SourceCode – M0AWS Amateur Radio

24 May 2026

The 5 things that have revolutionised my Radio Shack

The articles I write for the blog are mostly technical but, I thought it was about time that I wrote this article as it’s been buzzing around inside my head for some time now.

So, what are the 5 things that I have found revolutionary in my shack that have brought new, exciting ideas and projects to life making amateur radio more enjoyable.

1: A RaspberryPi Single Board Computer

Ever since the first RaspberryPi Single Board Computer (SBC) was released I’ve been a huge fan. This little credit card sized number cruncher has been the base for so many projects, it has to be the first on my list.

The RaspberryPi SBC has been through a few iterations since its initial conception and is now powerful enough to take on most tasks that any radio HAM is going to throw at it.

So, what have I done with them?

Well I’ve used them to run Node-Red services for my many web app dashboards that control things like my QO-100 Satellite Ground Station, UPS power monitoring, Internet speed graphs, server and virtual machine monitoring, AllStarLink nodes, hosting websites, building an SDR shortwave receiver, running HAM Clock / Open HAM Clock, developing my own software, hosting virtual machines and a whole host of other fun and interesting things. I’m even writing this article using my RaspberryPi 500+ computer that is my daily desktop PC.

There are an endless number of things you can do with a RaspberryPi to bring new life and functionality to your radio hobby.

Want to get into Amateur TV?
Want to decode digital modes real time?
Want to track aircraft in the sky real time on a virtual radar screen?
Want to search the shortwave bands for stations of interest?
Want to host your own blog and website?

All these things and a lot more are easily within reach with a RaspberryPi.

The RaspberryPi is only limited by your imagination, the more imaginative you are the more your number crunching little friend will do.

2: A 3D Printer

Every HAM should have a 3D printer. These manufacturing marvels bring a new level of quality, design and simplicity to your HAM radio projects. I’ve found it incredibly useful since venturing into the rabbit hole that is 3D printing. When I think back to the weeks and months of my life I’ve spent making cabinets and boxes out of sheet metal, aluminium or wood for the numerous projects I’ve built over the years, a 3D printer would had made my life so much easier. 3D printing has revolutionised the making of things for the Amateur Radio home brewer.

There’s a multitude of useful things on websites like Printables, Thingiverse , Makerworld and others where you can just download the files and print high quality designs for all those things you’ve wanted to do but, don’t have the time or inclination to craft by hand.

The real satisfaction with 3D printing comes from designing your own things and making them. My first project was to design and print a fan cooling system for my Xiegu XPA125B amplifier.

From the factory the amp is passively cooled and doesn’t take long for the heat-sink to become saturated resulting in a high operating temperature. I was never happy with this and so was determined to resolve the problem.

Getting to grips with TinkerCAD was a bit of a vertical learning curve but, after a few mistakes and design mishaps I soon had it under my belt and pressed on with designing the cooler unit.

Designing the Xiegu XPA125b cooling system using tinkerCAD.

It’s not until you start designing and manufacturing things that you suddenly realise how much effort goes into them but, I persevered and over the period of about a week or so I had a perfectly fitting, operational cooling system that kept the amp super cool regardless of how long I waffled on for on the HF bands.

Once you’ve got your first design made you suddenly find yourself wanting to improve it and add things. In my case this was adding a Hermes Lite 2 holder to the top of the amp cooler and then a top shelf to hold my cross needle SWR and power meter.

Since then I’ve progressed massively with my designs and have even designed and printed things for other HAMs and family members, it’s totally addictive!

I can highly recommend the Bambu Lab A1 Combo (As shown above). It’s a quality piece of equipment that has operated faultlessly since purchase. Right now it’s printing a case for my RaspberryPi 4, just one of the many projects I’ve used it for since becoming a happy owner.

Go on, release your inner creativity and treat yourself to a 3D printer, you won’t regret it and it’ll help you bring to life all of those radio projects you’ve dreamt of doing but, never got round to starting.

3: An AllStarLink Node

M0AW AllStarLink Node 61928 sitting on the equipment rack

Many people say that using VOIP over the internet isn’t real radio, I know because I used to be one of those people however, it has become an invaluable resource for keeping in touch with people all over the world.

Being part of an online HAM Radio Community it’s important that as a group we are able to talk to each other regardless of where we live, what bands we have access to and whether there is any propagation.

The AllStarLink (ASL) network gives global FM quality audio no matter where you are in the world. We use it daily for our breakfast net, general chatter throughout the day and even hold a weekly Matrix ASL Net on a Thursday evening.

Using our VHF/UHF handhelds (Real Radios!) and an easy to make AllStarLink Node we’re able to join in with the conversation regardless of propagation, licence type or distance, it really is great for bringing people together.

With devices like the SHARI and AIOC board now being readily available for minimal cost it really is very easy to get onto the AllStarLink network and talk to people even if you live in an antenna restricted location.

Why be alone when you can use the Matrix ASL node ( 642332 ) and join in the conversation.

