Charles W. Moore

Another 5 Way Chili day

WOW and I spelled Chile as chili: We went to SteaknShake again today.  I always get the same meal – 5 Way Chile.  We went there yesterday too and returned today because their 5 Way was very well prepared.  Same for today.  You would expect a little consistency between store but this is not the case.  Some are good, some are bad and some are really, really poor.  This store SnS North is consistently good.  The exact same scenario applies to Sonny’s.

After eating we returned home and I took a short nap and then messed around on the computer before tking a short 20 minute walk.  Then it was time to prepare for the trip to Orlando Hamvention with a Amateur Radio Operator.  This will be a day trip and hopefully I do not return home with anything expensive.  This little jaunt will give me a chance to try out my portable Allstar node.  I have not really used it on the road and moving in real life.

My security cctv is operational using the Raspberry Pi, Microsoft Lifecam and motionEye software.  It works just like the others and the Lifecam is great and if you have just a little light it will see in the dark..  I bought it off of eBay for $25.  Ok, it is getting time for bed and an ealier than normal rise tomorrow.  Cheers.

New Allstar Node Software

Objective:  Upgrade Allstar from hamvoip 1.02/1.7 to latest 1.5 version.  This is not a cookbook.  It is a narrative.

Issue: No Wired Internet, tether or Router/Switch by which to get an IP to be able to Putty into the PI

What I have:  Smartphone w hotspot for internet but the Pi is not natively activated for wireless.

Before we digress too far a few prerequisites could be in order if you have an existing node. The listed below will help considerably.

• Read out your existing simpleusb.conf file and cutnpaste to whatever computer you are using.  Then save the file: I did and was glad.
• Know that you will be asked whether you want to Install Asterisk or Not. I said Yes
• Have your existing node number and password from Allstar.org.

My Solution: I borrowed an old Linksys router with a 4 port switch. Activate the Router and plug your computer into the LAN switch side and make sure you can get into the admin of the router.  Enter the Admin of the router (usually, 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1) enter the user name and password.  Look for something like LAN Clients that shows the currently attached LAN devices.

Now, attach the Pi 3 to Router LAN switch and power on the Pi 3 with the Allstar 1.5 version image installed on the microSD.  Refresh the display monitoring the Router admin LAN client section.  You should see the Pi 3 IP Address that may look like 192.168.1.xxx.

Next Putty into 192.168.1.xxx:222 using root and password root. When you do this you will be presented with a screen asking if this is the First Time run.  If it is then answer yes. This will result in a series of questions you must answer and for which the above prerequisites will com in handy.  At some point the questions will end with a reboot request.  ( I use Bitvise which is a very nice free integrated SSH/SFTP client).

When the reboot occurs and the putty is reconnected. a “new menu” will be presented.  Of the whole list the most important will be the wireless activation (remember the router is still connected).  Go to the Wireless section and go to it.  This will result in a search for  wireless networks nearby so you will need to chose one and connect to it with the necessary credentials(usually a wpa2 password).  After this is successful you will need to reboot the Pi.  As soon as you start the reboot, disconnect the wired cable from the router (this is important to do this quickly).

When the router has rebooted it will announce the IP and if everything was done correctly the wireless IP will be announced.  Now you can putty in with the new IP and modify whatever is desired.  In my case I went to /etc/asterisk and copied simpleusb.conf to simpleusb.conf.xxx.  Then I edited by using nano simpleusb.conf.  I did this because I entered the incorrect configuration data from the menu. I was not ready with config data on usb or usbinvert.  If you do change anything be sure to cntl-O and then cntl-X out of the edit node.

After this I entered the “new menu” and selected simpleusb tune menu and set the Rx & Tx levels.  When done I put out a test call and all levels were good.  All in all, it was a reasonably seamless upgrade.  It is nice to be able to enter the CLI from the menu.

Flat Tire et. al.

The car is sitting in the driveway with three big screws stuck through the rear passenger tire.  Well, at least that forced me to look at the rear tires that I always thought were better than they really are.  So, tomorrow I willneed to bite the bullet and buy 4 new tires.  I don’t know but the OEM tires I have been buying only last of 20 – 25K miles front and 40K rear.  I am leaning towards Michelin but could be persuaded away from this thought.  I’ll spend the night doing comparative reviews.

SAM went north to Largo to some garage sales while I stayed at home and repaired the back fence plus copying the old Allstar node software and recopying to a new microSD card. This seems like duck soup but it actually became complicated.  I also tried the bridged mode to try and install the new 1.5 Crompton software but no joy.  So the day aent out on a sort of sour note.

NOTE: Today, 4 February, we took the car to the tire place to get the Michelin tires.  Sorry Charlie, they won’t be in until Monday.  The tire man gave me a temporary tire to use while we wait and even put the spare doughnut back in the trunk, in place and tied down.  We re going in Monday at 1100 hrs to get them.  Yea, no more hydroplaning down the road.  The two back tires were in pretty bad shape and almost bald.  The fronts are OK but will be replaced.

