A change frequencies, connect with a system like a BBS for messages, then change back to its standby frequency.

A few nice to have features that don't directly impact data communications usage:

• Remote-able front panel
• Choice of green or amber backlighting (I strongly prefer green)
• The microphone is a nice size for my large hand.

The TM-V71A isn't perfect...

• It's an dated design, easily a decade old. For example, remote control via RS-232 rather than USB.
• Most of the features are designed for conventional voice operation - see the Kenwood description at the link above.
• The most annoying feature is the fan is noisy - it's an inexpensive fan. There are other fans that are the same form factor that are much quieter, and people that use the TM-V71A in their shack either remote it to a location where the fan noise isn't as noticeable or they change out the fan.
• The reason you know (immediately) that the fan is noisy is that it comes on every time you transmit! It's on a simple timer circuit that's triggered by transmitting and runs for some period (I've never bothered to time it) after the transmit is triggered. It would have made more sense to me to have a circuit that monitored the heat sink temperature and turned on the fan only after there was a significant heat rise on the heat sink. Another simple expedient is to simply operate the radio at low, or perhaps even medium transmit power and clip one of the wires going to the fan. At those power levels, the heat sink without the fan can probably do the job adequately.

6-pin MiniDIN "Data" Connector
Please permit me a micro-rant. I've heard some incredible confusion about the 6-pin MiniDIN "data" connector. It's not a data connector, that is, it's not even compatible with digital signals. You cannot directly connect a computer to it. What it actually is is a standardized connection to "flat audio" inside the radio, that is, transmit and receive audio levels that bypass the voice conditioning circuitry (commonly referred to as pre-emphasis and de-emphasis) on a radio designed for voice use. Bypassing that circuitry allows modems to use the entire audio range that the radio is capable of transmitting and receiving, and thus can operate at faster speeds. If we were to do it all over again, I'd lobby for that connector to be described as a "Flat Audio" connection.

The 6-pin MiniDIN connector is probably the singular feature of the TM-V71A that has probably sold more of them in the past few years, as sound-card based data communications has become more popular on VHF and UHF. That connector is a very easy way to interface to sound card systems for data communications, such as the Northwest Digital Radio (NWDR) DRAWS unit. With a simple 6-pin MiniDIN cable (included with DRAWS) it just works. (Of course, you have to do some configuration on the TM-V71A such as enabling DATA mode, and selecting "9600" mode for data.

My existing TM-V71As work well and I'm happy with them. I often run them at 50 watts to be able to communicate reliably on simplex mode with several stations that are 25+ miles away.

Thanks for reading!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
2021-05-17
Portions Copyright © by Steven K. Stroh

 

Green With Envy - The TAPR packetRADIO

An old friend, Stana Horzepa WA1LOU wrote this in January 5, 2020 on https://tapr.org/taprs-packetradio/:

After returning home from Hamvention 30 years ago, I wrote the following for ARRL’s packet radio newsletter Gateway:

TAPR UNVEILS packetRADIO AT DAYTON

The Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) booth at the Dayton Hamvention was buzzing with the unveiling of a number of new packet-radio products including prototypes of the TAPR “packetRADIO,” a low-cost (approximately $250) two-stage VHF transceiver designed exclusively for packet-radio applications. TAPR’s packetRADIO features 9600 baud FSK and 1200 baud AFSK 2-meter operation with 25 watts output, five crystal-controlled channels and a transmit-receive turnaround time of less than one millisecond (ms).

The working prototypes displayed at the Hamvention were the result of a six-week crash project by TAPR. Beta-testing will begin soon with the radios expected to be available to the general public in approximately six months.

TAPR’s packetRADIO generated a lot of excitement at Hamvention in 1989, but the project was never completed and was eventually cancelled to the disappointment of many packeteers including myself.

Fast-forward 30 years…

While cleaning out the TAPR warehouse, John Koster, W9DDD, found the packetRADIO prototype and brought it to the TAPR board meeting for show and tell. I ended up with it and brought it home to add to my collection of vintage packet radio TNCs.

...

(I loved this article for another reason - with Stana, there are now at least two of us who acknowledge an interest in collecting vintage Amateur Radio Packet Radio TNCs.)

I vividly remember the packetRADIO and like Stana, I was bitterly disappointed that the packetRADIO didn't become reality. We in Amateur Radio keep learning that lesson the hard way - radio frequency hardware for VHF / UHF is hard, especially when it has to be produced in quantity rather than one or a handful as experiments. 

Gosh this is a thing of beauty, even with its "patina" from being in the TAPR warehouse these past 30 years. I am seriously envious Stana!

Thanks for reading!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
2021-04-12

My Projects for Summer 2021 - Part 1

Here in the Pacific Northwest, consistent summer weather is fleeting. We (only kind-of) joke about Summer starting after Independence Day. When we lived in Woodinville, WA and the city was new and wanted to impress its new taxpayers, they held an Independence Day fireworks display just down the road from us on the grass expanse of JB Instant Lawn in Redmond, WA. The funny part was we only saw about half the fireworks; half the time the firework went off inside a cloud (but it was a very pretty cloud for a few seconds). But I digress.

My good friend Bill W7NWP pinged me about my project plans for Summer 2021. Good question, and I need to plan ahead so I can get some reasonable percentage of the following wish list completed. Especially I need to have all the parts ready to go.

Some of these experiments are "across the shop" that I can conduct with dummy loads in lieu of antennas. I haven't developed a network of kindred spirits within radio range of my shop just yet, so I'm a solo experimenter on many of these experiments. If they work out, my plan is to build up a loaner system or two, and try to convince someone else within radio range to put my loaner package on the air and experiment with me. Networks of more than one are always more fun.

Kind-of in priority:

• VHF/UHF omnidirectional antennas mounted on antenna poles on the back of the shop, with coax run into the shop. The exact number of poles and the exact antennas, to be determined after an inventory of what I have on hand. But there will be at least six poles with antennas.
  
  • Need to develop a sturdy, repeatable, easy to fabricate brace for the poles.
  • Need to decide how to secure the base of the poles - needs to not move, drain water, look decent.
  • The roofline at the back of the shop is approximately 15 feet, too tall for me to comfortably work on a ladder. I'm seriously considering renting a scissor lift for a week. Pricey, but likely I'll only have to do this particular job once.
  • Major requirements - antennas, coaxial cable
• Experiment with VARA FM - VARA FM is is a very promising new data mode in Amateur Radio, very robust, can achieve data transfer speeds up to 25 kbps. I'm especially interested in integrating VARA FM with TCP/IP software to run email, web browser and server, file transfer, etc.
  • Major requirements - Suitable radios (flat audio input / output), suitable audio adapters, Windows computers
• Experiment with New Packet Radio - New Packet Radio is a new paradigm in Amateur Radio - it's fast, native TCP/IP, and has built-in repeating / networking.
  • Major requirements - Computers to mate with the NPR units, and time.
• Experiment with Yaesu DR-1X Repeater - Originally I purchased this repeater to experiment with the NW Digital Radio UDRC modification that added D-Star capability to this repeater... and 9600 bps packet radio! But now it looks likely that VARA FM will far exceed 9600 bps with the UDRC modification, so I'll probably keep the DR-1X "stock audio" and experiment with VARA FM.
• Multi-band APRS Station - Now something of a thing because K7GPS is "putting the NW APRS band back together". This will be homage to my late friend Richard Ball N7RIG. I want to get multi-band APRS digipeater system back on the air, doing something useful.
  • Major requirements - Tri-band antenna for 144 / 222 / 440 MHz
• Experiment with Bridgecom BCM-220 radios for 9600 bps / VARA FM - Bridgecom claims that the BCM-220 (and all their BCM series radios) provide flat audio at the high-density D15 connector on the rear panel. I'm not aware of anyone who's actually done this / tried this for higher speed data communications with the BCM series. I have two Bridgecom BCM-220 radios. As far as I know, the BCM-220 is the only mobile 220 radio currently in production with a flat audio connection.
  •  Major requirements - BCM-220 radios, suitable audio adapters
• (updated) Get familiar with Winlink; set up a dedicated Winlink client node and perhaps set up Winlink as a pseudo Bulletin Board System to send and receive messages peer-to-peer. Preferably set up Winlink using one of the Linux apps and run it on a Raspberry Pi.
• (updated) Almost forgot - a friend reminded me. Experiment with RadioMirror (as discussed in Revisiting RadioMirror)

The primary requirement for Summer 2021 is to actually enjoy the new shop and use its vast capabilities. Summer 2020 was spent mostly moving in and organizing, so I'm really looking forward to having a lot more fun in Summer 2021.

I'll talk more about plans in Part 2.

Thanks for reading!
Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA
2021-03-29

SuperPacket

My intent with this blog (N8GNJ.org) is to document my personal Amateur Radio experimentation. Reviving it a few months ago took a more than a bit of work to "round off the crufty bits" and get it at least acceptable for reading in 2021. Typepad as a blogging platform isn't sexy, but it is very functional and I'll be staying with it after dalliances with other platforms.

I missed writing! As soon as N8GNJ.org was presentable, I started pouring a lot of pent-up thoughts and ideas into it, many which weren't actually about my personal Amateur Radio experimentation.

My longer term plan was to write about the big picture of Amateur Radio in another blog. I had other blogs and domain names, but they were all older and cruftier than N8GNJ.org. One of them was "Advanced Digital Amateur Radio", which was the best fit for what I had in mind for this second blog. Ultimately I decided to use "Advanced Digital Amateur Radio", but rename it to the same as one of my favorite domain names - SuperPacket. (I briefly dallied with the idea of naming it SuperPacket!, but upon reflection, thought better of that idea.)

So, in the coming weeks and months, check out https://www.superpacket.org. I won't remove any of the "big picture" content I've posted here to date, but I'll duplicate it on SuperPacket and update the posts here to point to SuperPacket for the new stuff.

To answer an old friend's inevitable question, yes, I'll have plenty to write about to keep both blogs busy.

Thanks for reading!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA

 

Repeater Coordination Does Not Exclude Other Use of the Repeater's Frequencies

As I explained in About SuperPacket, "Big Picture of Amateur Radio" articles like this will now be in my blog SuperPacket. This article has been copied there.

In my earlier article The Puget Sound Amateur Radio TCP/IP Network (circa 1995) I said in passing:

The last bit regenerative 9600 bps repeater, on 146.98 MHz on Mt. Baldi fell victim to a "sneak attack" because its "coordination" with the Western Washington Amateur Repeater Association (WWARA) lapsed. The moment the coordination lapsed, WWARA gave the "coordination" for 146.98 to yet another "ego box" voice repeater. To this day, forcing the unique 146.98 9600 bps data repeater off the air is one of the stupidest things I've ever witnessed in Amateur Radio. For that reason I have a very dim view of the utility of "frequency coordination" for Amateur Radio in general, and the WWARA in particular.

The premise that "repeater coordination" is based upon is that (widely held) perception that portions of the Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands are for the exclusive use of repeaters, and any other use of those portions of the Amateur Radio VHF / UHF bands is not allowed. It has happened that other use of a particular repeater's input or output frequencies have caused complaints to the "repeater coordination body" and sometimes escalated to a formal complaint to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), mostly back decades ago when the FCC took Amateur Radio interference complaints seriously.

Even before the stupidity about "decoordinating" the unique Mt. Baldi 146.98 9600 bit-regent repeater, the "it's MY repeater frequency, dammit" attitude struck me as wrong. When I was learning about Amateur Radio, one of the tenets I was taught was that in operating, no Amateur Radio operator had a "right" or "claim" to a particular Amateur Radio frequency, and the "exclusivity" nature of repeater coordinations just seemed wrong. It's right there in the FCC rules - Part 97.101(b):

Each station licensee and each control operator must cooperate in selecting transmitting channels and in making the most effective use of the amateur service frequencies. No frequency will be assigned for the exclusive use of any station.

But that seems routinely ignored when "it's MY repeater frequency, dammit" is asserted.

In my opinion, the proper perspective of a "repeater coordination" is that it's a mild preference among equal peers - that all things being equal, this particular usage is preferred. No more than that.

Years afterward, I read an official opinion of the FCC that confirmed my perspective, that while coordinated repeaters are recognized as a "first among peers" designation if they have blessing from a "coordination body", that "coordination" does not extend to exclusive use of the frequencies the repeater is using, especially when the repeater is not in operation. I squirreled away that note... too well, apparently, because I could never find it again. I tried Google searches, to no avail, until a few days ago.

Kudos to the ARRL for keeping this sort of vital information online!

 http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-dismisses-two-amateur-radio-related-petitions 

But, just in case... https://web.archive.org/web/20100527003357/http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-dismisses-two-amateur-radio-related-petitions

FCC Dismisses Two Amateur Radio-Related Petitions

12/09/2009

On Wednesday, December 9, the Federal Communications Commission dismissed two separate Petitions for Rulemaking: One filed by Murray Green, K3BEQ, concerning the operation of repeater stations in the Amateur Service, and one filed by Glen Zook, K9STH, requesting amending Section 97.119(a) to change how often stations must identify themselves.

Murray Green, K3BEQ (DA 09-2559)

In his Petition, Green -- who filed his Petition on March 23, 2009 -- requested that the FCC amend Section 97.205(e) of its Rules "to prohibit a repeater station licensee or control operator from limiting the use of a repeater to only certain user stations, unless a user blatantly violates the Commission's Rules." Green argued that Section 97.205(e) -- which permits a repeater station licensee or control operator to limit the use of a repeater to certain user stations -- conflicts with Section 97.101(b) which states that no frequency is for the exclusive use of a particular amateur station, and each station's licensees must cooperate in selecting transmitting channels and in making the most effective use of the Amateur Service frequencies. In his Petition, Green argued that Section 97.205(e) permits "a pay for use policy in the Amateur Radio Service, enables user censorship and intimidation, breeds on the air inactivity by not using frequencies effectively and creates a negative public image."

In denying Green's Petition, the FCC concluded that Section 97.205(e) does not establish an exclusive assignment of a frequency to a repeater, saying that Green's contention that a coordinated closed repeater has "exclusive control of an Amateur Service frequency." The Commission noted that coordination is not required as a condition of operating a repeater: "Coordination does not and cannot result in assignment or establish control of an Amateur Service channel," the FCC said in its reply, "and nothing in the rules prohibits other amateur stations from using the channels for which a repeater has been coordinated when they are not being used by the repeater. Section 97.205(e) merely enables a repeater licensee or control operator to control the repeater so that he or she can ensure the repeater is properly operated as required by Section 97.105(a). Accordingly, there is no conflict between the rules, and no grounds for the Commission to propose to amend Section 97.105(a)."

The FCC advised Green that questions concerning the impact of the operational decisions of a repeater control operator, licensee or trustee -- such as limiting the repeater's use to certain stations -- should be addressed to the local frequency coordinator so that repeater problem can be "expeditiously dealt with at the local level by people with first-hand knowledge of the facts."

This phrase leapt out at me:

The Commission noted that coordination is not required as a condition of operating a repeater: "Coordination does not and cannot result in assignment or establish control of an Amateur Service channel," the FCC said in its reply, "and nothing in the rules prohibits other amateur stations from using the channels for which a repeater has been coordinated when they are not being used by the repeater.

Although this came too late to save the unique Mt. Baldi 146.98 9600 bit-regent repeater, it was something of a moral victory, at least to me. Armed with this, the fans and supporters of the unique Mt. Baldi 146.98 9600 bit-regent repeater could have argued that WWARA's new "coordination" of the "ego box" new 146.98 repeater was more of a gentle suggestion rather than effectively being "law of Amateur Radio in Western Washington".

Fast forward to 2021 and beyond. In my monitoring of the Amateur Radio VHF/UHF bands, the silence (unoccupied airtime) is deafening. Where is all the activity to justify the exclusion of every requested new "coordination" because "2 meters is full"?

I can also envision that based on this information, when a repeater is proposed for the 144-148 MHz band (2 meters) in Western Washington, instead of the WWARA essentially vetoing such a repeater ("2 meters is full. Go away.") that the new repeater "just do it". I think that especially applies to new data systems like the unique Mt. Baldi 146.98 9600 bit-regent repeater.

I've said that the entire function of Amateur Radio repeater coordination bodies should be, at most, a Wiki page where someone who wants to put up a repeater posts the basic information of the repeater:

• Latitude, Longtitude, and Height
• Relevant technical information - Frequency, Power, etc.
• Control operator's Amateur Radio callsign and name
• How to contact the control operator of the repeater.