4: Node-Red

M0AWS - Updated NodeRed QO-100 Dashboard with PTT button — M0AWS – Updated NodeRed QO-100 Dashboard with PTT button

Node-Red is a low-code programming tool for event-driven applications.

Node-RED’s goal is to enable anyone to build applications that collect, transform and visualise their data; building flows that can automate their world. Its low-code nature makes it accessible to users of any background, whether for home automation, industrial control systems or anything in between.

I’ve been using Node-Red for a number of years now and have developed a suite of web app’s that control and monitor just about every aspect of my Amateur Radio hobby and IT infrastructure.

Node-Red forms an integral part of my QO-100 Satellite Ground Station providing control of both the uplink and down link radios whilst synchronising the VFO’s, controlling filter selection and more, all from one simple to use interface using nothing more than a web browser.

It doesn’t stop there, my AllStarLink (ASL) nodes are also managed through a user friendly Node-Red Dashboard that removes all the need for technical know how and makes ASL node management as simple as clicking on a button to connect or disconnect to the many global networks.

Much of this functionality is achieved without writing a single line of code. If you can use a mouse, drag and drop objects on the screen you can develop Node-Red web app’s, it really is that easy.

It doesn’t end there, Node-Red is great for presenting data in easy to digest formats.

Whether it be HAM Radio Log data presented on an interactive world map or monitoring of your server, RaspberryPi, virtual machine or UPS using gauges and graphs, this can all be achieved easily with nothing more than a mouse. There’s no need to spend hours writing thousands of lines of code, just drag and drop a few nodes onto the screen and join them up. You’ll be amazed how easy it is.

I believe every Amateur Radio enthusiast should have Node-Red available in their radio shack. It’s easy to install on your RaspberryPi 4 or 5, Linux or Windows PC and Apple Mac with the same great functionality available on all platforms.

Once you’ve developed your first web app you’ll suddenly find a million more ideas will come into your head and before you know it, you’ll be where I am today with Node-Red at the centre of your radio hobby.

5: A Hermes Lite 2 HF SDR Transceiver

For years I used black box HF radios from the big 3 manufacturers along with the odd radio from the smaller enterprises like TenTec but, they all had their foibles and there was often nothing I could do about it.

My last acquisition from the big 3 was a Yaesu FTDX10, a competent hybrid SDR radio with a good receiver however, the menu system is terrible, the button layout not much better and the user experience not as good as it could be. Of course the software is closed source so there is nothing you can do about it. The radio did its job but, it wasn’t fun to use, it wasn’t what I really wanted and it didn’t put a smile on my face.

I looked at moving to software defined radios (SDR) but, with prices in the many thousands of pounds bracket and the software being closed source I came to the conclusion that they wouldn’t give me what I really wanted either.

So what was it that I was searching for?

Thinking long and hard about it I came to the conclusion that what I really wanted was a radio that gave me the same satisfaction that OpenSource software has given me for decades, namely an HF radio that I have complete control over, from the hardware through to the software and everything in between.

I wanted something that I could tailor to my exact needs. Something that was built using open hardware and open software, something where if I wasn’t happy with it I could change it, improve it and do the things I wanted with it.

At this point my search for the ideal radio headed in a completely different direction.

Xiegu XPA125b Cooler with Hermes Lite 2 cradle - front view — Xiegu XPA125b Cooler with Hermes Lite 2 cradle – front view

The Hermes Lite 2 SDR HF Transceiver (HL2) has been around for a number of years. I was first introduced to it by Michael, DK1MI and then Roger, G8VLR via the Matrix. Both Michael and Roger use the HL2 on a regular basis and have often waxed lyrical about how good it is.

Being designed by radio amateurs for radio amateurs it’s based on an open architecture from the ground up. Being an OpenSource junky this really appealed to me and as I looked deeper into it from both a hardware and software point of view I soon realised that it had the potential to be exactly what I was looking for.

It wasn’t long before I found myself on the Makerfabs website placing an order for the HL2 mainboard, filter board, I/O board and case. A couple of weeks later it arrived and I dived head first into the SDR rabbit hole.

2 years later and the HL2 has become my main HF radio in the shack. Partnered with a Xiegu XPA125B amplifier and PiHPSDR software running on my Kubuntu Linux PC it is everything I have been looking for in an HF radio.

I’ve made modifications to the software to suit my operating style and needs with the user interface being exactly how I want it, no unnecessary buttons or knobs, just the controls that I use on a daily basis cleanly placed in a logical, easy to use layout, the way I want it.

My understanding of software defined radio and how it works has improved a hundred fold. Having access to the software and being able to go through the code and understand the architecture has been an interesting journey and one that has enhanced my radio enjoyment considerably. I now have a smile on my face every time I go on air.

Do I miss the FTDX10?

No, not in the slightest!

