Random Wire 96: June 28, 2024
WIRES-X Nets, leaving a legacy, node recovery, Node Remote app, Meshtastic, and I pulled my Ten-Tec Scout out of storage!
Contents
0. Notes
1. WIRES-X Nets
1.1 Links to nets
1.2 WIRES-X net schedule
2. Net Question: What is Your Legacy?
3. YSF Node Failure and Recovery
4. Node Remote App for AllStar Nodes
5. Meshtastic Base Node Redux
6. Closing Notes
6.1 SHARI node telemetry
6.2 Field Day photos and audio
0. Notes
NOTE 1: I’m sitting in my local Honda dealer’s showroom, editing this issue of the Random Wire while my vehicle is being serviced. Many years ago (nearly 50, actually) I sold cars for a Ford dealership. What an eye-opening experience that was for a young, naive fellow! In some ways, showrooms haven’t changed. Salespeople still lurk where they can see the doors and people driving onto the car lot. But in other ways, the showroom is a much more relaxed place with more customer seating and even places to work…almost like being in a hotel. This waiting area even has a snack bar!
NOTE 2: As I prepare to capture some audio clips (I just purchased: Zoom H4n Pro All Black 4-Track Portable Recorder) from various modes to share via my new podcast feed, I am feeling particularly thankful for digital voice modes. As my age (I know, it’s just a number!) continues to creep upwards, I recognize that my hearing is not as good as it used to be. My hearing sensitivity is somewhat reduced so clarity of voices becomes more important. I use DMR, D-Star, AllStarLink (ASL), C4FM/Yaesu System Fusion (YSF), and rarely, Echolink. Of these, I find DMR, ASL, and YSF the nicest to listen to. Of these, YSF is, to my ears, the clearest audio when signals are strong. (I suppose that hearing is personal in the same way that we don’t all see the same colors.) For me, I would rank them with YSF in first, then ASL, with DMR in third place, but truth be told, they are so wonderfully close in audio quality that it doesn’t really matter.
NOTE 3: I pulled out my venerable Tec-Tec Scout 555 transceiver this week. I picked up some CW on 17 meters using a really poor antenna. There is a certain kind of joy to be had when using a very simple radio: power on, rotate the tuning knob, and enjoy!
NOTE 4: The Fourth of July holiday (aka Independence Day) will occur before the next issue of the Random Wire Review on July 5. I hope you take a moment to reflect on what it meant to form a new country and shape it over the years. It wasn’t easy then and it isn’t easy now. This grand experiment continues to evolve. I wish us all well!
1. WIRES-X Nets
Says Yaesu:
WIRES (Wide-coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System) is an Internet communication system which expands the range of amateur radio communication. For WIRES-X, an amateur node station connecting to the Internet is used as the access point and connects the wireless communication to the Internet. Users' stations can communicate with other amateur stations all over the world using a node within the radio wave range.
1.1 Links to nets
I know this list is woefully incomplete, but here are some of the nets I try to catch when I can. I’ve organized these by day with nets available every day of the week.
You can schedule a few ahead of time on your calendar, or if you pop into this newsletter on a whim, look at today in the list and find some nets! Alternatively, visit the list of active rooms and search for a term that appeals to you, such as “ragchew” or the name of your state.
Here’s a site you might not have stumbled across before: NetFinder. The link to Fusion nets is https://netfinder.radio/nets/modes/fusion.
HamNetList is another resource for Fusion nets: https://hamnetlist.blogspot.com/p/fusion-net-list.html
If all else fails, try a search using WIRES-X NET as the search term. You’ll find some state and country nets that way that are not in my list.
I tag most of the nets in my list in Central time simply because it’s an easy conversion whether you are east or west of that time zone. (United States time zones are shown at https://time.gov/.)
The Kansas City Wide system has nets almost every day of the week. Find net information at https://www.kansascityroom-wide.com/nets/. Also check out the Northwest Fusion Group and their Fusion nets.
Also, some of these folks have Facebook groups representing active communities of amateur radio operators. Links to three are below:
1.2 WIRES-X net schedule
DAILY
6:00 am UTC (1:00 am Central): Northwest Fusion Group Squirrel Net, an hour or more of gentle banter to start or end your day. All are welcome.
6:30 pm UK (12:30 pm Central): Northwest Fusion Group The Early Evening Net, everyone is welcome.
SUNDAY
10:00 pm UTC (5:00 pm Central): FediHams Net in Fusion room 73737.
MONDAY
8:00 pm Central: The POTA Net on America's Kansas City Wide Digital Network in WIRES-X room 28054. Discuss your POTA gear, your contacts, or tips on activating/hunting!
TUESDAY
6:00 pm Central: The Absolute Tech Net in Fusion room 32888.
WEDNESDAY
8:00 pm Central: The Digital Learning Net on Colorado Digital Multiprotocol Network in WIRES-X room 43674. Discuss everything about digital ham radio. Check in online and join the net with HAM.LIVE: https://www.ham.live. (I try to listen in on this net because it is always full of great information and people.)
THURSDAY
8:00 pm Central: Let's Talk Digital on America's Kansas City Wide Digital Network in WIRES-X room 28054. Check in online, chat, discuss, and ask questions. Join during the net with HAM.LIVE: https://www.ham.live
FRIDAY
8:00 pm Central: Gateway to the West Net on America's Kansas City Wide Digital Network in WIRES-X room 28054.
SATURDAY
5:00 pm Central: Food for Talk on America's Kansas City Wide Digital Network in WIRES-X room 28054. This is where farm families around the world share a little bit about who they are, where they live, and how they proudly grow or help feed our hungry world.
