Steve (M0XVT), Alan (G1SQB) and I are pleased to announce piSync v0.9, bringing synchronised WebSDR access to Linux users running piHPSDR-Improved and now, a much wider range of transceivers through FLRig.
Windows users have enjoyed this kind of functionality through applications such as CatSync for some time. To the best of our knowledge, piSync may be the first Linux application to offer an equivalent solution for both piHPSDR-Improved and the huge range of transceivers supported by FLRig.
piSync v0.9 with FLRig support
Bringing New Life to Existing Radios
The addition of FLRig support is a significant step forward. piSync can follow your radio’s frequency, operating mode, active VFO and PTT status, allowing a compatible WebSDR receiver to follow you around the bands.
Whether you’re using a modern SDR or a conventional transceiver, piSync opens up new possibilities for exploring propagation and comparing signals received at different locations around the world — without replacing your existing radio.
What’s New in v0.9?
This release also introduces several improvements:
Persistent WebSDR list: Your receiver URLs are now saved on your PC and restored after restarting piSync, rather than being stored in your web browser.
WebSDR map: A new launcher button provides quick access to the WebSDR World Map.
piSync v0.9 – Synchronising WebSDR’s to your Radio.
Easy Installation for Linux Users
Getting started with piSync is easier than ever, thanks to its new GUI installer. Designed to simplify installation and setup, it makes piSync more accessible to everyone, including amateur radio operators making the move from Windows to Linux.
Alongside the GUI installer developed for piHPSDR-Improved, this is another step towards making Linux a practical and welcoming platform for amateur radio enthusiasts.
piSync GUI Installer – One Double Click and it’s ready to use.
We’ve Kicked the Tyres, So You Can Hit the Airwaves!
piSync has been tested on Raspberry Pi, Kubuntu (KDE Plasma), Linux Mint (Cinnamon), Debian 13 (Trixie) and Ubuntu. While we can’t test every Linux distribution, it should work on most Debian and Ubuntu based systems. We’ve done the testing so you can spend less time setting up and more time enjoying your radio!
Get piSync
If you’re a Linux-based amateur radio operator, whether using piHPSDR-Improved or a transceiver supported by FLRig, piSync is worth a look.
Synchronised WebSDR access, on Linux, using the radio you already own.
For some time now I’ve been using an Inverted-L style antenna, albeit not a perfect L but, I have found it to perform extremely well.
When I put the antenna up I was aiming for good NVIS radiation on 80/60/40m for chatting Inter-G and local EU stations <1000 miles from my QTH.
I wasn’t expecting good performance on the higher HF bands as the total length of wire is 37m which is somewhat long for the higher frequency bands however, I’ve found performance around Europe to be very good and extremely good over the north pole to Oceania and the USA.
M0AWS Inverted-L style Antenna
As you can see from the antenna view above, it’s not a perfect inverted-L by any means however, its shape has actually proven to be advantageous.
Wire 1 is 9m tall, it then goes approximately 10.5m in length up to a peak of 12m above ground in the centre, this is where I have a 12m Spiderpole for support. From there the remaining 17.5m of wire slopes down to 5m above ground and is attached to the back of the house via a large insulator. Total wire length is 37m.
Wire 1 is at the bottom of a South facing garden and direction +X is north.
The antenna is tuned at the bottom of wire 1 using my CG3000 Remote Auto ATU at ground level. There are a number of random length radials hidden in the lawn and around the perimeter of the garden running mainly from South to North. I cannot run any radials to the south (-X) as this is farmland and not owned by me.
On the low bands I find it has great NVIS performance with excellent signal reports from all over the UK and out to around 1500 miles into Europe and beyond. This is exactly what I wanted from the antenna and I’ve been very pleased with it’s performance on 80/60/40m.
Looking at the 2D Far Field Plots on the 3 low bands the antenna has a typical NVIS high angle of radiation pattern with some gain.
M0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 2D Plot on the 80m Band
On the 80m band maximum radiation is straight up, as expected with a gain of 6.08dBi (3.58dBd). The gain reduces at lower angles however, it still performs well out to around 1500 miles and occasionally even further.
M0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 2D Plot on the 60m Band
Once again on the 60m band maximum radiation is pretty much straight up as expected however, I have worked in to Canada many times on 60m with excellent signal reports and so, it also has good DX capability too. With 5.26dBi (2.76dBd) gain it’s not a lossy antenna by any stretch of the imagination.