That's it. Then, as the FCC suggests, any issues... can be "expeditiously dealt with at the local level by people with first-hand knowledge of the facts.

In a future post I'll discuss why all of the above is relevant - that new data modes such as VARA revive the discussion of using repeaters for data. Existing (voice) repeater owners are loathe to allow data usage of their (coordinated) existing "voice" repeaters, so those of us that want to use repeaters for data are just going to have to create new repeaters. For us "data first" enthusiasts, the situation K3BEQ describes with certain repeaters limiting usage for a select few users, we feel the same way about the exclusion of data. So, it's time to "route around those "voice only" repeaters. Likely they won't notice because their usage is so light.

The above is "cover" for putting up those new repeaters even though "2 meters is full".

There is now funding available to try interesting new things.

 

Thanks for reading!

Steve Stroh N8GNJ
Bellingham, Washington, USA

The Puget Sound Amateur Radio TCP/IP Network (Circa 1995)

As I explained in About SuperPacket, "Big Picture of Amateur Radio" articles like this will now be in my blog SuperPacket. This article has been copied there.

This is the paper I wrote for the 1995 Digital Communications Conference. At the time I wrote this, the network was very active and it was the envy of the country for having not just one, but several 9600 bps bit-regenerative repeaters on the air, and running TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) over them. I've cleaned this up for the blog format and removed out of date contact information.

Unfortunately, as time moved on, space on the US West NewVector cell sites became precious, and our sponsors in the US West NewVector Amateur Radio club moved on other companies and we had to remove the repeaters. The last bit regenerative 9600 bps repeater, on 146.98 MHz on Mt. Baldi fell victim to a "sneak attack" because its "coordination" with the Western Washington Amateur Repeater Association (WWARA) lapsed. The moment the coordination lapsed, WWARA gave the "coordination" for 146.98 to yet another "ego box" voice repeater. To this day, forcing the unique 146.98 9600 bps data repeater off the air is one of the stupidest things I've ever witnessed in Amateur Radio. For that reason I have a very dim view of the utility of "frequency coordination" for Amateur Radio in general, and the WWARA in particular.

I still have one of the UHF repeater systems from one of the US West NewVector sites in my shop. The UHF repeaters were rock-solid UHF Motorola Pulsars (if memory serves) which were the radios used for the old AT&T "Improved Mobile Phone Service", the precursor to cellular mobile telephony. Pulsars were a great choice because they were cheap (to them), well understood by the US West NewVector Amateur Radio Club members and thus easily modified for "flat audio" needed for 9600 bps Frequency Shift Keying (FSK), they were designed for long duty cycles (no fans needed) and they were designed for full duplex. The TNCs were MFJ-1270s with the TAPR 9600 bps modem with the bit-regent adapter. The computers were... whatever we could Frankenstein together in 1995. I remember going to a (then rare) computer surplus dealer called "Puter Parts to put together one computer on a tight budget. My personal station for accessing the Eastside repeater in Issaquah, WA was a Tekk 2 watt radio with an 11-element yagi pointed at the repeater, a Gracilis PackeTwin with a Kantronics 9600 bps modem, and sexy looking surplus industrial PC.

What was remarkable then, and has only now been achieved in the past five years or so with AREDN and HamWAN, is that this network was completely interoperable with the Internet. Unlike Packet Radio, the TCP/IP implementations we used (thank you KA9Q) were able to operate at 9600 bps, and we could send email from a user station on the network to an Internet email user, and vice versa. What made it work was that the router at the Internet Service Provider talked at "Internet speed" to other email hosts, and at "packet radio speed" to the network, and buffered between the two networks.

My experience with this network was formative for me. On the basis of "knowing" TCP/IP I was able to qualify for my first Network Administration job because it required knowledge of TCP/IP, which was then pretty rare. This article was the first major piece I wrote for publication. After this I wrote some articles for the TAPR Packet Status Register (PSR) newsletter, and (briefly) was the PSR Editor. Shortly after that, I began writing a column for Boardwatch Magazine about Wireless Internet Access, and thus began my writing career.

Abstract

The Puget Sound Amateur Radio TCP/IP Network (also known as WETNET, the Washington Experimenter’s Tcp/ip NETwork), centered in the Seattle, Washington metropolitan area, has built an extremely functional packet radio network based on TCP/IP networking and cellular RF techniques. The network encompasses more than eighteen separate Local Area Networks, an estimated 200 users, four 9600 baud bit regenerative repeaters, and a full time Internet gateway. This paper is intended to provide an overview of an operational Amateur Radio TCP/IP network.

A Frequently Asked Question is “Why TCP/IP? Can’t you do everything with regular packet radio that you can do with TCP/IP?” The answer is... somewhat, but not really. A key feature about Amateur Radio implementations of TCP/IP is that its various capabilities are built in- you don’t have to combine dissimilar systems to do mail forwarding, file transfers, provide Packet Bulletin Board System (PBBS) services, multi-connect chat sessions, multiple ports, etc.- “It’s (all) in there”. A typical TCP/IP station can do:

• file transfers (including binary files)
• keyboard to keyboard (chat, telnet)
• finger (display short text files)
• operate as a very capable Packet Bulletin Board System
• operate as a very capable Net/ROM, TheNET, Xl J node, etc.
• accept multiple connections from AX.25, Net/ROM, and other TCP/IP stations
• access multiple ports, including modem, RS-232, terminals, and Ethernet connections
• electronic mail
• automatic routing
• ping (test link integrity)
   

These operations are simultaneous, since the TCP/IP software is written to multitask. The capabilities outlined above are only a subset of TCP/IP’s capabilities.

Some Background on Amateur Radio TCP/IP

A complete discussion of all of the various TCP/IP utilities and capabilities is beyond the scope of this paper, but a few deserve some discussion. One of the most interesting capabilities of Amateur Radio TCP/IP is e-mail. Since each TCP/IP station can send and receive e-mail, there cannot be a “choke point” in the network for message traffic- each TCP/IP user has the ability to send e-mail to any other user from their station. This was a much appreciated feature after having been through “PBBS (Packet radio Bulletin Board System) Forwarding Battles”, where certain PBBS Sysops wouldn’t forward to other PBBS Sysops. With the added capability of a mailing list- being able to forward a single message to multiple recipients, e-mail made PBBS’, and their problems, almost irrelevant. TCP/IP users have the capability to participate in PBBS forwarding, and can “translate” PBBS messages to e-mail messages, and vice-versa.

Being able to add multiple ports easily is liberating. TCP/IP users can gateway between multiple ports, and this capability is used to provide redundant routes, and to provide network access to remote Local Area Networks whose users cannot access other parts of the network directly.

A TCP/IP station can effectively service AX.25 users by providing the capabilities of a PBBS, a network node, a “chat node” , and much more to AX.25 users.

Amateur Radio TCP/IP authors have traditionally (begun by Phil Karn KA9Q) made all source code, (written in C) freely available. If you want to add a new feature, or fix a bug, the source code is available, and several Puget Sound TCP/IP operators have made good use of this to add features and fix bugs, and contribute back to the code pool.

Network Operating System (NOS) was the name that KA9Q gave to his “second generation” of Amateur Radio TCP/IP software (the first was named NET). Since NOS was released, there have been numerous offshoots of NOS, including JNOS, TNOS (JNOS and TNOS were variants of NOS), and others In this paper, NOS is used interchangeably with the term “Amateur Radio TCP/IP Software”.

It is important to remember that “Amateur Radio” TCP/IP is completely interoperable with “commercial”, or “wired” TCP/IP. TCP/IP was enhanced to make use of Amateur Radio just as it was to make use of satellite links, other networking systems, and modems.

Typically, the Switches do not offer any “user functions” and only handle routing and other network functions. If a user function is enabled, it is typically routed to other systems in the network. This may change as the Switches are converted to Linux.

Several LANs have been formed by multi-ported stations that access a repeater and a 2m simplex frequency. Network users have gradually adopted the cellular telephone approach of using low power and a low RF profile, and thus are able to reuse frequencies.

Typically, the multi-ported station forms the center of a simplex LAN. Any stations joining the LAN are encouraged to be within good DCD (Data Carrier Detect) range of the other stations on the LAN. This keeps overall performance on the LAN reasonably high, despite the inevitable collisions and hidden transmitters resulting from simplex operation. 

The network is linked full time to the Internet through a Network Switch at the premises of one of the largest Internet Service Providers in the Seattle area. The primary use of the gateway is to allow participation in the global Converse Bridges. Amateur Radio TCP/IP users can also telnet, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), etc. to Internet hosts, as long as the user has a good connection to the network so the Internet system doesn’t time-out from long delays.

The group makes extensive use of subnetting- the third “octet” of the Amateur Radio TCPAP IP address is specific to a particular LAN. For example, 44.24.103 .xxx is an IP address for the 220 1200 baud repeater, and 44.24.101 .xxx is an IP address for the 147.60 simplex LAN. RIP (Routing Information Protocol) is used to propagate routes throughout the network.

Operational

A typical user station consists of a 386 PC using a Tekk KS-900 UHF radio with a beam, an AEA PK96 or MFJ1270 TNC with TAPR 9600 baud modem. The favored 2m 9600 baud radio is a modified GE MVP. The TCP/IP software of choice is the JNOS (WG7J). It is not uncommon to for the NOS PC to be configured as a “router” for other PC’s in the household via serial or Ethernet connections to a second PC running “commercial" TCP/IP software, often with a graphical user interface- Windows Winsock, OS/2 Warp, or Xwindows on Linux.

AX.25 users are welcome to connect to any TCP/IP station, both to browse around on that particular system or be routed to another system on the network. Some user stations and Switches actively encourage AX.25 and telnet connections by having numerous information files, binary files, and BBS areas available, . The group, at present, hasn’t placed a high priority on interconnection between AX.25 PBBS forwarding and Net/ROM -type networking. There is limited connectivity between local PBBS systems and TCP/IP users through a TCP/IP to PBBS gateway which transfers PBBS messages via e-mail. Personal PBBS messages are sent privately, and PBBS bulletins are sent via a mailing list.

Setup of TCP/IP for the first time has traditionally been a problem. The group has developed a JNOS setup disk, which includes all executable and configuration files necessary to get JNOS up and running. It includes a customized setup program which prompts the user for IP address, callsign, and other particulars, and then customizes the AUTOEXEC.NOS startup file, creates directories, and installs files as appropriate. From all accounts, the disk is working well in getting TCP/IP newcomers on the air.

The Puget Sound Amateur Radio TCP/IP Group

Early members of the group had been active in other area packet radio groups and had become bumed out from the formal duties of a group, such as holding office, constitutions, dues, newsletters, etc. A deliberate, conscious decision was made that this group would remain informal in order to concentrate on technical and other innovative lack-of- management techniques. When funding has been needed for repairs or new equipment, money is donated by members of the group. This arrangement has worked relatively well, but the group did recently decide to get “slightly less disorganized” by requestingvolunteers for Keeper of the Notes, Keeper of the List of Projects, and Keeper of the Shekels.

The group communicates primarily through a mailing list. Members of the group that wish to pose a question, comment on a previous posting, or share information send a single message to the list, and that message is automatically propagated. If a user’s connectivity is good, messages from the list can be delivered in minutes. Mailing list functions have been automated using Majordomo mailing list server software on a Linux system.

The group meets monthly on a weeknight evening. In keeping with its informal nature, meetings are “moderated” only to the point of “collision avoidance”. There is usually plenty to discuss, and formal presentations are rare. Any “burning issues” have typically been discussed on the mailing list prior to the meeting, and there are only a few “reports”. The group has a small advertisement in the local “Computer Paper” which draws in a few lapsed hams and technically curious non-hams.

An ongoing effort is to write effective documentation. Those involved in the documentation effort are enthusiastic about the potential of using the World Wide Web (WWW, or Web) to distribute information. Articles can be distributed as they are created, and updated individually. Web pages, being composed of ASCII text, can easily be distributed as e-mail, or printed from a Web browser. Using Web pages also enables other groups worldwide to easily access the group’s information. The group will support Web pages on the Internet gateway (typical graphically rich Web pages), and a well connected RF site in the network (primarily text Web pages). The group’s current Internet Web page is located at:

http://wetnet.wa.com/ (no longer online, was not saved into the Internet Archive)

Future goals and projects

• Enhancing the reliability of the overall network is a high priority
• Expand high speed TCP/IP links to other areas in the Pacific Northwest, especially Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia and Portland, Oregon.
• Implement several 56 KBPS and higher links
• Replace NOS with Linux at all Network Switches
• Increased use of Linux and other TCP/IP capable systems
• Contribute to the forthcoming TAPR TCP/IP book
• Sponsor a TAPR Annual Meeting and/or an ARRL Digital Communication Conference Accommodate increased use of PC’s, Macs, Amigas, and Unix systems running their native implementations of TCP/IP
• Aggressively test and implement new radio-based routing techniques as they are developed

Conclusion

TCP/IP works very well for Amateur Radio networking. It has been a satisfying learning experience to get it running and keep it functioning. The results are well worth the effort expended.

The group would enjoy hearing from Amateur Radio TCP/IP users around the country and the globe that have implemented Internet access to their Amateur Radio Networks.

For those that are able, wouldn’t it be more interesting to use our “radio” computers to participate in mailing list discussions such as NOSBBS, NETSIG, and others? There is no reason not to if your system has adequate connectivity to the Internet.

References

Steve Stroh N8GNJ (old contact info removed) for questions on the Puget Sound Amateur Radio TCP/IP Group,

Ken Koster N7IPB (old contact info removed) for questions on the Puget Sound Amateur Radio TCP/IP Network,

Terry Conboy N6RY (old contact info removed) for questions on the US West NewVector Amateur Radio Group and the Cellular Base Station systems.

The most complete book on Amateur Radio TCP/IP is NOSintro, subtitled TCP/IP of Packet Radio, An introduction to the KA9Q Network Operating System by Ian Wade G3NRW, copyright 1992 by Dowermain Ltd., ISBN l-897649 00-2. NOSintro is available from the ARRL.

A good FTP site for downloading Amateur Radio TCP/IP software fi-om the Internet is:

ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip (no longer online, was not saved into the Internet Archive)

The mailing list for Puget Sound Amateur Radio TCP/IP Network users is:

(old list email address removed)

My thanks to the users and builders of the Puget Sound Amateur Radio TCP/IP Network -  it’s not a network without users to use it. It’s been quite a ride, and we’re “finally having fun yet”. I’d especially like to thank (Ken Koster) N7IPB, (Bob Donnell) KD7NM (SK), (Ren Roderick) WA7QFR (now K7JB), (Don Werts) N7NKJ (SK), and (Peter Dahl) WA7FUS for inviting me into the group.

 

Amateur Radio Digital Communications (aka ampr.org / 44net)

As I explained in About SuperPacket, "Big Picture of Amateur Radio" articles like this will now be in my blog SuperPacket. This article has been copied there.

Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) is a (now) confusing name for a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose primary mission is (now) philanthropic grantmaking. ARDC sold a portion of its 44.x.x.x Class A address space for a substantial profit, and invested the proceeds into an endowment. ARDC will continue to manage (and significantly improve) "ampr.org / 44net", which is the infrastructure involved in routing ARDC's remaining allocation of 44net addresses (44.0.0.0/9 and 44.128.0.0/10). With its endowment, ARDC can now make philanthropic grants of significant size and scope. See the list of ARDC's grants to date. 

Disclosure: I am a volunteer member of ARDC's Grants Advisory Committee (GAC). What follows is my personal perspective, and does not represent the views of ARDC.

Shortly after ARDC's announcement of its endowment and that it would begin grantmaking, I wrote the following article in 2019-08 about the potential of ARDC. I haven't published it until now. The mentions of Zero Retries refer to my newsletter which is still in development.

 

Amateur Radio Digital Corporation Creates Endowment for Angel Funding for Advanced Amateur Radio

 

(For those that aren’t familiar with venture capital terminology, the first, relatively small funding that a startup company receives, intended to be enough to prove out the company’s concept, is referred to as “Angel Funding”.) In July, 2019 (the exact date isn’t stated), a very significant development occurred for the Zero Retries Areas of Interest. I can’t summarize this development better than Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) did in their official announcement, reproduced below.

 

[I quoted a lot of background info about ARDC which is now all available on its website https://www.ampr.org. Thus I won't rehash anything already there (that was originally in my article).]

