Photos from Raspberry Pi running fldigi 27 - March - 2013
Posted by k9zw in Amateur Radio, K9ZW, K9ZW Just Rambled, K9ZW Operations.Tags: fldigi, K9ZW, K9ZW Just Rambled, Raspberry Pi
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K9ZW Raspberry Pi running fldigi
Here is the overall setup. I don’t usually get to set computers up on the kitchen table.
fldigi running Feld Hellschreiber in transmit mode.
Haven’t put it on the air yet – still trying to resolve some of the artifacts from processor overloading.
This is the Raspberry Pi itself, cased in a Pi-Shell.
Lots of cables.
I picked a decent powered hub, and power the Raspberry Pi itself from the hub.
I tried a less costly hub and had keyboard issues wwwwwhhhhhhheeeeeerrrrrreeee it couldn’t read the keyboard and other random reboots.
I really needed the first book. I haven’t dug into the second one yet.
Here is the Raspbian Wheezy default desktop.
73
Steve
K9ZW
K9ZW Computers in the Shack 17 - February - 2013
Posted by k9zw in Amateur Radio, Flex-6000, FlexRadio Systems, K9ZW, K9ZW Just Rambled, K9ZW Shack.Tags: Begali CW Machine, fldigi, Flex-5000, Flex-6000, FlexRadio Systems, K9ZW, K9ZW Just Rambled, MacLoggerDX, MixW, OS-X, PowerSDR, SmartSDR, Windows
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Boy do I have a mess in the shack – several computers not very well coordinated due to a split vision and having been acquired over too much time.
My Flex-5000A with PowerSDR runs on a 4-5 year old Dell tower that really isn’t adequate. Some of my peeves with PowerSDR can be lain at the feet of a marginal computer. Dual core Windows-XP box with not really that much going for it, the highlight is having dual screens and the requisite Firewire port.
Elsewhere in the house I do all writing, and all my “home work” from work, on an early Aluminum MacBook. This is the smallest & slowest MacBook but is running the latest Mountain Lion.
For portable operations I retired a now defunct IBM Thinkpad and replaced it with a decent Windows XP-Pro larger Thinkpad. Nothing fancy but when a decent battery was added it is close to a portable version of the Dell Tower.
Retired, but lingering around are a MacMini (early series) that my youngest bloated the hard disk gaming and won’t run. Have been meaning to see if I can coax the machine back to life, at least enough to rescue pictures.
An older G5 iMac is around too – it was one that the power supply had the counterfeit capacitor issue, fixed under “quiet recall” and hasn’t really been used since.
Then my newest computer is running on my project’s desk – a Raspberry Pi. A neat little ARM based Linux computer, it has been running as a “burn-in” on the desk.
There are enough parts and licenses to put together a few wobbly generic PC’s with either Linux installs or using one of the Window’s Licenses if Microsoft will issue a key for replacement hardware.
Looking forward my wants and needs are:
- Running PowerSDR for the Flex-5000A (Windows)
- Running SmartSDR for the upcoming Flex-6000 (Windows)
- Running EZNEC Antenna Modeling (Windows)
- Running N4PY for the TenTec Pegasus and Jupiter (Windows)
- Running MixW, JT65HF, DDUTIL, PowerMaster and similar station accessory programs (Windows)
- Running the Bengali CW Software (Windows)
- Running fldigi and related programs (Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux)
- Running MacLoggerDX (Mac OSX)
- Running CocoaModem (Mac OSX)
- Running cocoaNEC (Mac OSX)
- Running Sibelius Music Software (Windows or Max OSX)
- Running Noteworthy Composer (Windows)
- Running Scrivener (Complex Document Editing) Software (Windows or Mac OSX)
- Full Word Processing Software – needs to exchange files with MS Word (Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux)
- Full Spreadsheet Software – needs to exchange files with MS Excel (Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux)
- Full Presentation Software – needs to exchange files with MS Powerpoint (Windows, Mac OSX, or Linux)
- Service my iPod – (Windows or Mac OSX)
- Downloading and Organizing my Photos (prefer Mac OSX)
Then after that I get into things I do occasionally, rather than regularly.
Really looks like two avenues of choice – an Apple iMac or MacPro with Bootcamp or Parallels to run Windows, or two separate machines with one Windows and one OSX basis (also perhaps running Bootcamp or Parallels as well.)
The new iMac really is a looker – and my Apple experience is much more positive than my Windows experience.
But then there are the Flex-5000A’s PowerSDR and Firewire needs.
Presently I am leaning to upgrading the shack’s Dell with a roll-you-own Windows-7 box AND replace the MacBook with an iMac running Parallels/Win-7.
The MacPro is pricy enough that it is not really justifiable for home use, but wow it would be sweet.