M0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 2D Plot on the 40m Band
On the 40m band things start to change a little with the angle of maximum radiation being at 30 degrees rather than straight up. This gives the antenna “longer legs” on the 40m band making it very easy to work longer distances. It’s still very good for Inter-G but, performance over longer distances is considerably better. With a gain of 3.0dBi (0.5dBd) it’s performance is similar to that of a dipole at a similar height above ground.
Above 7Mhz things start to change considerably. The antenna becomes directional to the North West (NW) and North East (NE) giving excellent DX results over the North Pole into North America and Australia/New Zealand. The antenna does of course also have an element of high angle radiation making it useful into Europe and North Africa on the higher bands.
M0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 2D Plot on the 20m Band
On the 20m band the maximum radiation is at 26 degrees with a gain of 5.68dBi (3.18dBd) pointing NW and NE. There is a lower gain lobe to the South West (SW) and South East (SE) giving excellent coverage through Europe and into Africa as can be seen in the 3D Far Field Plot and Azimuth Slice shown below.
M0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 3D Plot on the 20m BandM0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 2D Azimuth Slice on the 20m Band
Moving up in frequency to the 17m band the 3D Plot and Azimuth Slice are similar to that on the 20m band but, with a slightly lower angle of maximum radiation and slightly more gain as can been in the 2D elevation plot shown below.
M0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 2D Plot on the 17m Band
With a gain of 6.61dbi (4.11dBd) at 22 degrees to the NW and NE and slightly lower gain and higher angle to the SW and SE the antenna has proven to work extremely well on the 17m band. My best DX on 17m so far has been a QSO with Eric, FK8GM in New Caledonia some 10230 miles from my QTH using just 80w of SSB.
The 15m band is a similar story, 7.6dBi (5.1dBd) at just 18 degrees pointing NW and NE. This antenna works extremely well into North America and Oceana (I’ve also worked FK8GM on 15m too). Once again there are lower gain lobes to the SW and SE at a similar angle along with some high angle radiation that aids coverage into Europe. The antenna really is a great all rounder on the 15m band.
M0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 2D Plot on the 15m Band
The 12m and 10m bands are a similar story, low angle, high gain lobes to the NW and NE with lower gain coverage to the SW and SE.
M0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 2D Plot on the 12m Band
On 12m the antenna has a very respectable gain of 7.66dBi (5.16dBd) at a low 16 degrees pointing NW and NE making it a great DX antenna. Once again, higher angle lower gain lobes to the SW and SE.
Finally on the 10m band the antenna has a gain of 6.96dBi (4.46dBd) at a very low angle of 14 degrees to the NW and NE. If DXing over the pole on the 10m band is your thing then this simple antenna will certainly help you along and maybe even put a smile on your face.
M0AWS Inverted-L Style Antenna 2D Plot on the 10m Band
For such a simple antenna that will fit easily into many typical UK gardens I have been extremely pleased with it’s performance. Whether I’m gassing on the low bands with friends from the Matrix rooms or chasing DX on the higher bands, the antenna has put a smile on my face time and time again.
On receive the antenna is surprisingly quiet, with an S3-4 background noise on the 80/60/40m bands through to less than 1 S point of noise on the higher bands. Picking out the weak DX stations really isn’t a problem.
It just goes to show that you don’t need to spend a fortune on commercial antennas to work the world on the HF bands. With as little as 80w of SSB and a piece of wire connected to a remote ATU you can have just as much fun as the big boys!
I’ve recently built a new AllStarLink (ASL) node for my MB7IBW gateway that I have recently brought up on air on the 2m band.
AllStarLink 3 has a lot of changes in it when compared to the previous version and this of course impacts my Node-Red Control Dashboard that I’ve been using to manage my first ASL node for well over a year now.
To build the node I used the RaspberryPi imager and added the AllStarlink 3 image as detailed on the allstarlink.org website.
Installing the system this way makes it pretty easy compared to previous installs but, it comes with some quirks which cause issues with Node-Red.
From the outset the plan has always been to have AllStartLink 3 and Node-Red running on the same Pi4 to keep it totally self contained. This was easy enough to achieve and works without issue.
Node-Red Control Dashboard for AllStarLink 3
Installing Node-Red onto a Pi4 is really easy and is fully documented on the Node-Red Website.
Once the AllStarLink 3 operating system was installed on my SD card, booted and operational I installed Node-Red. I soon realised that there were a few things I had to do before loading the Node-Red flow.
