Random Wire Review 76: February 8, 2024

A few interesting items, plus radio plans during my week in San Diego

Feb 09, 2024

Interesting items this week
- AllStarLink: getting started
- Boondock Echo
- Tailscale on the Raspberry Pi
- Free Book: Magic Band Revealed
Radio plans while in San Diego
- California Storms: Amateur Radio is Ready
- Travel radio: Yaesu VX-6R
- AllStarLink on the iPhone

This edition of Random Wire Review is brief because I’m scrambling madly to get packed for an early departure tomorrow morning. I’ll be attending a week-long national meeting on natural resources conservation.

Interesting items this week

AllStarLink: getting started

For a most succinct “how to get started with AllStarLink” link, visit https://www.qsl.net/w2ymm/myallstarlink.html. While some of the information linked from that page is out of date, the foundation pieces are there.

Boondock Echo

I really don’t quite “get it” when it comes to the Boondock Echo device. See https://www.boondockecho.com/ for more about it. From their website:

We provide sophisticated and seamless communication experience that revolutionizes the way you use two-way radios. Boondock Echo is an internet-backed recording and playback device that denoises, transcribes, translates, and more!

The uses cases for this device simply escape me. If someone understands how this would be a useful addition to an amateur radio station, please do let me know!

Tailscale on the Raspberry Pi

I’ve mentioned before that I like to install Tailscale on my devices. I did install it on my new Raspberry Pi 400 single board computer with keyboard. Find step-by-step instructions at https://pimylifeup.com/raspberry-pi-tailscale/. I share this because a few readers reached out privately to ask how I went about installing Tailscale on my AllStarLink nodes. The PiMyLifeUp link provides a great start.

Free book: Magic Band Revealed

If you’ve ever been curious about the 6-meter band, check out Magic Band Revealed at https://www.amateurradio.com/magic-band-revealed/. Near the end of the article is a link to a free PDF download of Magic Band Revealed by Jim Wilson K5ND.

Ham Radio Workbench: 200th Anniversary Show

I spent a lot of time driving and my very favorite way to think about ham radio and learn new things is to listen to the Ham Radio Workbench podcast. Their 200th anniversary show dropped on February 6th, and as with all of their episodes, I recommend spending some time with this great team of amateur radio operators.

Find it at https://www.hamradioworkbench.com/podcast.

Radio plans while in San Diego

California Storms: Amateur Radio is Ready

Considering that I’m flying to San Diego at dawn tomorrow (Friday, February 9), this news items seems particularly timely.

Link: https://www.eham.net/news/view-news-item?id=50547

For those who haven’t been following the rain in California:

Southern California continues to feel the effects of a significant rain event that began last week, bringing record rainfall, landslides, and hurricane-strength winds. The heavy rain is the result of two atmospheric rivers, referred to as "Pineapple Expresses" because of their origins near Hawaii. Nearly half a year's worth of rain has fallen in two days. Since Sunday, February 4, areas in Los Angeles County have seen nearly one foot of rain, which has now moved east into western Arizona, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah, raising the risk of flash flooding in those areas.

The extended forecasts I’ve seen for San Diego call for mid-60s (Fahrenheit) temperatures and partly cloudy. (I prefer to think of this as partly sunny!) Nothing dramatic facing me in San Diego for the next week, if the weather prognosticators are close to accurate!

Travel radio: Yaesu VX-6R

Yes, my well-loved travel radio is not the most modern tech, a Yaesu VX-6R handie talkie. It’s a rugged tri-bander that is submersible and has wide receiver coverage. It’s a great little radio for listening in on many parts of the radio spectrum. While I like those attributes, the reasons I keep it near me are (1) I trust it and (2) it feels just right in my hand. A reliable, trusty radio is a beautiful thing.

I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to hear, though. An amateur radio friend in La Jolla tells me most of the repeaters are up in the mountains about 25 miles away. It’s unclear why there aren’t repeaters on the taller buildings in downtown San Diego or even at Naval Base San Diego.

AllStarLink on the iPhone

I’ll also take my older iPhone with RepeaterPhone installed on it for connecting to AllStarLink nets. While I’ve used DVSwitch on my Android phone, it has never felt very stable. A few months ago I bought a used Apple iPhone, primarily for using with AllStarLink while traveling. That package has worked very well over wifi so I added some capability by getting a Google Fi SIM card for the phone. So far, I’m very pleased with this setup, and I have a backup phone to use while traveling if that becomes necessary. The $7.99 cost for the RepeaterPhone app is, to me, worth every penny.