So, those are the 5 things that I feel have revolutionised my radio amateur hobby and made it a more enjoyable experience. I’m sure over time I will add to this list as I venture down future rabbit holes in our wonderful radio hobby.

More soon …

16 July 202518 July 2025

Trialing DeskHPSDR

For sometime I’ve been using PiHPSDR software to drive my Hermes Lite 2 (HL2) SDR transceiver. It’s a great piece of OpenSource software for SDR transceivers and has the best documentation that I have ever seen from an OpenSource project.

I must admit, I’ve had to make a few changes to get the software how I like it but, that’s the great thing about OpenSource software, you get the source code and can do what you like to it.

Following in this thread I recently decided to give DeskHPSDR a try.
DeskHPSDR is a fork of the original PiHPSDR but, with some changes mainly aimed at larger display computers.

After compiling DeskHPSDR on my Kubuntu Linux PC in the radio shack, I found there were a few issues, mainly the colours were hard on the eyes and band/channel markers wrong/missing on a few of bands.

DeskHPSDR default colour scheme on Kubuntu 22.04LTS (KDE-Plasma)

I decided to dive in and take a look at the source code and try and sort out the colour issues as blue writing on dark buttons made them almost impossible to read under a KDE-Plasma desktop.

Delving through the appearance.c and css.c files I found that there were many changes required to get the end result I wanted. The biggest pain is that you have to recompile the source code after each change to see if the code change had worked, this results in many recompiles, a tedious task.

After spending many hours making changes I decided to email Heiko, DL1BZ who is the developer of DeskHPSDR. Over a number of emails we discussed getting the colour management code changed such that it was read in at start time from a separate css file rather than having to be compiled into the main program.

After a few emails back and forth, Heiko changed the code so that a separate CSS file could be read in at start up instead of the hard coded CSS in the C code files, this worked great and made it much easier to make colour changes without constant compilations of the code.

Next I needed to edit the bands.c file to change some of the band edge markers to show the UK band plan as, by default they are incorrect even though I have the region set to UK.

Editing the appearance.c file once more I was able to change the colour of the rather bright green panadapter signal display to a much more pleasing blue fading to red as the signal gets stronger.

One thing I really like about PiHPSDR was the channel markers on the 60m band. Anyone that uses the 60m band will know that the UK allocation is split into 11 different channels separated by spaces used by the primary user of the band. The channel markers make it just that bit easier to ensure you don’t stray out of the allocated channels however, this code had been removed from DeskHPSDR as Heiko didn’t consider it necessary.

Once again I pinged an email over to Heiko explaining how useful it is to UK HAMs and he very kindly put the code back into DeskHPSDR so that the 60m channels are once more clearly visible on the panadapter.

DeskHPSDR modified colour scheme on Kubuntu 22.04LTS (KDE-Plasma)

Feeling happy with the new colour configuration I decided to test it out on Linuxmint Cinnamon. Sadly the scheme that looked so nice under Kubuntu 22.04LTS didn’t look the same under Linuxmint and so I had to set about coming up with a version of the CSS file for this platform too.

After quite a few hours tinkering with CSS code I found it to be impossible to get the colour scheme on Linuxmint Cinnamon Edition identical to that I’d created under Kubuntu KDE-Plasma so, I settled for a look that was as close as possible.

DeskHPSDR on Linuxmint Cinnamon Edition with colour modifications.

Chatting with Steve, M0XVT we thought it would be a good idea to test it on his Kubuntu Linux and Linuxmint PCs. He is using a later version of Kubuntu than I am (24.04LTS) and so, it would be a good test to see if the colour scheme looked the same.

Sadly it turns out that for some bizarre reason the colours come out different in the later version of Kubuntu. This is a real nuisance as it means we’d need a separate colour scheme defining for each version of the O/S. Perhaps using CSS isn’t the best way to define a colour scheme in applications.

For some very strange reason the colours were also rendered differently on his Linuxmint PC even though he was using the same version of the O/S as I am.

DeskHPSDR running on Kubuntu 24.04LTS with colour scheme not rendering correctly

Another issue was found whilst testing on Steve’s computers which seems to be caused by the fact he uses an Anan 200D SDR.

Looking at the documentation on github in theory DeskHPSDR should support the Anan range of SDR transceivers however, we found that it’s impossible to select the sample rate as the drop down selection list is completely missing from the Radio menu with the radio defaulting to its lowest sample rate of 48k resulting in not being able to see the full spectrum of frequency ranges on the bands.

DeskHPSDR Sample Rate drop down missing when using an Anan SDR

The other thing to note is that the Remote Server functionality has also been removed from the code by Heiko as he feels it’s not necessary. This may be a deal breaker for some and so they may choose not to use DeskHPSDR and to continue using PiHPSDR instead.

I will at some point make the O/S specific CSS files and source code available for download for those that want to use DeskHPSDR with my colour scheme changes.

I’m not sure at the moment whether I will continue using DeskHPSDR or go back to PiHPSDR, time will tell.

