Linux in the Ham Shack

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**Linux in the Ham Shack**

Linux in the Ham Shack Podcast in MP3 Format

Latest Episodes:

LHS Episode #065: Bottoms Up Sep 10, 2011

Show notes

Introduction:

Welcome to another episode of Linux in the Ham Shack.
Richard has moved to another QTH, and that’s provided some challenges.

Announcements:

The LHS Ambassador Program needs your help. Russ explains what the LHS Ambassador program is all about and how you can get involved. If you’re interested, please contact us at ambassadors@lhspodcast.info
Richard gives an update on the archiving of Resonant Frequency, The Amateur Radio Podcast.
Richard complains about the Internet service at his new location, and Russ offers a tip about using wget -c for downloading large files.

Topics:

Richard updates us on his AX25 project and moving to a new location.
The Linux kernel goes 3.0: So what? Russ talks about the new Linux kernel, v. 3.0, recently released, and what you can expect.
Your first license: What should you expect? Richard describes the process for getting your first amateur radio license. At one time, proficiency with Morse code was a requirement, but no longer. Richard used the Gordon West training materials to prepare. Having a local radio club or another ham can be a great help. There are two volunteer examiner groups: ARRL and W5YI. Both offer training materials for their examinations. When you go to a testing session, be sure to bring the required materials. After you pass the test, check the FCC website for your callsign. It often shows up just a few days after taking the test. Most importantly, after you get your callsign, get on the air!
Revisiting OpenHatch (see episode 059). Russ discusses the OpenHatch project and how you can contribute to the open source community. There is a simple sign-up process to join OpenHatch. You can use OpenID or several other authentication services. OpenID can be used with several web applications. Once you join, you can specify the various skills you have, and the type of assistance you’d like to provide, such as development, bug fixing, documentation, etc. You can also start a new project or link your own project to OpenHatch. You’ll find development, testing and documentation opportunities.
Russ gives an update on getting SvxLink to work. He had the build of version 11.05 blow up with an error about missing include files. He Googled the error message and found the answer. So he now has a working EchoLink server using SvxLink on 146.225 MHz. So, while it may be a bit challenging to build, it can work and provides a native Linux EchoLink program. (Thanks to Rick, K9AO, who sent an email that gave Russ the push to finish his SvxLink project.)

Feedback:

We received a donation from Oscar, N6PAZ. Thank you! If you’d like to donate to the podcast, please click the Donate button on the website. Oscar also visited the LHS booth at Dayton, and left a comment on website expressing his appreciation for the LHS website.
F8ARR conducted a poll on his website asking what operating system his visitors used in their ham shacks. He found 23% were using Linux! He also linked back to the LHS site. Thanks!
David, N1EA, tells us that the new website for Vinux is vinuxproject.org. Vinux is a remastered version of Ubuntu, optimized for visually impaired users. It includes several ham radio applications, including TLF (The Left Foot), a console-mode logging and contest program.
AmiZed (KB2MOB) wrote a very nice review of LHS. Thank you for the kind words!

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music

“Complicated Man” by Lejo Harmeson & Essence from the album “Complicated Man,” courtesy of Jamendo.
“Don’t Be Harshin’ My Mellow” by Lejo Harmeson & Essence from the album “Complicated Man,” courtesy of Jamendo.

LHS Episode #064: Winlink and AX.25 Aug 31, 2011

Show notes

Introduction:

Apologies for being late with this episode.

Announcements:

LHS had planned on attending the Ohio LinuxFest on September 9-11 in Columbus,OH, and the Huntsville, AL hamfest Aug 21-22, but it’s just too expensive. To address that, LHS has started the LHS Ambassadors program where listeners of the show act as representatives for LHS at events. If you’re interested, please contact us at ambassadors@lhspodcast.info
When you make a donation to LHS, you can choose to appear on the Sponsors page on the LHS website.
Linux Format magazine, the producers of the Tux Radar podcast, recently reviewed various Linux-related podcasts, and LHS wasn’t even mentioned! Ouch!
Richard announces the demise of Resonant Frequency: The Amateur Radio Podcast. Richard is looking for a place to post the articles and other content. The podcast episodes are saved at the Internet Archive, and the videos will remain on YouTube.

