November 21, 2025: This is the pre-Thanksgiving edition. The big issue I faced this week was resolving the problems with my AllStarLink node, my SIP phone, and Hams Over IP. No issue next week!
Tom, first and foremost I think you should handle your Random Wire writing in a way that works for you! I will assume it evolved into what it is because it works for you. I personally enjoy separate articles in separate posts with more posts per week as they're written. However, there's nothing stopping me from reading an article, doing something else, then returning to RW until I'm finished. Since you post late in the week, this gives me something to read on Fridays and Saturdays as my time and attention span permit. I do the same thing with Steve's Zero Retries. Between the two of you I have lots to read, think about, and explore further when appropriate. So, keep it long, whether you break it up into smaller bytes or keep it long form as it is now. It ain't broke; don't fix it. 73, Paul - N4FTD
There's a Raspberry Pi image available for Allstar. That's what we used and it works very well on an RP4. Even setting up SIP phones and an outgoing radio using a soft phone app on the Pi worked fairly well. I know that many people prefer the NUC-sized PCs instead of Raspberry Pi hardware but it is an option.
I've used the Debian image on a big server and the Raspberry Pi-flavored ones on RPis. They do work well. I think what I was getting at was using virtual machines to deploy nodes. I did that once and after I figured out the IP addressing, it worked well.
Someone was working on a Docker image back in 2023. No word if it got beyond the testing stage. But that would be a great solution for those of us running beefier servers instead of a bunch of small dedicated machines.
Oh that is interesting. I was unaware. I've installed ASL into a VirtualBox VM and it worked fine. But VirtualBox can be a bit heavy on overhead resource usage.
I have been absent from the arts and science of radio for about thirty years. I am struggling to go “digital” and your pubs are a good aid to help me get up to speed while having fun.
Do you have any recommendation for a comprehensive text on the state of the art from a digital perspective? Suggestions would be appreciated.
Phil, this is a topic that Steve Stroh (https://www.zeroretries.org/) and I discuss frequently. I know he is working on a book. I might contribute AllStarLink information to his effort.
Is there such a thing as a high-level overview? Not a good one, not that I know of. I had just started to build out some of that information (see this work in progress: https://wiki.etherham.com/modes) when my spouse had a major medical event that derailed this effort. I hope to return to it soon.
Phil - As Tom mentioned, I'm working on exactly such a book, and it's (in my opinion) very sorely needed as the information about Amateur Radio digital / data just isn't out there in something like book form. Even the venerable ARRL Handbook is badly dated (and I contributed one of the sections on data last year) and not comprehensive. So, hang in there, and your best education would be reading the back issues of Random Wire and Zero Retries from the beginning. With each new issue, you'll learn what we learned over the weeks, months, and years and brought forward to our readers. Steve N8GNJ - https://www.zeroretries.org
until now I did not take time to wade through the long form email, partly because it was not easy to quickly locate everything on a narrow particular topic. But I want to engage more and finally am reading everything in your long form, and enjoying it.. Please dont decrease the info but consider brevity or an introductory/conclusory paragraph on each topic. A summary paragraph or bullet points on each topic is golden. Please consider splitting up your subject matter into several common categories, and to delegate editorship of at least some categories (like columns in a magazine or newspaper) to someone else. For example, a regular section on radio and of digital comm related meetings planet wide; a section on activity with existing common amateur radio digital modes; a section on recently emerged or new digital modes; a section on new technology publications and news such as new chips and transistors for communication; a section on news regarding assisting new entrants in the field and student training/assistance; maybe a section on the state of repeaters/news of use and redeplayments along with citations to countrywide placements..........
Great issue as always, Tom. Don't dumb it down or shorten it up. We have plenty of that already in Amateur Radio media and not nearly enough deep and detailed technical information like what you present. (But I'm probably a bit biased.) I'll miss Random Wire next week, but understood - it's going to be a really packed week for you. Thanks for the mention of the m1ke pouch - now ordered.
Thank you! I appreciate the help. I'm thinking I don't really need to have a "node in the cloud" if I can reliably access my "home" node from outside my LAN.