 

Wow. Just... Wow. Let’s let this sink in a bit. I for one am gobsmacked by this announcement, in a good way – I’m incredibly excited for what this will be for the future of Amateur Radio as a whole and especially the Zero Retries Areas of Interest.

 

[ARDC's late founder Brian Kantor WB6CYT] mentions in passing that they’re receiving “... a lot of vitriol, hate, and threats from small-minded hotheads.” I believe that. I’m really sorry that’s happening. If you feel as I do, considering dropping the folks at ARDC a note of encouragement and Thanks.

 

It’s my (strong) opinion that ARDC did a good thing in selling 44.192.0.0/10 and generating a pool of money for investing in Amateur Radio.. Again, they did a good thing... the right thing... and I believe they did it for the right reasons.

 

I’m excited that the ARDC board and their advisors have been “doing Internet” for a very long time. They get networking, they’ve been Amateur Radio operators for a very long time, and they can see the potential doing networking over Amateur Radio.

 

I’m also excited that the ARDC board has committed to funding “... a program of grants and scholarships that will serve to promote the art and science of digital communications including Amateur Radio” and “... apply for funding to support their projects, whether they be fundamental research, scholarships for education, design of new algorithms or technology, or the construction of Amateur facilities.” That... is... cool!!!

 

Note that ARDC is careful not to constrain themselves soley to Amateur Radio. As I’ll explore in Zero Retries, there’s an incredible amount of innovation adjacent, and relevant to Amateur Radio, that isn’t actually occurring within Amateur Radio. Just one example is the evolution of inexpensive Software Defined Receivers, epitomized by RTL-SDR.com. The creator of the unique RTL-SDR receivers certainly acknowledges innovative uses of his products with Amateur Radio... but by no means does he limit the uses of his products, or markets solely to Amateur Radio. I agree wholeheartedly with ARDC not to limit themselves to funding solely in relation to Amateur Radio.

 

Why does the emergence of an “investment fund” that understands Amateur Radio and “next generation” areas such as networking, (new) technology, facilities, etc. matter? I have a few stories to tell that are applicable.

 

Story 1: ARRL and TAPR DCC Student Paper Program

 

The first is about student paper presentations at the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) in 1996 and 1997 (PDF). For those two years, a small grant (from the ARRL and TAPR, I think) created a program for university students to submit a paper that was relevant to “electronic communications” (I don’t think the subject was required to be about Amateur Radio, or radio communications, or even digital communications). The program was refereed. Although the DCC was not and is not an academic conference, the student paper program had the same rigor applied as for paper presentations at an academic conference. The papers were refereed by a committee of academics chaired by Greg Jones WD5IVD. The two best papers in each year were awarded a small stipend, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the DCC in 1996 and 1997. From my observations, the program was a success – there were a number of paper submissions, the four winning authors were thrilled to attend the DCC with all expenses paid, and the stipend was a nice bonus. But what was best for the students was that by formally presenting their paper at the DCC, they were able to claim credit on their CV as having presented a paper! That is a major accomplishment for a university student.

 

But, the program ran only for two years. While I don’t know exactly why the program wasn’t continued, here’s my speculation. After the first two years, Greg Jones (not yet Dr. Jones, if memory serves) couldn’t devote the time to managing the committee for a third year, and no one else stepped forward to do so. It takes a lot of time and energy manage a committee of academics to referee papers for a conference. Second, funding didn’t materialize to fund a third year of student paper presentations.

 

It might be that a small grant from ARDC might have enabled the continuation of the DCC Student Papers Program. The grant could have paid a small stipend to the academic committee to referee the submitted papers, and payment of the student’s travel expenses to the DCC to present their papers, and provide the students with a small stipend.

 

Amateur Radio needs more meaningful experiences like the DCC Student Papers Program, and it’s my hope that grants from ARDC can enable more experiences like it.

 

Story 2: ARISS Next Generation Radio Systems

 

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) is a tremendous success for Amateur Radio. Likely you’ve read the stories about the many grade school students who’ve actually talked, directly over Amateur Radio (usually, but not always) to astronaut Amateur Radio operators onboard the International Space Station (ISS). What you probably don’t know is that all of the Amateur Radio equipment onboard the ISS is not furnished by NASA or other country sponsors of the ISS. All Amateur Radio equipment on the ISS has to be furnished at no cost to NASA. That includes development of the equipment, testing, certification, training, and launch costs.

 

The original Amateur Radio equipment on the ISS, nearly since beginning operations, is old, inadequate, and in some cases, failed. The ARISS funding goal for new Amateur Radio systems is $150,000, of which only $33,000 has been raised to date.

 

ARISS is in critical need of an infrastructure update to ensure that programs like students talking to astronauts in space via amateur radio can continue. Through your donations ARISS seeks the following upgrades:
• Next Generation radio system will support easier radio mode transition, to enable new, exciting capabilities for hams, students and the general public including:

• New amateur radio communication and experimentation capabilities, including an enhanced voice repeater and updated digital packet radio (APRS) capabilities
• Slow Scan TV (picture up and downlinks) in both the US and Russian segments of ISS
• New multi-voltage power supply will support present and future radio capabilities and allow wireless experiments to be conducted

• ARISS needs to build 10 Next Generation Radio Systems to support our development, on-orbit operations, training and long-term maintenance. This includes units on-orbit (2 units--1 unit each in US and Russian segment), flight spares (2 units), training (3 units), testing (1 unit) and ground-based maintenance & troubleshooting (2 units).


All of that $150,000 is for actual expenses, not salaries, travel expenses, etc. The range of requirements for ISS hardware is astonishing, such as seamless operation on the US or Russian power systems (totally incompatible with each other), testing that failure of the systems won’t cause electrical damage, won’t outgas into the ISS atmosphere, maybe even endure vacuum conditions. $150,000 is a totally reasonable cost, especially when weighed against the vast goodwill that is generated from student contacts with the ISS.

 

And yet... they’re still $117,000 short – donations of only $33,000. I certainly don’t fault ARISS for that; I’ve met a few of the ARISS folks at Hamvention, and they’re incredibly hardworking. Time spent evangelizing for funds is time that’s not spent doing what ARISS is supposed to be about – getting the kids excited about space.

 

Thus, a grant from ARDC to ARISS to fully fund the ARISS Next Generation Radio Systems would make a huge difference to ARISS, and let them get on with the ARISS mission instead of worrying about fundraising.

 

Story 3: The Radios That Weren’t; Part 1

 

In 1997, a project was begun under the sponsorship of TAPR to build a Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) Radio that was designed specifically for use by Amateur Radio operators in the 902-928 MHz band, available to hams in ITU Region 1. This would have been the first radio specifically for Amateur Radio use that employed spread spectrum technology, and it was intended to prove that spread spectrum technology was usable and useful in Amateur Radio. If spread spectrum could work for Amateur Radio in the 902-928 MHz band (which was also a band used for Industrial, Scientific, and Medical [ISM] devices, also known as “Part 15” devices), it could work in the other Amateur Radio VHF/UHF bands.

 

In 2002, the TAPR FHSS Radio project was discontinued. The reason, in a nutshell, is that radio frequency (RF) design is hard. It’s hard enough that those who are good at RF design are always in intensive demand. Despite heroic efforts by the FHSS Radio designers, the project stretched out over several years, long enough that the key components that were in the first design were obsoleted by the manufacturer. So, the team developed a second design for the FHSS Radio using different parts. It happened again! The parts for the second design were obsoleted by the manufacturer!

 

The problem seemed to be that the development stretched out over several years because the RF development was being done on a part-time basis. If funds had been available to hire a RF engineer that could focus on the design, and complete it within a few months, the design might have been able to be manufactured (at least one or two production runs) before the parts were obsoleted. If that had happened, we might well now be using FHSS or other methods of spread spectrum on Amateur Radio spectrum.

 

Story 4: The Radios That Weren’t; Part 2

 

A more recent example was the decision by NW Digital Radio in 2018 to formally discontinue their project for a software-defined transceiver for the 440-450 MHz band that they called the UDRX-440.

 

Disclaimer: I’ve had a number of private conversations about the UDRX-440 over the past years with some of the principals of NW Digital Radio, and it’s not my intent to betray any confidences. Thus, the following description of the UDRX-440 project will be very general.

 

The genesis of the UDRX-440 was a presentation and a resulting conversation at the 2010 ARRL and TAPR DCC in Vancouver, WA. The UDRX-440 as it came to be called was proposed to be a software-defined transceiver for the Amateur Radio 440-450 MHz band. It would have a 25 watt tramisit power, and its emission and reception characteristics would be defined by software. It would incorporate a powerful embedded computer which would manage the radio functions (such as transmit / receive channel), and also provide higher level functions such as data modems, and networking. The design for the UDRX-440 was originally hoped to be a relatively quick design process around an existing RF modem chipset, but that chipset was found to have profound limitations. Like with the TAPR FHSS Radio, the design was restarted using another chipset. From this point, the story of the UDRX-440 is much the same as the FHSS Radio; there just wasn’t time, or funds, available to devote focused, full-time effort (both RF hardware and supporting software) into getting the project completed in a reasonable amount of time to push a design into production.

 

I feel that the UDRX-440 would have been a profound step change in Amateur Radio, likely a larger impact to Amateur Radio than the emergence of the TAPR TNC-2 in 1985. Like the TAPR FHSS Radio, it would have enabled experimentation with spread spectrum techniques (FHSS at a minimum) in the popular 440-450 MHz band. If the UDRX-440 had become a product, it would likely have been followed by versions for the 222-225 MHz band, and likely the 144-148 MHz band. The UDRX’s 25 watts provided ample power to form up store-and-forward mesh networks between widely separated Amateur Radio stations to jointly experiment. It would have been able to operate at larger channel sizes such as 100 kHz, adequate to support 56 kbps and faster speeds. It would have enabled more advanced data modes such as incorporating Forward Error Correction (FEC), and much, much more. It was originally going to incorporate a proprietary single board computer running Linux, but with the overwhelming popularity of the Raspberry Pi series of computers use in Amateur Radio, the UDRX-440 was redesigned around the use of a Raspberry Pi.

 

In short, it was a very promising radio concept for us data geeks in Amateur Radio.

 

The UDRX-440 was formally discontinued in 2018. To date, there have been no announcements from NW Digital Radio about a successor to the UDRX-440.

 

Would a grant from ARDC to NW Digital Radio have made a difference in the development of the UDRX-440? And would that have been a good thing, a grant from a 501(c)(3) organization to a for-profit company? Yes, I think it would have made a difference and likely would have resulted in the UDRX-440 becoming a product. ARDC funding could have enabled the hiring of full time, focused RF design as well as hiring of full time, focused software. Consider that NW Digital Radio has demonstrated some history of contributing to open source, so if ARDC made that a requirement of a grant from them (with reasonable provisions for NW Digital Radio to make a profit, say a year of exclusivity before releasing the designs and software as open source), the Amateur Radio would have benefited from a released product and a “template” for other innovative designs based on the open source template of the UDRX-440.

 

Those are just four stories of how much difference “enlightened” investment on Amateur Radio projects could make. I am very much looking forward to what ARDC does with its “Angel Fund for Advanced Amateur Radio”.

 

I'm pleased that ARDC did fund Student Paper presentations at the TAPR DCC, and ARDC also helped fund the new radio system for the International Space Station. (I did suggest that they do so in private emails to some ARDC board members.)

 

In 2021, ARDC is going to be pretty busy.

 

ARDC released its 2020 Annual Report - https://www.ampr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-ardc-annual-report-sm.pdf.

 

ARDC has rounded out its Grants Advisory Committee (GAC) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), as well as adding two board members - https://www.ampr.org/about/who-we-are/.

 

ARDC is now accepting applications for a Grants Manager - https://www.ampr.org/ardc-is-hiring-a-grants-manager/.

 

ARDC is now soliciting grant proposals - https://www.ampr.org/general-request-for-proposals-rfp-march-2020/

 

Lastly, ARDC's incredibly hard-working Executive Director is Rosy Wolfe KJ7RYV. If you appreciate what ARDC is doing, as I do, consider dropping her an email note with your thoughts.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Steve N8GNJ

Bellingham, Washington, USA

 

 

 

Monitoring Satellite Navigation Signals for Interference

As I explained in About SuperPacket, "Big Picture of Amateur Radio" articles like this will now be in my blog SuperPacket. This article has been copied there.

IEEE Spectrum published a 2021-03-03 article titled The Networks That Aim to Track GPS Interference Around the World.

(It's surprising that IEEE, despite its global membership and the worldwide audience of Spectrum, doesn't use the more accurate terminology of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). It's been years now that other GNSS systems besides US Global Positioning System [GPS] have come online.)

That GNSS systems can, and do, get jammed is well-known to the audience of this blog. I knew that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) monitors GPS and provides ground based and satellite based correction data. Of course, the US military monitors GNSS systems for potential jamming (including their own, to see how effective theirs is).

But I wasn't aware of several crowdsourced GNSS monitoring networks:

International GNSS Service (IGS)

OpenSky Network

This paragraph leapt out at me:

Another problem facing both these systems is the sparse distribution of sensors, says Todd Humphreys, Director of the Radionavigation Laboratory at UT Austin: “There are fewer than 3000 GPS reference stations with publicly-accessible data across the globe; these can be separated by hundreds of miles. Likewise, global coverage by ships and planes is still sparse enough to make detection challenging, and localization nearly impossible, except around ports and airports.” 

What if... Amateur Radio operators and others worldwide that were interested in wireless experimentation "crowdsourced" GNSS receiver data from an inexpensive GNSS receivers?

This sounds like yet another "fertile area of research" for Amateur Radio. Now that Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) has now issued their 2021 Request for Proposals (PDF), perhaps some enterprising grad student or wireless experimenter could create an organization such as Satellite Network Open Ground Station (SatNOGS) Project or Ham Radio Citizen Science Investigation (HamSCI) to create a website, infrastructure, and reference designs to create a open source hobbyist GNSS monitoring network.

 

Thanks for reading!

Steve N8GN
Bellingham, Washington, USA

Revisiting RadioMirror

As I explained in About SuperPacket, "Big Picture of Amateur Radio" articles like this will now be in my blog SuperPacket. This article has been copied there.

The genesis of this idea was a discussion I overheard during a local radio club's (virtual - Zoom) meeting. The club wanted to implement a way to keep all members of their Emergency Communications (EMCOM) group up-to-date with a set of files - maps, lists of personnel, frequencies, etc. continuously updated so that when a communications emergency occurred and Internet connectivity was lost, all of the information they needed to respond would be up-to-date. The method they chose was an non-centralized Internet file replication system. I checked in with one of those who was named as one of the leads for implementing this idea, and he had not heard about the idea. I think the idea was a good one, but it requires installation of software and some sophistication to make it work, and perhaps the organizational skill to remember to keep the replicated files on a USB flash drive so that in a communications emergency, the USB flash drive (which hopefully doesn't get corrupted in a sudden power failure) can be taken with the up-to-date files and used in another system such as a laptop.

Update: A friend reminded me that the Pacsat Broadcast Protocol concept in 1990 predates (and is specified more rigorously) than RadioMirror. Thanks Larry!

Out of the deep recesses of my packet radio experience, I thought of a better way to accomplish this that didn't require Internet at all - RadioMirror. RadioMirror is a concept originated by John Hansen W2FS that's been around since the early days of packet radio. In a nutshell:

• A RadioMirror server broadcasts file blocks with checksums .
• Multiple RadioMirror clients receive broadcasted file blocks and (if the checksum is valid) reassemble the blocks into files.
• There is no handshake between the server and client.
• The RadioMirror server broadcasts blocks continuously. When the last block of the last file is transmitted, the RadioMirror server starts over.
• Any new or changed files are added to the RadioMirror server's queue, and they are transmitted.
• When a RadioMirror client receives all of the blocks (with valid checksums) of a file, the file is written to its received files queue.
• The RadioMirror client is responsible for (optionally) deleting, renaming, moving, or versioning files that the RadioMirror server is no longer transmitting.

Here is the original documentation: Thank goodness for Internet Archive's Wayback Machine!

General article explaining RadioMirror

One person's vision of RadioMirror usage

John's original article explaining the RadioMirror concept.

RadioMirror Technical Documentation

RadioMirror was created at a time when the dominant paradigm for packet radio was 1200 bps data rate and the method of getting a file was for each user that wanted the file to connect to a Bulletin Board System (BBS) and individually download the file. Doing so used up a huge amount of airtime sending the same file over and over. RadioMirror solved those issues by broadcasting files on a dedicated channel, freeing up the BBS channel for more user traffic.

