Random Wire Review: Issue 122
February 28, 2025: New TechNote on using a softphone with Hamshack Hotline. Voice-over-IP services for amateur radio: Hamshack Hotline, Hams Over IP, and Amateur Wire are covered. Restoration book.
Contents
1. New TechNote: Using the Groundwire softphone with Hamshack Hotline
2. Hams Over IP service
2.1 Changes and getting support
2.2 Configuring the Polycom VVX 401 phone for HOIP
2.3 Problem resolved
3. Added Amateur Wire, because why not?
4. RF linking Hamshack Hotline to AllStarLink node
5. Accessing AllStar node with remote SIP phone
6. Book: Restoring Vintage Audio Electronics
7. Of clocks and watches
7.1 Geochron clocks
7.2 Elgin watch
8. Closing
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1. New TechNote: Using the Groundwire softphone with Hamshack Hotline
TechNote #6 covers using the Groundwire softphone application on your smartphone with Hamshack Hotline.
I know this will immediately cause some folks to exclaim: but this isn’t real amateur radio! They are right. It’s not purely RF, analog radio. But voice-over-ip systems are a great tool in this modern world, and Hamshack Hotline provides free VoIP service for licensed amateurs. It doesn’t have to be “real radio” to still be a useful tool as we operate and enjoy our radio hobby. How often do you use a smartphone or a computer to help you find information, load software, configure a radio, or communicate? Hamshack Hotline is no different: it’s an excellent tool, if you wish to use it.
Configuring Groundwire to use my Hamshack Hotline number means I have mobile access to other hams on HH, and it gives me access to my node-in-the-cloud anytime I have wifi or cellular coverage. For someone like me that is on the move a lot, that is a big advantage.
TechNotes available
TechNote 4: Configuring DVSwitch Mobile for your AllStar node
TechNote 6: Using the Groundwire softphone with Hamshack Hotline
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2. Hams Over IP Service
Since I took a dive into Hamshack Hotline in TechNote #6, I thought I should bring my Hams Over IP (“HOIP”) instance up to date. It has not been working for quite some time (since last fall, actually).
2.1 Changes and getting support
Since I got my HOIP number in 2023, much has changed in my setup. I’ve replaced my home router twice, and then took my two Cisco hard phones offline and replaced them with two Polycom VVX 401 devices. Also, the way the HOIP folks provide support has changed. While they still have a ticket system, a wiki system is a better place to start: https://hamsoverip.github.io/wiki/. On the wiki, they have a how-to for getting support, at: https://hamsoverip.github.io/wiki/General/user_guides/support/
I also discovered that their chat-based support has moved to Discord, Telegram, and Matrix. This is discussed at: https://hamsoverip.github.io/wiki/General/user_guides/chat-services/
To join their Discord, use the following link: https://discord.gg/6VgdWw3vM4
To join the Telegram group, please follow this link: https://t.me/hamsoverip
The best choice seems to be Discord, with more people there than the other two services.
(Matrix is an interesting option. I installed the https://matrix.org/ecosystem/clients/element/ software to test. HOIP says: “You can join our room at #hamsoverip:matrix.org or use this link: https://matrix.to/#/#hamsoverip:matrix.org. This room is also bridged into our Discord server in the lobby channel.” Since Discord seems to be the default, and since the Matrix room is bridged to HOIP’s Discord space, I’d lean toward using Discord.)
I used the Telegram group to get started and received immediate assistance. After I was put on a pathway to get the help I need, the person suggested I use Discord as it was more popular (as in: more people).
2.2 Configuring the Polycom VVX 401 phone for HOIP
I have a Hamshack Hotline (HH) number on my Polycom phone. HH likes to “take over” the phone (these are not their words but mine, and I don’t mean anything prejudicial against HH when I use that phrase). I was concerned that I would not get HOIP working, but stuck with it because early last fall, I did have both HH and HOIP services working on the same Cisco SPA525G phone.
I configured HOIP on my phone’s line 5. One point I’m not tickled about with the Polycom VVX 401 is I can’t just copy the configuration of one line to another line, and then tweak those settings in the new line. This also means it is tougher to move a service to a different line number because instead of copying-and-pasting, you must manually enter all of the values.
There is a way to do this, but it seems more error prone than using the web-based interface served from the phone. In Utilities, Import and Export Configuration, and Export Configuration, choosing “Web” will give you the configurations for each of your lines (but not including passwords).
The resulting .cfg file is an XML file, meaning it can be edited. The top of the file looks like this:
I did look at that for a few minutes and decided that no, I’d just use the web-based interface to configure each phone line!