More soon…

17 April 202517 April 2025

Updates to my install-pihpsdr.sh script

Over the last few weeks I’ve been working on my install-pihpsdr script to build a version of the DL1YCF PiHPSDR fork that will work with the Adalm Pluo, Pluto+ and LibreSDR transceivers.

Since I don’t own any of these devices, Steve M0XVT has loaned me his Adalm Pluto and LibreSDR devices to test with.

Initially neither of the devices would work with the PiHPSDR build that my script was creating. After some investigation I found this was due to the fact that the developer build script was only building the SOAPYSDR library, it wasn’t building the modules for each device type.

This was easily fixed by adding some extra code that would build the necessary SOAPYSDR modules so that the devices were discovered on the local LAN.

Since I had the devices to hand I took the opportunity to test the updated build script on a number of Linux Distro’s that I have to hand.

PiHPSDR running on Linuxmint 22.1 Cinnamon Edition using the LibreSDR transceiver

I tested the updated build script on Kubuntu 22.04LTS, Linuxmint 22.1 Cinnamon Edition and RaspberryPi 4/5 running the latest RaspberryPi OS 64bit version.

These all worked great with the transceivers and will now make a great platform for QO-100 stations that use either the Adalm Pluto, Pluto+ or LibreSDR devices.

Of course this build of PiHPSDR will also work with the Hermes Lite 2 and RadioBerry devices that I use most of the time in my own radio shack.

The updated PiHPSDR install script can be downloaded from my original blog article on the subject that is located here: https://m0aws .co.uk/?p=3686

The updated build script will most likely work on most Debian based Linux distro’s and build a working version of PiHPSDR. If you find a distro where you have problems please email me and let me know the details and I’ll happily look at the issue and try to resolve it.

Thanks to Steve for the loan of his precious SDR transceivers, I had a lot of fun with them!

More soon …

5 March 2025

Signal on RaspberryPi without Snap!

Let me start this article by confessing that I hate Snap on Linux!

The whole idea that you’d need a container type environment to install an application on a Unix system is very far from where I want to be.

It annoys me that snaps are updated automatically too. I know you can disable this but, I shouldn’t have too. App’s should only get updated when I want to update them, not before.

What I really hate is the fact that the Snap back end system is proprietary and owned solely by Canonical, the Ubuntu people. This goes against my OpenSource ethos.

Sadly I had to install Snap to get the Signal messenger app installed on my RaspberryPi 5 desktop computer. App’s installed via Snap are extremely slow to start, run slow and are heavy on resources. Snap also mounts a whole bunch of dependency Snaps via loop devices to make the app work. Snaps make a real mess of your system.

The final straw that broke the camel’s back for me was when Snap did an automatic upgrade to Signal to a version that has a serious bug in it causing it to crash a minute or so after startup. I initially reverted to the previous version to get it working again but, sure enough Snap did another auto-update and broke it again.

This time I couldn’t revert back to the previous version as Canonical, in their infinite wisdom decided to remove the previous version of Signal from their Snap store!

At this point I removed the Signal Snap from my computer, along with all the “hanger on” snap packages that were clogging up the RaspberyyPi 5 and finally did a complete purge of snapd using dpkg to get rid of all the horrendous snap mount points on the file system.

After a reboot I then went hunting for the Signal messenger app source code. Looking through the code it’s not a 5min job to get it compiled on a RaspberryPi and so I followed a few of the forked versions to see if someone had already done all the hard work for me.

After disappearing down a few Rabbit Holes I eventually stumbled into the world of Pi Apps.

Pi Apps is a neat little app that provides access to the “most popular app store for RaspberryPi computers”. It’s 100% free, OpenSource and written in shell scripts. Perfect!

Installing the “Pi Apps” app is straight forward and only takes a few moments.

Pi-Apps - App store for RaspberryPi — Pi-Apps – App store for RaspberryPi

Opening Pi-Apps I found a multitude of OpenSource apps all ready to be installed at the click of a button. In no time at all I’d found Signal and had it installed without getting anywhere near the dreaded Snap.

The version of Signal available at the time of writing this article is v7.39.0 which is fine as this is a stable, bug free version that works reliably.

If you’re using a RaspberryPi computer I can highly recommend you install the Pi-Apps app to enhance your collection of great OpenSource programmes to make your little raspberry flavoured buddy even more useful.

More soon …

10 December 202413 May 2025

Using the DL1YCF version of PiHPSDR with the RadioBerry

(This information is also for the Hermes Lite 2, Adalm Pluto, Pluto+ and LibreSDR)

During my RadioBerry build I started out using the version of PiHPSDR that was created just for the RadioBerry. The problem with this is that it is hard coded for a very small screen making it hard to use on a big screen since the user cannot resize the window dynamically.

I decided to look for a forked version of the PiHPSDR software that had the ability to change the window size to suit all use cases. During my search I stumbled across the DL1YCF fork of the source code that has some enhancements, one of which is the ability to change the display size.