Topics:

WinLink and AX.25
Richard describes his trials and tribulations getting a WinLink packet gateway working under Ubuntu Linux.
For the most part, Richard followed the instructions provided by Charles, K4GBB: How to install RMS Gate.
Richard and Russ describe the steps in the Howto and possible pitfalls. Richard notes that you’ll probably want to run the commands as the root user, either by logging in as root or using sudo.
(Note, near the end of Section 4 of the Howto, it appears the author left out the “wget” in the command to retrieve the script. On the page it reads: Get Script – Bernard has written a little Housekeeping script… https://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/ax25/rc.init.script && …
I think that command should be: wget https://f6bvp.free.fr/logiciels/ax25/rc.init.script && …

Note that I’ve shortened the lines with ellipses here. -Ed.)

Feedback:

Andy, KB1OIQ, tells us of his Ham Radio Linux CD, based on Ubuntu Linux 10.10, and includes many ham radio programs.
Rich, KD0BJT, of the LowSWR podcast, is working on a ham radio-related Linux distribution, too.

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

“Mendes” by Assembly Line Gods from the album “Control: Volume 1.”
“Pound of Flesh” by Assembly Line Gods from the album “Control: Volume 1.”

Please note that the music in this episode is neither Creative Commons nor podsafe. To support the artist, please visit Assembly Line Gods on Facebook, iTunes or at https://www.assemblylinegods.com.

LHS Episode #063: South of the Border Aug 09, 2011

Show notes

Promo:

Ohio LinuxFest will be held September 9-11, 2011 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH.
Linux in the Ham Shack promo from the Low SWR guys. Thanks!

Announcements:

Our best wishes for a speedy recovery to MadamMoo!
Our regular hosts are joined by Torsten, XE2/K5TOR.

Topics:

Firefox 4 has been out a while, and version 5 beta is available at the time of recording. Our hosts discuss. The first thing Russ noted, was the increase in speed! Look for versions 6 and 7 before the end of the year. (As I write this, version 6 has been released. -Ed.)
Kudos to The Linux Link Tech Show (TLLTS) and their interest in amateur radio. One of the hosts, Joel, aka “gorkon”, W3RAZ, has recorded a couple podcasts for Hacker Public Radio: Episode #738 is an introduction to amateur radio, and Episode #756 explains the basics of radio. Another TLLTS host, Allan, is N3MAW.
Leo LaPorte of This Week in Tech has started a podcast about amateur radio. (It’s Ham Nation with Bob Heil, K9EID, and Gordon West, WB6NOA, under the TWiT banner and with Leo’s support and occasional participation. By the time you read this, Leo has his license and is now W6TWT. -Ed.)
Russ describes the Linux from Scratch project that provides instructions for building your own custom Linux system, entirely from source code. Russ plans on providing more details of his experience with Linux from Scratch on a future episode of the QSK Netcast.
Our hosts tried Ubuntu 11.04, Natty Narwhal, and discuss it, good and bad.
Russ also tried Fedora 15, and liked the default desktop environment.
Richard likes PCLinuxOS, and SUSE Linux.
Linux Mint gets a mention, too.
In future LHS episodes, look for information about svxlink, an EchoLink client for Linux, and codec2, an Open Source and patent-free audio codec.
Torsten has had problems installing CQRLog on a 64-bit machine. Russ recommends installing the ia32-libs package to provide the needed 32-bit libraries. In Debian-based distributions, you can install that package with the command “apt-get install ia32-libs”. More information about running 32-bit programs on a 64-bit machine with Debian-based Linux is here.

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the Merch link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

“Vacancy” by Assembly Line Gods, from their album Control (Volume 1).
The music in Episode #063 is provided with kind permission by Assembly Line Gods from their recent EP release, Control (Volume 1). The track is called “Vacancy.” Follow ALG on Twitter and Facebook and buy their new tracks at iTunes. Thanks, guys!

LHS Episode #062: The Sound of Linux Jul 20, 2011

Show notes

Introduction:

Introductions, chit chat, a bit about the Dayton Hamvention, Texas Linuxfest, and the Belton hamfest.
LHS will be at several events this summer:
SouthEast LinuxFest (SELF), June 10-12 in Spartanburg, SC. (Yes, I know, by the time you hear this episode, it’s come and gone.)
Huntsville Hamfest August 20-21 in Huntsville, AL.
Ohio Linuxfest September 9-11 in Columbus, OH.
Stop by and say hello to Russ and Cheryl!
Richard may be attending the Texoma Hamarama October 21-22 in Ardmore, OK.
Russ tells us about the sewer failure at Dayton. Only two restrooms in Hara were working Saturday afternoon. Apparently it was fixed by Saturday evening.