Tom, first and foremost I think you should handle your Random Wire writing in a way that works for you! I will assume it evolved into what it is because it works for you. I personally enjoy separate articles in separate posts with more posts per week as they're written. However, there's nothing stopping me from reading an article, doing something else, then returning to RW until I'm finished. Since you post late in the week, this gives me something to read on Fridays and Saturdays as my time and attention span permit. I do the same thing with Steve's Zero Retries. Between the two of you I have lots to read, think about, and explore further when appropriate. So, keep it long, whether you break it up into smaller bytes or keep it long form as it is now. It ain't broke; don't fix it. 73, Paul - N4FTD
There's a Raspberry Pi image available for Allstar. That's what we used and it works very well on an RP4. Even setting up SIP phones and an outgoing radio using a soft phone app on the Pi worked fairly well. I know that many people prefer the NUC-sized PCs instead of Raspberry Pi hardware but it is an option.
https://allstarlink.github.io/install/pi-appliance/pi-detailed/
I've used the Debian image on a big server and the Raspberry Pi-flavored ones on RPis. They do work well. I think what I was getting at was using virtual machines to deploy nodes. I did that once and after I figured out the IP addressing, it worked well.
Someone was working on a Docker image back in 2023. No word if it got beyond the testing stage. But that would be a great solution for those of us running beefier servers instead of a bunch of small dedicated machines.
https://community.allstarlink.org/t/asl-docker-image/17316
Oh that is interesting. I was unaware. I've installed ASL into a VirtualBox VM and it worked fine. But VirtualBox can be a bit heavy on overhead resource usage.
Tom —
I have been absent from the arts and science of radio for about thirty years. I am struggling to go “digital” and your pubs are a good aid to help me get up to speed while having fun.
Do you have any recommendation for a comprehensive text on the state of the art from a digital perspective? Suggestions would be appreciated.
Phil Feigel
N5PLS
prfeigel@yahoo.com
Phil, this is a topic that Steve Stroh (https://www.zeroretries.org/) and I discuss frequently. I know he is working on a book. I might contribute AllStarLink information to his effort.
Is there such a thing as a high-level overview? Not a good one, not that I know of. I had just started to build out some of that information (see this work in progress: https://wiki.etherham.com/modes) when my spouse had a major medical event that derailed this effort. I hope to return to it soon.
Phil - As Tom mentioned, I'm working on exactly such a book, and it's (in my opinion) very sorely needed as the information about Amateur Radio digital / data just isn't out there in something like book form. Even the venerable ARRL Handbook is badly dated (and I contributed one of the sections on data last year) and not comprehensive. So, hang in there, and your best education would be reading the back issues of Random Wire and Zero Retries from the beginning. With each new issue, you'll learn what we learned over the weeks, months, and years and brought forward to our readers. Steve N8GNJ - https://www.zeroretries.org
until now I did not take time to wade through the long form email, partly because it was not easy to quickly locate everything on a narrow particular topic. But I want to engage more and finally am reading everything in your long form, and enjoying it.. Please dont decrease the info but consider brevity or an introductory/conclusory paragraph on each topic. A summary paragraph or bullet points on each topic is golden. Please consider splitting up your subject matter into several common categories, and to delegate editorship of at least some categories (like columns in a magazine or newspaper) to someone else. For example, a regular section on radio and of digital comm related meetings planet wide; a section on activity with existing common amateur radio digital modes; a section on recently emerged or new digital modes; a section on new technology publications and news such as new chips and transistors for communication; a section on news regarding assisting new entrants in the field and student training/assistance; maybe a section on the state of repeaters/news of use and redeplayments along with citations to countrywide placements..........
I was able to reach the node webpage here in Victoria, BC.
Great issue as always, Tom. Don't dumb it down or shorten it up. We have plenty of that already in Amateur Radio media and not nearly enough deep and detailed technical information like what you present. (But I'm probably a bit biased.) I'll miss Random Wire next week, but understood - it's going to be a really packed week for you. Thanks for the mention of the m1ke pouch - now ordered.
I can access your node 588418 AllScan page from my Chrome browser.
Thank you! I appreciate the help. I'm thinking I don't really need to have a "node in the cloud" if I can reliably access my "home" node from outside my LAN.
I connected to your node and all was well!