tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79272166229874523172024-03-13T12:58:30.250-04:00This Internet thing will never catch on.Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-16547452979759457832023-02-24T10:41:00.002-05:002023-02-25T22:25:05.833-05:00Upgrade your old TNC to a USB interface<p>With the current resurgence of Packet Radio I decided to dust off my old Packet Radio Terminal Node Controller (TNC). There were untold thousands of these made in the late 80's and early 90's and to this day can be found at junk sales and hamfests for very modest prices.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQgU7fdYYmt3snqhJj6-Zt84obZjPNp4s8vuKBbL8epl1FyXemVRBlTYdiQJ7RzpCztZYiany7joKDNcEovotE5C9IcWd4h-AVxS6QJ49q7yISQV3OVNLmtR_0ksQaq1Nq5uCrE9UlqCn27kby0jexGUPxxlJ-5WQxSOrMZ1NBexyG8GQ9zAuHggYN-g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="517" data-original-width="1000" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQgU7fdYYmt3snqhJj6-Zt84obZjPNp4s8vuKBbL8epl1FyXemVRBlTYdiQJ7RzpCztZYiany7joKDNcEovotE5C9IcWd4h-AVxS6QJ49q7yISQV3OVNLmtR_0ksQaq1Nq5uCrE9UlqCn27kby0jexGUPxxlJ-5WQxSOrMZ1NBexyG8GQ9zAuHggYN-g=w400-h206" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>One of the issues facing us today is that these modems typicaly used an RS232 serial port to communicate with the host computer. Take a look at your computer. Do you have an RS232 port? Most likely not. They have gone the way of the printer port and the dinosaur. Everything has moved over to USB.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The upgrade is very easy requiring only a USB-TTL interface commonly used to program the Arduino and other like microprocessors. The interface connects to the TTL facilities on the rear of the TNC.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1334mdUt0YfybltlDYYHHCjj8EeiAmH-eZ-pzIALT6mzb6HvrL_ZnXFZTvuqeCkdsQVu31EHEnwtDEZ6yjLhyHyJpF9QMc_RUk3hqcHNoiQQcMel98UtjgjtFty3AWqrtCDuePmkqyUhXgS4fmCr046icGGtUuhD_ZSGBuM7p57dTVksOPhw15uUO_g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="220" data-original-width="500" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1334mdUt0YfybltlDYYHHCjj8EeiAmH-eZ-pzIALT6mzb6HvrL_ZnXFZTvuqeCkdsQVu31EHEnwtDEZ6yjLhyHyJpF9QMc_RUk3hqcHNoiQQcMel98UtjgjtFty3AWqrtCDuePmkqyUhXgS4fmCr046icGGtUuhD_ZSGBuM7p57dTVksOPhw15uUO_g=w400-h176" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhH0_dWys6ThFGpVjhYWmML7TGwnYNIwKTgEM9cp-hrE8h3EkSWBf56HpqEdoA4mgvsxim7BCCHREtUXfOxXgSyvrCuR9LKByEBTN7HRg4Xu1mLDagLtMdBNlr5wUpg0mLmStjeJXYqcS7Jn4PME9-j2-tkQBHN3ugyPhz5De4zBqHYyXO4HVfkf5488Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="453" data-original-width="1049" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhH0_dWys6ThFGpVjhYWmML7TGwnYNIwKTgEM9cp-hrE8h3EkSWBf56HpqEdoA4mgvsxim7BCCHREtUXfOxXgSyvrCuR9LKByEBTN7HRg4Xu1mLDagLtMdBNlr5wUpg0mLmStjeJXYqcS7Jn4PME9-j2-tkQBHN3ugyPhz5De4zBqHYyXO4HVfkf5488Q=w400-h173" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The wiring is trivial. Using some female DuPont connector wires connect the 2 devices together as follows...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">USB TNC</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">GND -------------------- GND</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">TX -------------------- TX</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">RX -------------------- RX</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPnCuaCLR5YJcsSd3GTTaMLgKd6TUqbi1dyrZwgzz3lrsWTXRvDro-_vCBOVe1cr9kgLxXRC9lbgWX-n4Qux9rrpgz_ZxUTArvCBnImo0LSjMSjt57wIfZpsBFtQC_beDFvO9g6wOfPZX_OFh_HHfwBVV-QJqq_a0oSJdnHYb2yjMolAmVfyjvQ3CT8Q" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="1599" data-original-width="2163" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPnCuaCLR5YJcsSd3GTTaMLgKd6TUqbi1dyrZwgzz3lrsWTXRvDro-_vCBOVe1cr9kgLxXRC9lbgWX-n4Qux9rrpgz_ZxUTArvCBnImo0LSjMSjt57wIfZpsBFtQC_beDFvO9g6wOfPZX_OFh_HHfwBVV-QJqq_a0oSJdnHYb2yjMolAmVfyjvQ3CT8Q=w400-h296" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Set up your terminal program to reflect the port and speed settings reqired by your TNC then turn it on.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghUEhofDtxj-f8bYHCPH4fajmMR5hyC9rzouVb7alzsS7YPK0DCsLOzR5pFI5x9jWBdegnt_02XwpsLLiu8yYkY8WHIZdkI2fAoVD7C70CRDGsga0K_rU2lB_yfkw97Q-nLHbfy3f3aCBq1o8Zt5PcqqJqsrmMf3Go9iifsgRm5Fg-yb4Wpld18srlAA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="105" data-original-width="334" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEghUEhofDtxj-f8bYHCPH4fajmMR5hyC9rzouVb7alzsS7YPK0DCsLOzR5pFI5x9jWBdegnt_02XwpsLLiu8yYkY8WHIZdkI2fAoVD7C70CRDGsga0K_rU2lB_yfkw97Q-nLHbfy3f3aCBq1o8Zt5PcqqJqsrmMf3Go9iifsgRm5Fg-yb4Wpld18srlAA" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-47936538317913694612022-02-14T15:59:00.006-05:002023-02-24T15:03:27.675-05:00Adventures in QRP<p> I've been slowly getting my QRP portable station together. Just before having <a href="https://g7ltt.blogspot.com/2018/06/can-you-prove-you-have-brain.html" target="_blank">brain surgery</a> I bought an mcHF QRP radio kit from <a href="http://www.m0nka.co.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">M0NKA</a> (not a clone or Chinese built rip off). My idea was to build it while recovering from the surgery as a way to prove there was no lasting damage. Things did not go quite to plan and only now some 3 years later am I finishing the radio. Along the way I lost some of the parts including the knobs and the rubber buttons. It also didn't quite work when I gave it a test drive.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivu70HQnaHaF2CoHM2tAdjrDl_N7y311qxbXn172FC9M3SjkH5ojW1nRQRHysxOIbE1B1gzXOBuk3Z-cDbML2y4tS2cJDN6jOpn5-PIUTg2PwEmDMwNnoFus7BwCDgTPDzrSRPtb-OJqS4-509x75essH7YVOIoGhB7tWjh5IN8xYwEFwwa2sb7wC3Wg=s2943" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1964" data-original-width="2943" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivu70HQnaHaF2CoHM2tAdjrDl_N7y311qxbXn172FC9M3SjkH5ojW1nRQRHysxOIbE1B1gzXOBuk3Z-cDbML2y4tS2cJDN6jOpn5-PIUTg2PwEmDMwNnoFus7BwCDgTPDzrSRPtb-OJqS4-509x75essH7YVOIoGhB7tWjh5IN8xYwEFwwa2sb7wC3Wg=w400-h268" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Suspecting shoddy workmanship on my part I went back over my work. As far as I could tell it was all good. In conversation with the gang over on the <a href="https://groups.io/g/mcHF" target="_blank">mcHF mailing list</a> it was suggested to me that it might not be my work that's at fault and to check the factory installed components too (the kit comes with many surface mounted parts pre-soldered). Following the alignment procedure I was able to track down the issue to the band pass filter arrangement. I again checked that I had wound the filter coils properly and that they were connected to the PCB. I then progressed to the pre-installed relays that switch the various filters off and on. BINGO. Dry joints abound. Re-flowing the relay's solder joins with my iron yielded a working radio.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was able to buy some rubber buttons for the radio via eBay but not the knobs. Owning a 3D printer is often a bonus in situations like this. A quick search on <a href="http://thingiverse.com/">thingiverse.com</a> revealed quite a large collection of parts for this radio that I could print including some <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2186961" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">knobs</a>. That problem is now solved. I later printed a matching tuning <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2186967" target="_blank">knob</a> so that all the knobs are the same colour.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But what about an antenna? In the end I decided to build <a href="http://www.earchi.org/92011endfedfiles/Endfed6_40.pdf" target="_blank">this one</a> from a radio club that's based in Hawaii. Its a simple end fed random wire antenna with a 9:1 transformer to help with the matching.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivyN7U9VtQVeEnsVc4-wr7p3Nq1g15JQebgS6rHhPAaaWVnq85ll-tydB78CbmqHyPbnVJsGR1Yblj5T4Ru7A6lJAkN4kfNpV_YEBOMkjy7Uhri-HLwopGfN-YcDlrYpP2K2xajkVm0kyWf9QFqVCB3ygAAI7A24oS-YzPvnkj3gn0XQdaXFcqF7g9BQ=s2525" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2525" data-original-width="2268" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEivyN7U9VtQVeEnsVc4-wr7p3Nq1g15JQebgS6rHhPAaaWVnq85ll-tydB78CbmqHyPbnVJsGR1Yblj5T4Ru7A6lJAkN4kfNpV_YEBOMkjy7Uhri-HLwopGfN-YcDlrYpP2K2xajkVm0kyWf9QFqVCB3ygAAI7A24oS-YzPvnkj3gn0XQdaXFcqF7g9BQ=w179-h200" width="179" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLK-_YbxFf7l4-qBw2I7fy4aKY33cfSMpb3Xx256ORfw7joD4I1K86F8WJONp_vog1_uEMmnfWrX491TnV0NUxPKs_b-nw4it79cneRSAHCG5Kyiqpivj_SoLR2Mm9x_YhTmEDlzh1ObJvY9gPo49cVFdVIPx40n8nAl8emxo295z5qo1CtvMsNk_k-A=s2130" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2130" data-original-width="1924" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjLK-_YbxFf7l4-qBw2I7fy4aKY33cfSMpb3Xx256ORfw7joD4I1K86F8WJONp_vog1_uEMmnfWrX491TnV0NUxPKs_b-nw4it79cneRSAHCG5Kyiqpivj_SoLR2Mm9x_YhTmEDlzh1ObJvY9gPo49cVFdVIPx40n8nAl8emxo295z5qo1CtvMsNk_k-A=w181-h200" width="181" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This really was a junk box build. I recovered the iron core from an old UPS that my employer was throwing out. In its previous life the core was part of the 24-120V inverter circuit. I was even able to reuse some of the wiring from the old UPS to wind the transformer onto the core.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Again, my 3D printer was pressed into service. Trolling through <a href="http://thingiverse.com" target="_blank">Thingiverse.com</a> again I was able to find an <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4599776" target="_blank">enclosure</a> for this part of the project. I added 35 feet of speaker wire that was kicking around and was able to complete the project with other supplies form my apparently well stocked junk box. The only thing I had to buy was #6-32 nuts and bolts. They were just $1 at the local WalMart.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/L6z3DBwAoAnptgVN9" target="_blank">Here's a video</a> of me testing the whole setup from the parking area at the back of my apartment building. <div><br /></div><div>I have this LiFePO4 battery which is about half of the weight of other lead acid batteries of the same size. Plus, its LiFePO4 technology which will actually save me money in the long term as I'll get more life from it. <br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4qlaPE-s_fKSCs8UCYupRVkjOz6LosTuf7Ka3-KxbdBjwq-Ju7nnNTIdo8ZQ6U00FUTy7-RDCP383IqWp0ah03pGuuKtjo0wveihGiSy_wCCPJXfZ3gS7LwWBMQgdPC_YZiGLbLuo_1A0UNKcDNdGC4-Ym6x87HRVrIMF6bqlH2sH1WmrMwyHb8fDtA=s1388" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1272" data-original-width="1388" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4qlaPE-s_fKSCs8UCYupRVkjOz6LosTuf7Ka3-KxbdBjwq-Ju7nnNTIdo8ZQ6U00FUTy7-RDCP383IqWp0ah03pGuuKtjo0wveihGiSy_wCCPJXfZ3gS7LwWBMQgdPC_YZiGLbLuo_1A0UNKcDNdGC4-Ym6x87HRVrIMF6bqlH2sH1WmrMwyHb8fDtA=w400-h366" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>I think I'll be printing <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3652530" target="_blank">this carrier</a> for the battery too.