PulseAudioTopic:

Richard’s son is trying to start his own computer repair business and recently he received a call from Misha who wanted him to fix a sound issue on her Sony Vaio, which dual-boots Windows 7 and Ubuntu 11.04. Sound worked fine in Windows, but not in Ubuntu, and she preferred using Ubuntu. After working with the machine for a while, he figured out that PulseAudio was the problem, and replacing it with ALSA fixed it.
While researching the problem, Richard discovered PulseAudio problems exist on more than just the Sony Vaio. He also found PulseAudio problems with Ubuntu, Fedora, Open Suse 11 or higher, Arch Linux, Zen, and Sabayon, and with both Gnome and KDE desktops.
Two sites in particular were helpful:
[SOLVED] sony vaio sound problem
Fix Ubuntu Audio Problem in Sony Vaio
Russ and Richard discuss Linux audio problems, and the current state of PulseAudio, particularly with WINE. Russ notes that he’s had no sound problems under Linux Mint.
Russ describes various ways to troubleshoot PulseAudio issues on Linux.
In Gnome, right-click on the speaker icon and select sound preferences. From here you can examine the hardware, choose a sound profile, configure your inputs and outputs, and see which applications are using PulseAudio.
There are a variety of utilities useful for debugging PulseAudio problems:
paman (PulseAudio Manager Utility). Install it with the command “apt-get install paman”. It tells you a lot of information about PulseAudio, including “sinks” and “sources”. You can also use it to set volume levels with greater control than with the desktop audio manager.
paprefs (PulseAudio Preferences Panel) Install it with the command “apt-get install paprefs”. Allows you to perform advanced functions such as connecting PulseAudio servers together, send sound from one server to another, create virtual sound devices, etc.
pavucontrol (PulseAudio Volume Control) Install it with the command “apt-get install pavucontrol”. Allows you to see every application that accesses PulseAudio, set volume levels per channel, and other configuration settings.
pavumeter (PulseAudio VU Meter) Install it with the command “apt-get install pavumeter”. Creates a VU Meter window that displays your audio levels.
padsp, pamon Install with the command “apt-get install pulseaudio-utils”. pamon will allow you to capture the bytes of audio data. padsp allows you to pipe the audio from an application that does not normally support PulseAudio, into PulseAudio.
Remember, you can use the “man” command for help on any of these commands. For example, in a terminal type “man padsp” for help on the padsp utility.
Check out Ted’s sound card programs for ham radio. They are all now PulseAudio compatible.

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

LHS Episode #061: I Am Cornholio May 18, 2011

Show notes

Promo:

The 3rd annual Southeast Linuxfest is scheduled for June 10-12, 2011 in Spartanburg, SC.

Announcements:

LHS will be at the Dayton Hamvention, May 20-22, 2011, booth 131 in the North Hall. Russ and Cheryl will be there. Stop and say hello.
LHS will also be at the Southeast Linuxfest, June 10-12, 2011, in Spartanburg, SC. Russ will be giving a talk on Saturday, and Russ and Cheryl will be at the LHS booth.

Feedback

Dan writes in about a Linux discussion he had at his radio club on March 8, and he mentioned LHS. Dan is also recording his own podcast, “Every Day Linux Use”. Good luck with that, Dan, and let us know where to find the podcast when it’s released.
B.B., KC5PIY, writes about an article in the February 2011 issue of Linux Magazine discussing the OpenHatch project. B.B. shares his thoughts about how OpenHatch may apply to the podcast and amateur radio. Russ and Richard respond. Unfortunately, when this was recorded, the OpenHatch website was down. (From the OpenHatch website: “OpenHatch is an open source community aiming to help newcomers find their way into free software projects.”)
Rick, K9AO, sent some detailed instructions for building SVXlink, an open source Echolink client, under Linux, and we’re including it in it’s entirety here. As you may recall from episode 56, Russ had problems with compiling the program.Hi Russ,

I thought I’d send along the method that I have used to successfully build SVXlink under Mandriva 2010.2 and Ubuntu 10.10. I built the source on Ubuntu 10.10 late last year, so don’t have access to that machine at the moment. I built SVXlink from the latest SVN checkout on this Mandriva box, but this method also works fine for the release tarball.