To my knowlege, RadioMirror never caught on. I think it was an idea a bit ahead of its time, and the BBS paradigm was firmly entrenched in packet radio. In addition, not only did you have to dedicate a (then expensive) computer, Terminal Node Controller (TNC) and a radio, as a RadioMirror server, every RadioMirror client had to dedicate a (then expensive) computer, TNC, radio to receive RadioMirror files.

The brilliance of RadioMirror is that the files it broadcasts can be anything - images, maps, text files, codeplugs, spreadsheets... even HTML files.

I think RadioMirror could easily be reinvented to take advantage of the technology for current era.

• Computers are now cheap (for server and client). The Raspberry Pi 3+ is $35 and easily has sufficient compute power for RadioMirror server and client.
• Radios suitable for RadioMirror server are now inexpensive. Surplus land mobile radios are ideal - no fancy front panel needed, and are rugged enough for long duty cycles (continuous transmission).
• Radios suitable for RadioMirror clients are now very cheap. Either a inexpensive portable radio can be used, or a Software Defined Receiver dongle can be used.
• The TNC function that RadioMirror requires is now split between a simple audio Input/Output (I/O) interface (the modulator / demodulator in the TNC) and software such as Dire Wolf (the CPU and embedded software). I say "simple" audio I/O interface because there is no need for Push To Talk (PTT) hardware for the audio I/O interface, so the audio I/O interface can be nearly anything - as little as $8 (seach Amazon for "USB Sound Card".

What really elevates the potential of RadioMirror in this era are a combination of factors:

• There's a lot of shared information in Amateur Radio that is hard to keep in sync between individual Amateur Radio Operators. Two examples are Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) code plugs, and DMR ID/callsign tables as new Amateur Radio operators get on DMR with a new DMR ID. This is especially critical if DMR is to be used for EMCOM.
• FM repeaters now have ample unused airtime available, especially in the early morning hours.
• If a RadioMirror server is transmitting through a repeater, it can easily be scripted to only transmit during early morning hours.
• Direwolf can easily achieve speeds of 9600 bps Frequency Shift Keying (FSK), but it can also operate at 2400 and 4800 bps, which is universally usable with every radio using the microphone input and speaker output.
• Direwolf can be configured to use FX.25 - a variant of AX.25 that adds Forward Error Correction (FEC) while remaining compatible with AX.25. FX.25 wouldn't be needed if a repeater is used, but it would be highly useful if a RadioMirror server was not using a repeater.
• For example, a RadioMirror server could use Direwolf to transmit 4800 bps through a repeater. 
• For example, a RadioMirror client could also use Direwolf to receive the repeater's transmissions and be left on continuously. Voice transmissions on the repeater would be ignored (any decodes would fail the checksum).
• RadioMirror and the Raspberry Pi could be configured to save RadioMirror files to a plugged in USB flash drive. When an emergency occurs, grab the USB flash drive and go.
• Web browsers are now ubiquitous. Imagine if documentation such as a club's entire website, file directory, etc. could be distributed via RadioMirror as HTML. Just point the browser at file:///index.html in the RadioMirror client "received files" directory to view the documentation.

Lastly, to address those Amateur Radio operators who cringe in horror at the use of the word "broadcast" and immediately want to point out that "broadcasting" on Amateur Radio spectrum is prohibited... think about it. RadioMirror is a file transmission mechanicsm... just without the requirement of acknowlegements. If I wanted to transmit a series of files to another Amateur Radio operator, and that exchange took hours... that would not be considered broadcasting. RadioMirror just makes that same process much, much more efficient. Not to mention, Amateur Radio VHF / UHF spectrum has a lot... a lot... of unused channel time these days.

In summary, I consider "RadioMirror 2021" to be a "fertile area of research" for Amateur Radio.

Thanks for reading!
Steve N8GNJ in Bellingham, Washington, USA

More on Using AREDN

As I explained in About SuperPacket, "Big Picture of Amateur Radio" articles like this will now be in my blog SuperPacket. This article has been copied there.

AREDN is useful enough that I think every ham that has a Go Kit with a computer, should have a few AREDN

Amateur Radio Emergency Digital Network (AREDN) is a firmware image for selected Wi-Fi access points and Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) units. AREDN's firmware adds various services such as Domain Name Service (DNS) and Dynamic Configuration Host Protocol (DHCP) and most notably, hands-off mesh networking (sometimes called peer to peer networking). As part of the AREDN firmware, it enables the Wi-Fi radio to use a portion of the 2.4 GHz band that is only legal for use by (licensed) Amateur Radio operators. You don't have to be an Amateur Radio operator to use the firmware, but you do have to be an Amateur Radio operator to make use of the additional channels.

AREDN is useful enough that I think every ham that has a Go Kit with a computer, should have a few AREDN nodes in their go kit. My rationale for making that statement is one of the issues that Amateur Radio operators have in responding to emergencies with their go kits (again, with a computer) is that there is no good, and certainly no easy way to have their computer communicate with other Amateur Radio operators. I've observed many, many times when computer-to-computer communication devolves to putting a file on a USB memory device that's then "sneakerneted" to another computer. AREDN units are a fix for that. AREDN is mostly "plug and play" to use, but some preparation is required.

The easiest way to understand and experiment with the potential of AREDN is the GL-iNet GL-AR150 shown above. It's around $25 on Amazon - buy two for your experimentation. The model in the photos above has an internal antenna. The GL-iNet GL-AR150-ext features an external antenna port and a small antenna. The big brother of the GL-150 is the GL-750, which is a bit more expensive, but has the benefit of a 5 Ghz radio in addition to the 2.4 GHz radio.

The best way, I think, to think of AREDN nodes for this use case is that they're the rough equivalent of an Ethernet switch and Ethernet cables connecting multiple computers together to share resources, such as a local web server, file sharing, or any other service we take for granted via the Internet - as long as it can be hosted locally. Think email via POP/SMTP, but not Gmail.

After it's flashed with the AREDN firmware, there is some minimal configuration required, including entering your callsign and setting up a password. I recommend installing the tunnel software (allows you to create a Virtual Private Network - VPN to other AREDN nodes via an Internet connection). The tunnel software doesn't take up much room and it's much, much easier to do it when you have a good Internet connection rather than adding it later on a marginal or no Internet connection. Unlike the initial firmware installation, the tunnel software must be done "live" - you can't download it for later installation.

(Apologies that I'm describing all of this with words rather than photos - a future version of this will include photos.)

Then it's as simple as providing the AR150 power via USB (it doesn't need much - a computer's USB port is adequate) and plug the AR150's LAN Ethernet port into the computer's Ethernet port. Assuming you select the default radio settings, any other AREDN node within range (with the same radio settings) will automatically connect into a mesh network.

The real power of AREDN is the services beyond the AREDN nodes. In my example above of multiple Amateur Radio operators in a shelter, one computer can be configured as a web server, advertise that server on that particular AREDN node, and then anyone else in the AREDN mesh can click on that advertised service and see the web page.

The use case I'm describing here hasn't been discussed much (that I've seen).

I have a mild criticism of AREDN that they posit its role as outdoor infrastructure, and in my opinion, that's somewhat impractical. 2.4 GHz is hard enough to make work, even with the "quiet" portion of spectrum that AREDN is using. The better model for Amateur Radio high-speed microwave infrastructure, in my opinion, is HamWAN. Alternatively to HamWAN's way of doing things, you can buy off-the-shelf Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) equipment designed for this purpose (thus, it's expensive). Vendors of WISP equipment include Cambium Networks, Ubiquiti Networks, and MikroTik. While this is equipment intended for WISPs, because it uses license-exempt spectrum (generally 5 GHz), it can be purchased and used by anyone. One good vendor of such equipment is Streakwave Wireless. It's a bit of work to get them to work with an individual, but they're willing to do so.

I'm now able to access two AREDN Virtual Private Network tunnels, one for my fellow Amateur Radio operators in Whatcom County, and another for my buddies in the Seattle area. One issue to be careful about is routing loops so I'm careful to keep the two networks segmented for now, as I want to experiment on both of them. I have two sets of AREDN nodes in my shop, and they don't interoperate with each other because of of unique radio configurations for each group.

My friend Bill Vodall W7NWP made a good set of notes on configuring the AR150s.

Next steps in experimenting with AREDN:

• Configure a Raspberry Pi as a web server and advertise that service via AREDN
• Configure my new TP-Link 2.4 GHz radio to try to connect with the nearby AREDN node,
• Learn more about advertising services, such as VOIP, email, etc. via AREDN
• Order more AR150s, get them configured into a Go Box configuration with their own battery packs, weatherproof boxes, and better antennas for better range.

Update 2 - 2021-02-23 - Displaying a web page on an AREDN Node, from the AREDN node

The one thing I wished was possible on the AREDN nodes was to display some custom text like a small web page. It would be ideal if this was automated, like a checkbox to display custom text. When I plainted this desire to my long-suffering techie buddy Bill Vodall W7NWP, he was completely puzzled - "Steve... it has a web server already running. You're looking at the status page in a web browser, aren't you?". That was my D'oh moment. So then Bill and I went on an hours-long quest to figure out how to access it. Turns out you can ssh and scp into your AREDN node - IF you know what you're doing.

 

Part 1 - Make a simple web page

You can't effectively make changes to a file from / on the AREDN node. Well, technically, you can, but you the only editor available on an AREDN node is the vi(le) editor. Life's too short.

So, compose a web page that you want to be resident on your AREDN node on your "big" computer. It needs to be "something".html. Keep it simple. Compose in an HTML editor or a text editor, and keep it to text only (no images). Save it as a simple text file. If you're rusty on your HTML, as I was, here's an HTML intro. 

Save it as n8gnj-test1.html (whatever name makes sense to you). Make sure you can find this file when you're in the command line using SSH. 

Be sure to view your file in a web browser:

http:///path/filename 

 

Part 2 - SSH

ssh -p 2222 root@n8gnj-1

ssh is Secure SHell. -p specifies the port which on an AREDN node is 2222 for ssh and scp. root is the username on the AREDN node, and n8gnj-1 is the system name (technically, it's N8GNJ-1 but the system doesn't seem to mind, and it's easier not to shift to all caps.

Also, the system doesn't seem to care about using n8gnj-1 vs using n8gnj-1.local.mesh, so I used the former.

and you're prompted for the node's password, and you're in!

But that was only part of the battle, but at least I could look at the file system from the inside.

 

Part 2 - SCP

The beauty of UNIX / Linux is that the tools like SCP have been honed over decades. They work... you just have to know how to use them. The available documentation, especially on a system, like man scp are terse at best. So it took Bill and I hours to get this right. Well, to be fair to Bill, it took him tens of minutes to get it right (based on my feedback) and it took me hours of fiddling around.

scp -P 2222 n8gnj-test1.html root@n8gnj-1:/www/n8gnj-test1.html

scp is Secure CoPy. -P (note that for scp, it must be an uppercase P) specifies the port which on an AREDN node is 2222 for ssh and scp. root is the username on the AREDN node, and n8gnj-1 is the host name.

n8gnj-test1 is the file that I created on the "big" computer.

The fiddly bit was the :/www/n8gnj-test1.html. :/www/ specifies that the scp command copies the n8gnj-test1.html file into the /www directory of the AREDN node. (You have to know a valid directory in advance of this command, thus it's useful to know how to use ssh). something2.html is the name of that file when it's copied onto the AREDN node (in the /www directory).

and you're prompted for the node's password, and if everything is correct, scp terminates. Then go back to ssh, and look at the /www directory, and there should be a something2.html file there.

At this point, you've moved a file into the file system of the AREDN node. Then, you get to get to do configuration magic to display it from the main AREDN node status page.

 

Part 3 - Configuration of a link to display

(Apologies that this next part is terse - I want to capture it before I forget these fiddly bits.)

Go to Setup, Advertise a Service.

• Name Box: (what name you want to appear under the Services column next to your node in the Mesh Status page) I put N8GNJ Simple Web.
• Click the Link checkbox (it will appear as a clickable link)
• First box - HTTP (pulldown, I think)
• Second Box - select your node from the pulldown. In my case it's N8GNJ-1.
• Third box (after the :) 80 (port number, apparently; Port 80 is universal for HTTP).
• Fourth box is the name of the file in /www. In my case it's n8gnj-test1.html. (Apparently the /www is prepended and no need to have it in the string - just the filename.)
• Click the Add button. It'll take a few seconds for it to update.
• Click the Save Changes button (above). It'll take a few seconds to save this new configuration.

Normally, this capability is used to advertise a service on another system; there are dozens of examples. Mine was going to be a web server running on a Raspberry Pi, but what I wanted to display is pretty simple, and it seemed like this should be possible, but there were only the vaguest of hints that this was possible, and how to actually do it, on the AREDN pages and forums.

 

Part 4 - Display the Web page

Now, in the mesh status page, next to my node N8GNJ-1, there is an advertised service - N8GNJ Simple Web that is clickable. When clicked, it displays the very simple HTML text that I put in there. What's really unique about this is that it's a web page that's stored on the AREDN node, and it's being served by the AREDN node.

Thanks again Bill!

 

Update 1 - 2021-02-22 - AR-750 can offer Wi-Fi on 5 GHz in addition to AREDN on 2.4 GHz

In a running conversation I'm having with another Amateur Radio operator, it occurred to me that the GL-iNet GL-AR750 has a unique capability vs other ARDEN nodes because it has a 2.4 GHz radio and a 5 GHz radio. When you flash an AR750 to AREDN firmware, the 2.4 GHz radio is reprogrammed into AREDN's configuration for meshing with other AREDN nodes. But the 5 GHz radio isn't reprogrammed - it remains compatible with Wi-Fi. That capability enables this (theoretical) scenario:

• The big one happens - earthquake, power failure, ice storm, etc. Cellular service is out. This isn't THAT theoretical; I was without cell service for a week in Woodinville WA in the aftermath of a severe winter storm that toppled MANY trees onto the power lines. Power was out for that week, and the small cell sites that service most of Woodinville didn't have standby generators, only batteries, and those were depleted after 12 hours or so.
• People need to communicate their status - email is the most practical.
• A "package" of an AREDN AR-750 with a high capacity battery pack, is put into a tree or other high, central point.
• The AR-750's 2.4 GHz radio meshes with others.
• The AR-750's 5 GHz radio is avilable for access by "civilians". (Yes, this is legal because a ham is in charge of the network - a "control operator".)
• Civilians are able to use their phones to connect to the 5 GHz Wi-Fi Access Point on the AR-750.
• Civilians then open the web browser on their phones and are greeted with a "splash page". That capability requires some development.
• Civilian fills out a form on the web page and then that's upload to a control operator on a laptop somewhere in the mesh.
• Civilian gates out the email into the Winlink system and Winlink handles delivery of the email.

 

Them That's Doin' - Refactored v2

Update - The information in this post is now a web page that I will maintain and enhance - Interesting and Advanced Projects / Products in Amateur Radio.

... Interesting stuff in "Advanced" Amateur Radio (Refactored)

(Update - I keep adding and tweaking this; I think today's update will be it, in this form. This needs to be a web page on this blog rather than a blog post, and future blog entries will expand on each point.)

Two good friends commented that my previous post was... a bit scattershot. Point taken - thank you Bill and Steve. I've reorganized this information to be a bit less scattershot and add some detail.

Last updated 2021-02-21.

General

• 219-220 MHz Amateur Radio band (US, Americas) - The 219-220 MHz band was allocated to secondary Amateur Radio usage when 220-222 MHz was reallocated. Its arcane usage rules means that it's never been used (to my knowlege) and there's no activity (to my knowlege) to change that status.
• 222-225 MHz Amateur Radio band (US, Americas) - The 222-225 MHz band in the US is underused. It's an ideal "playground" for data communications, but is hampered by few 222-225 MHz radios currently in production (see below).
• 1240-1300 MHz Amateur Radio band (US, Americas) - The 1240-1300 MHz band in the US is underused. It's an ideal "playground" for wideband data communications, but is hampered by only one Amateur Radio available for this band.
• Laurel Volunteer Examination Coordinator (VEC) - Taking your Amateur Radio examination with a Laural VEC team is a superior exprerience. They do not charge a fee for an Amateur Radio examination, and they upload the license application electronically so you have your callsign much faster than other VECs. 

Organizations, Conferences, Websites Doing Interesting and Useful Things
Some of these have a hardware or software component, but are included here because there's an additional element of organization beyond just their software or hardware.

