UPDATE – HRD Software has posted a statement on the issue. http://www.hrdsoftwarellc.com/pr.html On Thursday, December 15, 2016, in a post entitled “Ham Radio Deluxe Support hacked my computer,” N2SUB said: I opened a support ticket with HRDSOFTWARE, and was told that I needed to download and install the latest build of version 6.22, and then they […]
The Legality of DMR in Amateur Radio
There is a lot of confusion on whether DMR is legal to use in the amateur bands. The short answer is an unequivocal yes. DMR is legal on the ham bands.
DMR Etiquette
I have recently had a number of conversations with new DMR users wondering how to use the network without being impolite to other users, even inadvertently. I thought it would be useful to write this all down for everyone’s future reference. If you have anything to add or disagree with anything, please leave a comment! […]
KI6WJP’s APRS Weather Lookup Tool
KI6WJP has written a useful APRS-IS service called WxBot. Send a message to it with a single character from your APRS-capable radio or application, and it will respond with a forecast for your location. Here is a video demonstrating its use. If you are in an area that has a TX-igate, you can do this […]
Kenwood TM-D710/TH-D72 APRS Queries
One feature of many APRS-capable applications and radios is that they support specially-formatted APRS messages called queries or QRU. When the radio receives this message, the text “Q? ” will flash on the top of the screen. Here are the message you can send. ?APRSM – Re-queues any pending messages. ?APRSP – Triggers immediate position […]
OpenTracker USB and Motorola Mobiles
The Argent Data OpenTracker USB is a fully-featured KISS TNC – and it’s one of the least expensive, clocking in at $45 at the time this article was written. If you’re going to build an APRS digipeater or igate, or just use it on your home station in KISS mode, it’s a great solution. Motorola […]
Motorola CDM – No PL/DPL on TX from External Accessory Connector
If you’re trying to interface an external accessory (like a Signalink) to a Motorola CDM via the rear 20-pin connector, and it’s not transmitting PL: Go to “Radio Configuration,” then “Accessory,” then change “Data PTT Audio Source” to “Ext Mic Audio” – if it’s set to “Flat Tx Audio,” the radio will not send PL […]
Debian Jessie: Run aprx as a service
If you’d like to run aprx as a service on Debian Jessie, use this systemd script (in /lib/systemd/system/aprx.service):
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[Unit] Description=Amateur Radio APRS Gateway & Digipeater Documentation=man:aprx(8) [Service] Type=simple ExecStart=/sbin/aprx -i # doesn't do any internal reload # [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target |
Raspberry Pi: Enabling Watchdog on Raspbian Jessie
If you use a Raspberry Pi, one feature you may not be aware of is that it has a hardware watchdog. When enabled and properly configured, if the system freezes up, the hardware watchdog will reset the system. That’s pretty convenient if you’re putting a Raspberry Pi somewhere remote, like a tower site. Here are […]
Raspberry Pi: Adding a Real-Time Clock on Raspbian Jessie
Updated version of this for Raspbian Stretch here. The Raspberry Pi is a great computing device at a great price – but to keep costs down, sacrifices had to be made. One of those sacrifices was a so-called “real-time clock” or RTC. Without one, the device forgets the time as soon as it’s powered down […]