❌

Normal view

There are new articles available, click to refresh the page.
Today — 16 August 2024Ham Radio Blogs
Before yesterdayHam Radio Blogs

The POTA Babe Strikes Out – Day 3

✇Q R P e r
By: Teri KO4WFP
14 August 2024 at 10:55
by Teri (KO4WFP) As my friend Jon KC1FUU says “Some days are diamonds, some are stone.” The third day (Tuesday, July 16) of my North Carolina trip definitely fell into the “stone” category. The day began nice enough with a slow but steady pace. As our next overnight stay was at Lake James State Park, … Continue reading The POTA Babe Strikes Out – Day 3 →

A tale of two back to back activations

✇Q R P e r
By: Vince VE6LK
7 August 2024 at 09:35
by Vince (VE6LK) On Sunday July 28 I needed some shortwave therapy. I headed west from Longview Alberta to find a location on Highway 541 where I could have the perfect convergence of having cell service and be within a POTA entity and near to the mountains. This would allow me to receive any updates … Continue reading A tale of two back to back activations →

The POTA Babe Becomes a SOTA Babe – Part 1

✇Q R P e r
By: Teri KO4WFP
6 August 2024 at 11:24
by Teri (KO4WFP) Monday, July 15, the second day of my North Carolina camping trip for POTA and SOTA, started chilly with overcast skies. Today I would attempt my first SOTA activations. I chose two easy summits – Black Balsam Knob and Richland  Balsam. Daisy and I headed out after a simple breakfast up US … Continue reading The POTA Babe Becomes a SOTA Babe – Part 1 →

Code, Contacts, and a Stunning View: A POTA First-Timer’s Experience at the Devil’s Punch Bowl

✇Q R P e r
By: Thomas Witherspoon
5 August 2024 at 12:02
Many thanks to Anthony (M7TAW) who shares the following guest post: A first timer’s POTA activation at the Devil’s Punch Bowl! Anthony (M7TAW) Introduction Let me start with the confession that I am an amateur radio operator born out of the Covid lockdown. With the switch to remote examinations by the RSGB in 2020, and … Continue reading Code, Contacts, and a Stunning View: A POTA First-Timer’s Experience at the Devil’s Punch Bowl →

The POTA Babe Goes North – Day 1

✇Q R P e r
By: Teri KO4WFP
3 August 2024 at 10:21
by Teri (KO4WFP) Sunday, July 14 finally arrived, a day for which I prepared the past five weeks. It was time for Daisy and the POTA Babe to head to North Carolina for a week of POTA, SOTA, and camping. The drive was straight-forward and easy – Interstate 95 to Interstate 26. About four hours … Continue reading The POTA Babe Goes North – Day 1 →

Beautiful POTA activation at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson and Afternoon in Southport!

✇Q R P e r
By: Thomas Witherspoon
30 July 2024 at 13:36
On Wednesday, July 10, 2024, my wife and I were in the middle of a week-long stay in Wilmington, North Carolina, while our daughters attended residential programs at NCSU and UNCW. That particular day, we couldn’t decide what to do because the weather was fickle! Temperatures and humidity were high, fueling a constant string of … Continue reading Beautiful POTA activation at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson and Afternoon in Southport! →

Automated RaspberryPi/SHARI Node Build

✇M0AWS Amateur Radio
By: M0AWS
27 July 2024 at 21:48

After writing my article on how to build an AllStarLink node using a RaspberryPi 3b and SHARI radio device I was asked by a few people if I could possibly automate the process to make it easier for those who aren’t Linux command line junkies like me.

Over the last couple of days in-between doing other things I’ve been writing and testing a BASH shell script that will completely configure a fully working AllStarLink node.

M0AWS - Coding the BASH script for the automated AllStarLink installation
M0AWS – Coding the BASH script for the automated AllStarLink installation

To use the script you must already have your RaspberryPi (preferably a Pi 3b) connected to your LAN with full internet access using the Raspbian based version of the AllStarLink software downloadable from here.

The specific version I use is:

asl-2.0.0-beta.6-kc1kcc-20210324-rpi-armhf

I have tested the BASH script using this specific version of O/S only.

Once your RaspberryPi 3b is up and running, has full internet access and is accessible on your local LAN, using SSH login in as the user ‘repeater‘ using the password ‘allstarlink‘.

It’s important you only use this login to configure the node as this is the user the script is expecting to be run by. You must login via SSH as the SHARI device needs to be connected to the RaspberryPi 3b and you won’t be able to connect a keyboard and mouse at the same time. (If you are using two USB cables for the SHARI device then you can use a keyboard and mouse along with a monitor attached to your RaspberryPi instead of using SSH).

Once logged in as user repeater run the following wget command to download the zipped install script:

wget https://m0aws.co.uk/AllStarLink/AllStarLinkBuild.zip

Once downloaded you need to unzip the program from the zip file and make it executable using the following commands:

unzip ./AllStarLinkBuild.zip
chmod 755 ./install.sh

You are now ready to build your AllStarLink node. Before you run the script make sure you have your node number and node secret to hand. These are obtained from the AllStarLink portal.

Once you’ve got all your node information you can run the script using the following command:

./install.sh

The script will now take you through the full process of updating the operating system as necessary, installing all the required packages and software. It will then reboot the RaspberryPi and you will need to login and run the script a second time using the command above.

On the second run the script will install some python specific software, ask you to enter your callsign, node number and node secret and will then configure your node. The last thing it does is configure the Allmon2 and Supermon Web Admin websites. During this process it will ask you to enter a password twice for the Admin user for the two websites, make sure you make a note of this password as you will need it to login and control your node.