In no time at all I had the source code downloaded and compiled only to find that it didn’t work with the RadioBerry. After some investigation I found that this was due to the fact that the RadioBerry software has compiled into it code that is used to access the GPIO pins on the RaspberryPi so that it can communicate with the RadioBerry HAT. This is fine except that the DL1YCF version of PiHPSDR also has code in it to use the GPIO pins. This of course causes a conflict and the net result is that nothing works.

Reading through the source code and Makefile I found that all I needed to do was to compile a version of PiHPSDR without GPIO support. This would then remove the conflict and allow the RadioBerry software to operate correctly.

To this end I put together a download/compile/install script for the DL1YCF version of PiHPSDR that will work on a RaspberryPi with a RadioBerry HAT and give the ability to resize the window to fit any size screen.

The script also works on a Linux Desktop PC running Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Linuxmint/Debian operating systems. (It will most likely work on other distro’s too but, these are all I have to hand currently). You can of course also use this software with a Hermes Lite 2 transceiver.

DL1YCF PiHPSDR running on RaspberryPi 4 with RadioBerry HAT on a large monitor

To install this enhanced version of PiHPSDR on your RaspberryPi/Desktop PC with GPIO support disabled, download the installation script below, unzip it and run it in a terminal on your RaspberryPi/Desktop PC in your home directory. (/home/<your-username>).

The script will download the latest source code from the DL1YCF github, disable the GPIO code and then compile and install it to your computer. If installing on a RaspberryPi it will create an icon on the desktop for you to use to start the software.

If installing on a PC then you will need to create your own desktop icon as the one created only works on a RaspberryPi. You can of course just start the software from the command line in a terminal. (My preferred method).

If you have a RaspberryPi 5 then I highly recommend that you run this version of PiHPSDR on it as it has a lot more computing power and handles using dual receive with ease. It will run on a Pi4 but, you will load the CPU more as it’s not as powerful as the later model Pi5.

The script will ask if you want to compile in SOAPYSDR support so that PiHPSDR will work with RTL-SDR, Adalm-Pluto, Pluto+ and LibreSDR. Enter Y to compile in support or N if you don’t need it.

install-pihpsdr-v22-update Download

I hope this proves useful to all the RadioBerry, Hermes Lite 2 and Pluto users out there who want to use PiHPSDR on a big screen.

More soon …

10 December 202415 April 2025

RadioBerry Software Install

For the last week or so I’ve been playing with a RadioBerry HAT for my RaspberryPi computer. The RadioBerry is a cut down version of the Hermes Lite 2 with just 20mW output power and separate TX and RX antenna ports. It’s a really neat little package that sits on top of a RaspberryPi4/5 and creates a neat little HF transceiver.

I initially started with the RadioBerry HAT on my Pi5 but, I soon realised that the software really doesn’t work well at all on the Pi5. I’m not 100% sure as to why but, for some reason it holds one core at 100% continuously. It seems that the RadioBerry software is single threaded. The end result is that on the Pi5 you cannot use a sample rate above 9600 before the IQ stream starts to stutter.

By contrast, installing the RadioBerry software onto a Pi4 it performs perfectly upto the maximum sample rate of 384000 without any stuttering. I’ll need to spend some time going through the source code to try and determine why it doesn’t work correctly on a Pi5.

Whilst going through the source I discovered that the developer has put some code in that collects data from the running computer and sends it to the developer’s website. Some of this data is then made public via his website, http://www.pa3gsb.nl/radioberry/api/read.php

One of the things displayed on the website is the Mac address of the RaspberryPi on which the RadioBerry is running. This is a security risk and should never be done!

The most annoying thing is that this is done without authorisation. The installation doesn’t state that it’s going to collect data every time you start your RaspberryPi computer nor does it offer the ability to opt out. It also doesn’t inform the user that it’s going to pass the data on to a third party. In some cases it even collects HAM Radio Callsign and location data and displays it on a public website, a clear breach of the UK/European Data Protection Law.

Finding spyware in open source software is really poor and something most open source developers would never consider doing.

To this end I have disabled the spyware in the version of the RadioBerry software that I am using and am making it available to everyone else to use via this blog.

So, to install the RadioBerry software you just need to download the installation script and run it in a terminal on your RaspberryPi computer.

The script will download the modified source code, compile it and install it on your RaspberryPi ready for you to use.

RadioBerry installation Script Download

I encourage everyone that downloads the script and the source code to take a look at it and ensure you are happy with it. It’s important to know what you are running on your computer and what it does.

You can find the spyware code in the register.c file (It’s all commented out with “//” marks). The function now doesn’t pass any data at all to the public website.

I hope some of my readers who are experimenting with the RadioBerry transceiver find this useful.

I will soon be publishing an article on an enhanced version of PiHPSDR from DL1YCF to use with the the RadioBerry to complete the project.