AllStarLink 3 no longer logs connect and disconnect messages in the connectlog like it did in AllStarLink 2. To get logging working again I had to create two new BASH scripts as detailed below and put them into /etc/asterisk/myscripts.
For the connect information I created the BASH script as detailed below.
Next I disabled the temporary filesystems that are used by default for the apache and asterisk logging as it’s useful to keep the apache logs for debugging and I needed the asterisk logs for the Node-Red dashboard.
Disabling the temporary file system is very easy to do, just edit the /etc/fstab and comment out the two lines as shown below.
# Comment out the next line for persistent Apache logs
#tmpfs /var/log/apache2 tmpfs defaults,noatime,nosuid,nodev,noexec,mode=0775,size=32M 0 0
# Comment out the next line for persistent Asterisk logs
#tmpfs /var/log/asterisk tmpfs defaults,noatime,nosuid,nodev,noexec,mode=0775,size=32M,uid=102,gid=106 0 0
# Note: These lines are wrapped, should be on 1 line in the /etc/fstab
Once the entries in the /etc/fstab were commented out I rebooted the Pi4 to get persistent filesystems.
The final thing that had to be done was to allow user repeater to use sudo without a password so that it could be used to perform reboot/shutdown/process restart as user root from within the dashboard.
# /etc/sudoers
# Allow repeater sudo without password
repeater ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
Once this was all done I imported the Node-Red flow, configured the SSH nodes with login credentials for the Pi4 (important to use the user repeater for SSH), clicked deploy and the dashboard was ready for use.
Node Red AllStarLink3 Control Dashboard Flow
I’ve been using the dashboard for a few weeks now and it’s running perfectly, without error.
If you want to build your own Node-Red Control Dashboard for your AllStarLink 3 node then, just download the flow using the button below and import it into your flow editor.
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
RaspberryPi 5 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
Bambu Lab A1 Combo 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.
RaspberryPi 4 case from printables.com
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
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.
M0AWS Interactive Log Flow
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
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.
I’m sure there are many radio amateurs around the world today who have an old handheld radio sat on the shelf that works perfectly but, has been replaced by a new, shiny, all singing, all dancing model that gets used on a daily basis. I for one have fallen into this trap with the recent purchase of a very nice Wouxun KG-UV9K full duplex 2m and 70cm handheld.
On my shelf there is a cheap Retevis RT85 that gave sterling service for a number of years and even today is ready to continue that service, if only I had a need?
Well now I do!
Currently I have an AllStarLink node running on a RaspberryPi 3b connected to a SHARI device that operates on the 70cm band. This node works great and gives me the ability to chat with people all over the world from my trusty handheld. It does of course also give me access to the weekly Matrix AllStarLink Net that happens on our Matrix node ( 642332 ) every Thursday evening at 20:00 UK time, a great way of bringing the Matrix HAM Radio community together regardless of propagation.
For some time I’ve been wanting to bring another AllStarLink node online so that I can have a connection to HUBNET/FreeNet whilst keeping my current node connected to the Matrix node for our regular daily chats. Since my new Wouxun handheld is a full duplex unit it makes sense to bring a new node up on the 2m band as I can then monitor both at the same time easily. I do have a spare SHARI node however, it’s a UHF only unit and I don’t want another node on the 70cm band. This is where the old Retevis RT85 comes in to play.
The AIOC board really is tiny but, beautifully put together. The four large solder pads on the top and more on the underside are positioned such that the TRS plug solder lugs line up perfectly for soldering. Attempting to do this by hand would be impossible as it’s critical that the spacing between the two connectors matches that of the spacing of the sockets on the radio.
AIOC Solder Jig.
Searching online I found a very handy soldering jig on Github that enables you to hold both the TRS connectors and AIOC board in the perfect position for soldering.
Downloading the .STL file I quickly printed off a solder jig on my Bambu Lab A1 Combo 3D printer and fitted the components into place ready for soldering.
Fitting TRS connectors into the AIOC solder jigFitting AIOC board into the solder jig.
Everything fitted rather snugly into the jig and I soon had the board and connectors soldered together. Test fitting to my Retevis RT85 I found the TRS plugs lined up perfectly and it slid into the sockets with ease.
I then thought about designing a case for the AIOC board so that the bare circuit was nicely protected but, quickly searched online and found that NA6D has already designed a case and made the .STL available publicly for download on Printable.com. I quickly grabbed a copy of the file and punted it off to my 3D printer to get to work on.
