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Building HAM Clock on an old RaspberryPi
I’ve got a couple of old RaspberryPi computers on the shelf in the shack and so decided it was time for me to put one of them to good use. The first model on the shelf is the oldest and is one of the very first RaspberryPi 1 computers that was released. (It’s the one with the yellow analog video signal output on the board!). This particular model is extremely slow but, I hang onto it just as a reminder of the first SBC in the line.
The second one is a RaspberryPi 2, a quad core machine that is only slightly faster than the first model but, it’s powerful enough to run HAM Clock.
It didn’t take long to install a vanilla Raspbian Desktop O/S and get it configured on the local LAN. I installed a few packages that I like to have available on all my Linux machines and then started on the HAM Clock install.
The first thing I needed to do was install the X11 development library that is required to compile the HAM Clock binary. To do this, open a terminal and enter the command below to install the package.
sudo apt install libx11-dev
You will need to type in your password to obtain root privileges to complete the installation process and then wait for the package to be installed.
The HAM Clock source code is available from the HAM Clock Website under the Download tab in .zip format. Once downloaded unzip the file and change directory into the ESPHamClock folder ready to compile the code.
cd ~/Downloads/ESPHamClock
Once in the ESPHamClock directory you can run a command to get details on how to compile the source code.
make help
This will check your system to see what screen resolutions are available and then list out the options available to you for compiling the code as shown below.
The following targets are available (as appropriate for your system)
hamclock-800x480 X11 GUI desktop version, AKA hamclock
hamclock-1600x960 X11 GUI desktop version, larger, AKA hamclock-big
hamclock-2400x1440 X11 GUI desktop version, larger yet
hamclock-3200x1920 X11 GUI desktop version, huge
hamclock-web-800x480 web server only (no display)
hamclock-web-1600x960 web server only (no display), larger
hamclock-web-2400x1440 web server only (no display), larger yet
hamclock-web-3200x1920 web server only (no display), huge
hamclock-fb0-800x480 RPi stand-alone /dev/fb0, AKA hamclock-fb0-small
hamclock-fb0-1600x960 RPi stand-alone /dev/fb0, larger, AKA hamclock-fb0
hamclock-fb0-2400x1440 RPi stand-alone /dev/fb0, larger yet
hamclock-fb0-3200x1920 RPi stand-alone /dev/fb0, huge
For my system 1600×960 was the best option and so I compiled the code using the command as follows.
make hamclock-1600x960
It’s no surprise that it takes a while to compile the code on such a low powered device. I can’t tell you how long exactly as I went and made a brew and did a few other things whilst it was running but, it took a while!
Once the compilation was complete you then need to install the application to your desktop environment and move the binary to the correct directory.
make install
Once the install is complete there should be an icon on the GUI desktop to start the app. If like mine it didn’t create the icon then you can start the HAM Clock by using the following command in the terminal.
/usr/local/bin/hamclock &
The first time you start the app you’ll need to enter your station information, callsign, location etc and then select the settings you want to use. There are 4 pages of options for configuring the app all of which are described in the user documentation.
Once the configuration is complete the map will populate with the default panels and data. I tailored my panels to show the items of interest to me namely, POTA, SOTA, International Beacon Project and the ISS space station track. I was hoping to be able to display more than one satellite at a time on the map however, the interface only allows for one bird to be tracked at a time.
You can access the HAM Clock from another computer using a web browser pointed at your RaspberryPi on your local LAN using either the IP address or the hostname of the device.
http://<hostname>:8081/live.html
or
http://<ip-address>:8081/live.html
You can also control the HAM Clock remotely via web browser using a set of web commands that are detailed on port 8080 of the device.
http://<hostname or ip-address>:8080/
This is a great addition to any HAM shack especially if, like me you have an old HDTV on the wall of the shack that is crying out to display something useful.