How would you set this up?
73
Steve
K9ZW
For Want of Nail, Nothing Like an Upgrade to Peak Interest, and Playing with Go-Kit Gear 23 - May - 2012
Posted by k9zw in Amateur Radio, K9ZW, K9ZW Just Rambled, K9ZW Operations.Tags: fldigi, Hellschreiber, JT65, K9ZW, K9ZW Just Rambled, KC9FVR, Midnight Solutions, NUE-PSK, PSK31, SGC 2020, Small Wonder Labs
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In the run up to Dayton my Shack Computer had been acting up. Latency Spikes and gremlins that were giving PowerSDR no end of grief. Thought a decent dual-core Dell, I was even considering replacing the machine.
Troubleshooting found only erratic symptoms. The underlying cause(s) just weren’t easily found.
On return from Dayton middle son Winston KC9FVR/AG asked if we could run up the station so he could try some PSK31, having been reading the Digital HF book bought at the ARRL booth. We couldn’t get things to run very smoothly and after a very rapid shutdown in response to a sudden lightening storm powerful enough to set fire to buildings only 10 blocks away, the system would no longer recognize the Flex-5000A hardware.
Utilities and Testing showed that the OEM Dell Firewire card gave up the ghost.
Quick research at the Flex-Radio Knowledge Center & Forum Archives identified the best cards for performance and roughly $25 later a card was on its way rushing from Amazon.
Took the downtime to do ALL updates – from BIOS to any driver/software/system update that could be done. Also left the machine running a very in-depth anti-virus scan which ran overnight (all clean enough to pass).
The new card was truly PnP (Plug-n-Play) and despite having a different chipset than advertised (putting it into an OK-class rather than preferred-class for PowerSDR use) the system quickly reinstalled the “Found New Hardware” of the Flex-5000A.
Operator error led me to fight with VAC (Virtual Audio Cables) and settings – trouble I could have avoided by a simple reboot.
Once running it was lickety-split to help Winston KC9FVR/AG put a handful of PSK31 QSOs under his belt.
The drive that comes from a fresh license upgrade and an experimenter’s mindset had Winston KC9FVR/AG quickly asking – can I run fldigi from my Linux Thinkpad using some of your other gear?
So to the garage to raid the go-kit stash.
Up went the 20m Hamstick Dipole on 12 feet of surplus cameo-poles and a trial of a Small Wonder Labs PSK-20 I had ended up with somewhere along the way.
We had little joy with this setup, and it is uncertain if the PSK-20 is needing repairs or if we were struggling with Linux sound issues.
So out came the SGC-2020 Transceiver and the NUE-PSK Modem. This combination hadn’t really been used. The NUE-PSK modem had come back a few weeks ago from a full update at Midnight Solutions bringing it up to Version 5 with all the add-on features, and the transceiver had been run but once.
Plugged in the SGC-2020 and cabled up the NUE-PSK and “PING” we were on the air just that quick.
Winston KC9FVR/AG complete a QSO and then declared the micro-keyboard “worse than texting” and dug out an old full sized IBM clicky-clicky keyboard which worked wonderful.
Of course we weren’t about to read the manuals any further than the absolute basics to get things running, so we were hand-typing everything. Macros are for sissies (or for those who read the manuals).
Winston KC9FVR/AG downloaded a PSK31 app for his Android Phone and it was neat to see it decode from the speaker’s sound output.
I ran a handful of QSOs (it is sure a lot easier to type “K9ZW” than what it took him to type “KC9FVR/AG”) before we put the station away (took ten minutes to pick up everything and store it again.)
My go-kit HF gear did digital just fine! Power needs are such that I think I could get more than 12-18 hours of full duty out of each of the gell-cells I have set aside from their storage charge levels, and days if they were topped off first.
Remember that “spark of interest” that comes with a fresh license upgrade? Well it was back down to the shack to run a couple 20m & 160m JT65 demo contacts before promising each other that we would run some Hellschreiber on the weekend.
A couple things learned – in terms of the station the dead firewire card really put the main station out of commission. “For want of a Nail” they say the battle was lost, and for want of a working firewire port the station was off the air. Critical Key Component Dependency is not unique to an SDR setup, as most stations lack backups for mission critical items. Almost nobody has a spare for each item in their station.
Then the joy of seeing an inquisitive mind wanting to explore amateur radio shouldn’t be missing from an operator’s life. It was wonderful to help Winston KC9FVR/AG explore digital-HF and heartwarming that he would only let this father retire for the evening by making a promise for “more radios, more!” on the weekend!
And lastly that it is great fun to pull out the go-kit gear and give it a whirl. Couldn’t think of a finer father-son activity to put one’s work day aside.
73
Steve
K9ZW