6:00 pm Central: Radio Check Net on America's Kansas City Wide Digital Network in WIRES-X room 28054. The net is designed to help people check out their radios.
8:00 pm Central: America Link’s Round Table Rag Chew in WIRES-X room 21080.
2. Net Question: What is Your Legacy?
A few weeks ago I was listening to the Worldwide Friendship Net (IRLP and Echolink) via the W7RAT repeater in Portland, Oregon. Check out the W7RAT status dashboard at http://www.pdxirlp.net/:
I hear this net before the Puget Sound Repeater Group’s Nine O’Clock Net comes on in the morning, and I often hear some of the same people checking into both nets.
Sometimes a net control operator will pose a question to help get conversation going on a net. It’s usually on a topic that is somewhat banal, like what is your favorite radio or what was your favorite car. However, on June 8th, net control posed a different, deeper question: what is your legacy? What do you want to be remembered for.
That is one thought-provoking question! I pondered this for the rest of my “pick up morning coffee” drive.
In my first career as an economic geologist, I found some ore deposits that later turned into gold mines. Those mining operations kept a lot of people employed.
During my five-year stint as a volunteer emergency medical technical and mine rescue EMT, I was blessed to be able to save some lives. Who knows what some of those people — and their descendants — will accomplish? Each person you meet may represent unlimited future potential!
For me, though, the legacy I hope will endure is working hard to build a better future for our children and their descendants. I have done this for 32 years through my work for and with conservation districts in the Pacific Northwest. That work continues to this day. I could retire now, but I still get far more joy than pain from my work. As long as that equation holds true, I’ll continue working in conservation.
I know that history will forget my name, but I also know that future generations will benefit from my investment of time, money, and energy today. My words don’t feel quite adequate so I’ll parrot the words of a friend who says it more simply than I can: my goal is to leave the campsite better than I found it.
3. YSF Node Failure and Recovery
Last week, I was away on work travel for several days. When I got home, I noticed my home-built hotspot was not responding. (This is a home-built hotspot that I only use for Yaesu System Fusion.) I think we had a power hiccup while I was away.
Nothing I did seemed to resolve the problem with the hotspot so I pulled out the microSD card and re-imaged it with a fresh image. Once that was done and I restarted the device, I went through several iterations to try to get it to see the Nextion display. Once that was resolved, I restored a previously saved configuration. With just a few more tweaks after that, it was up and working normally again.
I think what I’ll do next, though: make a clone of the working microSD card so that I don’t have to do that dance with the Nextion display again!
UPDATE: Yes, I did it. I cloned my working microSD card. More on this in next week’s Random Wire Review issue 97.
4. Node Remote App for AllStar Nodes
The Node Remote for AllStar Nodes app is available for Android and iOS devices.
I tested this on an Android smartphone. It is working, more or less. I can connect and disconnect to other nodes but the app is not showing any information about my node. That could be something about the way my node is configured, I suppose.
Note that this app does not allow you to transceive using your smartphone. It simply facilitates connecting to, and disconnecting from, other nodes. You can, of course, do this by logging into Supermon (or AllScan if you have that package installed), but it is a convenience to just pull out the phone and connect in moments.
Node Remote feels a little rough around the edges, as if it was a great start but then got set aside. I could be wrong. It does work, and that’s what really counts, right?
5. Meshtastic Base Node Redux
I wanted to connect my small Meshtastic unit without a battery running on my home network with my always-on ThinkStation P510 computer operating as a server. But guess what? No Bluetooth on the P510!
A deeper dive into the Windows Device Manager shows that the wifi card installed is a Dell Wireless 1705 802.11bgn device. Interestingly, Dell shows this card has Bluetooth…but it isn’t running on my system. This is an older card that is limited to 2.4GHz so it might be worth upgrading.
For now, though, I purchased a Bluetooth USB dongle to give me modern Bluetooth capability. The TP-Link device is labeled on Amazon as:
TP-Link USB Bluetooth Adapter for PC, Bluetooth 5.0/5.3 Dongle Receiver, Plug and Play, Nano Design, EDR & BLE, Supports Windows 11/10/8.1/7 for Desktop, Laptop, PS5/PS4/Xbox Controller (UB500)
The directions said to insert the device into a USB port, then download the driver. However, my Windows 11 Pro machine immediately recognized the device. I did not have to install a driver.
An older version that uses Bluetooth 4 is available but as long as I’m going to shell out a few bucks, I’ll go right to Bluetooth 5 for a few bucks more! A link to the TP-Link dongle is available on the support page.
6. Closing Notes
6.1 SHARI node telemetry
If you have a SHARI node and want to fiddle with whether telemetry announcements are made when the node starts up, you might think those configuration details are contained in the /etc/asterisk/rpt.conf file. Nope. Find them in the /usr/local/etc/allstar.env file. Google is usually my friend when searching for information like this, but I went down the wrong rabbit hole so it took an hour or so to actually find the correct information.
6.2 Field Day photos and audio
I visited the 2024 Field Day site presented by the Hoodview Amateur Radio Club (note: I am a member) on Larch Mountain, east of Portland, Oregon. A few photos from that event are at https://photos.app.goo.gl/HCo4ijb4taF6QnzV9 and club members hve posted more to Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/709367785838462.
I used my Zoom H4n Pro to capture an operator calling “CQ Field Day” at the very beginning of the 24-hour Field Day event. You’ll hear other sounds in the background and that’s because not only were there two stations operating in a small trailer, but a tour for visitors was occurring at the same time.
I serendipitously caught someone calling out “Field Day has started!” in the background of this clip:
I’ll share a bit more about Field Day next week.