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyRVelAgoo01edH9yOpYLcwduCDGItHCTiDruHae0l3jLxU7zfdn-eWXr6yquwZetCvdjo5Aw3fAuF6M_1gIyy1eXASi-ZIr_He9H29BY0eesHJncGq4vb3u4JxjVkxgT_Ms7dX_kegfvgvZ4rQWUw7eKJ8l8SxIco1TnmhWqvyPNJbssFRblXoXP5Gg=s628" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="628" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhyRVelAgoo01edH9yOpYLcwduCDGItHCTiDruHae0l3jLxU7zfdn-eWXr6yquwZetCvdjo5Aw3fAuF6M_1gIyy1eXASi-ZIr_He9H29BY0eesHJncGq4vb3u4JxjVkxgT_Ms7dX_kegfvgvZ4rQWUw7eKJ8l8SxIco1TnmhWqvyPNJbssFRblXoXP5Gg=w400-h301" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p><br /></p></div></div>Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-60657428126659196872022-01-25T18:27:00.001-05:002023-02-24T15:02:43.970-05:00Crypto mining on an Arduino<p>Yes. You read that correctly. Crypto mining on an Arduino.</p><p>I recently discovered something called <a href="https://duinocoin.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Duino Coin</a>. It's a proof of concept crypto currency. But unlike other currencies where you need massive mining rigs to produce just a few $$$ before you pay for the electricity and hardware, this one uses very modest micro processors. In fact if you use higher end hardware to mine this coin you get a penalty and the reward drops significantly.</p><p>I'm using a method called I2C mining. This is where a handful of miners are connected together via an I2C bus and then another device handles the connection to the network. Very similar in setup to a traditional rig where a load of graphics cards are plugged into a PC. </p><p>You cannot buy hardware for this project and so I designed my own circuit board. It uses common off the shelf parts. 5x Arduino Nano's (ATMEGA328), 1x Wemos D1 (ESP8266) and a power supply (MP1584). The D1 handles the WiFi connection and the communication with the Arduino's. The Arduino's do the actual mining.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4fMbXhrR5_G3tnLP4NCHfsvkJDbukixlz5BZcDABcSepXhWDWtQ2k_QPUr5tdgs-HOfftnYe-LMjhPVcTXPt9Mvk6o9MvJBDnzoB6AQ7filxhvmRwmHXoNoay4Zo4SYbNrfKKHcGuU9q-WtwXatzoWclGO5SZzDISR1iL307iuTthONM8w9DOLH_xCQ=s1600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1482" data-original-width="1600" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi4fMbXhrR5_G3tnLP4NCHfsvkJDbukixlz5BZcDABcSepXhWDWtQ2k_QPUr5tdgs-HOfftnYe-LMjhPVcTXPt9Mvk6o9MvJBDnzoB6AQ7filxhvmRwmHXoNoay4Zo4SYbNrfKKHcGuU9q-WtwXatzoWclGO5SZzDISR1iL307iuTthONM8w9DOLH_xCQ=w535-h494" width="535" /></a></div><br /><p>This is what I came up with and it works very well. Each miner gets about 250 hashes a second.</p>Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-27690923725369435652021-01-22T12:38:00.007-05:002023-02-25T22:09:58.473-05:00GL-INET AR750 conversion to 5VDC<p>I own one of these Travel Routers. It's great for connecting multiple things to the single Internet feed in a hotel room or camp site. The problem is that it uses a USB power supply and if one does not use the correct cable the router becomes unstable. This is due to the voltage losses in the thin wire used in cheap USB cables. The router is quite thirsty and so requires a cable that can deliver a good half an amp.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrjp0E7mKuSuHAfsLSMTvVH7MHz8DeDl7Nf259jsexw_ZbLaGbYSsShnGqbhN-ZzQzdu8I6qGmCvR23yQD4LnKCc1aZ7lFMSRpYlEV-tK304t7a_2fcjTZcC7xa7GD1d4nxkd-qvm9R0I/s1000/AR750_6.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDrjp0E7mKuSuHAfsLSMTvVH7MHz8DeDl7Nf259jsexw_ZbLaGbYSsShnGqbhN-ZzQzdu8I6qGmCvR23yQD4LnKCc1aZ7lFMSRpYlEV-tK304t7a_2fcjTZcC7xa7GD1d4nxkd-qvm9R0I/s320/AR750_6.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GL.INET AR740 Travel Router<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>I want to use this router for camping. I want to have this router be the Access Point that my phone and laptop and TV connect to. In turn this router will connect (usually by WiFi in WISP mode) to whatever Internet I can find. To this end I need to power it from my 12V camping batteries or solar panels.<div><br />One of the optional extras for this router is a Power Over Ethernet (POE) board which will take the 48V from your POE capable network switch and convert it to the 5V needed to power the router. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnW580vXn1qyluumH81dQFEG403u0NM-zLspOx0OucnO3Wlbw7KeTJ3b9YDmMmfIePu6tsWNlkjbfjAaxPo_UJCgzHAherXB8616hgQgkhw9E52G84zLDL8b-XC-gTRnKRyxRySmDt9Kd_/s695/poe_1200x1200_00fb37ff-ec8d-4671-9e8c-c6f3e05bf158_695x695.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="695" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnW580vXn1qyluumH81dQFEG403u0NM-zLspOx0OucnO3Wlbw7KeTJ3b9YDmMmfIePu6tsWNlkjbfjAaxPo_UJCgzHAherXB8616hgQgkhw9E52G84zLDL8b-XC-gTRnKRyxRySmDt9Kd_/s320/poe_1200x1200_00fb37ff-ec8d-4671-9e8c-c6f3e05bf158_695x695.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">POE Adapter</td></tr></tbody></table><br />I opened up the router and found the pins that would receive the 5V from the above POE board. This discovery was greatly helped by the below picture that I found on the manufacturers website.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Z22l6y2cBIRyDxkg3FsmKbe27zmMv2cz3yio1MUpe2ysWhWFJQ_bhlraHGAxEvx1Pj1sjP6HQPtW3E4R4RS9Sg6ZTpnv9CeNGkyVO_K4WsJ1j_g9Tkx3XFi83-oAYVONMSxkhEWFoofw/s2048/AR750-V1.0-PINOUT-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1447" data-original-width="2048" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Z22l6y2cBIRyDxkg3FsmKbe27zmMv2cz3yio1MUpe2ysWhWFJQ_bhlraHGAxEvx1Pj1sjP6HQPtW3E4R4RS9Sg6ZTpnv9CeNGkyVO_K4WsJ1j_g9Tkx3XFi83-oAYVONMSxkhEWFoofw/w504-h356/AR750-V1.0-PINOUT-1.jpg" width="504" /></a></div>Now that I have established how to connect 5V to the board I need to come up with a 12V to 5V DC-DC power supply. Luckily Amazon is full of them. For a previous project I bought some LM2596S variable DC-DC power supplies. These are available from all the usual online places such as Amazon and Ebay for around $1 each.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOft4Ilx6Hrl4Vi0FeV_GEzrbLzQ1AOTovbbzemmtlALV6MP6fmhkrY-RR6gVEWNSvgDpHcaowAd0HJ3gM2No_vwqVEfqyyV4F8xt-tOVQSom2mCn8J70gSnPFMz1FeNk5XB7imOKF8V-7/s498/41nf1Dhkg7L._AC_.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOft4Ilx6Hrl4Vi0FeV_GEzrbLzQ1AOTovbbzemmtlALV6MP6fmhkrY-RR6gVEWNSvgDpHcaowAd0HJ3gM2No_vwqVEfqyyV4F8xt-tOVQSom2mCn8J70gSnPFMz1FeNk5XB7imOKF8V-7/s320/41nf1Dhkg7L._AC_.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LM2596S DC-DC "buck boost" converter.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />A word of warning; before connecting this power supply to your Router (or Raspberry Pi etc) make sure to set the output voltage to whatever you need it to be. This can be achieved by connecting your power source to the input then turning the screw on the variable resistor (the blue block thing) whilst measuring the output with a volt meter. I set mine to 5.02V.<div><br /></div><div>Next was a session with my 3D printer to create an enclosure. <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2369228">Thingiverse.com</a> was my friend here. However I had to print a second power supply case as the lid to the first one would not fit. The capacitors on the board were too tall to allow the lid to fit.</div><div><br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0VRGji3Iu0IbBNWHbmwslrF3-H5bT_Srz76EnQ3APE0GhWXNchSuZVvn8U06k088uWIzzm2mroUxCWWg6W0Ioi8qQz8sVGVA2yuWJKhmNjj2QBViDAFAiZ3nXJItCXUYWqW6nD_PhdXBj/s3840/PXL_20210122_052958438.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0VRGji3Iu0IbBNWHbmwslrF3-H5bT_Srz76EnQ3APE0GhWXNchSuZVvn8U06k088uWIzzm2mroUxCWWg6W0Ioi8qQz8sVGVA2yuWJKhmNjj2QBViDAFAiZ3nXJItCXUYWqW6nD_PhdXBj/w400-h225/PXL_20210122_052958438.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DC-DC converter in 3D printed case</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Time to test it all. I wired the power supply into the router and gave it an initial "smoke test". No smoke was observed this time. Everything seemed to work as expected.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZ9H5G10QCbAs3LbkxlB-kbf5qPeWF8-9OI96c9X9TglYnRD6uN2-VsUPILTd0BfOC8B5K8XdpKC0rjO-l411sApzFp3NKF01_5lc2gZeDbpjtKiBx0YHae3D5Hi76p8bICDW__zb356n/s3840/PXL_20210122_052814645.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZ9H5G10QCbAs3LbkxlB-kbf5qPeWF8-9OI96c9X9TglYnRD6uN2-VsUPILTd0BfOC8B5K8XdpKC0rjO-l411sApzFp3NKF01_5lc2gZeDbpjtKiBx0YHae3D5Hi76p8bICDW__zb356n/w400-h225/PXL_20210122_052814645.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DC-DC power supply connected to the router</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhugiLfbFY0CcRqWKXW7DiM92XRVLHhJYFiKVzfyhP6HQgjYGlACf-OhpvSMIhvz6EFN_ucLo-tyhJnq-4mEaaV1w4CSk0enkMytSyF8mY4gbtz1m86BvTjKtNxKcT12qEQNVuoo54Yb4F9/s3840/PXL_20210122_053023611.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhugiLfbFY0CcRqWKXW7DiM92XRVLHhJYFiKVzfyhP6HQgjYGlACf-OhpvSMIhvz6EFN_ucLo-tyhJnq-4mEaaV1w4CSk0enkMytSyF8mY4gbtz1m86BvTjKtNxKcT12qEQNVuoo54Yb4F9/w400-h225/PXL_20210122_053023611.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DC-DC power supply and router wired together</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TQOzThQqZzsBRoXSYAdw2Wzdh-U3ltW9nbZDJbFY3HxidLBz9Kjxw14Cp4dC0FssRh4X8YXaG_blOEKcatlWCMiQPG7i-7Ie2j8sKGlG5TZ1UHuc5qAfXkCHvXrz8_-LVXmpyB9h_blz/s3840/PXL_20210122_055002585.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-TQOzThQqZzsBRoXSYAdw2Wzdh-U3ltW9nbZDJbFY3HxidLBz9Kjxw14Cp4dC0FssRh4X8YXaG_blOEKcatlWCMiQPG7i-7Ie2j8sKGlG5TZ1UHuc5qAfXkCHvXrz8_-LVXmpyB9h_blz/w400-h225/PXL_20210122_055002585.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All wrapped up with in their respective cases</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The final step was to install in onto the electrical board that I use when camping. The board holds the solar charger, fuse board, 110V inverter and battery charger. This seemed like a logical place to install the router as power is available right there. I also installed the POE injector for a TP-Link WiFi bridge with high gain antenna that can be remotely placed (for example, on my portable radio mast) to bring in the WiFi signal from further afield should it be needed. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir5UOy5Yfrxn6XyC-qrvGwZPGeSNHQqUW6scv07kPuOfY1aXyk-KamC85AyuedJ4Srw8WbXJM4vkJTZBzXJyahuOhWDlZdaraAkieWIYjs-E-7uf-smI13MEMcRjHk9cXVPbQN9KtHG39R/s3840/PXL_20210122_055909341.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir5UOy5Yfrxn6XyC-qrvGwZPGeSNHQqUW6scv07kPuOfY1aXyk-KamC85AyuedJ4Srw8WbXJM4vkJTZBzXJyahuOhWDlZdaraAkieWIYjs-E-7uf-smI13MEMcRjHk9cXVPbQN9KtHG39R/w400-h225/PXL_20210122_055909341.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Router installed on power board</td></tr></tbody></table><br />A quick trip to my local WholeFoods Market (where they have free WiFi) was made to test the whole system. It worked flawlessly. Here are some screen shots from the test tools I used.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv8hJVzBS6Xt5sz6Kps6PKrG8ahXKnOd4_Jh-T7DUXDWDXb4QCrXEpLKAhG-G43IUtBqEpUm1s1cy-DW_iMNIWpyAnnStGkAm6AxWs6hC1oPQvBre4083k4S7xGMo4SvUlBalyMhG6l5QV/s2160/5c4e6e61-d3ec-4507-961a-1c4141c13574.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv8hJVzBS6Xt5sz6Kps6PKrG8ahXKnOd4_Jh-T7DUXDWDXb4QCrXEpLKAhG-G43IUtBqEpUm1s1cy-DW_iMNIWpyAnnStGkAm6AxWs6hC1oPQvBre4083k4S7xGMo4SvUlBalyMhG6l5QV/w200-h400/5c4e6e61-d3ec-4507-961a-1c4141c13574.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYwq0KSXjxP_2wT03rw_U_O6X4V_X3Pt1hiSjHQCAq2f4jjkvZoiY9ARvNiaClJTViSDFNjbnrycCM9mtLFGJL_6f1EIFTT8HjNdP3_bmnXk7gBAvewx2NsCv38UJOY-J_QS3kPcTypxR/s2160/1fc095c6-1d97-4184-955d-e4e04556a77f.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYwq0KSXjxP_2wT03rw_U_O6X4V_X3Pt1hiSjHQCAq2f4jjkvZoiY9ARvNiaClJTViSDFNjbnrycCM9mtLFGJL_6f1EIFTT8HjNdP3_bmnXk7gBAvewx2NsCv38UJOY-J_QS3kPcTypxR/w200-h400/1fc095c6-1d97-4184-955d-e4e04556a77f.png" width="200" /></a></div><div><div><div><p><br /></p></div></div></div></div>Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-28471533400341340072020-07-20T12:20:00.001-04:002023-02-25T22:24:46.961-05:00Some IC-7300 pics ...I bought Harbor Freight "pelican" style case for my Icom IC-7300. The radio can now get dragged around in the back of the car and taken camping etc without fear of damage.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVProppCBOOErS_NdAktpRcN8c9GmVzvHNh0_lvV3X9V1Z4Kk6in2q0H72CELE0KumVIpafV8llJyYh3QIPDB_GWEr8j94Gj1w6i76a5UAalDjYSlLj_RqXYZgHOrO51KFvp2rlcMoiGe/s1600/IMG_20200720_120301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVProppCBOOErS_NdAktpRcN8c9GmVzvHNh0_lvV3X9V1Z4Kk6in2q0H72CELE0KumVIpafV8llJyYh3QIPDB_GWEr8j94Gj1w6i76a5UAalDjYSlLj_RqXYZgHOrO51KFvp2rlcMoiGe/s400/IMG_20200720_120301.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-46699289648399406402020-07-20T11:02:00.005-04:002023-02-25T22:24:35.016-05:00FT-817 Go BoxI've had this kicking around for a while. Before I put it up for sale I thought I'd show you all my FT-817 Go Box.<br />