I don’t know if you generally use SVN projects, but I’m thinking that you likely do if you are as interested in helping to shape the development of actively developed projects.

I create a directory called SVN in my home directory, and then do the SVN checkouts from there. Using the SVN checkout command below will create a subdirectory in the folder that you run it in, and then you can do the install from there. You likely are already familiar with this.

Here are the specifics:

Get the source:

svn co https://svxlink.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/svxlink svxlink

cd to the below directory:

Build the source branch in /svxlink/trunk/src

From there:

make realclean

make

su to root

make install

If there are any missing deps, these will show up as the compile progresses. As you already know I am sure, you need the devel packages to match the deps to build from source.

You will see errors, or what looks like errors as the build progresses after a realclean command. But if all of the needed libs and devels are there, the build process will create the necessary configs and then build the app. If you are concerned that the app might not have built correctly, doing another make will have the terminal scroll through the build process rapidly and then complete. If you get that far, do the root install. Then qtel from the terminal will bring up the client.

There are a number of branches of the source code for SVXlink in development. I recommend the above main trunk first.

There haven’t been any changes in the Qtel client for a while, so if all you are after is the client part of SVXlink there is no advantage to using cutting-edge SVN. There has been quite a bit of development going on in the server part, so experimenting with the SVN and joining the SVXlink devel list might be a good idea.

Hope that helps, and keep up the good work.

Rick, K9AO

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

To be added.

LHS Episode #060: apt-get install make-pr0n-work May 17, 2011

Show notes

Promo:

The 3rd annual Southeast Linuxfest is scheduled for June 10-12, 2011 in Spartanburg, SC.

Topic 1: JT65

Richard enjoys the digital modes. Recently, he came across a signal he could not immediately identify, and found it was JT65.
JT65 is one of the suite of programs in the WSJT package written by Joe, K1JT, and was originally developed for weak signal Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) contacts.
It’s easier to install than WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter); simply download, extract, and go.
Because the software is designed to achieve a weak signal contact, information is sent repeatedly. If everything is working well, a simple contact will take about 7 minutes.
Like WSPR, stations transmit on a two-minute interval, so the computer clock must be accurate.
One station will “transmit on the ones” meaning he is transmitting on the odd number minutes. Each transmission is usually about 50 seconds. Then, the other station sends on the even minutes.
Typical contacts are callsign, signal report, and location.
Signals sound a bit like weather fax, usually a bit above the PSK area on 20m.
Richard was able to make 10 contacts in 15 minutes with 5 watts into his G5RV at 30 feet, on the 10m band, no less. He then made 5 contacts in 30 minutes on 15m, one of which was to South America.
WSJT and WSPR are both developed by Joe, K1JT, a physicist and amateur radio operator.
WSJT and WSPR can be found at https://www.physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/index.html.
One of the best websites Richard found for learning to use JT65 on HF is “The Complete Bozo’s Guide to HF JT65A by Andy, K3UK”. It hasn’t been updated in a while, but is still a good resource.
The manual included with the program is very good, too.
Richard recommends using the second set of messages provided in the program, rather than the default set, as the default does not include a signal report.
Richard has prepared an “Intro to JT65” video, available at the RF Podcast website.

Topic 2: Codec2

Bruce, VE9QRP, back in January, suggested we talk about Codec2.
From the Codec2 website:

“Codec2 is an Open Source and patent-free audio codec, currently in alpha testing. It provides good voice rendition at 2550 bits per second, and we expect that its bandwidth will be reduced with continuing development. Its voice quality and latency are an improvement over Speex, when Speex is run at a similarly low bandwidth rate. The original motivation for its development was to provide a completely open codec to replace AMBE+, MELP, and other proprietary codecs for use in Amateur (“Ham”) Radio communications. However, the codec is potentially useful for commercial two-way radio, telephony, and other applications.”