Along the way, I learned that the password I had on file was not the correct password for HOIP. I had a 32-character password and HOIP support told me it should be shorter than that. After I corrected the password, I still got the “line unregistered” error message.
2.3 Problem resolved
With all of the configuration variations I tried, nothing worked. HOIP support was tremendous to work with, working on the problem for multiple days. Eventually, we discovered the cause of the problem: my home IP address was blocked on the HOIP system. Once they fixed this issue, my HOIP phone began working again.
Here’s what the configuration looks for my Hams Over IP number 100676 on my Polycom VVX 401 phone configuration for line 5:
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3. Added Amateur Wire, because why not?
As long as I was adding amateur radio-related voice-over-ip services to my SIP phone, I decided I should include Amateur Wire, too. Visit the Amateur Wire website at https://amateurwire.org/ to get started.
As with similar services, I provided a copy of my FCC-issued amateur radio license. Approval came within a day, along with the basic information I needed to configure my phone…except I had trouble with it. I fiddled around with different settings and then set it aside for a few days.
When I came back to it, I changed the entry in the address field in the identification section for line 6. The next morning, the light was green for my Amateur Wire number 1479. I was in business.
The configuration that worked for me looks like this on the Polycom VVX 401 phone:
Like Hamshack Hotline, Amateur Wire can be linked to an AllStar node. How to do this is described at https://amateurwire.org/?epkb_post_type_1=allstar-node-linking. Dialing options are at https://amateurwire.org/?epkb_post_type_1=dialing-options.
So now my phone’s first six lines include Hamshack Hotline, Hams Over IP, Amateur Wire, two voip.ms phone lines, and a link to my AllStar node 588416.
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4. RF linking Hamshack Hotline to AllStar node
When you connect your Hamshack Hotline (HH) phone to your AllStarLink node, the HH folks call it RF Linking.
The Hamshack Hotline (HH) allows extensions to be tied to an RF connection to allow others to dial in and use the RF link. Hamshack Hotline offers this service to AllStar RF node owners with the intention that you, the node owner, want to allow ALL HH users the ability to connect to your node.
I didn’t quite understand what this meant when I configured (with plenty of help from the HH Help Desk folks) my node-in-the-cloud to accept calls from my SIP phone. How does it work? Anyone with an HH extension can dial 94071 to connect with my ASL node 57945.
HH calls the 94071 number an “RF Extension,” I call it a room.
You can observe the connections made by visiting https://kj7t.net/allscan/. You do not need to be able to log into the AllScan instance to see connections. How do you connect to other nodes from the 94071 room? Use your phone’s keypad to send DTMF commands. The most important ones are:
Connect in transceiver mode: *3[node number]
Connect in monitor mode: *2[node number]
Disconnect from a node: *1[node number]
To transmit: *99
To stop transmitting: #
Example: To connect to the AllStarLink node 51018: *351018. To disconnect: *151018.
To connect in monitor mode to node 46331: *246331
My node 57945 is set up as a hub. Here’s what AllStarLink.org says about hubs (for ASL 2, but should apply to ASL 3, too):
Any node can be a "HUB". A node is not limited to one connection. There may be hardware limitations about the number of connections a given piece of hardware and internet connection can support. Typically, a HUB is located on a higher bandwidth Internet connection and is running a more "stout" piece of hardware.
If you wish to try this with your Hamshack Hotline phone, please do. Node 57945 is intended to be a public AllStarLink hub. As the node owner, I reserve the right to terminate connections at any time.
Random Wire Review issue 121 also touches on using your Hamshack Hotline connection to listen to live audio feeds.
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5. Accessing AllStar node with remote SIP phone
I am having a tough time trying to help an amateur radio friend with his project. He has an AllStarLink node running on a Dell Wyse 3040 thin client device. He has a SIP phone that is working fine inside his LAN. He has a friend with a SIP phone who wants to be able to use the ASL node with his SIP phone from outside the node owner’s LAN.
It is this last scenario that isn’t working. I’ve been banging my head on the table, trying to understand it. To test, I’m trying to get my SIP phone in Olympia, Washington to talk to the node in Portland, Oregon that my Portland desk phone uses. I’ve not succeeded.
The line remains “unregistered.” It acts like it can’t get through the firewall but I’m beginning to think I need to go back to step 1 and rework my configuration. I’ll need a context for the remote phone in my /etc/asterisk/extensions.conf file. I think I also need the right authorization and context in /etc/asterisk/iax.conf. I’m not quite sure about the /etc/asterisk/pjsip.conf file.