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It's built around a <a href="https://www.harborfreight.com/merchandising-promotions/new/4800-weatherproof-protective-case-x-large-orange-56866.html" target="_blank">Harbor Freight "pelican" style case</a> and contains everything needed to operate the radio in any mode. Just add a battery. The photos are pretty self explanatory.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VCOWowyzOdVbFy3tGVtf4F_hEh7LHng1WM5fnhVAKOtelqLuPe3Dl6n4cSul2nqk_dl_wNcB9Ubh-J4_oQbrngDtMJGc5N_hziX0P1eyiyWXwpddgWXTYjAvhD65tL5SXqBUEW2Tc0XN/s1600/IMG_20200711_102417.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VCOWowyzOdVbFy3tGVtf4F_hEh7LHng1WM5fnhVAKOtelqLuPe3Dl6n4cSul2nqk_dl_wNcB9Ubh-J4_oQbrngDtMJGc5N_hziX0P1eyiyWXwpddgWXTYjAvhD65tL5SXqBUEW2Tc0XN/s400/IMG_20200711_102417.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-4773946513616953082020-01-14T11:26:00.000-05:002023-02-25T22:12:04.713-05:00Ham Radio Clock for Raspberry PiIn a <a href="http://g7ltt.blogspot.com/2019/03/cheap-geochron-clock.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> I discussed building a clock to display the grey line and times zones on a large screen. Thanks to <a href="https://www.clearskyinstitute.com/ham/HamClock/" target="_blank">this project</a> I've been able to improve the display as well as reducing the cost by a further $65.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished clock running on a 5 Inch LCD screen on the Raspberry Pi3</td></tr>
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This clock originally appeared in a <a href="https://www.clearskyinstitute.com/ham/HamClock/QST-HamClock.pdf" target="_blank">QST article</a> in October 2017 but it took me a while to get around to it. Whilst trying to get some "shacksessories" organised for my wife, KM4WSK's new radio shack I remembered it. I also happened to have a RPi3 connected to the Official Raspberry Pi 7" LCD and associated enclosure so I installed the software onto that.<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The clock application installed into Official Raspberry Pi 7" LCD</td></tr>
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As you can see, the clock displays not only the greyline but also solar weather data, sunspots, local weather data, UTC time and the current state of the <a href="https://www.ncdxf.org/beacon/intro.html" target="_blank">HF Beacon</a> transmissions. It's also able to display the path of a few satellites too.</div>
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Whilst I had all the parts for my wife's clock I was lacking an enclosure for my 5" LCD screen. A quick search on <a href="http://thingiverse.com/">Thingiverse.com</a> revealed a case that I could print on my 3D printer and then mount onto the wall. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First boot of the clock. Note the lightning bolt</td></tr>
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At first boot of the 5" display I was confronted with the dreaded lightning bolt. This is an indication that there is insufficient current available to properly drive the RPi and associated hardware. It's a simple fix requiring a bigger PSU. KM4WSK was able to supply a larger one from her seemingly bottomless "junque" box.</div>
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I've decided to revisit my large clock on the LCD TV (the one from the previous article). To this end I've temporarily mounted my 5" version on the wall. With a few crontab entries I can turn the display on and off so as to save energy overnight.</div>
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Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-26002697222585356142019-06-19T13:48:00.001-04:002023-02-25T22:24:23.839-05:00Fiberglass pole/mast repairMany hams buy sets of these <a href="https://colemans.com/pole-4-fiberglass-used-6-poles" target="_blank">military surplus 4' fiberglass poles</a> for use as portable radio masts. They are lightweight, easy to deploy and store well in the back of the car. But there's a reason that they are surplussed out from the military; they are mostly split at the bottom.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical split in a fiberglass pole</td></tr>
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Over time these splits will get larger and larger. Eventually the pole will fail under stress and the mast will collapse. This will most likely happen right when you are passing that vital piece of information to the Net Control station after that tornado tore through your neighborhood and you are the only station left on the air.<br />
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My set of poles suffers from this problem. So I have made some minor repairs to mitigate the inevitable loss. I have a bracket that holds the bottom of the mast. It's about 8 inches tall and so can well support the worst damaged pole. I always use the worst damaged one at the bottom.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLRvWKRjCWeZBpAaljdvESFYAlBwPiAiqYKgzXtJkln7m35rounn2tlz0Q933L6I0b0OOm8YTtVcS4bwKYN0cEHMcLY1FuIk1XIPL3jH8M5osDI1JWlXpaKryaSYMqNfjZsP4xclkc81d/s1600/IMG_20190619_131210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLRvWKRjCWeZBpAaljdvESFYAlBwPiAiqYKgzXtJkln7m35rounn2tlz0Q933L6I0b0OOm8YTtVcS4bwKYN0cEHMcLY1FuIk1XIPL3jH8M5osDI1JWlXpaKryaSYMqNfjZsP4xclkc81d/s400/IMG_20190619_131210.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The worst pole gets put at the bottom where there is most support</td></tr>
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Then using a hose clamp I secure the other poles such that they can no longer splay out. Do not tighten the clamp too tight as you'll misshape the pole. You simply want to add to the structural integrity. If the cracks are too bad you can drill a hole right at the top of the crack to prevent it from moving further up the pole. I stole this trick from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Bell" target="_blank">Liberty Bell</a> 😁</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add a hose clamp to the damaged pole</td></tr>
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Finally, assemble the poles in the usual manner. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 "repaired" poles seated together</td></tr>
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In addition to the repairs I added an eye bolt to the very top pole so that I can attach an antenna wire to it.<br /><div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiX2WoGec3acqjHCjRKF4yBkXcVcAvwofEe82YUHi-tqtOys1q7ulQQlANIJT93-7N6aVZANd3gil_4dHFAOjk904fAkY9GFz3fW3Y0F0vpCu61g-O1R5Eikfzru5lYWNnqUqY80Cs7pZ1/s1600/IMG_20190619_131717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiX2WoGec3acqjHCjRKF4yBkXcVcAvwofEe82YUHi-tqtOys1q7ulQQlANIJT93-7N6aVZANd3gil_4dHFAOjk904fAkY9GFz3fW3Y0F0vpCu61g-O1R5Eikfzru5lYWNnqUqY80Cs7pZ1/s400/IMG_20190619_131717.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eye bolt installed for wire antenna. HSMM-Mesh adapter also installed.</td></tr>
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Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-54924948017362405202019-06-05T16:46:00.002-04:002023-02-25T22:14:11.867-05:00500kbps packet radioPacket radio is pretty much all but dead here in the US but it seems not to be that way in France.<br />
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I recently saw a message on the AMPR mailing list about a 500kbps modem that someone in France had designed. The design files and software were put up on the <a href="https://hackaday.io/project/164092-npr-new-packet-radio" target="_blank">Hackaday</a> website. The design uses a handful of development boards cobbled together and has an Ethernet interface for the client computers to connect to. </div>
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So I decided to have a go at this project. I ordered some PCB's from JCPL and searched the usual online suppliers for all the other parts. It took about 6 weeks to get everything together but for about $65 per modem I was able to build 2 and test them across my workbench.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the modems under test</td></tr>
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I've been playing with them for a few weeks and am very impressed with them. I can sustain my MMDVM hotspot across them as well as attach a WiFi access point and make a WiFi Calling cellphone call through it too.</div>
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The downside for us here in the US is the bandwidth and speed. The FCC says that we can only use a symbol rate of 56kbaud and a maximum bandwidth of 100KHz for data modes on the UHF 70 centimeter ham band (where these modems operate). Currently the modem software will only allow links of 200kbps in 270KHz and so do not conform to the rules. </div>
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Interestingly, this is not the only data mode to be found on the 70CMs band. Digital ATV has been around using the DVB-S standard for quite some time here. The ATV crowd erroneously reclassify their data (up to 2mbps!) as pictures/video rather than the data that it actually is. In this way they fool the FCC into allowing the mode without a rule change. So maybe that's how we do it for Packet Radio? Reclassify our data transfers as "image". After all, web pages have pictures in them. :)</div>
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Thanks to F4HDK for his design.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7IZiWxHwmIfW9N8XcqIRNM0mw1qYjzXZ0PfK88vL5UCQUX4N65UJaKveWqqFWtqo7uesOdpSkuJVL9nJ5-eXZmY6OkdGSXfSU2TYUCiK12heDsPSx0Xohq_guC9QIn-Nc8HhITANGd1r/s1600/Test+network+at+NI2O.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="960" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7IZiWxHwmIfW9N8XcqIRNM0mw1qYjzXZ0PfK88vL5UCQUX4N65UJaKveWqqFWtqo7uesOdpSkuJVL9nJ5-eXZmY6OkdGSXfSU2TYUCiK12heDsPSx0Xohq_guC9QIn-Nc8HhITANGd1r/s400/Test+network+at+NI2O.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The network that supports the modems under test</td></tr>
