Random Wire Review 79: March 1, 2024
Articles and sites, dipole antenna kit, backing up AllStarLink node settings, plus a deeper drive into building a file server
This edition of the Random Wire is a bit heavy on computer-y things. In our modern amateur radio world, there is precious little we can do without computers, so I think it’s entirely valid to speak to computer technology and solutions in a ham radio blog.
Contents
Interesting articles and sites
Dipole antenna kits
Backing up AllStarLink node settings
Computers
Lenovo ThinkStation P510
Real NAS box
A simpler alternative: Synology BeeDrive
On the bench
Interesting articles and sites
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center has a great page on space weather conditions and effects on radio communications. Scroll down the page for a host of links to related information. And speaking of space events, consider adding to radio science by getting on the air on April 8th during the total solar eclipse. This is not the only eclipse-related ham radio event. For example: Five ways to have a unique eclipse-viewing experience. Where will the solar eclipse be most visible? Try this solar eclipse simulator!
EchoLink Web is a web-based EchoLink app. I wasn’t aware of this before.
I remain interested in LoRa so the article Building A Local Network With LoRaWAN on Hackaday drew me in. I have several LoRa devices for experimentation but this particular field of interest hasn’t quite gelled for me yet.
“Radio still matters to many.” Listen to Morning Energy on-demand by WMNF.
Enjoy the latest Ham Radio Workbench podcast, Cool Radio Projects with Ara, N6ARA of N6ARA Electronics.
Texas Instrument’s fifth edition of the Analog Engineer’s Pocket Reference is available as a free download.
Being a fan of VPN services, this article about a VPN that may be able to access 44net addresses is quite interesting.
And loving old radios, I found myself spending time with an article published by Nuts & Volts on Restoring a Vintage Zenith Table Top Radio From the ‘60s (warning: vacuum tubes are discussed!). There is more good stuff at Nuts & Volts, like an article on the Raspberry Pi and an interesting little board with wifi built in.
Finally, new computer tech can be fascinating. How about a transparent computer? See the CNN story Lenovo’s transparent laptop is the wildest thing I’ve tried this year. Seems very “Star Trek” to me!
Dipole antenna kits
The 20/40 and 17/30 dipole antenna kits by Pacific Antenna look like they present excellent value for those of us who run 100 watts or less. I don’t own one, at least not yet. I like the idea of a compact, portable dipole, and the price point is excellent. These kits would also be great for amateur radio club “build your own antenna” events.
Backing up AllStarLink node settings
I’ve used rsync and rdiff to create archives of node settings (the contents of the /etc/asterisk/ folder) but those archives are saved on the node unit itself. I wanted to save the configuration files to a remote location. The solution that works well for me is WinSCP. (Alternatively, FileZilla should work just as well.)
Using WinSCP, I navigate to the /etc/asterisk/ location on my node and download everything there to my remote storage device. Since my remote storage device is a Windows computer, the ownership and permissions for the config files are not retained, so I supplement the files with a screenshot showing the ownership and permission settings and save that with my backed up files.
This technique also makes it a little easier to configure a new node because I have a known good configuration to work from. Believe me, that does save time!
Computers
I’m in the throes of building a network-attached storage (NAS) box for my home network. (Update: it’s working!)
Lenovo ThinkStation P510
For this, I selected a massive, refurbished Lenovo ThinkStation P510 computer (data sheet here). My spouse and I were taking a couple of days off on the Oregon Coast when it arrived. Our daughter texted: “This box is huge! What is in it?” I will admit the cardboard box was pretty heavy when I moved it to my computer lab. Google tells me the PC weighs 22.2 kilograms (about 49 pounds). It’s a tank, exactly what I wanted: a big power supply, strong fans, plenty of interior space, and modern enough to run anything I want to run.
For me, a big feature of this computer is the four additional drive bays located at the bottom of the case with extra SATA connectors on the motherboard. (The data sheet says there is room for 11 drives in this beast!) This could allow me to create a four-drive RAID array using Unraid to run the NAS box. A key selling point for me with Unraid is the ability to run Tailscale as a plugin. That’s a big deal for me as I need to be able to securely access the box remotely.
Last week, I updated some news about Unraid changing their licensing model from a one-time lifetime fee to annual subscriptions. I prefer the one-time license fee so I went ahead and bought a four-drive license in case I do decide to use Unraid. Subscription services are expanding on every front and they irritate me, so a lifetime license feels good. Redditors have some advice on “must have” plugins for Unraid.
Specifications:
Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2690 v4 @ 2.60GHz (and I note this processor has 14 cores)
Installed RAM: 64.0 GB (63.9 GB usable)
System type: 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
To get started, I installed a 4-terabyte SSD by TeamGroup, an affordable experiment in using a high-capacity solid state drive. That took a bit more tinkering than I expected because I had trouble gaining access to the ThinkStation’s BIOS. After physically installing the SSD the computer did not see it. Eventually, I gave up and re-installed Windows 11 Workstation using the restore process. After I did that, the computer recognized the SSD and it was time to try creating a network drive.