• 44net - Static IPv4 addresses (and routing) are available for Amateur Radio experimentation.
• aprs.fi - aprs.fi is the "public face" of Amateur Radio APRS activities. For example, world-circling balloons carring Amateur Radio beacons can be followed by anyone, including school kids. aprs.fi is just an amazing project.
• Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) - ARDC has two missions. Their origina mission was to operate 44net / AMPRnet (44.0.0.0/9, 44.128.0.0/10) which they continue. Their new, additional mission is providing philanthropic grants for Support and Growth of Amateur Radio, Education, and Technical Innovation.
• Brandmeister - Brandmeister is the worldwide "backbone" for Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) repeaters used in Amateur Radio. What's laudable about Brandmeister is that they're open to experimentation and evolution of DMR usage such as position reports (like APRS), data, and other experimentation. Other DMR networks, including two here in the Pacific Northwest, are run essentially as commercial networks - no experimentation, only certain types of conversations allowed, and much "regimentation". Anything I'm directly involved with in DMR will use Brandmeister. 
• Hackaday.com - I love Hackaday because they treat Amateur Radio, especially data modes and projects (like New Packet Radio) as interesting wireless experimentation for techies. Hackaday makes Amateur Radio look cool to techies, which we desparately need more of.
• HamWAN - HamWAN is a vision for building an Amateur Radio Wireless Internet Service Provider. It began as a project in the Seattle area and has since been replicated in other areas.
• Highspeed Amateurradio Multimedia Network (HAMNET.EU) - A Europe-wide high speed wireless TCP/IP network for Amateur Rado. Best explained in a video presentation. 
• IRCDDB - IRCDDB is the "non-official" network of D-Star repeaters; anything I do with D-Star will use IRCDDB.
• MicroHAMS Digital Conference - MicroHAMS is an Amateur Radio club based in Redmond, Washington, USA. What makes it special, in my opinion, is that it sponsors an excellent Digital Conference in the Spring, on par (in my opinion) with the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC).
• Open Research Institute (ORI) - ORI's genesis was developing a ground station system for a potential Geosychronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite payload that would have been accessible from the North America. The satellite didn't happen, but ORI continued and morphed into a more generalized organization.
• RadioID.net - Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) wasn't designed for Amateur Radio with support for callsigns, only "ID numbers". For DMR to be usable in Amateur Radio, someone had to provide a "translation table" of DMR ID numbers to Amateur Radio callsigns, and RadioID.net took on that task and, in my experience, does it well.
• Repeaterbook.com - In my opinion, Repeaterbook.com and its apps is the best director of Amateur Radio repeaters. Its data is crowdsourced and usage is free.
• Reverse Beacon Network - Hams are incredible creative; this is a network of receivers connected to the Internet. See where your signal is being heard around the world.
• TAPR - TAPR didn't create the Terminal Node Controller (TNC) or Packet Radio, but they made it accessible to average Amateur Radio operators. TAPR has done many interesting things since the TNC-1 and TNC-2. Their most important mission now (in my opinion) is the annual Digital Communications Conference.
• Signal Identification Guide - an open sourced (Wiki) compendium of various modulation types. When you receive something you don't understand, look it up here.
• SMSGTE - A gateway between Amateur Radio APRS messages and Short Message Service (SMS) messages.
• Winlink - Winlink has made "last mile emergency email" plug and play. Within their paragigms, it works well. I think every Amateur Radio operator should support Winlink for emergency communications.

Interesting Hardware / Projects

• Alinco DR-235 MkIII 222 MHz Radio - A 222 MHz radio currently in production that has a "data" connection for flat audio, suitable for higher speed data communications such as VARA.
• Analog Devices ALADM-PLUTO - A friend directed me to this device for getting started with GNU Radio. This device is different because it's a software-defined transceiver, not just a receiver.
• BridgeCom Systems Systems BCM-220 - A 222 MHz radio currently in production that has a "data" connection for flat audio, suitable for higher speed data communications such as VARA.
• Crowd Supply - Acts as an incubator (similar to Kickstarter) for small projects and a storefont. They feature a fair number of RF projects / products.
• F5OEO rpitx - It doesn't get any cooler than a software defined transmitter that's just a Raspberry Pi with a wire connected to a GPIO.
• Flex Radio - I've been impressed with Flex Radio since their founding as they are "all in" on Software Definied Radio for Amateur Radio HF like Tesla is on electric drive vehicles. I just wish they did the same thing for VHF/UHF radios.
• Inductive Twig HamShield: LoRa Edition - This is the only vendor / project that I'm aware of that attempts to make the very popular LoRa hardware into compatibility with Amateur Radio. I think LoRa has great potential in Amateur Radio, especially if it can be made into a mesh network.
• Kenwood TM-V71A Radio - In my opinion, this is the best VHF / UHF radio for data communications available at this moment. It features the 6-pin MiniDIN standard "data" port for easy interfacing, 144 / 440 MHz, 5 / 25 / 50 watts transmit power, and its settings can be controlled via RS-232.
• KiwiSDR - A software defined receiver designed specifically for the Beaglebone series of single board computers. The combination is specifically designed to be used as a web-based receiver, accessible locally or (preferred) accessible from the Internet.
• LimeSDR - This is a capable software defined transceiver. What impressed me is that the manufacturer decided to do an Amateur Radio front end for it called LimeRFE - power amplifier, etc.
• M17 Project - Developing a new Digital Voice standard, and hardware, for Amateur Radio. They have some interesting sub-projects such as mvoice (Linux soundcard client for use on the M17 reflector system) and building your own M17 receiver.
• Mobilinkd TNC3 - Folks I respect really like this TNC. It's built around DSP, can handle 9600 bps FSK, it's battery powered, and communicates via Bluetooth.
• NANOVNA - This came out of nowhere a few years ago - an inexpensive, handheld, open source Vector Network Analyzer. These are just amazing. It's a bit of a learning curve to understand how to use them, but they're very powerful.
• New Packet Radio - Packet Radio reimagined as higher speed and native TCP/IP.
• Nexus DR-X - This is a project that's local to me for a capable, multipurpose digital interface, with great software support.
• NW Digital Radio DRAWS - The DRAWS is my favorite built-for-purpose sound card modem for Amateur Radio, mated with a Raspberry Pi. I was particularly impressed that it was engineered with higher speed modes in mind such as 9600 bps (and faster) FSK and has no bandwidth-damaging transformers.
• Packet Radio Users Group (PRUG) FX.25 KISS TNC - FX.25 to date has only been implemented in Dire Wolf software (needs a host like a Raspberry Pi and a sound card). An "appliance" like this could make FX.25 and Forward Error Correction more widely used.
• Raspberry Pi - The Raspberry Pi ecosystem of products, projects, support, and software, and of course the inexpensive price, to me makes it the preferred computer platform for Amateur Radio. For as little as $10, "just throw a computer at it".
• Red Pitaya - This is the most capable software defined transceiver that I know of. It's so sophisticated and capable that it wasn't originally a platform for radio experimetation. As I understand the story it was created as a multifunction radio test set. As it's evolved, it seems to be the favorite Amateur Radio software defined transceiver of those who can write digital signal processing software.
• RTL-SDR.com - They make good quality inexpensive software defined receivers, and their website is the best "heads up" about anything in the software defined receiver / transceiver field.
• SDRPlay - This is my favorite manufacturer of software defined receivers. In my opinion their products are a good balance of receive performance and reasonable cost. They have very capable software for their products for Windows, and a plug and play image for a dedicated Raspberry Pi.
• TCP/IP over LoRa Radios - LoRa radios are a "fertile area for future development".
• Terrestrial Amateur Packet Radio Network (TARPN) Nino-TNC - This is a new KISS TNC with a USB interface capable of 9600 bps and a new Forward Error Correction (FEC) protocol.
• TNCPi9k6 - This is a 9600 bps KISS TNC for a Raspberry Pi designed by John Wiseman G8BPQ, originally produced by Coastal Chipworks (which has ceased operations).
• Unsigned.io OpenModem TNC - What can I say... I'm a fan of TNCs, especially ones designed and produced in the 21st century. OpenModem has a unique capability of logging AX.25 packets to an SD card for later analysis. 
• Unsigned.io RNode LoRa Radio - Another LoRa Amateur Radio for experimentation with LoRa technology.

Interesting Software / Projects

• Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) - Flash selected Wi-Fi radios with AREDN firmware to create standalone mesh networks.
• Dire Wolf - software based Packet Radio. It's simply amazing how much better Dire Wolf works than hardware modems. I can't offer enough kudos to WB2OSZ for Dire Wolf.
• Dragon OS - A plug and play Linux image of just Software Defined Radio packages.
• HamPi - Amazing integration of much Amateur Radio software for the Raspberry Pi, already compiled into a plug-and-play image.
• F6FBB FBB - Very capable Packet Radio Bulletin Board System (BBS). Yes, BBS' are still useful.
• fldigi - A suite of software data modes. FSQ is particularly robust.
• G8BPQ Software Suite - G8BPQ's suite of software is Packet Radio Networking - Bulletin Board Systems, Chat Bridges, and much more.
• GNU Radio - GR is open source software defined radio. GNU Radio Companion is a graphical interface that makes it possible to create software defined radios by dragging modules around in a into graphic layout. In addition to the software and support, they sponsor the GNU Radio Conference.
• JNOS - JNOS is the swiss army knife of Amateur Radio packet radio networking. It's a multi-mode router, including basic AX.25, Net/ROM, TCP/IP (including encapsulation), and BBS routing. Yep, it's still going after all these years.
• JS8Call - The one thing that the WSJT software suite doesn't have is a keyboard-to-keyboard chat mode. JS8 is an independent project based on the WSJT technologies that implements a very robust chat mode.
• multimon-ng - Good example of obscure projects for Amateur Radio. This one decodes various obscure data modes, including POCSAG (paging). Imagine the robustness of paging used in Amateur Radio now that we all have access to high resolution timebases and flexible data transmission modes.
• OpenRTX - Open source firmware enabling new capabilities for selected DMR portable radios.
• OpenWebRX - web based multiple user sotware defined receiver.
• OpenWRT - Open source firmware for routers and Wi-Fi access points. It's the basis for AREDN and many other interesting projects.
• PiGate - Imagine you're at a mass casualty shelter and people have phones that don't work on (saturated or down) cellular networks. PiGate is an appliance that combines a Wi-Fi access point, web server, form for sending email, and integration with Winlink, so that non-hams can send brief emails, via Winlink, under supervision of an Amateur Radio operator.
• PiSDR - Raspberry Pi image of a wide range of software defined receiver software for a variety of software defined receiver hardware.
• SDRServer - Streaming data to multiple users from a software defined receiver device.
• SV2AGW Packet Engine - Software that operates as a packet radio TNC that can be connected to multiple applications.
• UZ7HO software Packet-Radio TNC - UZ7HO was one of the first to offer TNC capabilities (mostly) in software.
• VARA-FM - Vara is a "clean sheet of paper" approach to high speed data over Amateur Radio. It offers impressive speed on VHF/UHF with improved reliability. One impressive feature is that it can be used effectively over ordinary voice repeaters, even if there's a CTCSS tone used for access.
• XASTIR - Open Source APRS do-everything software.
• WSJT - Dr. Joe Taylor W1JT has revolutionized Amateur Radio data communications by creating entirely new communications methods using advanced digital signal processing made accessible to Amateur Radio operators.

Space / Satellites

• AMSAT-DL (Germany / Europe), AMSAT-NA (North America) / AMSAT-UK (UK) - Satellites built, operated, and used by Amateur Radio Operators.
• Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) - ARISS supports the Amateur Radio equipment and activities on the International Space Station.
• Earth - Moon - Earth Communications (EME) - AMSAT started a tradition of naming Amateur Satellites Oribiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio (OSCAR) follwed by a sequential numeric designator. The first AMSAT satellite was named OSCAR-1. EME enthusiasts sometimes refer to Luna as "OSCAR-0". I just think EME is uber-techie cool.
• Othernet - Very cool project to do "datacasting" from satellite. Not entirely a new idea, but a new approach.
• Phase 4B Payload for North America GEO Satellite - (Thank goodness for the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine!) This was a well-conceived, well-scoped realistic project that seemed realistic. Apparently the host satellite was canceled. It would have been great for data communications.
• SATNOGS - There are a lot of research (micro)satellites in orbit now from various institutions such as college engineering classes. The problem is that they only realize their potential when the data that they generate can get transmitted back. SATNOGS is a network of open source, inexpensive ground stations that use commodity hardware, 3D printed parts, and the Internet to receive data from these small satellites and get it back to the satellite's sponsors.

Speculative Ideas
Includes legacy systems that might be instructive for future projects or potentially revived with current technology.

• APRS as A Hailing Channel - This was an intriguing idea by Bryan Hoyer K7UDR. All Amateur Radio services in an area - Winlink, etc. should advertise on APRS.
• Coastal Chipworks TNC-X - This was a great TNC - KISS so it was really stable.
• Data over Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) - It occurred to me a few years ago that all the Amateur Radio DMR repeaters that are being built are, at their core, data repeaters. The DMR specification makes provisions for data, but no one seems to know much about how to do data over DMR. These Maxon DMR data radios deserve some experimentation.
• Doodlelabs Radios - These were a brief experiment in combining a Wi-Fi chipset with a transverter to use Wi-Fi protocols in the Amateur Radio 420-450 MHz band. 802.11 uses a 22 MHz channel, and transverted to 420-450, it barely fits. Other not-quite-Wi-Fi variants can have a channel size as small as 5 MHz. I have some of these radios and need to find some supporting documentation. Yet again, it's an interesting idea for reimplementation with current technology.
• (Faster) Data over D-Star - Despite the fact that D-Star (as implemented by Icom) is the only digital voice mode that cleanly implements data along with digital voice, the data implementation is (in my opinion) at best an afterthought. In D-Star, 3600 of 4800 bps is hard-coded to voice, and ~300 bps are used for "overhead" (callsign, etc.) and the remaining 900 bps of the payload is data. Icom kind-of fixed this in some later models of their D-Star radios by creating "DV Fast Data Mode" which Icom describes as By using data in place of voice frames, the ID-5100A can transfer data 3.5 times faster (3480 bps) than in the conventional DV mode (with voice). The beauty of DV Fast Data Mode is that (I'm told) it is compatible with any D-Star repeater. I don't yet have a radio (or two, that I'll need to conduct a test) to verify this, but it's on my agenda. 
• David Rowe VK5DGR - His most famous project is Codec2 and FreeDV, open source digital voice modems. He is also working on a "radio", and other projects.
• DFQF2 T7F Data Radio - Like the Kantronics D4-10, this radio is now out of production and mentioned here as inspiration for a hoped-for new generation of data radios for Amateur Radio. The T7F was more advanced than the D4-10, including frequency agility. There were several excellent data radios for Amateur Radio made in Germany, but none remain in production (that I know of).
• D-Star Digital Data Mode / ID-1 Radio and "Repeater" - The Icom ID-1 was the fastest (that I'm aware of) data rate for an Amateur Radio product (that wasn't a kit / science project) at 128 kbps (half duplex). It also had the distinction of being of operating on the forlorn Amateur Radio 1240 - 1300 MHz band. While the ID-1 is out of production now, the D-Star Digital Data (DD) mode lives on in another Icom radio, and a planned successor to the ID-1 repeater. It would be a very cool project to create a new radio with the ID-1's data capabilities.
• Flexnet - Was advanced packet radio networking, that fixed many of the issues of digipeating, mesh networking (Net/ROM). It is reportedly still in use in places, and deserves more research. This discussion and this discussion is helpful. Another technology that should be trivial to reproduce and advance using current technologies.
• IPv6 over Amateur Radio - One of the valid criticisms of IPv4 over Amateur Radio is that the headers were very large, consuming considerable airtime just for the headers. While there were some implementations of header compression in the original TCP/IP over Amateur Radio packages, header compression wasn't standard. In IPv6, header compression is standard, so perhaps IPv6 over Amateur Radio is a "fertile area of research".
• Kantronics D4-10 Data Radio - It's sad that in many ways the long-discontinued Kantronics D4-10 was a high point in packet radio radios. It featured a wide bandwidth that could do 19,200 bps (and faster), 10 watts transmit power, minimal design (no fancy faceplate), and best, was designed for data, not a radio designed for voice that kind-of does data. Because it uses crystals for frequency setting (which are near-unobtanium now) it's not that useful now, but it is a benchmark for what a data radio for Amateur Radio could and should be - minimalist, stable (with the mods mentioned in the link), and reasonable power output (though 25 watts would be better). I include it here as an inspiration for a new generation of data radios for Amateur Radio.
• Networking Over HF - Interesting project!
• NW Digital Radio UDRX-440 Software Defined Transceiver / Data Radio (PDF) - This was a project that came agonizingly close to becoming a product. I profoundly wish it had, even with many rough edges. It was to be a 25 watt multimode data radio with all the features we wanted - flexible modems, full software control of transmit bandwidth, frequency, power, etc. There were good, valid reasons that it didn't quite make it. It's listed here as an example of what Amateur Radio needs as tools to make great leaps forward in becoming relevant again in the minds of most techies.
• Radio Mirror - I cannot find an online link to this, but it's a simple but profound concept. A transmitter spits out blocks of files. When it has finished transmitting all the blocks, of all the files, in the "to be transmitted" directory, it starts over. (Many) receivers save each block (if it passes a validity check). If it misses a block, that file is kept in a buffer until the block is retransmitted and then the file is assembled and stored in the receiver's "has been received" directory. The idea is that a shared set of files is kept synched. Examples are code plugs, maps, directories of local hams, photos, etc. If a new file is added, eventually everyone receives it. If a file is removed from the transmitting queue, the receivers move the file to an "old" subdirectory". My twist on this is that it could use unused airtime on repeaters in the wee hours of the morning, when no one will mind that the repeater is transmitting data.
• Single Channel Repeater - Single Channel Repeaters have been done, but only as a "record for seconds, then play back for seconds. Instead of that, think receive for 5 mS, then transmit for 5 mS.
• Wildernets - It's hard to grok Wildernets at first, but it's an amazing piece of software. It provides a web server, Voice over IP (VOIP), mesh networking, and more. It was ported to a now hard-to-find Wi-Fi router, and it's hoped that the developer will be able to find more time to work on it.
• WA4DSY 56 kbps Modem - This was groundbreaking in its day and implemented in several areas, including repeaters in Vancouver BC and Atlanta, GA. It's still a fantastic achievement; it should be "easy" to implement this using current RF and DSP technology.