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Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-35789575879219332742019-03-06T16:19:00.000-05:002023-02-25T22:13:46.045-05:00Cheap "Geochron" clockI've lusted after one of <a href="https://www.geochron.com/" target="_blank">these clocks</a> for quite some time now. But at almost $2000 I really cannot justify the cost. But it seems that the manufacturer has been listening to their customers and has produced a <a href="https://www.geochron.com/4k/" target="_blank">digital</a> version for around $400 that you plug into a 4K TV which you also have to buy. Hmmm, I'm sure if I look hard enough I can do better than $400 and a TV set?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHv8ccryIXpxeLY8cg4AA9V513jgLhRre4iDiMCK5prY2hTF7O8jOjCMdEFJj4FjlUD0v9eDI8fkghHLuGP-vanlXBkPwfpL02RGJCjiY9ztuKJPw0OxiwnxojSn8OSCEZ-1eqYClCrwai/s1600/IMG_20190306_143443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHv8ccryIXpxeLY8cg4AA9V513jgLhRre4iDiMCK5prY2hTF7O8jOjCMdEFJj4FjlUD0v9eDI8fkghHLuGP-vanlXBkPwfpL02RGJCjiY9ztuKJPw0OxiwnxojSn8OSCEZ-1eqYClCrwai/s400/IMG_20190306_143443.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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One can buy cheap 4K TV's these days for change of $200. The one above is a Hisense 43" with built in Roku that I got from Walmart in the January sale for $179. Below it is one of my work 37" wide screen monitors.<br />
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So basically the Geochron 4K clock is a bit of software running on an embedded device of some sort. I've not seen one up close but it looks like it might be some sort of AndroidTV Set Top Box? It's able to display the greyline, track satellites and do other things in that vein.<br />
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Looking around the Internet I found <a href="https://www.dit-dit-dit.com/Products/WorldMap" target="_blank">this piece of software</a> by Simon Brown (of Ham Radio Deluxe fame). It displays a greyline graphic in real time onto your PC screen. It can also show you a handful of other details such as the Solar Indices and multiple clocks. The picture can also be changed for one of your choice.<br />
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In the junk pile I have an <a href="https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/boards-kits/compute-stick/stk1aw32sc.html" target="_blank">Intel Compute Stick</a>. It's a 1.4GHz quad core PC that one shoves into the HDMI port of your monitor. It runs Windows 10 and has 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It's also 4K capable.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6NZeDzWfdY14R8ZEjzBnhnkoGAwCEa75guFxU3nLkQX-7p2mv98ne5ZxaMeM4P0RAx6D186bkacmiBPaIiqY3ngFBGwSOFT8uPfGyKFdWMthdMdThMaPKchybYLnaQ2G-6VRJ9nX8AxEr/s1600/51T8tGfK20L._SL1000_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6NZeDzWfdY14R8ZEjzBnhnkoGAwCEa75guFxU3nLkQX-7p2mv98ne5ZxaMeM4P0RAx6D186bkacmiBPaIiqY3ngFBGwSOFT8uPfGyKFdWMthdMdThMaPKchybYLnaQ2G-6VRJ9nX8AxEr/s320/51T8tGfK20L._SL1000_.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Within minutes I had it up and running and displaying the greyline clock. I have configured the Compute Stick to automatically run the software upon power-up and so if I want to watch the clock I simply turn on the TV.</div>
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The total cost for this project (assuming everything was bought new) is as follows:</div>
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43" 4K TV = $180</div>
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Intel Compute Stick = $120</div>
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Software = FREE!!!</div>
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TOTAL = $300</div>
<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-83870512768945698412018-12-03T12:36:00.001-05:002023-02-25T22:24:09.801-05:00$30 Low Power Echolink Node for the ShackOver the years I've <a href="http://g7ltt.com/echolink/index.htm" target="_blank">tried</a> many different <a href="http://echolink.org/" target="_blank">EchoLink</a> setups. I have been dissatisfied with all of them. There were always too many wires or they consumed too much electricity or they were just too damned difficult to deploy.<br />
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For a while now I've been thinking about what I really want. What I <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ" target="_blank">really, really</a> want. I came to the conclusion that I only need something that can be used in the shack to augment other activities there. It has to be small, self contained, as few wires as possible and also portable.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkgMhwyqqQ8Jsz4WLVsceYgQtuMFe8HHQL8-nio6k3edXMkocY7DuLM4U7A4gsnTtPeiqJuRObbbef3wWLY645xmwdwjt2f1P-R2PBcQ22LyTBvogFxwLL0AbcoWzP-ufO20I5CnDQUnG/s1600/IMG_20181203_114513.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGkgMhwyqqQ8Jsz4WLVsceYgQtuMFe8HHQL8-nio6k3edXMkocY7DuLM4U7A4gsnTtPeiqJuRObbbef3wWLY645xmwdwjt2f1P-R2PBcQ22LyTBvogFxwLL0AbcoWzP-ufO20I5CnDQUnG/s400/IMG_20181203_114513.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I think I've achieved it! It's a complete EchoLink node (compute, RF, interface etc) in only 2 1/4 inches square (6cms). What's more it's entirely powered by a single USB connection.<br />
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I cannot claim that it's my design. I found it entirely by accident on <a href="https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/xX2q1zFr" target="_blank">Oshpark</a> one day. Take a look at <a href="http://www.diygoodies.org.ua/?p=1586" target="_blank">this web page by UR5TLZ</a>. In turn he is using a software distribution called "<a href="https://f5nlg.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/hotspot-compatible-svxreflector-echolink-free-radio-network/" target="_blank">Spotnik</a>" which is based on SM0SVX's repeater software, SVXlink. I've used <a href="http://g7ltt.blogspot.com/2017/08/solar-powered-gmrs-repeater.html" target="_blank">that software before</a>.<br />
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The design is based on an <a href="http://www.orangepi.org/orangepizero/" target="_blank">Orange Pi Zero</a>. With the addition of an RF addon board and some signalling transistors etc the OPi-zero can become a complete node. Unlike RPi-Zero the OPi-Zero has a built in bi-directional sound card that is presented to one of the many pins on the GPIO headers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_Eu8rrVO-wedQvyz0hputI2jFSTk3eFb1DaIw3EAkb12wqUqpG86OhJTAx46mtgxkpqhkDJ4ZFRY87hflKJX5Kjix_Z_hFe6acaarFxC3Oa72DIA-01DvJ6XYy0EjOXupNmgypWfqXxk/s1600/IMG_20181129_122436.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_Eu8rrVO-wedQvyz0hputI2jFSTk3eFb1DaIw3EAkb12wqUqpG86OhJTAx46mtgxkpqhkDJ4ZFRY87hflKJX5Kjix_Z_hFe6acaarFxC3Oa72DIA-01DvJ6XYy0EjOXupNmgypWfqXxk/s400/IMG_20181129_122436.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The addon board uses one of the <a href="http://www.dorji.com/docs/data/DRA818V.pdf" target="_blank">Dorji DRA818</a> radio modules. This is a complete FM radio with built in CTCSS/PL facilites as well as audio in and out. It can operate at up to 1W but I have it set to 0.5W as otherwise the 5V supply fails. 0.5W is probably way too much for around the shack anyway. The rest of the components are SMD type soldered to the bottom of the addon board.<br />
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For my <a href="http://g7ltt.blogspot.com/2018/06/mmdvm-based-digital-modes-hotspot.html" target="_blank">MMDVM project</a> this summer I bought a load of surplus 433MHz spring style antennas. These would have gone into things like radio pagers, handheld radio's etc. I got 50 of them for $1. So rather than add an SMA antenna connector and then install an external antenna I soldered one of the spring antennas in place of the SMA. The result is that I can now install the whole thing into the case without any extra holes being drilled.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhfTawS1HpmVXNnjG4bSQofkm90sDCxR0Vf6M4xnVVaiC_gLaaHzizhHae8Mda-o-b8OSg1fdcZu5QMSICJoGLgqHRjSyivQXsQgbj0jrzp7mtYCnBm8RuUaDnP_gHhmzJmDpTMAwmoTf/s1600/Spotnik+Schematics.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="861" data-original-width="1600" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIhfTawS1HpmVXNnjG4bSQofkm90sDCxR0Vf6M4xnVVaiC_gLaaHzizhHae8Mda-o-b8OSg1fdcZu5QMSICJoGLgqHRjSyivQXsQgbj0jrzp7mtYCnBm8RuUaDnP_gHhmzJmDpTMAwmoTf/s400/Spotnik+Schematics.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I found that I needed to do a few mods to the design. Firstly, there is no RF decoupling capacitor in the PTT line. I found that the PTT would remain on when the software had something to say. Touching the antenna would make the PTT drop. The addition of a 100nF capacitor from the PTT to ground solved this issue.<br />
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The board set would not fit into the enclosure either. Upon further investigation I discovered that the issue was that the addon board aligned with the screw towers in the case thus preventing the set to slide in further. To overcome this issue I filed the corners from the addon board. Where they were square with a round hole in them as in the above picture, they are now a diagonal. The board set now fits into the case properly.<br />
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The sum total for this project was less than $35.<br />
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Orange Pi Zero = $17<br />
Dorji DRA818U = $8<br />
Spring type antenna = $0.02<br />
R's, C's, Q's etc = junkbox<br />
PCB from Oshpark = $6 (you buy 3 units for $17 - use the spares to make one for your car?)<br />
<b><u>TOTAL = $31.02</u></b><br />
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<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-34722258268597333702018-12-03T11:17:00.000-05:002018-12-03T12:11:37.184-05:00You know you're in Virginia when ...Even the menu is redacted. VA is the home of all those ABC agencies that may, or may not exist.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSM3vs6ZaNRf4bMtJ0zgrL2zGP5tjT9nXuTvcVbjwJxmlJSUfiu_14N8kb5_nLdzzIzZjSOEGqfP2RDLYkOMpY5puDdpuQBOkbQRL_zS163g-u0NyPmYa4aexNidX_HvvrGGN_pyfMpI6m/s1600/IMG_20181121_085202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSM3vs6ZaNRf4bMtJ0zgrL2zGP5tjT9nXuTvcVbjwJxmlJSUfiu_14N8kb5_nLdzzIzZjSOEGqfP2RDLYkOMpY5puDdpuQBOkbQRL_zS163g-u0NyPmYa4aexNidX_HvvrGGN_pyfMpI6m/s400/IMG_20181121_085202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-41729583071862261072018-11-05T16:57:00.000-05:002018-12-03T12:11:59.752-05:00Stupid stuff you see at the Home Center<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Yep, you guessed it. It's a toilet roll holder with a platform for your phone.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaj-KI-IqejqZkENaIUGJ16guIsivW25Txh_0gY1MfP_jQJEr8fN2H8lVoks4qqP8MmGuwMdXVZRL9pgPXdgdA-swoBa8Iolxz_oGcfsrxqO8jFP7DC8UIBrZ6L2nHNxM6P44hjfbba7Da/s1600/20181104_165651.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaj-KI-IqejqZkENaIUGJ16guIsivW25Txh_0gY1MfP_jQJEr8fN2H8lVoks4qqP8MmGuwMdXVZRL9pgPXdgdA-swoBa8Iolxz_oGcfsrxqO8jFP7DC8UIBrZ6L2nHNxM6P44hjfbba7Da/s640/20181104_165651.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
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<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-5181979930610978012018-06-11T16:20:00.001-04:002023-02-25T22:23:48.621-05:00More power!!!!!!!!I own a 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan. It's the baseline model with absolutely no frills or addons whatsoever. And that included things like USB charging outlets. So I decided to add a few outlets of my own.<br />