Important Update:

There is an issue with the RadioBerry code that renders it useless if you use a kernel later than the version shown below:

Linux Radioberry 6.6.51+rpt-rpi-v8 #1 SMP PREEMPT Debian 1:6.6.51-1+rpt3 (2024-10-08) aarch64 GNU/Linux

Updating the O/S Kernel to any version later than the version shown above will stop the RadioBerry software from working. Recompiling of the code also fails due to the Kernel update and at the time of writing this cannot be fixed without a code rewrite by the original developer.

I also recommend that once you have built a working RadioBerry on a RaspberryPi 4 you should disable the automatic updates of the O/S to stop the system from failing in the future.

You can disable the automatic updates by entering the following commands into a terminal:

sudo systemctl disable apt-daily.service
sudo systemctl disable apt-daily.timer

sudo systemctl disable apt-daily-upgrade.timer
sudo systemctl disable apt-daily-upgrade.service

You can check the version of the kernel you have installed using the following command in a terminal:

uname -a

Hopefully this will help anyone that is having issues with their RadioBerry after an O/S update.

More soon …

19 November 202429 November 2024

Another new radio!

Many years ago when I lived in France I had a Flex-3000 transceiver, one of the first fully SDR transceivers on the market. It was paired with a proprietary Windows XP application called PowerSDR (now Opensource and called Thetis) and connected via a firewire connection.

17 years later I am once again venturing into the world of SDR transceivers in the form of a Hermes Lite 2. (HL2)

The HL2 hardware is available via the Makerfabs website in kit form. I ordered the HL2 motherboard, the N2ADR Filter Board to ensure a clean signal from the transceiver and the enclosure. Total cost for all the parts and shipping was £288.00 including all taxes.

The kit took about 10 or so days to arrive and was very easy to put together making sure to fit the PA transistor heat sink the right way round so that it doesn’t short out the main board. (There are many videos about this on YouTube)

Once the hardware was put together I needed to install some software to control/drive the HL2. Being a heavy weight Linux user my software choice had to come from the Opensource world.

M0AWS Hermes Lite 2 SDR Trasnceiver and Xiegu XPA125B Amplifier

After much research and chatting with other HAMs on the Matrix who have the HL2 I found that most people use the closed source SDR Console software to control the transceiver. Since this software is for Windows it’s not something I can use as I don’t have any Windows PCs, they’re all Linux only.

To this end I started researching Linux SDR software for the HL2 and decided that PiHPSDR was the one I was going to try first.

PiHPSDR was originally written for the RaspberryPi 3/4/5 single board computers (SBCs) but, I wanted to have a go at compiling it on my Kubunu Linux desktop PC. I found it straight forward to follow the instructions in the pihpsdr-install.pdf file and in no time at all I had the software compiled and running.

PiHPSDT running on Kubuntu Linux 22.04LTS — PiHPSDR running on Kubuntu Linux 22.04LTS

PiHPSDR is infinitely configurable and thus it feels like it has an infinite number of menus and options. Since the HL2 has two separate receivers, it’s possible to listen to two bands at the same time. This is the one feature I really missed more than anything with my FTDX10 so, I’m glad to have dual receive capability back once more!

Going through all the settings I realised that the A and B VFOs have individual settings. Initially I setup the software using just VFO A but, when I switched over to VFO B none of my settings were there. I then had the realisation that the settings apply only to the active VFO. I quickly went through all the settings again for VFO B and all was well.

In no time at all I was on the air with just 5w as my Xiegu amp hadn’t arrived. Not being perturbed I tuned up on the 15m band and started searching for stations. Interestingly it was CQWW SSB weekend and the band was full of contest stations. Working my way along the spectrum I found I was able to work quite a few stations with ease using my vertical and inverted-L antennas.

Contacts of note were VE3KG at 3406 Miles, VE3JM at 3382 Miles, RW9DX at 2380 Miles, KC1XX at 3331 Miles and N1DE at 3600 Miles. I also worked a bunch of European stations and had a great time giving away points with my little QRP rig.

Contests are a good time to try out new radios as all the big stations with good ears are on the bands and make the effort to get us QRP guys in their logs.

I have been extremely impressed with the receivers in the HL2 radio. It handles both strong and weak stations exceptionally well. PiHPSDR really does have brick-wall filtering and I was able to work the weaker stations right next to large contest stations with ease. At no time did the front-end of the receiver get overloaded.

Below is a short video clip of a conversation on the 80m band. The band was quite noisy however, with a reduction of the AGC gain and the 2700Hz filter it’s possible to remove almost all the noise.

Hermes Lite 2 SSB reception on the 80m Band

On CW the radio is a real delight. With the filtering and AGC gain control I am able to use extremely narrow receive filters without any ringing whatsoever. I would say that on CW the HL2 is as good as my FTDX10 when it comes to receiving even the weakest of stations.

I’m sure on paper the FTDX10 receiver has better numbers however, to the ear there really is no discernible difference.