More soon …
New worldwide 10m beacon list issued
RSGB’s Propagation Studies Committee (PSC) has released a new HF beacon list, with the 10m listings completely revamped.
The old list, which was started by Martin Harrison G3USF (SK), had been added to over the years, but was getting out of date. The only way to make it more accurate was to start again.
Use was made of the Reverse Beacon Network (RBN), which wasn’t available when the list was originally created, plus listeners’ contributions from around the world.
I started by removing around 60 beacons that had not been heard for some time. Delving deeper it seems that a lot had been taken off the air, the owners had died, or their frequencies had changed.
Using the RBN gave a pretty good indication of what beacons are actually on air, plus help from a list compiled by Gary ZL2IFB filled in some of the gaps.
Beacons that are temporarily off-air have been left in, but marked in black.
While no list will ever be complete as changes take place around the world, I think the list is now far more useable. I’ll endeavour to make changes as and when they are needed.
The new beacon list can be found at:
https://rsgb.org/main/technical/propagation/propagation-beacons/
Ten metres (28MHz) beacon list updated
I've just spent two days updating the RSGB's 28MHz beacon list. I used the reverse beacon network and logged/updated the beacon list accordingly. This takes a lot of time as many of the "spots" are misread and have to be checked individually.
Beacons heard over the last three years are highlighted in red. I'm now happy that it is pretty up-to-date. The RBN has a beacon listing, but it is way out of date - GB3RAL is still listed and that hasn't been on for years.
I think this is the best way as it reflects beacons that are actually transmitting and not just listed. The full beacon list can be found on the propagation section of the RSGB website here: http://rsgb.org/main/files/2023/03/G3USFs-Worldwide-List-of-HF-Beacons.pdf
The actual changes are:
Change of freq/details:
28270.5 PY4MAB Pocos de CaldasGG68 2W
28193.1 LU2DT Mar del Plata GF12 5W
28208 WD5GLO Minco OK EM15ah 3W
28281 AG8Y Middletown OH EM79TL 7.5W
28273.8 WI4L Dalton GA EM74MS
28243 AA1SU VT FN34KL 5W
28209.5 N2UHC St Paul KS EM27JM 4W
28203.3 WB9OTX EN55 5W
28280.4 KE4IFI Lexington SC EM9JV 7W
Additions:
28297.9 K4JDR Raleigh, NC FM05 10W
28255.8 WB4NCT Athens, AL EM64 5W
28241.3 WW2BSA Warren, NJ FN20OU 7W
28260.8 IQ8BB Salerno JN70JQ
28178 IQ0GV Sora JN61TR 5W
28236.3 F1ZTS Rochefort in97QI 10W
28266.1 VK4RST St George QLD QG41HW 10W
28285.9 AJ4YN Chesapeake, VA FM16UO ? ?
28215 GB3MCB Cornwall, UK IO70OJ ?
28252.6 WD8INF Lebanon OH EM79VK 10W
28258.8 AC5JM Bartlesville OKEM16FT ?
28209 N5TIT Westminster, COEM12PX 10W
28206.5 N4SO Grand Bay, AL EM50tk 6W
28296.2 VE3IIM Hanover, ON EN94LD 4W
28321.4 IZ1KXQ La Spezia JN44WC 0.1W
28230.8 NG7I Ritzville WA DN07TC 5W
28202 WB7EUX Joseph, OR DN15JI 10W
28233.5 K7RA Seattle, WA CN87UQ 11W
28260 KC4QLP Little Falls NYFN23OB 10W
28245.3 K0WKT Black Dia. WA EN36WT 5W
28226 K6KWS Redwood City CA CM87VL 10W
28240.1 W8EDU Cleveland, OH EN91EM 10W
28206.9 N4XRO Burbank CA DM04UE 5W
28276 XE1JAL Xalapa EK19MM 5W
28230.3 W2MQO Grand Island FLEL98dv 10W
73 de Steve G0KYA
Chairman, RSGB Propagation Studies Committee