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The USB outlets were purchased from amazon and are wired in parallel with the cigarette outlet so that they will follow the ignition. The Anderson Powerpoles are wired directly to my Ham Radio fuse box in the back of the van and are fused for 10 Amps. Again, the outlets were purchased from Amazon. I also purchased a set of large step-drill bits. The required holes for the outlets were 1-1/8" and you can see the remnants of the panel on the floor. I was able to source a replacement panel just in case I sell my van. I can then return it to factory condition.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYMIPEYAuEqtgAB4aRVDzd7KWu2OMEO8TlkwNaopbmunvZ8xjWmqsMs9JcpPwhToUfxp9jR7g0T5vfbsn6tDk1DR9BUW1bk9am0nbwk0aYczH35pwCQheTSaFqSns8cW38_IjQuAhDS1f/s1600/20180428_101246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYMIPEYAuEqtgAB4aRVDzd7KWu2OMEO8TlkwNaopbmunvZ8xjWmqsMs9JcpPwhToUfxp9jR7g0T5vfbsn6tDk1DR9BUW1bk9am0nbwk0aYczH35pwCQheTSaFqSns8cW38_IjQuAhDS1f/s400/20180428_101246.jpg" width="225" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rZ4MYhiMJiz9dqoRY1thMy612QuzDUgtwjxrVH2r8nRTvPN2QnopgmeokSC7NET52hyphenhyphen5XxrYaFO7ywlXW8dv7TyYAec4oDzY3daPVNkH9mO0fwtgFXj_-H_V0hOOTnc3hbhQEDb3SeVM/s1600/20180428_101314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rZ4MYhiMJiz9dqoRY1thMy612QuzDUgtwjxrVH2r8nRTvPN2QnopgmeokSC7NET52hyphenhyphen5XxrYaFO7ywlXW8dv7TyYAec4oDzY3daPVNkH9mO0fwtgFXj_-H_V0hOOTnc3hbhQEDb3SeVM/s400/20180428_101314.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-80145714839208606612018-06-11T15:30:00.003-04:002018-06-15T09:54:19.811-04:00Can you prove you have a brain?Can you prove you have a brain? I can! Take a look at this. It's an MRI (one of MANY!!) of my brain. Clever bastards reading this will be able to spot my 1/2 ventricles, 3rd ventricle and 4th ventricle. Look really close you'll also see a Pineal Cyst right at the back of my 3rd ventricle.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KYB91NYpkkjnBuaYRupWCfUfn8uIAj1_rj5gA0KMq8ueZBd2-bLGC5Zv2BGQkWPD5NdIqZibAlZdOOVQalglYf6EutKjfhdl0ADPI5RCfca3iJN-Ynb4foNVj_f2hkFIJnMZpYPHVUxL/s1600/IMG-0001-00001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KYB91NYpkkjnBuaYRupWCfUfn8uIAj1_rj5gA0KMq8ueZBd2-bLGC5Zv2BGQkWPD5NdIqZibAlZdOOVQalglYf6EutKjfhdl0ADPI5RCfca3iJN-Ynb4foNVj_f2hkFIJnMZpYPHVUxL/s400/IMG-0001-00001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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According to my brain guy (he's my 3rd on this journey) my enlarged ventricles are suffering from something called Obstructive Hydrocephalus most likely cause by the Pineal Cyst. And whilst the ventricles are not "impressive" (thanks, Doc) my other symptoms were causing alarm. Alzheimer's like memory issues, incontinence, difficulty descending stairs, wide gait etc, etc, etc. So it was decided that we should "fix" the issue. The Ventricles are full of spinal fluid and because the fluid cannot drain as normal its like inflating a water balloon in my head.<br />
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I was scheduled for a procedure to install a VentriculoPeritoneal Shunt. Basically its a McDonald's straw connected to a valve that then dumps out into your stomach. After almost 9 months of chasing this issue down and a few wrong diagnosis and even being thrown out of a brain surgeon's office (thanks, Penn Med!!!), being told another surgeon did not have the tools for the job I ended up at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. These guys know what they are doing!!!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The night before surgery I had to shave my head.</td></tr>
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Surgery day was June 1st 2018. As I write this I am 10 days post surgery. I'm still very sore but getting 500% stronger every day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA69K4QWzuWRcbJVHif1-wt3l4bMzxxS9sFrdkTvYthGpzWAgXqURVoEK2UThdv6LNp-UuylJKbS3-9u_heb0Uond1A8Cbd6FMx5MaKWzDH6Jk73BaBKF9ZMSRvRumq00U1Oik5MS1pmY5/s1600/part0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA69K4QWzuWRcbJVHif1-wt3l4bMzxxS9sFrdkTvYthGpzWAgXqURVoEK2UThdv6LNp-UuylJKbS3-9u_heb0Uond1A8Cbd6FMx5MaKWzDH6Jk73BaBKF9ZMSRvRumq00U1Oik5MS1pmY5/s400/part0.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erin and I share a laugh in the pre-op waiting room. My head is shaved but yet still I have to wear that ridiculous hat. </td></tr>
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So in a nutshell they put a hole in my skull. Into the hole they inserted a tube which was pushed through my brain into the right side Ventricle. This will allow the buildup of fluid to drain safely and thus deflate the balloon effect.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrruAisawOi_bGKQbx1cjKCPuVK8br-Kz66a3tU09QDbL9h_KuVP9EizC7urFuZLQLlxALA4I25YlB-Tbf-J5zPTI1gEdrKhQWB7ixuxdXO6vC628qivhwU-wiLRv9selySZA1c67WvySS/s1600/IMG_20180602_100539.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrruAisawOi_bGKQbx1cjKCPuVK8br-Kz66a3tU09QDbL9h_KuVP9EizC7urFuZLQLlxALA4I25YlB-Tbf-J5zPTI1gEdrKhQWB7ixuxdXO6vC628qivhwU-wiLRv9selySZA1c67WvySS/s400/IMG_20180602_100539.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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This is the hole they put in my head. You can clearly see the tube exiting under my skin to the right.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA79AjpekelDvy4xBI-SkXlWR80Y4i6z3h2d4ghQGXhrgx2kU8jsyUNKPrvhDU2LV7fYjZpM1166gN42YEnUonsaogmqchCB9XBCK1QdA-KvKDbv9TJvuFFKLkxBoUhsmTHeu9Nb5iZ3Em/s1600/IMG_20180602_100528.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA79AjpekelDvy4xBI-SkXlWR80Y4i6z3h2d4ghQGXhrgx2kU8jsyUNKPrvhDU2LV7fYjZpM1166gN42YEnUonsaogmqchCB9XBCK1QdA-KvKDbv9TJvuFFKLkxBoUhsmTHeu9Nb5iZ3Em/s400/IMG_20180602_100528.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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Here we can see the valve placed under my skin on the side of my skull. There's another tube that goes behind my ear, down my neck, across my collar bone and eventually to my abdomen in a single feed. That's the output with the waste spinal fluid.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_yFa3ADQ3SuOV8PqXiPFJxJBIY8c07aGFaPqL5iH-dhxu1nS1Rx33NwX85c5IuddzmbUKzY2N1XrxXj-r1PyseJSeRpRFrSzcPwnQKiIThagAe4zL3rzCu26Sp10wcOTOhy4oM7nXHE76/s1600/IMG_20180602_105348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_yFa3ADQ3SuOV8PqXiPFJxJBIY8c07aGFaPqL5iH-dhxu1nS1Rx33NwX85c5IuddzmbUKzY2N1XrxXj-r1PyseJSeRpRFrSzcPwnQKiIThagAe4zL3rzCu26Sp10wcOTOhy4oM7nXHE76/s400/IMG_20180602_105348.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Finally, the tube arrives in my abdomen where they cut me open, grab the end and secure it behind my muscle wall. Of all the wounds I got this is the one that hurts the most!!!</div>
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The tube from my ear to my abdomen is one complete section. The surgeon basically stabbed me from my ear to my stomach in one go. He used a sharp long steel tube with a wooden handle on the end and rammed it under my skin. I can actually feel the hose!</div>
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So that's pretty much it. I'll have to go for annual checkups on it and even though mine is an "MRI Safe" model I will still need x-rays taken before and after I get another ride through the MRI scanner. This would be so they can tell if the valve settings have changed. I'm good for up to 3 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_(unit)" target="_blank">Tesla's </a>- whatever they are? It also has a service life of about 5-7 years so I'll be back in there fairly shortly. Although, I'm told a replacement is not as bad as an initial installation. I'll let you know.</div>
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Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-62310374237849647882018-06-11T14:47:00.005-04:002023-02-25T22:23:36.674-05:00MMDVM based digital modes hotspot<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Now that there are so many different digital modes around for the V/UHF bands I decided that it was time I had a hotspot that could cover all the modes at the same time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9u8vY9GAmm13cMUZ3DOTwsqB0hCw6RNUS-WXEqam8PN4RsCFcTWVrBVkQqOvtAp7grBKTXFxthdAoluwizPshEjmUV5wOfmJXFWLAu0FNuJegOGONEFrfIqV7SRfqEUUY4ruKmBY3lA0/s1600/H0-015993A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9u8vY9GAmm13cMUZ3DOTwsqB0hCw6RNUS-WXEqam8PN4RsCFcTWVrBVkQqOvtAp7grBKTXFxthdAoluwizPshEjmUV5wOfmJXFWLAu0FNuJegOGONEFrfIqV7SRfqEUUY4ruKmBY3lA0/s400/H0-015993A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I've been following <a href="https://github.com/g4klx/MMDVM" target="_blank">G4KLX's MMDVM</a> project since it's initial inception and have even donated one of my NQSMHS modems to the project (it started out as a D-STAR project). Today the project has gained quite some momentum and is now able to run on a <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w/" target="_blank">Raspberry Pi Zero W</a> along with other hardware addons such as screens and buttons etc. Significant work has also gone into creating a <a href="https://www.pistar.uk/" target="_blank">RPi distro</a> explicitly for the MMDVM.<br />
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My hotspot is based on the RPI0W and ZumSPOT hotspot board that you can get from <a href="https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-015993" target="_blank">HRO</a> here in the US. I followed this <a href="https://www.toshen.com/ke0fhs/images/1-Playing_with_Pi-Star.pdf" target="_blank">HowTo</a> which said to download the latest image from the PiSTAR site and transfer it to an SD Card (just like any other RPi distro).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBu5Rqf4rQVb_EdhV0KrDMtDEwXbYKxkbCQARsj3b133_hdmz6RuApESZ0doDILSLzlCeRMvrzkZ4ClLCNxj9CeqLQyYczBr1oqXkfaqT3z93ZJtts3HZA5ndzPYUl8RhcM_LLxsWr1Rt-/s1600/20180509_162104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="1600" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBu5Rqf4rQVb_EdhV0KrDMtDEwXbYKxkbCQARsj3b133_hdmz6RuApESZ0doDILSLzlCeRMvrzkZ4ClLCNxj9CeqLQyYczBr1oqXkfaqT3z93ZJtts3HZA5ndzPYUl8RhcM_LLxsWr1Rt-/s400/20180509_162104.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And this is the finished result. The 3D printed case is by George, M1GEO and is available from <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2726981" target="_blank">Thingiverse</a>. It only supports a 3.5" Nextion LCD display but having also tried a 2.8" display I can tell you that you want the bigger screen! I have asked George to knock up some designs for other screen sizes and also to add some cooling holes into the box as it can get quite hot in there after a good round table QSO!</div>