What We Need (In My Humble Opinion)

• Don't fossilize the Amateur Radio spectrum with repeater coordinations. We need more repeaters, especially for data, not the privileged few that the exalted grand poobas of repeater coordination groups deign to give their blessing to. There was an FCC letter once that said (paraphrased) that repeater coordinations give preference to a channel pair, not exclusive usage. So when that repeater isn't transmitting, the frequency pair is accessible to other uses.
• Fix the silly FCC rule that regulates maximum data rate. As Lyle Johnson WA7GXD once famously said (paraphrased) about what the FCC rules on this topic should be: "Here's your frequencies and the maximum channel sizes. Have a nice day."
• An amateur radio payload on a geosynchronous satellite for North America. Europe and Africa have Es'Hail 2. North America came maddeningly close.
• A data radio designed in the 21st century:
  • Operates on 144 MHz and 440 MHz. 50 MHz and 222 MHz would be ideal. Single band units would be acceptable.
  • No display, knobs, speaker, microphone, etc. Just flat audio input and output. Just basic LED indicators to verify power, PTT, etc., and a power switch.
  • Full remote control of operating parameters such as frequency, channel size (25 kHz, 12.5 kHz), CTCSS frequency*, etc.
  • Modern I/O interface - Ethernet preferred, but USB would be acceptable
  • Transmit power selectable 5 watts / 10 watts / 25 watts / 50 watts. There should be (at least optional) big heat sink for longer transmit duty cycles.
  • Fast transmit / receive turnaround time would be ideal.
  • Could even be simplified to be purely a transmitter; we have ample good software defined receivers available now.
• A fully software-defined transceiver for VHF/UHF. One reason I admire Flex Radio is that their products are entirely software-defined; I wish there was an equivalent radio for VHF and UHF.
• A publication that focuses on interesting stuff like the above. I'll be working on that.
• A wideband data radio that operates in the 1240-1300 MHz Amateur Radio band, with reasonable output power.
• A series of companion amplifiers (with filters) for VHF and UHF bands, including 50 MHz for the Analog Devices ALADM-PLUTO to achieve output power of at least 25 watts. If we had such a device, there would be a lot more experimentation with GNU Radio in Amateur Radio. (The problem with existing amplifiers is that the drive level requirement is much higher than what the ALADM-PLUTO can produce.)

(end)

Them That's Doin' - Refactored

Update - The information in this post is now a web page that I will maintain and enhance - Interesting and Advanced Projects / Products in Amateur Radio.

... Interesting stuff in "Advanced" Amateur Radio (Refactored)

Two good friends commented that my previous post was... a bit scattershot. Point taken - thank you Bill and Steve. I've reorganized this information to be a bit less scattershot and add some detail.

Last updated 2021-02-19-C.

General Interest

• 219-220 MHz Amateur Radio band (US, Americas) - The 219-220 MHz band was allocated to secondary Amateur Radio usage when 220-222 MHz was reallocated. Its arcane usage rules means that it's never been used (to my knowlege) and there's no activity (to my knowlege) to change that status.
• 222-225 MHz Amateur Radio band (US, Americas) - The 222-225 MHz band in the US is underused. It's an ideal "playground" for data communications, but is hampered by few 222-225 MHz radios currently in production (see below).
• 1240-1300 MHz Amateur Radio band (US, Americas) - The 1240-1300 MHz band in the US is underused. It's an ideal "playground" for wideband data communications, but is hampered by only one Amateur Radio available for this band.
• Laurel Volunteer Examination Coordinator (VEC) - Taking your Amateur Radio examination with a Laural VEC team is a superior exprerience. They do not charge a fee for an Amateur Radio examination, and they upload the license application electronically so you have your callsign much faster than other VECs. 

 

Organizations, Conferences, Websites Doing Interesting and Useful Things
Some of these have a hardware or software component, but are included here because there's an additional element of organization beyond just their software or hardware.

• 44net - Static IPv4 addresses (and routing) are available for Amateur Radio experimentation.
• aprs.fi - aprs.fi is the "public face" of Amateur Radio APRS activities. For example, world-circling balloons carring Amateur Radio beacons can be followed by anyone, including school kids. aprs.fi is just an amazing project.
• Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) - Flash selected Wi-Fi radios with AREDN firmware to create standalone mesh networks.
• Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) - ARDC has two missions. Their origina mission was to operate 44net / AMPRnet (44.0.0.0/9, 44.128.0.0/10) which they continue. Their new, additional mission is providing philanthropic grants for Support and Growth of Amateur Radio, Education, and Technical Innovation.
• Crowd Supply - Acts as an incubator (similar to Kickstarter) for small projects and a storefont. They feature a fair number of RF projects / products.
• Hackaday.com - I love Hackaday because they treat Amateur Radio, especially data modes and projects (like New Packet Radio) as interesting wireless experimentation for techies. Hackaday makes Amateur Radio look cool to techies, which we desparately need more of.
• HamWAN - HamWAN is a vision for building an Amateur Radio Wireless Internet Service Provider. It began as a project in the Seattle area and has since been replicated in other areas.
• MicroHAMS Digital Conference - MicroHAMS is an Amateur Radio club based in Redmond, Washington, USA. What makes it special, in my opinion, is that it sponsors an excellent Digital Conference in the Spring, on par (in my opinion) with the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC).
• Open Research Institute (ORI) - ORI's genesis was developing a ground station system for a potential Geosychronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite payload that would have been accessible from the North America. The satellite didn't happen, but ORI continued and morphed into a more generalized organization.
• OpenWRT - Open source firmware for routers and Wi-Fi access points. It's the basis for AREDN and many other interesting projects.
• RadioID.net - Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) wasn't designed for Amateur Radio with support for callsigns, only "ID numbers". For DMR to be usable in Amateur Radio, someone had to provide a "translation table" of DMR ID numbers to Amateur Radio callsigns, and RadioID.net took on that task and, in my experience, does it well.
• Repeaterbook.com - In my opinion, Repeaterbook.com and its apps is the best director of Amateur Radio repeaters. Its data is crowdsourced and usage is free.
• TAPR - TAPR didn't create the Terminal Node Controller (TNC) or Packet Radio, but they made it accessible to average Amateur Radio operators. TAPR has done many interesting things since the TNC-1 and TNC-2. Their most important mission now (in my opinion) is the annual Digital Communications Conference.
• Signal Identification Guide - an open sourced (Wiki) compendium of various modulation types. When you receive something you don't understand, look it up here.
• SMSGTE - A gateway between Amateur Radio APRS messages and Short Message Service (SMS) messages.
• Winlink - Winlink has made "last mile emergency email" plug and play. Within their paragigms, it works well. I think every Amateur Radio operator should support Winlink for emergency communications.

 

Interesting Hardware / Projects

• Alinco DR-235 MkIII 222 MHz Radio - A 222 MHz radio currently in production that has a "data" connection for flat audio, suitable for higher speed data communications such as VARA.
• Analog Devices ALADM-PLUTO - A friend directed me to this device for getting started with GNU Radio. This device is different because it's a software-defined transceiver, not just a receiver.
• BridgeCom Systems Systems BCM-220 - A 222 MHz radio currently in production that has a "data" connection for flat audio, suitable for higher speed data communications such as VARA.
• F5OEO rpitx - It doesn't get any cooler than a software defined transmitter that's just a Raspberry Pi with a wire connected to a GPIO.
• Flex Radio - I've been impressed with Flex Radio since their founding as they are "all in" on Software Definied Radio for Amateur Radio HF like Tesla is on electric drive vehicles. I just wish they did the same thing for VHF/UHF radios.
• Inductive Twig HamShield: LoRa Edition - This is the only vendor / project that I'm aware of that attempts to make the very popular LoRa hardware into compatibility with Amateur Radio. I think LoRa has great potential in Amateur Radio, especially if it can be made into a mesh network.
• Kenwood TM-V71A Radio - In my opinion, this is the best VHF / UHF radio for data communications available at this moment. It features the 6-pin MiniDIN standard "data" port for easy interfacing, 144 / 440 MHz, 5 / 25 / 50 watts transmit power, and its settings can be controlled via RS-232.
• KiwiSDR - A software defined receiver designed specifically for the Beaglebone series of single board computers. The combination is specifically designed to be used as a web-based receiver, accessible locally or (preferred) accessible from the Internet.
• LimeSDR - This is a capable software defined transceiver. What impressed me is that the manufacturer decided to do an Amateur Radio front end for it called LimeRFE - power amplifier, etc.
• M17 Project - Developing a new Digital Voice standard, and hardware, for Amateur Radio. They have some interesting sub-projects such as mvoice (Linux soundcard client for use on the M17 reflector system) and building your own M17 receiver.
• Mobilinkd TNC3 - Folks I respect really like this TNC. It's built around DSP, can handle 9600 bps FSK, it's battery powered, and communicates via Bluetooth.
• New Packet Radio - Packet Radio reimagined as higher speed and native TCP/IP.
• Nexus DR-X - This is a project that's local to me for a capable, multipurpose digital interface, with great software support.
• NW Digital Radio DRAWS - The DRAWS is my favorite built-for-purpose sound card modem for Amateur Radio, mated with a Raspberry Pi. I was particularly impressed that it was engineered with higher speed modes in mind such as 9600 bps (and faster) FSK and has no bandwidth-damaging transformers.
• Packet Radio Users Group (PRUG) FX.25 KISS TNC - FX.25 to date has only been implemented in Dire Wolf software (needs a host like a Raspberry Pi and a sound card). An "appliance" like this could make FX.25 and Forward Error Correction more widely used.
• Raspberry Pi - The Raspberry Pi ecosystem of products, projects, support, and software, and of course the inexpensive price, to me makes it the preferred computer platform for Amateur Radio. For as little as $10, "just throw a computer at it".
• Red Pitaya - This is the most capable software defined transceiver that I know of. It's so sophisticated and capable that it wasn't originally a platform for radio experimetation. As I understand the story it was created as a multifunction radio test set. As it's evolved, it seems to be the favorite Amateur Radio software defined transceiver of those who can write digital signal processing software.
• Reverse Beacon Network - Hams are incredible creative; this is a network of receivers connected to the Internet. See where your signal is being heard around the world.
• RTL-SDR.com - They make good quality inexpensive software defined receivers, and their website is the best "heads up" about anything in the software defined receiver / transceiver field.
• SDRPlay - This is my favorite manufacturer of software defined receivers. In my opinion their products are a good balance of receive performance and reasonable cost. They have very capable software for their products for Windows, and a plug and play image for a dedicated Raspberry Pi.
• Terrestrial Amateur Packet Radio Network (TARPN) Nino-TNC - This is a new KISS TNC with a USB interface capable of 9600 bps and a new Forward Error Correction (FEC) protocol.
• TNCPi9k6 - This is a 9600 bps KISS TNC for a Raspberry Pi designed by John Wiseman G8BPQ, originally produced by Coastal Chipworks (which has ceased operations).
• Unsigned.io OpenModem TNC - What can I say... I'm a fan of TNCs, especially ones designed and produced in the 21st century. OpenModem has a unique capability of logging AX.25 packets to an SD card for later analysis. 
• Unsigned.io RNode LoRa Radio - Another LoRa Amateur Radio for experimentation with LoRa technology.

 

Interesting Software / Projects

• Dire Wolf - software based Packet Radio. It's simply amazing how much better Dire Wolf works than hardware modems. I can't offer enough kudos to WB2OSZ for Dire Wolf.
• HamPi - Amazing integration of much Amateur Radio software for the Raspberry Pi, already compiled into a plug-and-play image.
• F6FBB FBB - Very capable Packet Radio Bulletin Board System (BBS). Yes, BBS' are still useful.
• fldigi - A suite of software data modes. FSQ is particularly robust.
• G8BPQ Software Suite - G8BPQ's suite of software is Packet Radio Networking - Bulletin Board Systems, Chat Bridges, and much more.
• GNU Radio - GR is open source software defined radio. GNU Radio Companion is a graphical interface that makes it possible to create software defined radios by dragging modules around in a into graphic layout. In addition to the software and support, they sponsor the GNU Radio Conference.
• JNOS - JNOS is the swiss army knife of Amateur Radio packet radio networking. It's a multi-mode router, including basic AX.25, Net/ROM, TCP/IP (including encapsulation), and BBS routing. Yep, it's still going after all these years.
• JS8Call - The one thing that the WSJT software suite doesn't have is a keyboard-to-keyboard chat mode. JS8 is an independent project based on the WSJT technologies that implements a very robust chat mode.
• multimon-ng - Good example of obscure projects for Amateur Radio. This one decodes various obscure data modes, including POCSAG (paging). Imagine the robustness of paging used in Amateur Radio now that we all have access to high resolution timebases and flexible data transmission modes.
• OpenRTX - Open source firmware enabling new capabilities for selected DMR portable radios.
• OpenWebRX - web based multiple user sotware defined receiver.
• PiGate - Imagine you're at a mass casualty shelter and people have phones that don't work on (saturated or down) cellular networks. PiGate is an appliance that combines a Wi-Fi access point, web server, form for sending email, and integration with Winlink, so that non-hams can send brief emails, via Winlink, under supervision of an Amateur Radio operator.
• PiSDR - Raspberry Pi image of a wide range of software defined receiver software for a variety of software defined receiver hardware.
• SDRServer - Streaming data to multiple users from a software defined receiver device.
• SV2AGW Packet Engine - Software that operates as a packet radio switch - multiple TNCs can be connected to multiple applications.
• UZ7HO software Packet-Radio TNC - UZ7HO was one of the first to offer TNC capabilities (mostly) in software.
• VARA-FM - Vara is a "clean sheet of paper" approach to high speed data over Amateur Radio. It offers impressive speed on VHF/UHF with improved reliability. One impressive feature is that it can be used effectively over ordinary voice repeaters, even if there's a CTCSS tone used for access.
• XASTIR - Open Source APRS do-everything software.
• WSJT - Dr. Joe Taylor W1JT has revolutionized Amateur Radio data communications by creating entirely new communications methods using advanced digital signal processing made accessible to Amateur Radio operators.