Russ plays some audio samples, and our hosts discuss how this might be used in ham radio applications.
The resulting file is in a .wav container and thus can be played by any program that plays .wav files. While the result is adequate for voice, it’s not suitable for music.
More links:
History of the project
More background and some how-to information from the author.
A PowerPoint presentation by the author.

Feedback:

We received donations from Dan W., Matt M., Andrew H., and Paul G. Thank you!
LHS will be at the Dayton Hamvention, in the North Hall, booth 131. We hope to see you there!
Jim, N2ENN, linked to us on his blog site. Thanks, Jim.
The Panhandle ARES group linked to LHS on their website. Thanks, guys.
regexorcist of The Daemon and Penguin Oggcast linked to LHS. Thank you.
Gary, KE2YK, has syndicated the LHS RSS feed on his eHamStore.net site. Thanks, Gary.
Burt, K1OIK, thought the clip art of the foo dog (episode 55) looked like Russ.
B.B., sent a long email, which we’ll discuss in an upcoming episode.
Danny asked about the podcast that Gene has about Apple. That’s the Tech Night Owl Live program with Gene Steinberg.
Dave, KI6ZHD, just found the LHS podcast website. Dave has written some documentation for various Linux topics and is a recent ham. His distro of choice is CentOS. He has been documenting his adventures at his blog and thought our listeners might be interested. He asked if we talked about TrustedQSL on Linux, and we did in episodes 43 and 46.
Leif, KC8RWR, commented about dual-booting a computer with Windows if Linux has already been installed. He suggests using gparted to shrink the Linux partition, creating a Windows partition in the free space, and then installing Windows. Of course, it’s best to just use a spare computer or another hard drive. (We talked about all this in episode 56.)
Richard points out that version 1.0 of CQRLog has been released.
Jim, N2ENN, just installed straight Debianand offers a few hints:
Extra repositories: In the system/administration tab, there’s a package called software sources. Check them all and click close.
Flash vs gnash: don’t worry about gnash. Once the nonfree repositories are selected, open the Synaptic package manager and install flashplugin-nonfree, or from a terminal, type “apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree”.
Regarding codecs: all the codecs are already installed, or should be. If not, again in Synaptic, tick good, bad and ugly plugin modules, along with the base plugin.
Russ received this from a radio club: Steve, N1NXU, wrote that he had a Tripp-Lite power supply that needed repair and he asked them for a schematic. They declined to provide one, so he recommends Astron power supplies, as schematics are included. These are available a most of the ham radio stores.
John, KF6EFG, attended Indiana LinuxFest and asked Russ for a copy of his presentation from that event. Look for that information on the LHS website in the near future.

Announcements:

Some listeners have requested a calendar of upcoming LHS events. So, if you have a calendar program that uses ICS calendar feeds, go to the LHS site and on the right side, look for the ‘Follow Us’ heading. Click at the third icon that looks like a calendar. Or, to see the information in your browser, click this https://zmx.bcef.info/service/user/info@bcef.info/LHS-Podcast.html.
Again, LHS will be at the Dayton Hamvention on May 20-22. We’ll be giving away a computer, so drop by the booth and say hello. Please donate at the website to help defray the costs. Thanks.

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

To be added.

LHS Episode #059: Orca and Outtakes Mar 29, 2011

Show notes

Introduction:

Apologies for the delays in releasing new episodes.
This episode is an interview with Jonathan Nadeau of Frostbite Systems and a user of the Linux screen-reading program, Orca.

Interview:

Orca is a screen reading program integrated with the Gnome desktop. It’s available for most Linux distributions.
Russ and Jonathan discuss how a sight-impaired individual might install Linux. There are a couple of Linux distributions that have screen-reader support during the installation: Talking Arch Linux and Vinux.
Speakup is another accessibility tool, but one that speaks the command line.
Vinux is an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution with Orca built-in, allowing a sight-impaired individual to install it from the CD. Vinux is the distribtion Frostbite Systems normally installs for it’s sight-impaired customers.
Slackware has a Speakup kernel, and more distributions are including the Speakup module as well. Several distributions can be installed using Speakup. Some instructions are available at the Speakup site.
Russ mentioned the Quick Learning Techies Show (QLTS) that also occasionally discusses accessibility issues.
Jonathan discusses the pros and cons of Vinux, as well as his concerns about it being Ubuntu-based.
Richard asks Jonathan for more details about how Vinux talks a new user through the install.
If the application is GTK-based, it will likely work with Orca; if it’s QT-based, it probably won’t work with Orca.
Ted’s software (WA0EIR), including PSK31LX, works via ssh, so the programs are controllable from the command line and would work with the Speakup module.
Meanwhile, Russ attempts to install Orca during the show.
Jonathan mentions another podcast he does, This Week in Fedora, and says there is an amateur radio Fedora spin. (I could not find a link to a specific spin of Fedora for amateur radio, but there is a Special Interest Group. -Ed.)
Frostbite Systems sells desktops and laptops with Linux pre-installed. Customers can choose from Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint, OpenSuse, Ubuntu and Vinux. A portion of each sale is donated back to the distribution chosen.
Russ asks Jonathan about the hardware he uses in Frostbite systems. All of the laptops/notebooks have all-Intel hardware, while some desktops have nVidia video cards. All are completely Linux-compatible.
Russ then examines the specifications of some of the Frostbite computers.
Jonathan also produces several podcasts through Frostbite Media:
Frostcast: interviews with project leaders of various GNU/Linux and Free/Open Source projects.
This week in Fedora: interviews with people involved with the Fedora project.
This week in Debian: interviews with people within the Debian community.
Orcacast is on hiatus, but should resume in the not too distant future.

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Outtakes:

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

LHS Episode #058: Nothing But Edits Mar 23, 2011

Show notes

Introduction:

Indiana LinuxFest promo, March 25-27, 2011.

Announcements:

Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, has announced that he will be recording new episodes of The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Welcome back, Jerry!
The Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNet Con) has been postponed until Spring of 2012.
Check out the Resonant Frequency podcast.
Linux in the Ham Shack will be at the Indiana LinuxFest, March 25-27, 2011 in Indianapolis. Stop by and say hello. LHS will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest and the Ohio LinuxFest.

Feedback:

Ilan Rabinovitch writes to tell us about the Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 9X), February 25-27, 2011.

Thanks, Ilan. Sorry we couldn’t include this earlier.

Kevin, KB9RLW, writes in response to Episode 51 that he agrees that Linux is a good fit for the amateur radio community for several reasons: added flexibility, security, and more choices. Even Windows 7 is still vulnerable and he points to a recent Sophos test. He keeps a WindowsXP virtual machine, in VirtualBox for those Windows applications he must run, though WINE usually works fine. He’s also a fan of The GIMP, OpenOffice, Inkscape, and Scribus. Good points, Kevin, thanks.
Dave, KA6YQ, points us to instructions for running the DX Lab suite in Linux, which, unfortunately, just says that you can run their software in a Windows XP virtual machine, which isn’t the same as running it on Linux.
Rick, K9AO, tells us of a native Linux EchoLink client SvxLink. Russ uses the Windows EchoLink program under WINE, but checked out the program. He tried building it from source, because he’s running Debian instead of Fedora, using the posted instructions, without success, but he’ll keep trying.
Joseph C. sent a donation to the LHS Dayton Hamvention fund. Thank you very much, Joseph!
Jonathan Nadeau of Frostbite Systems says that if you want to install the extra codecs in Debian, you must first add the multimedia repository to your sources list file (/etc/apt/sources.list). Add the repo, then install the codecs you want. Linux Mint Debian does much of this by default.

Richard spent most of a day trying to uninstall Gnash and install Flash… without success. And it’s true that IceWeasel and IceDove are the same as Firefox and Thunderbird, but they are one release back. Richard prefers running the current versions.

Russ tells us that by adding the following line to your /etc/app/sources.list file deb https://www.debian-multimedia.org testing main non-free

and then doing an apt-get update, you’ll be able to install the non-free codecs.

Russ and Richard then talk about removing Gnash: dpkg –remove –force-all gnash
Russ recommends GhostBSD if you’d like to play with BSD.
John, EI7IG, writes that Episode 53 was a “cracker” and that he’s a fan of fldigi, too. He also tells us of APRSISCE32, an APRS client for Windows written by Lynn, KJ4ERJ. John has been running IPV6 in the shack and points us to this article by Geoff Huston. Thanks, John.
Larry Bushey and Tom Chaudoir of the Going Linux podcast send their regards.
Russ gives an impromptu review of the Linux Reality podcast by Chess Griffin.
LHS is a sponsor of the upcoming Indiana LinuxFest, and Lord D. sent his appreciation.
Mogens, OZ1AKN, asks for help on a couple of topics.Question: Is it possible to automatically start a program under WINE?

