K0SWE Blog

I've been curious ever since June to learn more about  RMHam 's microwave data network that they deployed up at the Dirty 30, so I started doing some research and asking questions. My research brought me back to AREDN ; I'd seen references to it in the past but this time I dug in a bit further. In concept, it's an ad-hoc mesh IP network operating on microwave ham bands. The frequencies are close enough to WiFi that even some consumer WiFi access points like the Linksys WRT54G will work, although commercial equipment like Ubiquiti is recommended. Hams can opt to put up a node on their shacks, become part of the mesh, and use any services available elsewhere in the mesh. Services include things like chat, file sharing, VoIP audio/video conferencing and IP webcams. Internet access can also be piped in, although due to the prohibition on encryption on ham bands, it can't be raw internet access. AREDN sounds like it's closely related to BBHN . This sounded useful...

I've updated PiPat with new instructions for getting time from GPS. I had wanted to rely mainly on an RTC module, but it doesn't fit in my existing 3D-printed case, so I would need to modify the case to be about 5mm taller and print a new copy. That's honestly just too much work. I'm already using a GPS module and figured there must be a way to get time from gpsd , so I dug deeper. Back in August I found references to feeding ntpd from gpsd which assumed you wanted your very own stratum 1 time server, which was overly complicated and overly precise for my purposes. This time my research uncovered that Raspberry Pi has moved from ntpd to timedatectl and chrony , which makes lots of older advice obsolete. This is actually OK, because feeding chrony from gpsd is more straightforward. The result is that when I have the GPS unit plugged into my Raspberry Pi Pat rig, I get good time even in the field!

Lacking an HF radio, there's not a lot I can do about learning to operate on HF. There's a certain amount of theoretical knowledge and equipment research to be done, and demonstrations via YouTube definitely help, but I'm one who learns best by doing. While I wait to pull the trigger on getting an HF rig, however, I can do something I've been dragging my feet on: learning Morse code, often referred to in the ham realm as "continuous wave" or CW. There was a time when it was required knowledge for every amateur to get their license, but it's no longer obligatory. I had considered it old fashioned, even for a bit after getting my license, but I'm learning that it's still quite active and versatile. When there's almost zero bandwidth and nothing else is getting through, Morse is still the simplest and most reliable way to cut through the static. There are a couple of facets to learning Morse: sending (transmitting a message) and copying (recei...