I’ve configured one of my nodes (588415) to connect to the same AllStar node as my node 588416. I’ll take 588415 to Olympia and try to get it to connect to the 588416 node in Portland, Oregon.
This is taxing my brain, which is code for: I am destined to learn a lot once the light bulb goes on!
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6. Book: Restoring Vintage Audio Electronics
I ordered Restoring Vintage Audio Electronics by Bryan P. Bergeron after seeing it in Nuts-and-Volts Magazine. The author is a prolific contributor to the magazine. I’m impressed.
While the focus is on vacuum tube devices, it is not limited to those. In Part 3, a transistor amplifier is also discussed. There is something for many radio amateurs in this book. If photographs help you understand, you won’t be disappointed: the book is full of good photos.
Part 1: Foundation
Part 1 includes a “why vintage” chapter, a safety chapter (very important with some of these older devices), and a retooling chapter.
Part 2: Tabletop Broadcast Band Receivers
Part 2 is probably of most interest to amateur radio operators, covering:
The Zenith Bakelite G725
The Telefunken Jubilate
The Telefunken Gavotte 8
The Drake 2B
The Telefunken Opus 6
The Zenith H845/C845
The SABA AM/FM Receiver
Part 3: Stereo System Separates
Part three covers stereo amplifiers, a tuner, and bookshelf speakers. Lest you think the book is only about vacuum tube gear, chapter 3-3 presents the first all-transistor amplifier offered by McIntosh, the McIntosh MC2105 Transistor Amp with 100 watts per channel.
Part 4: Turntables
Two turntables are discussed in Part 4.
Part 5: Reel-to-Reel Tape Decks
Several chapters address reel-to-reel tape decks:
Revere T100 Tape Deck
Webcor EP2300
Telefunken Magnetaphone 203
Sony TC-355
Pioneer RT-707
I’d love to see a book like this devoted to one brand or even one model of radio, like my venerable Kenwood TS-520S. I know the information is “out there” on the internet but having it presented in book form with well-organized topics and illustrations makes it all much easier!
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7. Of clocks and watches
7.1 Geochron clocks
The latest Ham Radio Workbench episode features the Geochron clock. I was surprised to discover a local nexus (which also plays into the pictures of the Willamette Falls below). Patrick Bolan’s story of how he became interested in Geochron, how he came to own the company, how it struggled, and how it finally succeeded was very interesting and inspirational. After listening to the episode, I felt compelled to send him a thank you note for the great conversation he had with the HRWB crew. Patrick, being an excellent representative for his brand, put me on his mailing list. Well done!
7.2 Elgin watch
Hearing about the magnificent Geochron clocks, and then seeing them on Patrick’s website, reminded me of my grandfather’s watch. I inherited my grandfather’s old Elgin pocket watch. It is not the best example of such a watch, but it is in very usable condition. It’s not a showpiece — it’s a working man’s timepiece.
After I wiped it down with a microfiber cloth, I could see it needed a good cleaning by someone experienced with this line of watches. This isn’t the kind of watch you want to take to your local jewelry store where most of the watches require batteries, can control your television, and make you coffee in the morning.
As I searched around the country for just the right person, I was surprised to discover a service that specialized in these old Elgin watches, located right here in Portland, Oregon: Elgin Time. (Find Elgin Time at https://www.elgintime.com.)
Long story short, I got into the queue and soon sent the watch in for evaluation and cleaning by the proprietor, Jeff Sexton. It turned out that the watch did not need repairs but it did need to be cleaned and lubricated. A photo set of each step of the process was also provided to me.
Grandfather’s 1919 Elgin pocket watch, grade 345, size 12, with a 17-jewel movement, is quietly ticking away on the desk next to me as I write this. I don’t keep it wound (although I should) but I do pull it out about once a month, wind it, set the time, and enjoy thinking about all the things this watch has witnessed over the years.
A big thank you to Jeff of Elgin Time for helping me keep this timepiece alive.
All of this is to say: I’m pretty amazed at the talents and knowledge of people around me.
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8. Closing
This is my extremely busy time of the year, made a bit more demanding as my nonprofit association is carrying forward proposed legislation to help our members help their communities. I find that working on amateur radio problems helps me unwind, particularly after difficult, long days. In talking with some of my ham radio friends, I conclude that many of us find some comfort in the intricacies of our hobby. I hope you do, too.
Until next time, 73 to all!
Tom - Thank you for the excellent setup instructions for the HOIP and Amateur Wire... and of course all the other hands-on knowledge that you impart.