Russ responds with:To make a program under WINE start at boot, look at /etc/rc.d/skeleton for a sample. Copy the skeleton file to the name of the WINE app you want to start, then edit it to start whatever you want to start, such as /usr/bin/wine/echolink.If you want a program to start when the X session starts, click:

menu -> system -> preferences -> statup applications -> Add a startup app

In the dialog, give it a name and add the command: /usr/bin/wine

Question: How do you reinstall Windows in a dual-boot setup?

Russ responds with:

It’s easier to install Windows first, then Linux, as the Linux boot loader will automatically detect Windows and include it in the boot menu. If you install Linux first, then Windows, Windows will overwrite the Linux boot loader.

Otherwise, if you’re trying to repair a dual-boot system, try booting with a system rescue CD to repair GRUB.

Google “linux boot ntldr " to find instructions to tell the Windows NTLDR to also boot Linux.

Tom H. sent a donation to the Dayton Hamvention fund. Thanks, Tom!
Frazer writes that the LHS Facebook fanpage seems to be geoblocked in Canada. (Russ has fixed the problem. Thanks, Frazer.)
Jim, KG9EQ, discovered the podcast while searching for QSSTV and wrote to share his appreciation for the website. Thanks, Jim.
B.B. in the chat room asked if Jerry Taylor has resumed the Practical Amateur Radio podcast. (Richard’s comments were recorded before Jerry resumed recording episodes.)
Paul, KC9QYB, has resumed his Teen Radio Journey podcast.
Brady and Rich recently released another episode of the Low SWR podcast.
Finally, a note to the ICQ Podcast: We encourage Colin to talk more!

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

LHS Episode #057: Fumbling Your Foo Dog Mar 01, 2011

Show notes

Introduction:

Hacker Public Radio promo.

Announcements:

Check out the Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNet Con) website for the latest news and registration information. (Note: the event has been postponed until 2012.)
Take a look at the LHS website for some new screencasts.

Topics:

Richard and Russ talk about the origins of the LHS podcast name. See Linux on the Desktop podcast.
Richard talks about how to build a Delta loop antenna, and using a piece of 75 ohm coax to act as a matching transformer between the antenna and the 50 ohm feed line. He also describes velocity factor for coaxial cable. Here’s an illustration of a 20m Delta loop similar to what Richard describes.
Just for fun: Fab’s Crap Alert
linSmith, in the Debian repositories, is a program for plotting Smith Charts, and more.
Richard then talks about Henry Allen W5TYD, formerly K5BUG, of Texas BugCatcher antenna fame, and the inductors he wound around Plexiglas forms. (Henry ceased production of his antennas in 2009 and has retired. -Ed.)
Russ uses an Alpha Delta DX-CC multiband dipole, in preference to a G5RV dipole.
Other antennas mentioned:
Barker Williamson
Resonant dipole antennas
135’ doublet (I use a 4:1 balun and an LDG autotuner. -Bill)
Impedance of transmission lines: 50 ohms for communications coaxial cable, 75 ohms for cable TV coaxial cable, 300 ohms for the old TV twinlead, 450 ohms for window line, and typically 600 ohms for ladder line.
Richard explains Standing Wave Ratio (SWR).
Richard relates an Field Day story from several years ago… Commodore-64 running packet radio on the tailgate of a truck in 100-degree heat, and burning up the C-64.

Feedback:

Audio feedback from Frasier K. thanking our hosts for the podcast. He’s currently studying for his ham license via HamTestOnline, and learned about Linux from the podcast. He’s now running Ubuntu 10.10 on his laptop and rockbox on his iPod. He’d like some sort of automatic calendar reminder service to alert him when a new episode will be recorded. Thanks, Frasier, and we’ll look into that.
Mitch, KC2MBN, says that he enjoys the podcast. He’s now an Extra class licensee, but is new to Linux. He recently tried dual-booting Windows 7 with Pinguy OS and reports some troubles, and asks for some recommendations for a distro. Thanks, Mitch. If you have a spare machine, it would be better to run Linux on that rather than going to the trouble and risk of dual-booting. You might try actual Ubuntu, Debian or Linux Mint. Crunchbang Linux is also easy to install, as is PCLinuxOS.