3D print NA6D AIOC case.
Once the print was complete I fitted the AIOC board and snapped it together ready for testing.
Fitting the AIOC into the 3D printed case.AIOC case with 2 x TRS connectors in place.AIOC case USB-C view
Now that the AIOC was production ready I moved on to getting the latest version of AllStarLink onto my RaspberryPi 4 that I had taken out of my RadioBerry based shortwave receiver that I am going to upgrade to a Hermes Lite 2 in a later project. The RaspberryPi 4 is perfect for AllStarLink 3, a 64bit app and operating system.
Using the RaspberryPi Imager I pulled the image down onto an SD card and slipped it into my Pi4. ( Instructions on how to do this are on the AllStarLink website here )
Booting the Pi4 for the first time I found that it went through a number of reboot and configuration cycles before it was ready for use.
AIOC connected to the Retevis RT85.AIOC connected to the Retevis RT85.
Once ready I went through all the normal configuration of the Pi4 namely, static IP assignment, timezone config, security, port forwarding etc etc.
Having configured an AllStarLink node for myself and only just a few days ago for another HAM I was pretty familiar with the setup. Wanting to make sure there were no “gotcha’s” I also watched a couple of KM9G’s videos on Youtube to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.
Using the asl-menu command line app as user root I set about configuring Asterisk to work with the AIOC board. Much to my frustration I could not get Asterisk to recognise the AIOC board as an available sound device. I checked and double checked all the settings ensuring that I had selected “AIOC” in the available devices menu but found that Asterisk constantly errored saying it could not find the selected audio device. This went on for a whole day without success and so, I decided to put it to one side and come back to it later, a method I found that often worked.
A couple of days later I revisited the problem and had decided to take a different approach. Rather than continue going through the asl-menu app I decided to drop down to a lower level and go through the asterisk config files in the /etc/asterisk directory.
It wasn’t long before I found a file called res_usbradio.conf. Inside this file was the config for the AIOC board however, it was all commented out which meant it was disabled.
I’m guessing here but, I imagine this is what should get enabled when selecting AIOC in the available devices menu in the asl-menu command line app but, for some reason it doesn’t happen.
[general]
;usb_devices = 1209:7388 ;comma delimited list of usb
;descriptors to allow.
;format vvvv:pppp in hexadecimal
;vvvv=vendor id, pppp=product id
;
;1209:7388 = AIOC (all in one cable)
Above is the disabled configuration which is easily edited to enable the AIOC device as shown below.
[general]
usb_devices = 1209:7388 ;comma delimited list of usb
;descriptors to allow.
;format vvvv:pppp in hexadecimal
;vvvv=vendor id, pppp=product id
;
1209:7388 = AIOC (all in one cable)
Once the updated file had been saved and I restarted Asterisk using systemctl the AIOC burst into life and Asterisk recognised it immediately. The Retevis RT85 switched between TX and RX and I was ready to check out the audio.
Setting the volume levels for both RX and TX via the command line tuning app I connected the node to my already existing node. Sure enough the two nodes connected without error and I was able to send and receive audio between them via the AllStarLink net.
Connecting the new node to the parrot I checked the audio levels to ensure it sounded ok and then connected it to the Matrix node where I had a brief chat with Ben, M8TKK.
All that is left to do now is to 3D print a case for the Pi4 so that it isn’t left naked and at risk of being shorted out on conductive surfaces and it’ll be ready for service.
I also plan to build another AllStarLink node using a 4m band handheld and another AIOC board and then will apply for MB7Ixx callsigns for the two new nodes. This will hopefully help to bring some life to the 2m/4m bands locally and introduce HAM’s both to the weekly Matrix Net and HUBNet/FreeStar via AllStarLink.
Checking the ISS pass data I could see it was going to be a good pass for me to listen and so I setup my Wouxun KG-UV980P quad bander on 145.800Mhz to see if I could hear Jack.
Having only a Diamond V2000 vertical antenna, I don’t have the best station for satellite communications however, it has worked well in the past.
Sure enough, as the ISS approached the UK from the South West and reached 2deg above the horizon the signal started coming through. Below is the video I took of the pass.
I ended the video at 6min and 35sec as I thought I’d lost the satellite as it was out to the East over Russia and blocked by farm buildings near my QTH however, once I stopped videoing I remembered to move the VFO down 5Khz and sure enough I was able to hear the ISS right up until the point that Jack signed and ended the QSO.