Once the node is configured it will be rebooted and you will then be able to connect to your node using your favourite web browser and the user admin and the password you set above.

To access the Allmon2 web-admin system use the following URL:

http://your-RaspberryPi-IP-Address/allmon2
M0AWS - Allmon2 WebAdmin interface
M0AWS – Allmon2 WebAdmin interface

For those of you who prefer Supermon you an use the following URL:

http://your-RaspberryPi-IP-Address/supermon
M0AWS - Supermon Web Admin view
M0AWS – Supermon Web Admin view

I have also pre-populated the Favorites button with a list of nodes that I use often. You can easily change these entries by editing the favorites.ini file in the /var/www/html/supermon directory as user root.

M0AWS - Supermon pre-populated Favourites drop down list
M0AWS – Supermon pre-populated Favourites drop down list

When you first login to your node via your web browser you’ll notice that it says your node isn’t in the database. You can update the database by using the following URL in your web browser:

http://your-RaspberryPi-IP-Address/allmon2/astdb.php

This will force an update of the database and your node information should now be displayed correctly.

Hopefully this will make it much easier for the non Linux people to build an AllStarLink node using a RaspberryPi 3b and a SHARI radio device.

More soon …

Carolina Beach State Park: A QRP Oasis Amidst the Summer Heat and Activities

✇Q R P e r
By: Thomas Witherspoon
26 July 2024 at 13:25
Tuesday, July 9, 2024, was a very radio-active day! I was in Wilmington, North Carolina, and that morning, I had the privilege of activating the Battleship North Carolina from inside the battleship. Click here to read the field report and watch the video. In short? It was amazing and certainly a fabulous way to start … Continue reading Carolina Beach State Park: A QRP Oasis Amidst the Summer Heat and Activities →

One CW Question series draws to a close after 6 months

✇Q R P e r
By: Vince VE6LK
25 July 2024 at 11:10
by Vince (VE6LK) Firstly, a huge shout-out and thank you to Thomas K4SWL for letting me hang out here on QRPer.com and exercise my creative writing chops, and to the community at QRPer.com for giving me such excellent feedback in my original article – both of which propelled me into this fun project. On January … Continue reading One CW Question series draws to a close after 6 months →

Sweat, Signals, and History: A POTA Activation from the Battleship North Carolina’s Radio Room!

✇Q R P e r
By: Thomas Witherspoon
21 July 2024 at 14:00
Those of you who know me know that I’m a huge World War II history buff. Ever since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated by the stories of bravery, sacrifice, and technological innovation that defined this era. That’s why the activation I performed on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, was very special. I activated the … Continue reading Sweat, Signals, and History: A POTA Activation from the Battleship North Carolina’s Radio Room! →

My Parks on the Air Activities - NOT about "The Numbers"

✇Ham On A Bike
By: noreply@blogger.com (Ham on a Bike)
18 July 2024 at 12:10

 

My Parks on the Air Activities - NOT about "The Numbers"




Parks on the Air has never been about numbers for me. I became aware of Parks on the Air (POTA) in June 2021. This was during the height of the COVID pandemic. At that time I was recovering from surgery and treatment for liver failure and treatment for Bladder cancer.  My body's ability to fight any type of infection was basically non-existent, so social distancing was a MUST for me. I was not going to totally isolate myself from the world by staying indoors, knowing how vital exercise, fresh air and mental stimulus was vital to my recovery. Parks on the Air has been the BEST medicine for me over the last 3 years. I've been able to combine bicycling with my Ham Radio activities as part of my health treatment plan. What a great combination.


Lewis & Clark National Historical Trail
Along the banks of the Ohio River
at Waterfront Park
Louisville, KY. USA


POTA is not about the numbers for me.  Oh, I've had a few failed POTA activations over the years; but it is no big deal. WHY? Because I've been able to meet so many people; in part due to my ham radio POTA activities.  I've met current and former teachers, current and retired nurses, doctors and other medical professionals, current and former military personnel, a retired Federal Judge, Boy and Girl Scout leaders along with kids from Scout Troops, inquisitive children, Nature and Wildlife conservationists and park staff, countless animals, dogs, cats, minks, river otters, deer, snakes, frogs, coyotes, giraffes, hawks, ducks, turtles, wild turkeys, aircraft pilots, other hams who've been inactive, numerous sunrises and sunsets, operating at night, and more than anything; thousands of other hams who've I been able to contact and some who've visited; like Ed / W4EMB, Marcos / K8ARE and Doug / N6UA.

Recently, I had one of several QSOs with a man I like to call "The POTA LEGEND", Bob Voss / N4CD.  



During Hamvention 2022, Charlie "Red" / NJ7V got a chance to talk with Bob who at that time was one of the activation leaders for Parks on the Air (2022)  Below is a link to that interview;



https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxHLxrtnfmb8L8jN2apWDOHOkze_Kdkgjy?si=ExcnnWVtW3oQCkv-

When I have contacts like those with Bob and other operators who I regularly communicate with and those operators who are NEW to CW pedaling along at 10 WPM, I get excited as that little kid who was introduced to the hobby in the mid 50's.  

One of my other cherished Parks on the Air activations came about amazingly unexpected when I was calling CQ and got HUGE greeting from an associate of a park visitor. 




I've come to understand that with my Parks on the Air activities in an urban setting, I never know what to expect.

Here's a short slideshow of some of the things I've experienced during my Parks on the Air activities. After watching; you may have a better understanding why for me, "Its NOT about the NUMBERS"




❌
❌