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

“Bad Boy (For You)” by Rebolt from the album “Made in Spite EP” courtesy of Jamendo.
“Daylight” by Singleton from the album “The High Seas” courtesy of Jamendo.

LHS Episode #056: The Squeal of Feedback Jan 25, 2011

Show notes

Introduction:

Intro from Pete, VE2XPL, host of the wAVEgUIDES pODcAST.
Promo for the GNU World Order podcast.

Announcements:

Hello to the new folks in the chat room.
The Mintcast podcast is either going to stop or will have new hosts after the next episode. If you’re interested in hosting a podcast, contact the folks over there.
Please spread the word about MAGNetcon, the Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference, to be held May 6-7, 2011 at the St. Louis Union Station Marriott. If you know anyone that might be a sponsor, exhibitor, or speaker, please let us know. Application forms are available on the web site.
Check out the new website for Resonant Frequency.
Also mentioned, the Going Linux podcast and Computer America, “America’s longest-running nationally syndicated radio talk show about computers.”

Feedback:

Richard, KR4EY, writes about CW… wait, we did this one in Episode 52.
John, KC8DAX, weighs in on the Windows vs. Linux debate: there are hams that will buy a wire antenna and there are others that will build one. He thinks it’s the same thing with operating systems. Would you want a radio you couldn’t open? Our hosts discuss.
We received a donation from Charles to help send Linux in the Ham Shack to the 2011 Dayton Hamvention. Thank you, Charles!
Joe, K1RBY, recently discovered the podcast and is catching up, but is having a problem using gpodder to retrieve episodes. Yes, Joe, there is a bug in one of the WordPress plugins on the web site that contributed to the problem (see lhspodcast.info for a description of the problem.) It has been corrected.
John, K7JM, also had the problem with gpodder and sends his appreciation for the fix.
Richard, KJ4VGV, tells us that he is a new amateur radio operator since May and has published an article: Antenna Restrictions: Are They a Catastrophe Waiting to Happen? Good job, Richard!
James, N2ENN, comments about our episode 52 when we discussed Unity, and offers his thoughts on Wayland, Debian and Ubuntu. Our hosts discuss, and digress to a discussion of browsers, plugins, drivers, ALSA and PulseAudio on Debian vs. LinuxMint Debian Edition. They also commment on Bill Meara’s (of SolderSmoke fame) efforts to get WSPR running under WINE in Ubuntu.
Paul, KE5WMA, writes “PIC micro controllers are getting more popular in HAM projects. Any suggestions on programming software and boards?” Well, Paul, Linux does still support serial ports, but this may be a good topic for another show. You might find something useful in the many hits returned by a Google search on “Linux PIC programmer”.
B.B., KC5PIY, asks for help with getting Windows programs for programming radios, such as the Icom IC-2820H and IC-706 MkIIg, running under Linux. He’d also like an APRS client. Richard recommends UIView as an APRS client for Windows, and Xastir for Linux. Russ suggests that most of the radio programming applications will run under WINE in Linux. Also, check out CHIRP, free Linux software for programming a variety of D-STAR radios. You may also want to explore the D-RATS mailing list. It’s not likely you’ll be able to dual-boot Windows and Linux on that netbook, but you can install Ubuntu Linux using WUBI, which would allow you to run Linux within Windows, or install Linux to a USB flash drive using Pen Drive Linux.
Craig, KB5UEJ, writes about learning IPv6: “I went through the Hurricane Electric certification program and really learned lots about IPv6. I’m now running IPv6 on my home using HEs IPv6 tunnelbroker service. It’s no longer the big bad scary thing that it used to be.” Russ also talked about IPv6 on episode 6 of his QSK podcast.
Matt shares his thoughts about building “simple” projects from junk box parts and the similarity to running Linux.

Contact Info:

Contact Richard at kb5jbv@gmail.com, Russ at k5tux@lhspodcast.info, or both at the same time at info@lhspodcast.info.
Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

“Balboa” by Ness from the album Fiesta, courtesy of Jamendo.
“Crawling Back In” by Deathalizer from the album It Dwells Within, courtesy of Jamendo.

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