Another Amateur Lunch

We had lunch with Don KG4LMP and his wife today at the American Legion.  What a beautiful spot right on the intercoastal across from Maderia Beach.  Again the hours stretched out effortlessly.  The place was packed and the music had just started when we left.  I was told this is the biggest AL Post in the USA and I believe it.

Lunch + Fellow Ham

SAM & I had lunch today with a fellow amateur radio operator.  What a nice time we had at the little restaurant in Gulfport, FL.  The talk went on and on so by the time we left it was almost 1500 hrs.  It turns out we had much in common – Flying, Sailing, and Amateur Radio.  The wives liked each other too.  Of course, we agreed to meet again in the not too distant future.  After lunch we went to their condo over in Town Shores and it turned out we looked at their condo maybe a week before they bought it:  Small world.  Tonight I have listened to two different nets and killed time trying to decide what project we might do next.

The Ugly American

The Trump ban on all Muslims from 7 countries went into effect but most people had not even heard about it.  I just happened to hear about it from the Yahoo Evening News. I guess people do not care too much since there was not much of an uproar on TV.  We will sure be the Ugly Americanⁿ again.

We shall see what effect this has on terrorism but I would guess not too much inside the USA.  However, we will never hear about it since the government agencies charged with preventing terrorism will not be able to say anything but the party line.  As a result the ban will look good for the policy.  To me it seems like a retreat to McCarthyism.  I am glad I am not traveling overseas anymore since with my accent there would be a big bulls eye centered on me.

ⁿ  BTW – The Ugly American was a  multi-million-copy bestseller that coined the phrase for tragic American blunders abroad:  In the episode that lends the book its title, the “ugly American” is Homer Atkins, a plain and plain-spoken man, who has been sent by the U.S. government to advise the Southeast Asian country of Sarkhan on engineering projects. When Atkins finds badly misplaced priorities and bluntly challenges the entrenched interests, he lays bare a foreign policy gone dangerously wrong.

A new temporary antenna

Ok, the VSWR was so high on the first temporaryt antenna I was afraid I would cook the final amplifiers.  Steve to the rescue and I picked his old comet up at this afternoon.  SAM went with and made a dash to the house and had it up in about 15 minutes.  The forward Watts were 25 and the reflected was so low I could not hardly measure needle movement – Thanks Steve. Needless to say, I can now reach out and touch everyone I want to plus a LOT more from Clearwater to Sarasota.  I then proceeded to manually program many new frequencies.  As a result, I checked in with the Eagles Net on NI4CE VHF tonight for the first time in 4 years: I recognized a couple voices and calls.

The weather turned cool here and the inside temperature has hovered at 66°F all day and the temperature outside is in the low 50’s so if the inside goes below 64° the heat will come on.  This cool temperature trend will continue for the next week or so.  Yuck.

Cheers from Moore.

Temporary Antenna

Today I went over to Don’s house and picked up his homebrew antenna and erected it.  Well, it works but not too well.  The forward/Reverse

The Captains

power is 5:1 and this is bad.  I am afraid of burning out my finals.  In the course of discussions, W3RX came on and said I could use his antenna until I get this resolved with The Antenna Farm.  I am sure Steves Comet will work much, much better.  I go to get it tomorrow about 1400 hrs.

SAM went to a bunch of Garage Sales and one Church Sale.  The church one was sort of a bummer – it was down on Central and that should say something.  It was a zoo.  They had it set up with one single choke point and people could not get in and out fast enough.  Enough said.  Right now SAM is out walking the dog.

I have not been back on Facebook for even a week and the Haters do not like what I have to say.  I am also regretting having sold my boat.  I now have no escape path since they are sealing the borders.  South for now but that can change in an instant – much like Germany in the early and mid-30’s. – a border can be closed at the stroke of a Executive pen.  Perhaps I am being melodramatic but then again perhaps not and time will tell.

New Antenna – Broken USPS

Well, my brand new $86 antenna came in broken.  It is a pretty stiff rugged device made from tubular fiberglass.  You really have to work hard to break these but somehow USPS managed to do it – badly too.  Totally amazing!  I really needed this to be able to talk on the radio down here.  I do not have the heart to write much more right now.

I have taken the time to take a picture of the break and now it is in the blog.  I am listening to Allstar 27225 on my node 43584 and using the hotspot  to send to the internet.  Isn’t technology wonderful?

I just came back to finish this blogline.  I was out sweeping the porch while SAM is out walking the dog.  I did not do too good of a job since the next wind will bring down a lot more of the leaves, twigs and other detritus.  The tree in question I believe is a Poincianas and has red flowers in the summer.

A Lowes Day

We went to Lowes this morning to return an items and to get a roll of seamless electrical tape.  The tape is for sealing an outside connection of one sort or another.  In my case, I want to seal a coaxial cable up at the antenna from moisture intrusion.  It is a temporary antenna setup but still I do not want to ruin a perfectly good cable by letting water get to the foam core. Anyway, a roll costs $5 but should save much more.

After that we went to the Italian Market to get bread and, of course, a “few” other things.  When we returned home we ate some of the booty.   That pretty much killed the outside day. I did a few technical things but spent more time listening to amateur radio.