 

Space / Satellites

• AMSAT-DL (Germany / Europe), AMSAT-NA (North America) / AMSAT-UK (UK) - Satellites built, operated, and used by Amateur Radio Operators.
• Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) - ARISS supports the Amateur Radio equipment and activities on the International Space Station.
• Earth - Moon - Earth Communications (EME) - AMSAT started a tradition of naming Amateur Satellites Oribiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio (OSCAR) follwed by a sequential numeric designator. The first AMSAT satellite was named OSCAR-1. EME enthusiasts sometimes refer to Luna as "OSCAR-0". I just think EME is uber-techie cool.
• Othernet - Very cool project to do "datacasting" from satellite. Not entirely a new idea, but a new approach.
• SATNOGS - There are a lot of research (micro)satellites in orbit now from various institutions such as college engineering classes. The problem is that they only realize their potential when the data that they generate can get transmitted back. SATNOGS is a network of open source, inexpensive ground stations that use commodity hardware, 3D printed parts, and the Internet to receive data from these small satellites and get it back to the satellite's sponsors.

 

Speculative Ideas
Includes legacy systems that might be instructive for future projects or potentially revived with current technology.

 

• Coastal Chipworks TNC-X - This was a great TNC - KISS so it was really stable.
• Data over Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) - It occurred to me a few years ago that all the Amateur Radio DMR repeaters that are being built are, at their core, data repeaters. The DMR specification makes provisions for data, but no one seems to know much about how to do data over DMR. These Maxon DMR data radios deserve some experimentation.
• (Faster) Data over D-Star - Despite the fact that D-Star (as implemented by Icom) is the only digital voice mode that cleanly implements data along with digital voice, the data implementation is (in my opinion) at best an afterthought. In D-Star, 3600 of 4800 bps is hard-coded to voice, and ~300 bps are used for "overhead" (callsign, etc.) and the remaining 900 bps of the payload is data. Icom kind-of fixed this in some later models of their D-Star radios by creating "DV Fast Data Mode" which Icom describes as By using data in place of voice frames, the ID-5100A can transfer data 3.5 times faster (3480 bps) than in the conventional DV mode (with voice). The beauty of DV Fast Data Mode is that (I'm told) it is compatible with any D-Star repeater. I don't yet have a radio (or two, that I'll need to conduct a test) to verify this, but it's on my agenda. 
• David Rowe VK5DGR - His most famous project is Codec2 and FreeDV, open source digital voice modems. He is also working on a "radio", and other projects.
• DFQF2 T7F Data Radio - Like the Kantronics D4-10, this radio is now out of production and mentioned here as inspiration for a hoped-for new generation of data radios for Amateur Radio. The T7F was more advanced than the D4-10, including frequency agility. There were several excellent data radios for Amateur Radio made in Germany, but none remain in production (that I know of).
• D-Star Digital Data Mode / ID-1 Radio and "Repeater" - The Icom ID-1 was the fastest (that I'm aware of) data rate for an Amateur Radio product (that wasn't a kit / science project) at 128 kbps (half duplex). It also had the distinction of being of operating on the forlorn Amateur Radio 1240 - 1300 MHz band. While the ID-1 is out of production now, the D-Star Digital Data (DD) mode lives on in another Icom radio, and a planned successor to the ID-1 repeater. It would be a very cool project to create a new radio with the ID-1's data capabilities.
• Kantronics D4-10 Data Radio - It's sad that in many ways the long-discontinued Kantronics D4-10 was a high point in packet radio radios. It featured a wide bandwidth that could do 19,200 bps (and faster), 10 watts transmit power, minimal design (no fancy faceplate), and best, was designed for data, not a radio designed for voice that kind-of does data. Because it uses crystals for frequency setting (which are near-unobtanium now) it's not that useful now, but it is a benchmark for what a data radio for Amateur Radio could and should be - minimalist, stable (with the mods mentioned in the link), and reasonable power output (though 25 watts would be better). I include it here as an inspiration for a new generation of data radios for Amateur Radio.
• Networking Over HF - Interesting project!
• NW Digital Radio UDRX-440 Software Defined Transceiver / Data Radio (PDF) - This was a project that came agonizingly close to becoming a product. I profoundly wish it had, even with many rough edges. It was to be a 25 watt multimode data radio with all the features we wanted - flexible modems, full software control of transmit bandwidth, frequency, power, etc. There were good, valid reasons that it didn't quite make it. It's listed here as an example of what Amateur Radio needs as tools to make great leaps forward in becoming relevant again in the minds of most techies.
• Phase 4B Payload for North America GEO Satellite - (Thank goodness for the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine!) This was a well-conceived, well-scoped realistic project that seemed realistic. Apparently the host satellite was canceled. It would have been great for data communications.
• Single Channel Repeater - Single Channel Repeaters have been done, but only as a "record for seconds, then play back for seconds. Instead of that, think receive for 5 mS, then transmit for 5 mS.
• Wildernets - It's hard to grok Wildernets at first, but it's an amazing piece of software. It provides a web server, Voice over IP (VOIP), mesh networking, and more. It was ported to a now hard-to-find Wi-Fi router, and it's hoped that the developer will be able to find more time to work on it.

What We Need (In My Humble Opinion)

• Fix the silly FCC rule that regulates maximum data rate. As Lyle Johnson WA7GXD once famously said (paraphrased) about what the FCC rules on this topic should be: "Here's your frequencies and the maximum channel sizes. Have a nice day."
• An amateur radio payload on a geosynchronous satellite for North America. Europe and Africa have Es'Hail 2. North America came maddeningly close.
• A data radio designed in the 21st century:
  • Operates on 144 MHz and 440 MHz. 50 MHz and 222 MHz would be ideal. Single band units would be acceptable.
  • No display, knobs, speaker, microphone, etc. Just flat audio input and output. Just basic LED indicators to verify power, PTT, etc., and a power switch.
  • Full remote control of operating parameters such as frequency, channel size (25 kHz, 12.5 kHz), CTCSS frequency*, etc.
  • Modern I/O interface - Ethernet preferred, but USB would be acceptable
  • Transmit power selectable 5 watts / 10 watts / 25 watts / 50 watts. There should be (at least optional) big heat sink for longer transmit duty cycles.
  • Fast transmit / receive turnaround time would be ideal.
  • Could even be simplified to be purely a transmitter; we have ample good software defined receivers available now.
• A fully software-defined transceiver for VHF/UHF. One reason I admire Flex Radio is that their products are entirely software-defined; I wish there was an equivalent radio for VHF and UHF.
• A publication that focuses on interesting stuff like the above. I'll be working on that.
• A wideband data radio that operates in the 1240-1300 MHz Amateur Radio band, with reasonable output power.
• A series of companion amplifiers (with filters) for VHF and UHF bands, including 50 MHz for the Analog Devices ALADM-PLUTO to achieve output power of at least 25 watts. If we had such a device, there would be a lot more experimentation with GNU Radio in Amateur Radio. (The problem with existing amplifiers is that the drive level requirement is much higher than what the ALADM-PLUTO can produce.)

 

 

(end)

Them That's Doin'

Update - The information in this post is now a web page that I will maintain and enhance - Interesting and Advanced Projects / Products in Amateur Radio.

... Interesting stuff in "Advanced" Amateur Radio.

I borrow this phrase from Mother Earth News which I subscribed to years ago. Them That's Doin' was a feature (if memory serves) describing people that were doing hands-on activities, not just writing about, or opining, or editorizing. Active folks!

I frequently complain to my Amateur Radio friends (sorry friends) that the problem with Amateur Radio these days isn't that there aren't interesting things going on in Amateur Radio; there absolutely are interesting things going on. The problem with Amateur Radio these days is that the interesting things aren't being widely reported to Amateur Radio in general through "popular" Amateur Radio media - magazines, blogs, YouTube channels, podcasts, etc. The worst offender of this, in my opinion, is ARRL's magazine QST. They don't write (or talk) about this "interesting stuff" much at all, and if they do at all, it's a passing mention.

For example, Packet Radio (admittedly, my passion) is undergoing a renaissance largely through the work of John Langer WB2OSZ's Dire Wolf software (Decoded Information from Radio Emissions for Windows or Linux Fans). I have yet to see (that I can recall) any mention of Dire Wolf in QST. Before anyone suggests my writing for QST... no, I'm not going to do so because what Amateur Radio needs more content that's proprietary and restricted to those that can afford the increasingly costly membership in the ARRL in order to subscribe to QST, and ARRL does not make the content of QST publicly available.

I've been threatening to do this for a long time (most recently in this forum), and time just keeps getting away from without it getting done. Keeping a list in private doesn't help anyone but me, so here is a series of terse descriptions with links to what I consider "Them That's Doin' Interesting Things in Advanced Amateur Radio". In advance, this list is highly subjective, and lack of inclusion about a favorite activity, project, vendor might just be that I haven't gotten to them yet.

Last updated 2021-02-16 - final.

• 222-225 MHz Amateur Radio band (US, Americas) - The 222-225 MHz band in the US is underused. It's an ideal "playground" for data communications, but is hampered by few 222-225 MHz radios currently in production - Alinco DR-235 MkIII and BridgeCom Systems Systems BCM-220. Both have "data" ports making higher speed data communications possible.
• 44net - Static IPv4 addresses (and routing) are available for Amateur Radio experimentation. 
• Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) - ARDC has two missions. Their origina mission was to operate 44net / AMPRnet (44.0.0.0/9, 44.128.0.0/10) which they continue. Their new, additional mission is providing philanthropic grants for Support and Growth of Amateur Radio, Education, and Technical Innovation.
• Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) - Flash selected Wi-Fi radios with AREDN firmware to create standalone mesh networks.
• Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) - ARISS supports the Amateur Radio equipment and activities on the International Space Station.
• AMSAT-DL (Germany / Europe), AMSAT-NA (North America) / AMSAT-UK (UK) - Satellites built, operated, and used by Amateur Radio Operators. 
• Analog Devices ALADM-PLUTO - A friend directed me to this device for getting started with GNU Radio. This device is different because it's a software-defined transceiver, not just a receiver.
• aprs.fi - aprs.fi is the "public face" of Amateur Radio APRS activities. For example, world-circling balloons carring Amateur Radio beacons can be followed by anyone, including school kids. aprs.fi is just an amazing project. 
• Data over Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) - It occurred to me a few years ago that all the Amateur Radio DMR repeaters that are being built are, at their core, data repeaters. The DMR specification makes provisions for data, but no one seems to know much about how to do data over DMR. These Maxon DMR data radios deserve some experimentation.
• DFQF2 T7F Data Radio - Like the Kantronics D4-10, this radio is now out of production and mentioned here as inspiration for a hoped-for new generation of data radios for Amateur Radio. The T7F was more advanced than the D4-10, including frequency agility. There were several excellent data radios for Amateur Radio made in Germany, but none remain in production (that I know of). 
• David Rowe VK5DGR - His most famous project is Codec2 and FreeDV, open source digital voice modems. He is also working on a "radio", and other projects.
• Dire Wolf - software based Packet Radio. It's simply amazing how much better Dire Wolf works than hardware modems. I can't offer enough kudos to WB2OSZ for Dire Wolf.
• D-Star Digital Data Mode / ID-1 Radio and "Repeater" - The Icom ID-1 was the fastest (that I'm aware of) data rate for an Amateur Radio product (that wasn't a kit / science project) at 128 kbps (half duplex). It also had the distinction of being of operating on the forlorn Amateur Radio 1240 - 1300 MHz band. While the ID-1 is out of production now, the D-Star Digital Data (DD) mode lives on in another Icom radio, and a planned successor to the ID-1 repeater. It would be a very cool project to create a new radio with the ID-1's data capabilities. 
• Earth - Moon - Earth Communications (EME) - AMSAT started a tradition of naming Amateur Satellites Oribiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio (OSCAR) follwed by a sequential numeric designator. The first AMSAT satellite was named OSCAR-1. EME enthusiasts sometimes refer to Luna as "OSCAR-0". I just think EME is uber-techie cool.
• F5OEO rpitx - It doesn't get any cooler than a software defined transmitter that's just a Raspberry Pi with a wire connected to a GPIO.
• F6FBB FBB - Very capable Packet Radio Bulletin Board System (BBS). Yes, BBS' are still useful.
• fldigi - A suite of software data modes. FSQ is particularly robust.
• Flex Radio - I've been impressed with Flex Radio since their founding as they are "all in" on Software Definied Radio for Amateur Radio HF like Tesla is on electric drive vehicles. I just wish they did the same thing for VHF/UHF radios.
• G8BPQ Software Suite - G8BPQ's suite of software is Packet Radio Networking - Bulletin Board Systems, Chat Bridges, and much more.
• GNU Radio - GR is open source software defined radio. GNU Radio Companion is a graphical interface that makes it possible to create software defined radios by dragging modules around in a into graphic layout. In addition to the software and support, they sponsor the GNU Radio Conference.
• Hackaday.com - I love Hackaday because they treat Amateur Radio, especially data modes and projects (like New Packet Radio) as interesting wireless experimentation for techies. Hackaday makes Amateur Radio look cool to techies, which we desparately need more of.
• HamPi - Amazing integration of much Amateur Radio software for the Raspberry Pi, already compiled into a plug-and-play image.
• HamWAN - HamWAN is a vision for building an Amateur Radio Wireless Internet Service Provider. It began as a project in the Seattle area and has since been replicated in other areas.
• Inductive Twig HamShield: LoRa Edition - This is the only vendor / project that I'm aware of that attempts to make the very popular LoRa hardware into compatibility with Amateur Radio. I think LoRa has great potential in Amateur Radio, especially if it can be made into a mesh network.
• JNOS - JNOS is the swiss army knife of Amateur Radio packet radio networking. It's a multi-mode router, including basic AX.25, Net/ROM, TCP/IP (including encapsulation), and BBS routing. Yep, it's still going after all these years.
• JS8Call - The one thing that the WSJT software suite doesn't have is a keyboard-to-keyboard chat mode. JS8 is an independent project based on the WSJT technologies.
• Kantronics D4-10 Data Radio - It's sad that in many ways the long-discontinued Kantronics D4-10 was a high point in packet radio radios. It featured a wide bandwidth that could do 19,200 bps (and faster), 10 watts transmit power, minimal design (no fancy faceplate), and best, was designed for data, not a radio designed for voice that kind-of does data. Because it uses crystals for frequency setting (which are near-unobtanium now) it's not that useful now, but it is a benchmark for what a data radio for Amateur Radio could and should be - minimalist, stable (with the mods mentioned in the link), and reasonable power output (though 25 watts would be better). I include it here as an inspiration for a new generation of data radios for Amateur Radio.
• Kenwood TM-V71A Radio - In my opinion, this is the best VHF / UHF radio for data communications available at this moment. It features the 6-pin MiniDIN standard "data" port for easy interfacing, 144 / 440 MHz, 5 / 25 / 50 watts transmit power, and its settings can be controlled via RS-232.
• M17 Project - Developing a new Digital Voice standard, and hardware, for Amateur Radio.
• MicroHAMS Digital Conference - MicroHAMS is an Amateur Radio club based in Redmond, Washington, USA. What makes it special, in my opinion, is that it sponsors an excellent Digital Conference in the Spring, on par (in my opinion) with the ARRL and TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC).
• New Packet Radio - Packet Radio reimagined as higher speed and native TCP/IP.
• multimon-ng - Good example of obscure projects for Amateur Radio. This one decodes various obscure data modes, including POCSAG (paging). Imagine the robustness of paging used in Amateur Radio now that we all have access to high resolution timebases and flexible data transmission modes.
• Nexus DR-X - This is a project that's local to me for a capable, multipurpose digital interface, with great software support.
• NW Digital Radio DRAWS - The DRAWS is my favorite built-for-purpose sound card modem for Amateur Radio, mated with a Raspberry Pi.
• NW Digital Radio UDRX-440 Software Defined Transceiver / Data Radio - This was a project that came agonizingly close to becoming a product. I profoundly wish it had, even with many rough edges. It was to be a 25 watt multimode data radio with all the features we wanted - flexible modems, full software control of transmit bandwidth, frequency, power, etc. There were good, valid reasons that it didn't quite make it. It's listed here as an example of what Amateur Radio needs as tools to make great leaps forward in becoming relevant again in the minds of most techies.
• Open Research Institute (ORI) - ORI is... complicated. Its genesis was developing a ground station system for a potential Geosychronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite payload that would have been accessible from the North America. The satellite didn't happen, but ORI continued and morphed into a more generalized organization.
• OpenWebRX - web based multiple user sotware defined receiver.
• OpenWRT - Open source firmware for routers and Wi-Fi access points. It's the basis for AREDN and many other interesting projects.
• Othernet - Very cool project to do "datacasting" from satellite. Not entirely a new idea, but a new approach.
• PiGate - Imagine you're at a mass casualty shelter and people have phones that don't work on (saturated or down) cellular networks. PiGate is an appliance that combines a Wi-Fi access point, web server, form for sending email, and integration with Winlink, so that non-hams can send brief emails, via Winlink, under supervision of an Amateur Radio operator.
• PiSDR - Raspberry Pi image of a wide range of software defined receiver software for a variety of software defined receiver hardware.
• Packet Radio Users Group (PRUG) FX.25 KISS TNC - FX.25 to date has only been implemented in Dire Wolf software (needs a host like a Raspberry Pi and a sound card). An "appliance" like this could make FX.25 and Forward Error Correction more widely used.
• RadioID.net - Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) wasn't designed for Amateur Radio with support for callsigns, only "ID numbers". For DMR to be usable in Amateur Radio, someone had to provide a "translation table" of DMR ID numbers to Amateur Radio callsigns, and RadioID.net took on that task and, in my experience, does it well.
• Raspberry Pi - The Raspberry Pi ecosystem of products, projects, support, and software to me makes it the preferred computer platform for Amateur Radio. For as little as $10, "just throw a computer at it".
• Red Pitaya - This is the most capable software defined transceiver that I know of. It's so sophisticated and capable that it wasn't originally a platform for radio experimetation. As I understand the story it was created as a multifunction radio test set. As it's evolved, it seems to be the favorite Amateur Radio software defined transceiver of those who can write digital signal processing software.
• Reverse Beacon Network - Hams are incredible creative; this is a network of receivers connected to the Internet. See where your signal is being heard around the world.
• RTL-SDR.com - They make good quality inexpensive software defined receivers, and their website is the best "heads up" about anything in the software defined receiver / transceiver field.
• Repeaterbook.com - In my opinion, Repeaterbook.com and its apps is the best director of Amateur Radio repeaters. Its data is crowdsourced and usage is free.
• SDRPlay - This is my favorite manufacturer of software defined receivers. In my opinion their products are a good balance of receive performance and reasonable cost. They have very capable software for their products for Windows, and a plug and play image for a dedicated Raspberry Pi.
• SDRServer - Streaming data to multiple users from a software defined receiver device.
• SATNOGS - There are a lot of research (micro)satellites in orbit now from various institutions such as college engineering classes. The problem is that they only realize their potential when the data that they generate can get transmitted back. SATNOGS is a network of open source, inexpensive ground stations that use commodity hardware, 3D printed parts, and the Internet to receive data from these small satellites and get it back to the satellite's sponsors.
• Signal Identification Guide - an open sourced (Wiki) compendium of various modulation types. When you receive something you don't understand, look it up here.
• Single Channel Repeater - Single Channel Repeaters have been done, but only as a "record for seconds, then play back for seconds. Instead of that, think receive for 5 mS, then transmit for 5 mS.
• SMSGTE - A gateway between Amateur Radio APRS messages and Short Message Service (SMS) messages.
• SV2AGW Packet Engine - Software that operates as a packet radio switch - multiple TNCs can be connected to multiple applications.
• TAPR - TAPR didn't create the Terminal Node Controller (TNC) or Packet Radio, but they made it accessible to average Amateur Radio operators. TAPR has done many interesting things since the TNC-1 and TNC-2. Their most important mission now (in my opinion) is the annual Digital Communications Conference.
• Terrestrial Amateur Packet Radio Network (TARPN) Nino-TNC - This is a new KISS TNC with a USB interface capable of 9600 bps and a new Forward Error Correction (FEC) protocol.
• TNCPi9k6 - This is a 9600 bps KISS TNC for a Raspberry Pi designed by John Wiseman G8BPQ, originally produced by Coastal Chipworks (which has ceased operations).
• Unsigned.io OpenModem TNC - What can I say... I'm a fan of TNCs, especially ones designed and produced in the 21st century. OpenModem has a unique capability of logging AX.25 packets to an SD card for later analysis. 
• Unsigned.io RNode LoRa Radio - Another LoRa Amateur Radio for experimentation with LoRa technology.
• UZ7HO software Packet-Radio TNC - UZ7HO was one of the first to offer TNC capabilities (mostly) in software. 
• VARA-FM - Vara is a "clean sheet of paper" approach to high speed data over Amateur Radio. It offers impressive speed on VHF/UHF with improved reliability.
• Wildernets - It's hard to grok Wildernets at first, but it's an amazing piece of software. It provides a web server, Voice over IP (VOIP), mesh networking, and more. It was ported to a now hard-to-find Wi-Fi router, and it's hoped that the developer will be able to find more time to work on it.
• Winlink - Winlink has made "last mile emergency email" plug and play. Within their paragigms, it works well. I think every Amateur Radio operator should support Winlink for emergency communications.
• WSJT - Dr. Joe Taylor W1JT has revolutionized Amateur Radio data communications by creating entirely new communications methods using advanced digital signal processing made accessible to Amateur Radio operators.
• XASTIR - Open Source APRS do-everything software.