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The Nextion screen is quite clever in that you upload a handful of screen images to it when setting it up. These images also have various text fields that will be populated with data every time the MMDVM host sends some info to the screen (eg, which screen image to display, what frequency, RX Callsign etc). Below is a selection of the screens that mine does.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxgtJek4izLpZ97ZKmjZcrhihPSCKS7XT-1dagLvfjmJ73zDDgIEeUTMiHdNmf6lC6skp6AICLHVwzVcx-ii_GcUwakbYbXApp8FM37ty56bVnevPzHY_SYm0-E992dloumM8fXx7f2ZA9/s1600/20180509_165116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1600" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxgtJek4izLpZ97ZKmjZcrhihPSCKS7XT-1dagLvfjmJ73zDDgIEeUTMiHdNmf6lC6skp6AICLHVwzVcx-ii_GcUwakbYbXApp8FM37ty56bVnevPzHY_SYm0-E992dloumM8fXx7f2ZA9/s400/20180509_165116.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bootup screen. I decided to abandon this particular one as I couldn't really see it properly.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJgcbBewOM7PT-pTLcAsDzcqlxmgxrtUTOuax_cfRCxd1DGq559T80hVCi72khX4EB-vkrP7H-v0TU5cWfqlLeyoXk5Hy0b-SdlJkbyOGXLqqT6Zqz_gYUC-Dy4_7cXz1Aen2akFXcfCh/s1600/20180509_162227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJgcbBewOM7PT-pTLcAsDzcqlxmgxrtUTOuax_cfRCxd1DGq559T80hVCi72khX4EB-vkrP7H-v0TU5cWfqlLeyoXk5Hy0b-SdlJkbyOGXLqqT6Zqz_gYUC-Dy4_7cXz1Aen2akFXcfCh/s400/20180509_162227.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traffic arriving from the Internet. This will be broadcast via the built in 20mW TRX. Note the RPi3 mounted next to it on the left. That's an Echolink system.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwiahtIxqMWjW8tVNQ3V3-lThpo-CEssDtO3eS9qgrebA7dr8R4s-Jw3XVY3s9xODYYFLAI7hEy3Rly8MvCFlfNb7JnCnFM11UpB61_Cfjo0VGLRvXzOZ2Go202ia-0xa-99w49cN0Wim/s1600/20180509_162209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwiahtIxqMWjW8tVNQ3V3-lThpo-CEssDtO3eS9qgrebA7dr8R4s-Jw3XVY3s9xODYYFLAI7hEy3Rly8MvCFlfNb7JnCnFM11UpB61_Cfjo0VGLRvXzOZ2Go202ia-0xa-99w49cN0Wim/s400/20180509_162209.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's listening for my local input. It'll do this for 10 seconds. If I do not respond in YSF (in this case) it'll drop back to listening for any mode.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYVu-lhtcDD0thZzW0r699UVNkMpUhRp30EuZPcgcUals5iwjDNgMQw2Bt7p7CMAztZN-J87qr5E1UavCSBdcASi1gEC6Fkgi484TUyLh1xGD9B64cFSRj2MW36AwQcywLTs1A7erltt2/s1600/20180509_162207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYVu-lhtcDD0thZzW0r699UVNkMpUhRp30EuZPcgcUals5iwjDNgMQw2Bt7p7CMAztZN-J87qr5E1UavCSBdcASi1gEC6Fkgi484TUyLh1xGD9B64cFSRj2MW36AwQcywLTs1A7erltt2/s400/20180509_162207.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Receiving my YSF signal from my HT in the shack. Note the BER. This is quite high and can be attributed to overload in the RX. When I'm on the other side of the room the BER is down to almost 0%.</td></tr>
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Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-86757674270021689782018-02-05T10:05:00.002-05:002023-02-24T15:04:37.524-05:00Anytone Apollo 1 "10 Meter" CB modOn a recent road trip to Detroit I spent almost 12 hours of silence in my car. My Ham radio was on but nobody was heard. I have found this to be the case on many road trips of late. That's why I installed an HF radio into the car - maybe I can talk to people further afar? Not on this trip at least. So I tuned my HF rig to the CB channels and was able to have some interaction with other travelers on my route.<br />
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This led me to thinking that I need a CB in my car. But I don't have room for another display on my dashboard. Looking around the usual online places I found this <a href="https://www.amazon.com/AnyTone-APOLLO-Amateur-Mobile-transceiver/dp/B01F53EBK6/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1517842842&sr=1-5&keywords=anytone+10+meter" target="_blank">Anytone Apollo 1</a> "10 Meter" CB. Out of the box it comes preset to 40 channels between 29.4-29.6MHz. Great! I have a license for that. I had also read reports that it could be modified to cover other frequencies such as CB too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx7ZxnfORPHqVy1oBxIDzONZmfkS0oIVIMdjfCPXlDV3ZChtZrN2_X6S_Z1977TwtHYA2PbMk11MOt1dHPGWdE5pM4FLsm4384QUU4MkbCFbZyU2YOiKQgCNrObex-KMoyIfvxyq25MlNJ/s1600/Apollo1-web1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx7ZxnfORPHqVy1oBxIDzONZmfkS0oIVIMdjfCPXlDV3ZChtZrN2_X6S_Z1977TwtHYA2PbMk11MOt1dHPGWdE5pM4FLsm4384QUU4MkbCFbZyU2YOiKQgCNrObex-KMoyIfvxyq25MlNJ/s320/Apollo1-web1.jpg" width="296" /></a></div>
The manual isn't too bad for a Chinese radio. And it does indeed explain how to change the 10 Meter frequencies. However, one has to take it apart and remove some solder links to get it going on other frequencies. The manual does not tell you how to do that. So I took mine apart to see what I could find. The usual caveats apply. Do this mod at your own risk. Your mileage may vary. I take no responsibility. Ask your doctor if Viagra is right for you.<br />
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Remove the power from the radio and unplug the microphone. Using a T8 Torx bit unscrew the bottom panel and also the face plate. This will reveal 2 solder jumpers at the very front of the board almost in the middle going across. See the below pictures for guidance.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepCalxottbZbAHO-jKab172Pp9bNv3K7zDY_xnuCPpjbmnvDhg3DEnxQyGzx_QOWJ3gOGlGNg3DkQockqseu4egquB4DQjM6kWw6NPFdMkyB_Ni4enIl4py0cHdU9VRXRFSUEe9SY6e7J/s1600/20180204_143622.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiepCalxottbZbAHO-jKab172Pp9bNv3K7zDY_xnuCPpjbmnvDhg3DEnxQyGzx_QOWJ3gOGlGNg3DkQockqseu4egquB4DQjM6kWw6NPFdMkyB_Ni4enIl4py0cHdU9VRXRFSUEe9SY6e7J/s400/20180204_143622.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSdMJktqYYQQc6owyQqon-QB85vMjL-McZzFz1cH5COH-yUkOSSB1SLmy0hIuxKP74JKY2Fyy8bhzoZO_8wxPdySSs_iozkSFme0p9pKIk-HDmWmSHbJe6SOmNf7fa83-n2ljeonRtEVmf/s1600/20180204_143618.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSdMJktqYYQQc6owyQqon-QB85vMjL-McZzFz1cH5COH-yUkOSSB1SLmy0hIuxKP74JKY2Fyy8bhzoZO_8wxPdySSs_iozkSFme0p9pKIk-HDmWmSHbJe6SOmNf7fa83-n2ljeonRtEVmf/s400/20180204_143618.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Using a solder pump or wick remove the solder from the 2 Jumpers being careful not to disturb the SMD parts just above the pads.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjryzf8U9w6bqtjYd5SWKZJztQsDLJ311dwnhgac-NOHf5ip9RW7JrSY99HOE1bE0DDL3-M9HGIAK4brmVRSxwrDGSVY-A8GoUzfPYd1MXMb3D6SEJefEsEhwSnhn-ytXEpySMsY5haOmb0/s1600/20180204_143716.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjryzf8U9w6bqtjYd5SWKZJztQsDLJ311dwnhgac-NOHf5ip9RW7JrSY99HOE1bE0DDL3-M9HGIAK4brmVRSxwrDGSVY-A8GoUzfPYd1MXMb3D6SEJefEsEhwSnhn-ytXEpySMsY5haOmb0/s400/20180204_143716.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Before putting the covers back on power up the radio and check that it still works. You should notice the display now shows "EUH 01" indicating that your radio is on CB channel 1.<br />
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Just for good measure do a factory reset too.<br />
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<li>Power the radio off by using the mic "POW" button. </li>
<li>Hold the "FUNC/FRQ" and "POW" buttons at the same time. The display will read "RE S"</li>
<li>Release the "FUNC/FRQ" button. The radio will power off.</li>
</ul>
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Here are some before and after shots of my rig.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxi_5qxqIVTj_XWSKr2BezVYMyfRHLV8IywS0vOvCPf2sTjfYUe8SqwdK3yNCjW0QSgBLbpX5LBgQk5wk27M-oQ3bmXE8-oen0RA9NrpkVXsdx2fjeaWXyxsItH4vrCvvaOvlwcX_GtEz3/s1600/20180204_143516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxi_5qxqIVTj_XWSKr2BezVYMyfRHLV8IywS0vOvCPf2sTjfYUe8SqwdK3yNCjW0QSgBLbpX5LBgQk5wk27M-oQ3bmXE8-oen0RA9NrpkVXsdx2fjeaWXyxsItH4vrCvvaOvlwcX_GtEz3/s400/20180204_143516.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqmSPxGWnWz8dpAVgGWMXef5ruSN0lwcMukC_FVrLEf5JOoe4SCyODgjbnyogzW4O5hb_4myF7Wx9YpCDbqIWuwxtip2pe3ZhxN3IhrqmHXc0zBdRI7HtuEyQV8-jPne1FDj2I4zGZ7GN/s1600/20180204_143817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqmSPxGWnWz8dpAVgGWMXef5ruSN0lwcMukC_FVrLEf5JOoe4SCyODgjbnyogzW4O5hb_4myF7Wx9YpCDbqIWuwxtip2pe3ZhxN3IhrqmHXc0zBdRI7HtuEyQV8-jPne1FDj2I4zGZ7GN/s400/20180204_143817.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Before putting the covers back on the radio take a look at the face plate. Can you see how much room there is on the inside of it? It occurs to me that one could add 2 small toggle switches to the plate. Wire them to the solder pads on the radio's PCB and now you can dynamically change the frequency of the radio without a soldering iron. I've ordered some small switches. More about that when I get them. </div>
Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-52731173326814899782018-01-23T12:19:00.002-05:002023-02-25T22:23:09.505-05:00Raspberry Pi/Echolink using a USB-RIM LiteI built an <a href="http://echolink.org/" target="_blank">Echolink</a> interface for the W4FCV repeater in Floyd, VA. This page is not so much to brag about it but rather to write down some notes for later reference.<div>
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The repeater in Floyd is a <a href="http://systemfusion.yaesu.com/what-is-system-fusion/" target="_blank">System Fusion</a> capable machine with an <a href="http://www.arcomcontrollers.com/index.php/shop/product/33-rc210-deluxe-repeater-controller" target="_blank">Arcom RC210</a> repeater controller attached. The Echolink system will connect to one of the 3 "radio" ports on the controller. A look at the Repeater builder website shows a number of sound card interfaces that will directly connect to the back of a number of different radio's and repeater controllers. I bought one that fit the RC210 directly.<br /><div>
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I shall not be explaining how the various steps are performed. They are well documented on their respective websites.</div>
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<b>Things I used:</b></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Raspberry Pi 3 single board computer <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pi-RASPBERRYPI3-MODB-1GB-Model-Motherboard/dp/B01CD5VC92/ref=sr_1_84?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1516661978&sr=1-84&keywords=raspberry+pi+3" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com/</a></li>
<li>USB-RIM Lite sound card interface <a href="http://www.repeater-builder.com/products/usb-rim-lite.html" target="_blank">http://www.repeater-builder.com/products/usb-rim-lite.html</a></li>
<li>8GB MicroSD card <a href="https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk%C2%AE-microSDHCTM-8GB-Memory-Card/dp/B0012Y2LLE/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1516662120&sr=1-4&keywords=8gb+micro+sd+card" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com</a></li>
<li>3D printed 19" rack mount case <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:794695" target="_blank">https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:794695</a></li>
<li>USB power supply <a href="https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Supply-Adapter-Charger/dp/B00MARDJZ4/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1516662172&sr=1-3&keywords=2.5a+micro+usb+power+supply" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.com</a></li>
</ul>
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<b>What I did:</b></div>
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<div>
1) Install latest Raspian Lite image onto the SD card. Make sure to <a href="https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruits-raspberry-pi-lesson-6-using-ssh/enabling-ssh" target="_blank">enable SSH</a>.<br />2) Install SD card into the RPi. Attach an Ethernet cable and power.<br />3) Log in to the RPi and set up the environment with "sudo rasp-config".<br />4) Disable the WiFi and Bluetooth radio's as we'll be using Ethernet. Edit /boot/config.txt </div>
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# Free up some memory by allocating less RAM to the graphics </blockquote>
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gpu_mem=16</blockquote>
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# Increase current to USB ports</blockquote>
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max_usb_current=1</blockquote>
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# Turn off WiFi and Bluetooth</blockquote>
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dtoverlay=pi3-disable-wifi</blockquote>