I set the IP address of the ThinkStation manually to a static address on my local area network. I renamed the machine as TomServer to follow my naming convention for other machines (TomBook, TomSurface, TomPad, etc.). The folder I created on TomServer was assigned the letter Z and shared to the network.
Then on my TomBook laptop, I mapped \tomserver\z as drive Z and copied a ton of files from the laptop to the ThinkStation. That went perfectly smoothly.
I want to gather copies of all of my data into one file store so I installed FreeFileSync on the laptop, configured it to mirror my user folder to the Z drive, and started that process. In doing so, I did not realize that my two OneDrive accounts and my Dropbox account would also be mirrored! I deleted those from the Z drive and added exceptions to the configuration, telling FreeFileSync to ignore those folders. Then I re-ran FreeFileSync to make sure that it was working the way I wanted it to.
Rinse and repeat for the TomSurface laptop, then rinse and repeat for my TomBee desktop machine. I also created routines to copy my two OneDrive instances and my Dropbox content to the Z drive. The system seems to be working fine this way, so I’ll probably add a second 4-terabyte SSD in a few months and write a script to mirror one drive to the other once in a while. Meanwhile, the ThinkStation is humming along under my desk. I need to buy a longer power cord so that I can operate it from my uninterruptible power supply. I have a couple of 2.5” to 3.5” drive cages coming soon, too, so that I can properly mount the SSD drive in the case. (I ordered the cages from Lenovo on February 19. They were shipped a week later so I expect them next week.)
I run Rainmeter (the right-hand panel in the image below) on most of my computers so I also installed it on the ThinkStation. I’m also running CoreTemp to keep an eye on processor temperatures. If I want more detail, I can crack open the Open Hardware Monitor app to see fan speeds and much more.
Real NAS box
Before taking the plunge on the ThinkStation, I thought about buying an actual network-attached storage (NAS) device. For example, I could buy a new Synology 2-Bay DiskStation DS224+ for a bit more than the P510 cost. A DS224+ might give me a smoother experience overall, but I like making older tech useful. The P510 platform presents additional possible future uses if I decide it doesn’t work as well as I wish as a NAS box. The downsides are that the hardware is dated and the box is huge!
However, as I continued to think about it, I decided to check eBay for an older Synology device. I ended up winning an auction on a DiskStation DS220+ (data sheet) with two 3-terabyte hard drives in it. (My price was about the same as a new DS220+ with no drives.) Once this unit arrives, I’ll add it to my network and begin to learn how Synology’s DSM (disk station manager) software works. It may be a better solution overall, but the beauty of the big ThinkStation is it is tech I understand better than the Synology device.
The cooling fan is large and quiet (I have it configured to run quietly). There are two LAN ports (although I’m only using one) and a USB connection on the back if I have an external drive I need to backup.
The two hard drives are configured as RAID-1 (mirrored). Although they say 3.0 Tb capacity, the effective capacity is 2.6 Tb. Note the manufacturing date at the end of 2012. I’ll be looking for good deals on larger capacity hard drives for this device. The first 2 gigabytes of RAM are soldered to the motherboard but the second memory slot is just like most computers, so I’ve ordered additional RAM for this NAS box.
As I get to know Synology’s DSM software, I grow more and more impressed. With sufficient processing power and RAM, this box can do many more things than I expected, including serving as a mail server or even running a blog like WordPress. Amazing. I’ve installed Tailscale on it and an antivirus scanner. Right now, the content on my P510 box is being mirrored to the DS220+.
A simpler alternative: Synology BeeDrive
If you are interested in backing up your devices but want it to be simple, consider a BeeDrive by Synology. The BeeDrive holds up to 4 terabytes on an internal solid state drive and is available on Amazon for $200 at the time this newsletter was written, but you can also purchase directly from Synology. The 4-Tb BeeDrive is $300 at both Amazon and Synology.
You can back up content from your computer via a cable, but one of the great features is the ability to back up content wirelessly. That makes this a great choice for those of us who have a lot of photos stored on a smartphone but also want to back up content saved on a computer.
I like simple and the BeeDrive would deliver on that. The P510 box is pretty simple even though it is running Windows 11 Workstation Pro. The DS220 box looks simple but the software is powerful and a bit complicated to configure without experience. I think the BeeDrive is going to check the box for many people. I know it will for me as I am often in travel status, so I look forward to adding this device to my portable technology arsenal.
On the bench
I’ve got a couple of knockoff radios to program, the Baefeng UV-3R+. Somewhere, my old Yaesu VX-3R is in a storage box, patiently waiting for me to re-discover it. In the meantime, I wanted a couple of radios I won’t mind losing.
I also have two DMR handie-talkies to get working properly with my hotspots. My AnyTone is my go-to DMR HT, but I’d like to set up a spare hotspot and HT in my work office 125 miles away.
And then there is the cleanup and testing of the Heathkit Mohican receiver. That one probably needs to be recapped.
I have some strange digital radios to fiddle with, way too many FRS and GMRS radios (time to give some away!), and a variety of HF radios to dust off. I am radio rich and time poor. What I’m trying to say is there will be more actual radio content in the future!