 

 

Hello World 2021! de N8GNJ

My last post was 2014-03-04? Wow. Time for a few... many... updates.

My wife Tina KD7WSF and I relocated from Woodinville (suburban Seattle) Washngton to beautiful Bellingham, Washington in May 2019. Bellingham is 90 miles North of Seattle and 20 miles South of the Canadian border and Vancouver, BC, in semi-rural Whatcom County. We moved into our new house in May 2020 and we hope this is our last house before we are forced into the old folks home.

I'm semi-retired at this point and have a lot more time and energy to devote to Amateur Radio activities. Especially given the "shelter in place" climate due to COVID-19 being out of control and no realistic chance of mass vaccination until 2021-06 or so, so no meetings, no conferences except via videoconference. So mostly I work and experiment physically by myself and occasionally virtually with a group. I'm not bored - I've stockpiled many, many projects to work on.

The most profound change in my Amateur Radio activity is that I now have a 50 feet by 40 feet shop (well, 75% of one, anyway) to store my Amateur Radio gear, computer gear, electonics gear, books, and magazines. I also have an office within the shop for writing (like this long overdue blog post) that stays warm and comfortable with a heater with an output about the same as a 100 watt incandescent light bulb. My Amateur Radio "shack" is currently two desks in an L shape with wire shelving for the radios. One desk is the data radios and data "modems" and computers:

 

... and the other desk, to my left as I sit at the "data" desk, is mostly voice radios (with microphones):

The wire shelving I'm using in the shack is now unobtanium. I got mine at a now-defunct store called Storables in the Seattle area. Apparently these shelves - 10" deep, 36" wide, and 1" thick were custom made for Storables. No web link because the current Storables site has no relation to the defunct retail stores. You can get similar wire shelving - the closest is 12" deep. The 10" deep wire shelves are perfectly sized for the mobile radios I have. Each radio will be mounted on its bracket to a small plastic base and then clamped to the wire shelf so they don't move. I love the modularity of this system and so far it's serving me well for accessibility and ease of changes. I think it looks cool also.

Mount Baker Amateur Radio Club Digital Group
Most of my on-air activities at the moment are participating with the "Digital Group" subsidiary of the Mt. Baker Amateur Radio Club. The Digital Group's main activities are a monthly meeting about all things digital (data) in Amateur Radio (now held on Zoom videoconference) and a weekly on-air text chat session on Sunday mornings. The on-air text chat session operates on 145.58 MHz (simplex) using a data mode called FSQ (part of the fldigi suite of data modes). FSQ is a text chat mode (with some limited file sharing and image sharing features), originally intended for use on HF, but it's used on simplex FM here because it's very robust and works reasonably even with a pretty low signal to noise ratio. I'm regularly able to exchange text messages with stations in Blaine, WA (20 miles) and a station further North in BC. I can even exchange text chats with WA7FUS in Brier, WA using the relay function (basically, digipeating) in FSQ. The Sunday morning informal text chat runs from about 09:00 to 10:00 and are a lot of fun and a chance to test out the gear.

Kenwood TM-V71A Radio
The radio I'm using at the moment for FSQ is the venerable, but capable Kenwood TM-V71A. Its relevant features are:

• It's still in production;
• It has a 6-pin MiniDIN (the so-called "data" jack) for easy interfacing to do higher-speed data modes;
• It has a maximum transmit power of 50 watts
• It can do 144-148 MHz and 440-450 MHz;
• It can be remotely controlled via RS-232 port to change frequencies, etc.

Nexus DR-X
The data ("modem") unit I'm using is a Nexus DR-X designed by Budd Churchward WB7FHC (though I have an earlier version called the DigiLink). It's a nice integration of a Raspberry Pi, a capable "sound card" called a Fe-Pi, and a really elegant software distribution managed by Steve Magnuson AG7GN. Budd and Steve are here in Whatcom County and they work together closely to keep the software and hardware in synch. The Nexus DR-X can connect to two radios and run different modes simulaneously - I'm using mine only for FSQ at the moment. The combination of Budd's hardware and Steve's software mean that using the Nexus DR-X is pretty much plug-and-play, and there's plenty of support for building it and using it available here in Whatcom County.

Diamond X-3200A Antenna
My current antenna is my venerable (30 years old or so) Diamond X-3200A 144/220/440 MHz antenna up about 20 feet.

Venerable enough that it's discontinued. The 100 feet of coax is equally venerable, but appears functional enough though I'm undoubtedly giving up a lot of my transmit power before it reaches the antenna. Before it was braced to the shop, it was supported solely with that pile of cement blocks at the base. It worked fine... until the Whatcom Winds pushed it over twice, falling hard onto the asphalt. It was entirely my fault - I had a poor understanding of just how powerful the "Whatcom Winds" are at this new house. It's back up and functioning now because it was literally splinted back together by my Tina KD7WSF, who is also a Registered Nurse and knows how to splint broken things back together. For now, it works. In the spring, I'll sweep it with an antenna analyzer to see if the fall damaged it significantly.

Icom IC-38A 220-225 MHz radio
I also finally got my even more venerable Icom IC-38A 220-225 MHz radio back on the air along with the TM-V71A (venerable enough that yes, it does do 220-225 MHz, even though 220-222 MHz was reallocated out of the US Amateur Radio spectrum allocations at least a decade ago). My first good VHF radio when I was a new ham was the Icom IC-28A (144-148 MHz) which I also still have, and I really love these radios. Over the years, I purchased, new and used, the entire family of Icom IC-x8A/H radios: IC-28A (144-148 MHz 25 watts), IC-28H (144-148 MHz 45 watts), IC-38A (220-225 MHz), IC-48A (440-450 MHz), and lastly the very rare IC-1200A (1240-1300 MHz). For those of you with these radios and having lost (or never had, if bought used like I did) a mating unique power cable, I found them at RFguys.com. There's no hint of this on their website, but it turns out that they're located in nearby Vancouver, BC... which as I write this is still inaccessible to us plaguemongers from the US. I'll eventually do blog posts on each radio.

Sharing the antenna with multiple radios
I use a lash-up of a 144/220/440 MHz triplexer and a 144/440 MHz duplexer to get the two radios working with the Diamond X-3200A antenna. Mostly I keep the IC-38A on the N7JN 224.48 MHz repeater that's on Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands. That repeater is run by the San Juan County Amateur Radio Society, where I'm a member. There's a nice group on that repeater so it's a nice "companion" while I'm working on Amateur Radio or electronics projects.

12V Battery Backed Power
One thing I'm proud of with my current, minimal "shack" is that it's all running off 12V and backed up by a battery with automatic failover. That includes USB ports for various devices, and some minimal lighting. I accidentally did a test a week or so ago of operating off battery power when I bumped the power switch on the power supply that nomially powers the equipment and keeps the battery charged. The entire system ran off battery power for nearly 24 hours before an odd noise started sounding every time the radio transmitted - it was the low voltage alarm on the power distribution unit. This link is to an off-the-shelf system that combines all of the units that I put together myself in my system.

HamWAN not quite
In the Spring of 2019, we were renting a nice house in nearby Ferndale, WA and I had a very nice line of sight shot (at 5.7 GHz) to the most local node of the Puget Sound Data Ring (HamWAN) on Lookout Mountain to the South of me. (I had a small role in getting that node installed.) Unfortunately, details on the Lookout Mountain node aren't shown on their web page, though it is shown on the (semi dynamic) map. I had plans to do a basic HamWAN installation with a speaker tripod to mount the dish, but I quickly discoverd that Whatcom County gets some amazing windstorms that gust to 40, 50, even 60 miles per hour, and they can happen fast. We had small, light things literally fly off our front deck on the rental house. So that caused a reset on my idea to "casually" install a dish for accessing HamWAN.

The good news is that shortly after I got the HamWAN gear, we found our new house and spent most of Spring and Summer 2020 moving into it. I just didn't have time to do a proper installation of my HamWAN equipment at the new house before the winter weather set in, and especially the "Whatcom Winds" began. Given that the winds did violence to a mere 20' pole and and a simple vertical antenna, they would play havoc with a dish that's not installed very well. So, HamWAN access is yet another Spring project.

AREDN - very cool
My other major activity for Amateur Radio at the moment is to get up to speed on AREDN - Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network. This is an interesting project that arose out of several earlier projects, including "High Speed Multimedia" (HSMM) to repurpose "Wi-Fi" and "Wireless Internet Service Provider" equipment for Amateur Radio use. There is a small chunk of spectrum at the bottom of the 2.4 GHz band used for Wi-Fi that's available for Amateur Radio use, but not Wi-Fi use, and the AREDN firmware makes use of that spectrum.

The Aha! moment for me about AREDN was the realization that having units like the AR150 ready to go means that Amateur Radio Operators could finally be able to network their computers together when they're in close proximity (like an emergency) without resorting to using the Internet or a central Wi-Fi AP. Plugging in an AR150 means that any computer - Raspberry Pi, Linux, Mac, or Windows could all work together. Theoretically a computer's Wi-Fi can be configured into "ad-hoc" mode and network directly together, but I've never seen this done other than in homogenous computers running a particular app. If you didn't have that type of computer, or that app, you couldn't network. What I've observed in emergency communications is that when you show up with your own laptop, a place like an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) just will not let you connect your own computer for fear of malware from a computer they don't control. I don't blame them. AREDN on a small inexpensive device like an AR150 fixes all of that. Other points about AREDN:

• It's mesh networking that works, as in if your AREDN node is within range of another AREDN node, they automagically connect and you are networked. The only other data system that works dynmaically, automagically like this in Amateur Radio was Software 2000's Net/ROM (and the derivative TheNET) back at the dawn of packet radio in Amateur Radio.
• You can implement AREDN on units as small as the GL.iNet GL-AR150-ext for around $25 on Amazon. This little device is surprisingly capable and the AREDN software wizards have made good use of it, including implementation of a VPN tunnel client, and even a VPN tunnel server. This is important because...
• Realistically, 2.4 GHz, especially at very low power indoor Wi-Fi power levels, it's very difficult to achieve any long distance links. It can be done (Wireless ISPs have been doing so for decades), but it's not easy to do it casually. But by implemeting VPN tunnels, you can create a "playground" that's semi-secure - at least there's a "mesh of some trust" for those participating in a particular mesh / VPN tunnel.

For my use, I'm going to use it within my big shop to connect all the various Amateur Radio devices together. That includes laptops, Windows PCs, many Raspberry Pi devices that will be connected to (many, hopefully) radios, and a few computers in my office so I can just spin around and play radio when I need a break from my professional writing. I want to do web servers, mail servers, and perhaps even a "Shack Cam", and many other services on AREDN. At the moment, I'm participating in a AREDN VPN tunnel back to some of my buddies in the Seattle area. There is AREDN activity here in Whatcom County, but I haven't quite been able to get online with that activity. Update: As of 2021-01-01 @18:00 I'm now online with the ARDEN activity here in Whatcom County. Lots to learn!

I have ambitious plans for Amateur Radio in 2021. More about those in another post soon.

Thanks - de N8GNJ

(Update 1 - after previewing this post before hitting Publish, ouch, the formatting is horrible, but I'll let that pass for now in the interest of getting this posted. "I'll fix it in post". Also, this blog's format is horribly out of date, and the side panel info isn't accurate any more. That too will get fixed. But at least, it's something. Eh Bill?)

(Update 2 - 2021-01-01 The format is mostly fixed - lots of old, irrelevant cruft is now removed. Typepad does not offer a reasonable way to integrate photos so instead of "flow around" formatting, I stuck them inline. I also edited the text above and cleaned it up.