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dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt </blockquote>
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5) Install SVXLink per the instructions <a href="https://github.com/sm0svx/svxlink/wiki/InstallSrcHwRpi" target="_blank">https://github.com/sm0svx/svxlink/wiki/InstallSrcHwRpi</a></div>
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6) Configure the SVXLink config file <a href="http://www.svxlink.org/doc/man/man5/svxlink.conf.5.html" target="_blank">http://www.svxlink.org/doc/man/man5/svxlink.conf.5.html</a>. The USB-RIM interface required HID_RAW settings and the HID_PTT on GPIO3 also.</div>
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7) Configure the Echolink config file <a href="http://svxlink.sourceforge.net/man/man5/ModuleEchoLink.conf.5.html" target="_blank">http://svxlink.sourceforge.net/man/man5/ModuleEchoLink.conf.5.html</a>.</div>
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Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-51724354946443777252017-11-30T17:07:00.001-05:002017-11-30T17:07:24.777-05:00Funny things you see at MicrocenterSo I was at my local <a href="http://microcenter.com/">Microcenter</a> this lunchtime and I saw this on display. It might be a little "wishful thinking" But I get where they are going.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9zbUp7ZkLn_3_foF346UOcPnUX3PIkoShYWz-u7p_2yyLUgYW0V6xOz1QiuhpsQkj_8UDHq1SDd8xSiMXLKy0az2rW-LyU59mTXzdbjl5goEgzaTdXHpD_K3itS5JVI2zFWuXL3obJ7U/s1600/20171130_132311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl9zbUp7ZkLn_3_foF346UOcPnUX3PIkoShYWz-u7p_2yyLUgYW0V6xOz1QiuhpsQkj_8UDHq1SDd8xSiMXLKy0az2rW-LyU59mTXzdbjl5goEgzaTdXHpD_K3itS5JVI2zFWuXL3obJ7U/s400/20171130_132311.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Yep. You read that right. Apparently Microcenter think that Death Stars are "emerging technologies". I wonder when they'll start selling flying cars?<br />
<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-70382045575822378812017-11-10T17:46:00.003-05:002023-02-25T22:22:49.576-05:00Mic interface for RemAudIn a <a href="http://g7ltt.blogspot.com/2017/11/isolated-sound-card-interface.html" target="_blank">previous article</a> I built a simple isolated audio interface to go between my radio and a PC for remote operation of the radio. This time I built an interface so that I could use the microphone from the radio on the remote PC 3 floors away.<br />
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I decided to use the mic from the HF rig as this would give the most accurate user experience. The user would simply pick up the microphone, press the PTT button and speak. The interface also has a USB to serial interface which allows the PTT to inform the computer that the user is in fact speaking.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGLNtmAUjf6jWnUGUFMO3xc29C6MMSRO_dj8P_J6TNbC5SKe9UhtYGO1rT5GyqJ6vLvLCel4c36IBE2OfUkGJ1CMmqakEusUsSVgN53vKy5SgkeTkLrQCwd9NydGx9vKBnjfoy4el80_7/s1600/Mic+Interface+with+PTT.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="1600" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDGLNtmAUjf6jWnUGUFMO3xc29C6MMSRO_dj8P_J6TNbC5SKe9UhtYGO1rT5GyqJ6vLvLCel4c36IBE2OfUkGJ1CMmqakEusUsSVgN53vKy5SgkeTkLrQCwd9NydGx9vKBnjfoy4el80_7/s400/Mic+Interface+with+PTT.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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And of course I designed a PCB for it. You can get it at <a href="https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/Q00L9H8j" target="_blank">Oshpark</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxle-XCx24zZiGd_Wvg5OeoSgTRHdOlo4Pn6rWDdxJrxwKQdetzj-ET2Pkn9A5kMhCRNQMd8yOC0RR-XLDMXtYknexWt6GsYh6dAGxtiGPRU2N0TWgUinWjiBTS70vM2UclSsl1Deeu3D/s1600/b07c3eb11455921eee512697024001ef.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="925" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxle-XCx24zZiGd_Wvg5OeoSgTRHdOlo4Pn6rWDdxJrxwKQdetzj-ET2Pkn9A5kMhCRNQMd8yOC0RR-XLDMXtYknexWt6GsYh6dAGxtiGPRU2N0TWgUinWjiBTS70vM2UclSsl1Deeu3D/s400/b07c3eb11455921eee512697024001ef.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Simply connect normal sound and usb cables from this interface to your PC and then plug your Yaesu dynamic mic into the other side. Tell RemAud to use the CTS line of the new USB-serial interface.<br />
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I've added an audio buffer with a 300hz filter to clean up the mic a little. This might not be needed and so you can simply omit most of those parts and jumper across from the junction of C4 to C6 but do leave C6 installed as there is DC power coming from your PC to power an electret mic.<br />
<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-24106691584203997292017-11-10T17:28:00.000-05:002017-11-20T11:59:19.800-05:00Feline hunting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There are many cats that inhabit my house. None of them are mine. This one is Dee. She's a black and white Domestic Shorthaired cat and she has caught a mouse. It's still alive. If this was a video you'd see the mouse panting with fear. I caught this mouse and released it back outside.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8x2OurnpV07JLzQ6_u0oBcio-b8HyZKPZ-YjuBS_rF8_E9Gbk9IuazavepZO67OMLyte4hB29LCg2aMVKym6awAeD5sc0MHgXATa7ZWFszg4AVVksuJ-61ozBvBtTlBZZfbaSSg8hqYS_/s1600/20171103_210234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8x2OurnpV07JLzQ6_u0oBcio-b8HyZKPZ-YjuBS_rF8_E9Gbk9IuazavepZO67OMLyte4hB29LCg2aMVKym6awAeD5sc0MHgXATa7ZWFszg4AVVksuJ-61ozBvBtTlBZZfbaSSg8hqYS_/s400/20171103_210234.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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An hour or so later I was driving down my street returning from a shopping errand when I saw her again. This time she's got something much bigger. She's nabbed a squirrel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5jJEgkluqPyM4Q1DIQjovveng7pEHdhgb2_FgqiVRlkIwIltskHt5VwjGuho0NLTtq6Gx6eA7GFxMJEz2eE3iVg5LfqKZuX1pcyfUAgPHgn8zerQxWuEa9XZtbUVPgaeSqpncC5jK0Fsk/s1600/20171110_172110_1510352487278.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="513" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5jJEgkluqPyM4Q1DIQjovveng7pEHdhgb2_FgqiVRlkIwIltskHt5VwjGuho0NLTtq6Gx6eA7GFxMJEz2eE3iVg5LfqKZuX1pcyfUAgPHgn8zerQxWuEa9XZtbUVPgaeSqpncC5jK0Fsk/s320/20171110_172110_1510352487278.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Turns out that this is not Dee but rather her neighbourhood doppleganger. We've taken to calling this cat "Double Dee". There you go Dee. That's how you hunt! Next time bring something home that we can all eat.Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-4546744295896122442017-11-10T17:12:00.000-05:002023-02-25T22:22:37.922-05:00Isolated sound card interfaceI've been working towards getting my girlfriends HF rig remotely controlled. We have it installed in the sun room at the back of the house but her office is up in the attic on the 3rd floor. This presents a problem as not only do we need to control the radio but we also need to hear what it receives and also send it some audio to transmit.<br />
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The radio control is easily achieved by using <a href="https://www.ham-radio-deluxe.com/" target="_blank">Ham Radio Deluxe</a> and is very well documented elsewhere. For the audio portion I am using <a href="http://www.df3cb.com/remaud/" target="_blank">RemAud</a> by DF3CB which is also very well documented on his website. What's not so well documented is the hardware that one might need be able to both receive and transmit audio from another location. It should be noted that whilst I am doing this from another room 3 floors away it could equally be done from 3000 miles away over the Internet.<br />
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If you are familiar with Skype then you'll know that it uses the sound system installed into your PC. The microphone is usually sourced from your webcam and the speakers let you hear the other person. RemAud is a similar application. It uses the same audio sources. And that's where the difficulty begins. Your HF rig cannot use the mic on your webcam.<br />
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Luckily this problem has been solved many times before. A simple radio-computer sound interface is all that's needed on the radio end. It needs to move audio from the PC to the radio and back. It also needs to key the PTT to enable the radio's transmitter. This is what I came up with.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgstz9HEroWroqQJ1IBO7LzvJqaLbd70MnyyQFdWC7yDAZg5Di3KvbD3_NmLRDJh67G6tlz2OSNr4rHbBIpFwBDUrsKfauNIaooToxdrb4gQ_BVqRy5-nBzAV7wsaeBWj_YA5051wRyEs2W/s1600/20171110_162214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgstz9HEroWroqQJ1IBO7LzvJqaLbd70MnyyQFdWC7yDAZg5Di3KvbD3_NmLRDJh67G6tlz2OSNr4rHbBIpFwBDUrsKfauNIaooToxdrb4gQ_BVqRy5-nBzAV7wsaeBWj_YA5051wRyEs2W/s400/20171110_162214.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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It's an isolated audio interface with USB based PTT keying. I made it from the junk box. The Audio part is a copy of the many transformer based sound card interfaces one can find on the 'net. The transformers isolate the electrical path between the radio and the computer in an effort to reduce computer noise getting into the radio.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvILY_n5A_0NVx8k447YLxnQyvBaLj7vcJQKRD7NF4L8wpW8BOUyx6BKzXJh8FO0nL8RPWp1QE7s057-gQ9V9v03hjUWr5zc8WqA6HWQ3BIt4NWPA2fmdFkkRsu_UU_WqHs1C8TUuiS3a2/s1600/20171110_162227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvILY_n5A_0NVx8k447YLxnQyvBaLj7vcJQKRD7NF4L8wpW8BOUyx6BKzXJh8FO0nL8RPWp1QE7s057-gQ9V9v03hjUWr5zc8WqA6HWQ3BIt4NWPA2fmdFkkRsu_UU_WqHs1C8TUuiS3a2/s400/20171110_162227.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The USB part is a USB to serial interface that I had meant to use in an Arduino project but never got around to it. I added a small bit of circuitry to invert the signal from controller chip and also isolate the PTT from the computer.</div>
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I also added a USB sound card adapter to the PC to manage the sound instead of using its built in sound facilities. I'll be moving it all to the rear sockets of the PC and there are no sound outputs there.</div>