Below is a short video clip of D4DX on CW on the 80m band. The band was noisy but, with the 100Hz filter enabled and clever use of the AGC Gain I was able to remove almost all the noise completely, reducing fatigue on the ears and making reception very easy even though there was some fairly deep QSB at times.

Receiving D4DX on CW on the 80m band using 100Hz filter and reduced AGC gain

A few days later my Xiegu XPA125B amplifier arrived. Unfortunately the amp didn’t come with the normal PTT lead that comes from the factory and is detailed in the user manual. For some bizarre reason this is a chargeable option when you buy the amp from Martin Lynch and Sons even though it is included from the factory.

This meant I had to make a lead which was a problem as I didn’t have one of the mini DIN plugs required for the connection to the amplifier. Jumping onto Amazon I ordered a packet of two and sat back and waited for their arrival.

A couple of days later the DIN plugs arrived and I quickly made up the necessary phono/RCA to mini DIN lead and got the amp operational.

The Xiegu XPA125B isn’t cheap but, it’s a really nice bit of kit. The neat little LCD display keeps you informed of power O/P, I/P and O/P SWR, voltage, current draw, temperature and band selected.

With just 0.7w of input from the HL2 I’m able to get a full 100w O/P from the amp. On the lower bands I have to reduce the O/P from the Hermes Lite 2 even further so that I don’t over drive the amp.

Being an avid Short Wave Listener (SWL) I wanted to see how the HL2 performed when listening to the big AM broadcast stations. To my surprise it makes an excellent SWL receiver with better AM demodulation than many of the more expensive radios. Having the option to select receive filters up to 16Khz wide I found I was able to get the best audio possible from many of the broadcast stations including Radio Caroline on 648Khz. It’s quite an improvement over the 12Khz maximum on the FTDX10.

Listening to AM Broadcast stations

What makes this project even more exciting is that both the hardware and software are from the OpenHardware/OpenSource world. The complete circuit diagram, PCB layout and information is available for all to download, something you don’t often see these days!

PiHPSDR is one of the nicest SDR applications I’ve seen in the Linux world and even comes with a 200 page downloadable user manual. Something you don’t see in many Opensource projects. The source code for the application is downloadable and you are able to make your own changes to it without restriction.

Overall I am really pleased with the Hermes Lite 2 SDR transceiver.
It has two excellent receivers, is infinitely configurable via the PiHPSDR software and performs extremely well under all conditions. Since getting the radio I haven’t even switched on the FTDX10.

More soon …

27 September 202427 September 2024

Node-RED Dashboard 2.0

Ever since I started using Node-RED I’ve been using the standard node-red-dashboard set of user interface (UI) nodes to build my numerous dashboards to enhance my radio hobby and add new functionality to the operating of the station. The series of UI nodes are very simple to use and have served me well however, they are no longer being developed and are now deprecated in the overall Node-RED project.

To this end flowfuse.com have stepped up to the mark and developed Dashboard 2.0. This new series of UI nodes brings a new, more modern look and feel to the Node-RED dashboard along with some new functionality.

Short video showing the new Node-RED Dashboard 2.0 Linear gauge

I’ve only just started investigating Dashboard 2.0 but, it’s proving to be fairly easy to use. The short video clip above shows an S-Meter display developed using Dashboard 2.0 for my FTDX10 transceiver.

Full instructions on how to install and configure Node-RED Dashboard 2.0 can be found on the flowfuse.com website.

Be aware though, Node-RED dashboards developed using Dashboard 1.0 will not work under Dashboard 2.0, you will have to import the old v1.0 flow(s) and manually go through them and change all the UI nodes to new Dashboard 2.0 nodes. Since some of the new nodes work differently to the old nodes you’ll also find you will need to make code changes to get the same/similar functionality.

I’m finding it easier not to import old flows but to recreate them afresh under Dashboard 2.0 using the old flow version for reference.

Overtime I will migrate my dashboards over to the new 2.0 version however, this is going to be a lot of work, especially in the case of my QO-100 Ground Station Dashboard as it contains a considerable number of UI nodes, and will take a fair amount of time to migrate.

I’ll document my findings as I go as I’m sure there will be a few trials and tribulations along the way.

Thanks to Neil, G7UFO for pointing me to the new Dashboard 2.0 information.

More soon …

12 September 202418 October 2024

AllStarLink Control Dashboard

Ever since I built my RaspberryPi/SHARI AllStarLink node I’ve had to manage connecting/disconnecting to/from other nodes using the Allmon2 or Supermon web admin interfaces. These work fairly well albeit, a bit clunky and buggy. It’s impossible to use from a mobile device though and so I have to get my Macbook out each time I want to connect/disconnect nodes.

Being a Node-RED fanatic I decided that I should put something together that was more portable, mobile friendly and much easier to use. A simple user interface is all that is required and can be achieved very easily using the standard Node-RED dashboard nodes.

Initially I started investigating the Linux command-line interface for Asterisk, the VOIP system that underpins AllStarLink (ASL). I very quickly discovered that the ASL node can be very easily controlled directly from the command-line and that this would be an ideal interface to use to enable node management via a Node-RED dashboard.