I really should try to see if I can get some QSO’s via the ISS FM Repeater as the received signal really is very good. Whether the transmitted signal would be as good remains to be seen.
For some time I’ve wanted a full duplex 2m/70cm handheld so I could have a go at working the LEO FM satellites during the summer months from the garden.
Searching through all the handhelds available today I came across the Wouxun KG-UV9K dual band, full duplex VHF/UHF radio.
Since I already own a Wouxun KG-UV980PL Quad bander (6/4/2m & 70cm) I’m familiar with the menu system and the very good build quality so I decided to research it further.
Wouxun KG-UV9K Full Duplex Handheld
Looking at the spec for the handheld it does everything I want and more whilst being reasonably priced.
Jumping onto the Martin Lynch and Sons website I found there were two listings, the radio on its own or the “Pro Pack”.
The radio on its own was £79.00 but, the Pro Pack was only £20 more at £99.00 and came with every option available for the handheld including a programming cable, 2 batteries and a rather nice carry case.
Wouxun KG-UV9K Pro Pack
The full specification and other details for the “Pro Pack” can be found on the ML&S website but, here’s a brief summary:
Pro pack contains:
KG-UV9K Transceiver with 2 antennas
Two batteries Two belt-clips Software and transfer data Cable Fast charger dock and Power Supply Hand speaker mic Battery eliminator Manual Wrist strap Leather case In-car charger SMA-SO239 adaptor Hands-Free kit
Like my Wouxun quad bander the handheld can also be configured as a cross-band repeater, something I’ve not yet found a use for but an interesting feature. Of course being a full duplex radio with two receivers you can listen to signals on 2m and 70cm simultaneously or transmit on one and listen on the other, a feature I’ve wanted for LEO satellite operations.
The radio is really easy to programme using CHIRP and easy to setup via the very logical menu layout. The hand held has a good solid feel to it and I’ve found the battery lasts a good 3-4 days even though I use it to chat with other stations via my AllStarLink node most mornings and the radio is left monitoring all day.
The larger of the two supplied antennas works extremely well having a relatively good gain. I can now easily get into my two local repeaters on 2m & 70cm from within the house, something I’ve never been able to do with my old Retevis RT85 even with a high gain antenna on it.
The receivers in the UV9K are head and shoulders better than that of the Retevis RT85, I’m hearing signals much stronger now and can even get into repeaters that I’ve never even heard on the old Retevis handheld.
The display on the Wouxun is bright and easy to read, even in bright sunshine which is great as I plan to use it outside a lot during the summer months.
The supplied speaker mic gets good unsolicited audio reports on transmit and has clear audio on receive with plenty of volume. The speaker mic doesn’t have any radio control buttons on it sadly, something I really like about the Wouxun UV980PL quad bander as you can control every aspect of the radio without touching the front panel. Would be a nice upgrade for the handheld if it every became available.
Overall I’m really impressed with the Wouxun UV9K Pro Pack. The radio performs very well, comes with every optional extra available and is a bargain at just £99.00.
If you’re looking for a full duplex handheld radio then I recommend you grab the Pro Pack before the offer ends.
Following on from my previous article on using Node-Red to build interactive log maps I’ve now reworked the flow to make it more efficient with less Javascript.
The original flow had a function that handled the issue of FT4 contacts being recorded in two different ways depending on which app you use for your FT4/8 operations.
<mode:4>MFSK <submode:3>FT4
or
<mode:8>MFSK FT4
The code I wrote to handle this wasn’t particularly elegant and so I decided to remove the code entirely and just use a simple change node.
M0AWS New node to handle FT4 more efficiently
This is the great thing about Node-Red, there’s always more than one way to do something.
With this fix in place and the old code stripped out of the format generic payload function, the new flow is much tidier and easier to comprehend.
M0AWs Updated ADI Log Map flow
With testing complete and the two maps now live on my website the flow is finally ready for release into the wild.
If you fancy presenting your ADIF logs in a more visual, interactive format then just download the flow below and import it into your Node-Red flow editor.
Don’t forget that you will need to change the path to the log files in the file read nodes to suit your setup and change the location data in the My QTH trigger to match your callsign and location. Other than this the flow should just work.
I’ve not been on the radio much over the last few weeks as I’ve had my head down other radio related rabbit holes.