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It works very well. However, I am not happy with it. The PTT should really be isolated via a opto-isolator and it's larger than I'd like. So I set about designing another interface. This time it's more compact and has "proper" sockets etc. It's also fully isolated and can also key some CW too.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPAIYiym3-Rz9TwFqlaCdvOWmfD26S-fSId4k1dqRH2S6wRb_lDZVa5B9G7RINyz7InU7YbqZCfYJOteR1b0zQ_Yj2dgqf_CUjc9SUL_5eoWmaL_0IAOpKkSH4MiQntZTMBLP27AJA6zc/s1600/Interface+with+USB+keying.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="1600" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcPAIYiym3-Rz9TwFqlaCdvOWmfD26S-fSId4k1dqRH2S6wRb_lDZVa5B9G7RINyz7InU7YbqZCfYJOteR1b0zQ_Yj2dgqf_CUjc9SUL_5eoWmaL_0IAOpKkSH4MiQntZTMBLP27AJA6zc/s400/Interface+with+USB+keying.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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I designed a board for it too. You can get it at <a href="https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/rh88eXfn" target="_blank">Oshpark</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQW-VBqpMG1TvNx-WDEs6t5HBF4_KFO6clhyphenhyphenrc7uh5Sw2uZI1FXC5xhn0RqLZEPxCPmuD56DQUIXrxBFPhwmzP0wfgGOnhuSUDjibQ16z7NHJeutdxFxjCvRRhRpPcOiZe3XDrzHbroZss/s1600/oshpark+isolated+interface.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1364" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQW-VBqpMG1TvNx-WDEs6t5HBF4_KFO6clhyphenhyphenrc7uh5Sw2uZI1FXC5xhn0RqLZEPxCPmuD56DQUIXrxBFPhwmzP0wfgGOnhuSUDjibQ16z7NHJeutdxFxjCvRRhRpPcOiZe3XDrzHbroZss/s400/oshpark+isolated+interface.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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And here's the finished result. It works perfectly. It's also much smaller and now fully isolated. I used a PS/2 male-male extension cable that I got from Microcenter to connect the data port on the rig to the interface. At $8 it was not worth my time or effort to try soldering a cable myself.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7Vg-G-57okXNnfmArZbBOGd-qzkwCYZK5rE2gG055mcR79181e2FYii1asnbec9yNG-WI-R2PDwE5EgcmPr_BBYzJzxslmiP8AI6qXZo8Pb-LvSiGaYPPivfsncpTwCeiXvdNJnhyFMs/s1600/20171206_202326.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7Vg-G-57okXNnfmArZbBOGd-qzkwCYZK5rE2gG055mcR79181e2FYii1asnbec9yNG-WI-R2PDwE5EgcmPr_BBYzJzxslmiP8AI6qXZo8Pb-LvSiGaYPPivfsncpTwCeiXvdNJnhyFMs/s400/20171206_202326.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There was a caveat that took me a few days to work out. Direct from the factory the FT232 USB-serial chip has its signals inverted. This is correct as it actually converts from TTL to USB, expecting another chip to do level shifting up to the +/-12v that is RS232. But the chip makers have thought of that. They have a tool on their drivers website that allows you to change the signalling on any of the pins. I inverted DTR and RTS so that they would go high when applied thus powering the LED in the opto-isolator. </div>
<span id="goog_502133369"></span><span id="goog_502133370"></span><br />
The Bill Of Materials is quite trivial;<br />
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<ul>
<li>FTDI FT232RL USB to Serial chip x1</li>
<li>10K x1</li>
<li>1K x3</li>
<li>3MM LED x1</li>
<li>0.1uf x2</li>
<li>10uF x1</li>
<li>Mini-USB 'B' x1</li>
<li>4N25 x2</li>
<li>3.5mm audio socket x3</li>
<li>42TM016 600:600 audio transformer x2</li>
<li>PS/2 6 pin mini DIN socket x1</li>
</ul>
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Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-58000660981752246722017-10-23T15:31:00.004-04:002023-02-24T15:05:10.690-05:00Remote control of your radio via "CAT"I've moved into a new house. The only room in the house conducive to radio is a conservatory or sun room at the back of the house. But It's not ideal for all the trappings of ham radio and so I looked into some sort of remote control over my house data LAN from my study in the attic.<br />
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I'm not going to document here what I did but I used Ham Radio Deluxe on a small footprint Windows PC and was able to remotely control it with HRD installed on my Linux box. It all works like a dream. It uses something called CAT or Computer Aided Transceiver which is just a fancy way of saying that the computer can control the radio.<br />
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Well, works like a dream might be a bit of a stretch. It _was_ working like a dream. Then suddenly it stopped working. So I descend the 3 floors down to the sun room only to discover that the radio was being controlled by a different sort of CAT.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48rYfg0waHs_zJEzl8f6bGhJ9Wry7E-TO1Bk68ZhSRpTnClinCq6maYRpjKYW5hTYnqPfUy6bkjHUC4jSzxuGRHKQliTosozszS6pzlEtSkOuKzpJaqIZLdeSVRn06fzn6xO6BcVj2VUb/s1600/20171022_093914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48rYfg0waHs_zJEzl8f6bGhJ9Wry7E-TO1Bk68ZhSRpTnClinCq6maYRpjKYW5hTYnqPfUy6bkjHUC4jSzxuGRHKQliTosozszS6pzlEtSkOuKzpJaqIZLdeSVRn06fzn6xO6BcVj2VUb/s400/20171022_093914.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Meet Elvis. He likes to sit on electronics. I assume it's because they get warm?Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-23215806401695101902017-09-02T17:12:00.003-04:002023-02-25T22:22:03.584-05:00Folding Solar PanelI own a 120W solar panel which is great for recharging my batteries when I'm camping and doing outdoor radio activities. The problem with it is that it's too big. I cannot get it into my car easily. So the obvious thing would be to get a smaller panel. OK, but smaller means less power and oddly, they are more expensive than larger ones when converted to "$$ per Watt".<br />
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The obvious solution was to buy a folding solar panel. It would deliver the power I want and also fit into the car. However, have you looked at the price of folding panels? They run about 3 times the price of a non-folding one at the same power output. No thanks.<br />
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So what to do? How about I build my own!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVpPmKk-5OInFYLwfdXNyKfya2F2TJt494pDXh8DsZ2mb5GswGjE5GkRM0KDnS9IUohMru8CGeRwBXKME6PCGREvz3t2NHVNmiZ-ofEli3miZ8OYeivd_OD-Js_T0Xfhqok09LJhwK8eZ/s1600/20170802_194143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVpPmKk-5OInFYLwfdXNyKfya2F2TJt494pDXh8DsZ2mb5GswGjE5GkRM0KDnS9IUohMru8CGeRwBXKME6PCGREvz3t2NHVNmiZ-ofEli3miZ8OYeivd_OD-Js_T0Xfhqok09LJhwK8eZ/s640/20170802_194143.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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So that's what I did. I was able to source some 40W panels from Amazon for $55 each including shipping. A continuous or "piano" hinge, a pair of sash window locks and a handle were all that was needed to complete this project.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihb4z5vXs0k1AdihYE_bV8ivsFiEEPh1Dh9dcZdpDEakL814DoFO_W0eteWIX6i2zPNeSrOxu7nhRdr0iDOhWX-6rARx33F25znUZVESPFKDpMEV-kGbbmQiOmeWQWlItewabiFIalcCaZ/s1600/20170802_221949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihb4z5vXs0k1AdihYE_bV8ivsFiEEPh1Dh9dcZdpDEakL814DoFO_W0eteWIX6i2zPNeSrOxu7nhRdr0iDOhWX-6rARx33F25znUZVESPFKDpMEV-kGbbmQiOmeWQWlItewabiFIalcCaZ/s640/20170802_221949.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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Here we see the back side of the panels. I used the hinge as a template to drill holes for the rivets I used to secure the hinge to the panel. Once the hinge was installed it was on to the wiring. The panels had a nice box on the back where the connections were made. Opening the box revealed 2 screw terminals. It was a simple job to add a pair of ring terminals to one of the wires and connect it to the other panel's junction box.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaM5LnaB8HzsuBiBlvXEfpkk3vF9kC09XDtSEzRp59jZRFtGB2tbCY-KOwdqgmourlPwycoHsllYfsJvBgvGaRyYgABxFnBoLOSlt-vmNBjLcJyQSLhystHzukyI0NHNWqZdNXSC7RH1OX/s1600/20170803_163305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaM5LnaB8HzsuBiBlvXEfpkk3vF9kC09XDtSEzRp59jZRFtGB2tbCY-KOwdqgmourlPwycoHsllYfsJvBgvGaRyYgABxFnBoLOSlt-vmNBjLcJyQSLhystHzukyI0NHNWqZdNXSC7RH1OX/s400/20170803_163305.jpg" width="225" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitfd8vM6bA5gvYU7kOAPN-WVAwwDGTiYoIZsNUBkO1HOsZksgfuLKj56IC3UxMvIpO3AQUp0dJnpoj8Ra9_QZp0kwvP48LyS5MRgv6C-s2NojM5VvBMDjfBC8qotuD0CibTlC9bANYaS9i/s1600/20170803_162721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitfd8vM6bA5gvYU7kOAPN-WVAwwDGTiYoIZsNUBkO1HOsZksgfuLKj56IC3UxMvIpO3AQUp0dJnpoj8Ra9_QZp0kwvP48LyS5MRgv6C-s2NojM5VvBMDjfBC8qotuD0CibTlC9bANYaS9i/s400/20170803_162721.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfG_W1m-UeBSsy17qqXRWkHNNysuRqR_CghW2Qnh24DkM1zcTF3Lmzsxug-hBLoD7E0lC4Hjq_oFL1QaraQx9QoDh7SlPE-0NGCi_J4gHW5-KALyfPug8ooaXv7r8qohRpu40P22xCPt7/s1600/20170803_163135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfG_W1m-UeBSsy17qqXRWkHNNysuRqR_CghW2Qnh24DkM1zcTF3Lmzsxug-hBLoD7E0lC4Hjq_oFL1QaraQx9QoDh7SlPE-0NGCi_J4gHW5-KALyfPug8ooaXv7r8qohRpu40P22xCPt7/s400/20170803_163135.jpg" width="225" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbmCv8YiyGy6Ej-_HhbFqfEfINCTcQtB5gilHk-JmBKGL8Nlm-Anc6Wr_cn2Ftv4KeBCvcOY3OShoKddx1aIltjKpcY9F8oiaBS9B9A-AWg6_8-M1IPdNrUGX0AyHv9Bv0nidAky9KfDN/s1600/20170803_163203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKbmCv8YiyGy6Ej-_HhbFqfEfINCTcQtB5gilHk-JmBKGL8Nlm-Anc6Wr_cn2Ftv4KeBCvcOY3OShoKddx1aIltjKpcY9F8oiaBS9B9A-AWg6_8-M1IPdNrUGX0AyHv9Bv0nidAky9KfDN/s400/20170803_163203.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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So what was the point of making this? Look at the picture below. This is me and my telescope equipment. I took my family to see the Great American Solar Eclipse (August 21st 2017). Powering their devices and all of my telescope gear, laptops etc took quite a bit of power. I was able to do this by using a large deep cycle marine battery and this solar panel (and the relevant charge controllers etc). Look closely just below the bottom left corner of the black box housing the laptop. You can see the panel on the ground.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikT9DHBkqFO4JXrrYJBbCi9nHJGtAb7beqIJZfFlaIX3IqIVRLIHY1mPJCYuQmMS0DrAfVB3B1P2VFi4SH8LUy8ea5XnFt3CN8tSNcby8uRKJAwZ6M_ax5sonhUKxJn-_4WdNcbbE2_NNR/s1600/20170821_150601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1293" data-original-width="1600" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikT9DHBkqFO4JXrrYJBbCi9nHJGtAb7beqIJZfFlaIX3IqIVRLIHY1mPJCYuQmMS0DrAfVB3B1P2VFi4SH8LUy8ea5XnFt3CN8tSNcby8uRKJAwZ6M_ax5sonhUKxJn-_4WdNcbbE2_NNR/s400/20170821_150601.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Oh66WBVuiLFeiNTvLCSf9lYopuw4ifvCrGY6Sx3L2mR-Lo_PkvoC-J0fCZhOToUiKp9aT5diY4FRh0LERefD4mTfpQ_msZThCSiC752ZiaDt1VnARzyDx_x0nT2RIrvaHNTSfWi_P0eo/s1600/20170821_143348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="1600" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Oh66WBVuiLFeiNTvLCSf9lYopuw4ifvCrGY6Sx3L2mR-Lo_PkvoC-J0fCZhOToUiKp9aT5diY4FRh0LERefD4mTfpQ_msZThCSiC752ZiaDt1VnARzyDx_x0nT2RIrvaHNTSfWi_P0eo/s400/20170821_143348.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7927216622987452317.post-34333815047811832992017-08-16T08:55:00.001-04:002023-02-24T15:05:21.630-05:00Solar powered GMRS repeaterI recently made a solar powered GMRS repeater for use on a remote farm. The largest building on the property is the barn and so this was chosen as the home for the machine.<br />
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So this is the almost finished repeater mounted onto the wall of the barn. There are still a few jobs to complete such as running the antenna coax and mounting the solar panel outside. We ran out of time before the summer storms came and we had to go home. Luckily we'll be back there shortly so can finish it up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4GdEuQpaXyebY9bqFKiJOXQamhdnMVfVlI1A9GLY_PJXXXuTxqftd1mRi_ba4B3IesF704wzB9Terw8wkEACMjA53mQrjAzuzc1K_KA_lfKIbypFcNPgkdKYfhqVteCH9waUL3wL_r3E/s1600/20170807_131545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4GdEuQpaXyebY9bqFKiJOXQamhdnMVfVlI1A9GLY_PJXXXuTxqftd1mRi_ba4B3IesF704wzB9Terw8wkEACMjA53mQrjAzuzc1K_KA_lfKIbypFcNPgkdKYfhqVteCH9waUL3wL_r3E/s400/20170807_131545.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's a simple setup consisting of 2 UHF Motorola SM50's, a "mobile" cavity filter, Raspberry Pi 3 running SVXLink repeater software, solar charge controller, 35 Amp lawn mower battery and various wires and connectors. Oh, and a solar panel and antenna. Total cost for this machine was about $325.<br />
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<br />Mark/NI2Ohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10044007094008226518noreply@blogger.com1