In very little time at all I had an experimental control dashboard working with the ASL node and was able to connect/disconnect to/from a single node. All that was required now was to extend this so that I could connect to a number of nodes with nothing more than a push of a button.

AllStarLink Control Dashboard - Node-RED Flow — Completed v1.0 AllStarLink Control Dashboard – Node-RED Flow

The resultant flow consists of 3 sections, Connect/Disconnect Main Flow, Manage Node Subflow and /var/log/asterisk/connectlog Subflow.

The Connect/Disconnect Main Flow handles all the input from the buttons on the dashboard and the communication to the underlying Asterisk VOIP system.

The button status is denoted by 3 colours, green (Ready to connect), orange (Transitioning to/from connect) and red (Connected). Each button is updated automatically by the button refresh function that is triggered every 2 seconds.

The Manage Node Subflow provides a simple interface to restart the Asterisk VOIP system, reboot the RaspberryPi and shutdown the RaspberryPi. The node status is automatically updated every 45 seconds and will show when the Asterisk subsystem is being restarted or the node is being rebooted or shutdown.

Finally the var/log/asterisk/connectlog Subflow monitors the Asterisk connectlog looking for connect/disconnect messages so that it can signal to update each button status.

Each section of the dashboard can be collapsed/opened by touching/clicking the little blue arrows on the right of the dashboard. The dashboard works fine on Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS and Linux.

If you’re not familiar with Node-RED and haven’t yet installed it to your PC, take a look at the Node-RED Getting Started Page. The information takes you through installing Node-RED onto a multitude of devices including PC and RaspberryPi devices.

Once you have Node-RED installed all you need to do is download the AllStarLink Control Dashboard Flow and import it to your Node-RED flow editor.

AllStarLink-Dashboard-v1-2 Download

Note: The link above is now for v1.2 of the flow which includes some critical bug fixes. You can read about the bug fixes in the v1.2 release article.

Once downloaded, select Import from the burger menu icon on the right-hand side of the flow editor as shown below and import the flow file.

Once imported you will find that some of the nodes in the flow are not available. This is because you need to add them to the flow editor palette before being able to deploy the flow.

Drop down the same menu as shown above but, this time select Manage Palette. This will open another window where you will need to select the Install tab as shown below.

Node-RED Flow Editor Palette Install Tab

You need to install two node sets to complete the flow, node-red-contrib-bigssh and node-red-dashboard. Type in the name of each package one at a time in the search bar and then click the Install button.
Once the two packages are installed you then need to configure the credentials for logging into your RaspberryPi. This is simply done by double clicking the blue Send Command to ASL node at the top of the main flow and then clicking the Pencil button at the end of the Credentials field. This will open another window where you will need to type in the IP Address of your ASL RaspberryPi into the Host field, then enter 22 into the port field, add repeater into the Username field (repeater is the default username, if you have changed this then you will need to add the new username name in instead) and then the password associated with the repeater login into the Password field. (Normally allstarlink)

Once this is done, do the same on the other blue nodes, namely “Get Node Uptime“, “Command =>> RaspberryPi” and “Tail ConnectLog”.

The final thing to setup is the dashboard size. Click on the downward pointing triangle at the top right of the menu bar (under the burger menu) and select dashboard. Check that the sizes are set the same as in the image below. For some reason, these settings aren’t always imported (Possible bug?) so, if your dashboard layout isn’t like shown above it will be because these settings failed to import.

You are now ready to deploy your AllStarLink Control Dashboard!
Press the red Deploy button at the top of the flow editor window.

To access the dashboard from any device, open your favourite web browser and enter the following URL: http://IP-Address-of-Node-RED-Computer:1880/ui

Finally, if you want to change the nodes that each button connects/disconnects you will need to edit the set flow var’s function at the top of the main flow. All you will need to do is replace the existing node numbers taking care not to alter the rest of the code in any way otherwise, it could stop the flow from working.

Once you’ve edited the node numbers, double click on the associated button node and change its Label to show the new node name.

Once your changes are complete, Deploy the flow again and your changes will be live.

This is version 1 of the ASL Dashboard, I already have ideas for version 2 that will also have the ability to enter a node number into a field and connect to it without the need to program it into a button.

More soon …

31 August 2024

Testing the Node-RED AllStarLink Dashboard

Coding of version 1 of the AllStarLink Dashboard is now complete and in the final testing phase. Below is a short video clip showing some of the functionality.

The Node-RED flow for the web app is pretty compact and easy to alter should I add more functionality in the future.

M0AWS Node-RED flow for the AllStarLink Node Dashboard

The dashboard is designed such that it’ll display nicely on mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers so, I can easily control my AllStarLink SHARI node from any of my devices around the house.

I’ll put together a more detailed article on the web app once testing is complete and it’s ready to be released into the wild.

More soon …