One of the rabbit holes is a Node-Red project to make my online logs a little more interactive. For sometime now my logs have been displayed on my website as nicely formatted, searchable HTML pages however, they don’t really allow the viewer (myself included) to see the global coverage of all the contacts so, I decided to write a Node-Red flow that would do just that.
M0AWS Interactive Log Flow
The flow itself isn’t too complicated and basically consists of reading in the individual ADIF formatted log files, processing the data and then sending the data in the correct format to the map node for display.
I’ve had to write a few functions to handle the processing of the ADIF formatted data but, these aren’t particularly complex and are fairly easy to understand even if like me, you’re not a Javascript programmer.
The flow is working perfectly however, I’m in the process of reworking the format generic payload function to reduce the amount of code and make it more efficient.
M0AWS SSB / CW / FreeDV Interactive Log World Map
M0AWS Interactive Log Map Layers Menu
The flow generates two maps, one for voice / CW /Satellite contacts and the other for WSJT-X FT4/8 contacts. Every pin on the map is colour coded by band with satellite contacts being denoted by a satellite icon.
Each pin / icon on the map is clickable and reveals the data of the QSO being displayed.
In the top right-hand corner of the map there is a drop down layermenu that allows the viewer to filter by band thus reducing the number of icons on the screen at any one time.
Seeing the data presented on a map really brings my logs alive. An example of this is that I had no idea I’d worked so many stations in India on the QO-100 Satellite.
The small icons in the pins show a microphone for SSB/FM/FreeDV contacts and a downwards pointing triangle in a box for CW contacts. Sadly I couldn’t find a Morse key icon in the collection available.
M0AWS filtered view of QO-100 Satellite contacts
I only use FT4/8 for testing new antenna designs however, it’s interesting to see the global coverage accomplished with this weak signal mode.
M0AWS WSJT-X FT4/8 Interactive Log World Map
Once I’ve finished rewriting the format generic payload function I will make the flow available for download here so that others can also create an interactive view of their radio logs.
If you want to have a look at the maps and try them out for yourself, they are available under the Logs menu above.
This Node-Red instance is running in a virtual machine (VM) on a 16GB RAM RaspberryPi 5 that is also running a number of other VMs at the same time so, it’s safe to say it’s not heavy on CPU and will run on the older Pi4 as well.
Back in January 2025 I wrote an article about a little RadioBerry Project I’d started that was based around a very old Philips 170A-15 receiver from 1946.
The idea of the project was to build a nice shortwave receiver for the radio shack based around the RadioBerry HAT on a RaspberryPi 4 housed in a vintage receiver cabinet.
The project has taken longer than I imagined due to getting side-tracked by other projects that I already had ongoing.
With the original internals removed there’s plenty of room inside for the RadioBerry, RaspberryPi 4 and the small 15w audio amplifier. The audio is delivered via a pair of Celestion speakers that I had that were originally part of an old surround sound TV system.
Power distribution is achieved very simply using a multi-plug adapter that also has USB A connections in it. The whole thing is then powered via one 240v mains cable.
The screen fits over the original opening for the glass tuning display and is held in place by two mounting screws on the rear of the LCD panel.
I purchased some new speaker grill cloth from Amazon and remade the speaker grill front with cut outs for the speakers. It looks really tidy and matches the rest of the bakelite cabinet nicely.
1946 Philips 170A-15 Shortwave Receiver RadioBerry HAT on RaspberryPi 4
To finish the project off I need to purchase 3 rotary encoders so that I can have a VFO knob and two more knobs for other things (to be determined). The Volume control is already in place with the original knob fitted to it. It will be nice to complete the 4 knob line up.
I had to make a couple of fittings top and bottom to hold the original rear panel in place but, it worked out just fine and I only had to fit an SO239 antenna connector and ethernet RJ45 port so that it can be connected to my local LAN.
Receiving radio Caroline on 648Khz
The audio quality from the little RadioBerry and 15w amp is pretty good. With the speakers hidden nicely behind the refurbished speaker grill the project looks quite tidy!
It also makes a great receiver for the HAM bands with it’s coverage of 100Khz to 30Mhz.
The DL1YCF Enhanced fork of PiHPSDR works really well on the touchscreen and provides a modern control interface to the RadioBerry HAT.
Listening to the 20m HAM Band
I’ll drop a final article once I have purchased the 3 rotary encoders to fill the 3 remaining holes in the front of the cabinet.
More soon …
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