Raspberry Pi and Amateur Radio

Radio related things to do with your Raspberry Pi

Kevin Hooke KK6DCTJuly 2016

http://www.raspberrypi.org/

Amateur Radio + Raspberry Pi

General Radio stuff:SDR radio (RTL dongle and rtl_sdr / rtl_tcp)

ADS-B Aircraft transponder reception (RTL dongle and dump1090)

Amateur Radio:Cheap Desktop PC replacement (for Logging, internet, QRZ lookups)

Weak Signal Propagation (WSPR / WSPRryPi)

DSTAR Access Point (DVAP dongle and other add-on boards)

Packet Radio - h/w (Pi TNC) and s/w (Direwolf) TNC solutions

Packet Radio BBS / Personal mailbox (PiLinBPQ)

Packet DX Cluster (DX Spider)

DIY Projects: Remote antenna rotator, antenna switches

Raspberry Pi what is it?

How does it differ from an Arduino?

Arduino: a microcontrollerProgrammable, can control external devices, circuits through analog and digital I/O pins

does one thing, usually repeatedly

Image from: SparkFun Electronics from Boulder, USA - Arduino Uno - R3, CC BY 2.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26785892

Raspberry Pi what is it?

ARM microprocessor based

Usually runs a flavor of Linux (e.g. Raspbian)

Uses SD Cards for disk storage

GPIO and I2C I/O pins for interacting with hardware devices

Raspberry Pi B+

Image from: Lucasbosch - CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34179985

Pi 1 & 2: USB ports (for keyboard, mouse), HDMI out, Ethernet

Pi 3: WiFi, Bluetooth

A general purpose single-board computer

Did I mention?

$35

Warning: Hobby time-sink alert!

From this point onwards:You will most likely spend a bunch of time installing and tweaking Linux related stuff

We'll skip a lot of specifics here, but there are plenty of resources online, e.g.https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/

http://raspberrypi.stackexchange.com/

http://elinux.org/RPi_Hub

many more

All ideas here I've blogged in detail (some step by step):https://www.kevinhooke.com/?s=raspberry+pi

I'll be happy to help anyone with specific questions after the meeting, or via email: kevin.hooke@gmail.com

Raspberry Pi Getting Started

Download an OS https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads

Burn to an SD card

Several options to choose from, Raspbian is the default option

Connect an HDMI monitor and keyboard/mouse for initial setup

Once setup, you can run it 'headless' (no monitor), use ssh (Linux/OS X), or putty (on Windows) to access remotely over your network

sudo raspi-config : several useful config options

Raspberry Pi Setting Up

Menu driven config options:

Let's look at a few ideas!

Raspberry Pi Radio Stuff

Install: sudo apt-get install xlog

Logging Apps: xlog

Install: sudo apt-get install cqrlog

Logging Apps: CQRLog

RTL USB TV receiver

Install osmocomSDR software:http://sdr.osmocom.org/trac/wiki/rtl-sdr

rtl_sdr

rtl_fm : fm receiver

rtl_tcp : sdr server can be accessed remotely, eg from SDR# on a PCe.g. allows Pi + dongle + antenna can be remotely located = avoids long coax feed

RTL dongles + Raspberry Pi

$23 fromhttp://www.nooelec.com/store/sdr/nesdr-mini-2-plus.html

Step by step setup:https://www.kevinhooke.com/2014/07/26/installing-rtl-sdr-and-dump1090-on-a-raspberry-pi-to-receive-ads-b-signals/

ADS-B: Automated position report transmissions from airplanes, location/speed/heading/flight/airframe id 1.090 GHz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_dependent_surveillance_%E2%80%93_broadcast

Online flight tracking (eg FlightAware.com and others) collect reception data from hobbyists

Multiple approaches, dump1090 is easiest

Needs rtl-sdr installed first

Original version: https://github.com/antirez/dump1090

Updated version: https://github.com/MalcolmRobb/dump1090

To pull source and build:git clone https://github.com/MalcolmRobb/dump1090.git

cd dump1090

make

RTL dongle: ADS-B Reception

dump1090 --interactive

Running dump1090

dump1090 --net

WSPR: Weak Signal Propagation Reporting

Raspberry Pi+ WsprryPi software https://github.com/JamesP6000/WsprryPi + TAPR QRP shield ($29)https://www.tapr.org/kits_20M-wspr-pi.html

+ wire antenna (e.g. dipole)

WSPR: WsprryPi + TAPR QRP TX Shield

TAPR QRPi shield ($29)

https://www.tapr.org/kits_20M-wspr-pi.html

20 dBm / 100 mW TX output

LPF + BPF + 10 dBm power amp (20 dBm output)

WSPR: WsprryPi + TAPR QRP TX Shield

See docs for other apps and modes:SSBNFMAMSSTVCW

First attempt: Didn't get any spots using a RPi 1(WsprryPi s/w was updated to support Rpi 2?)

TAPR QRPi Shield

20m wire dipole

Weatherproofbox

10000 mAhUSB battery

WSPR: WsprryPi + TAPR QRPi TX Shield

Second attempt: RPi 2

TAPR QRPi Shield

20m wire dipole

Weatherproofbox

10000 mAhUSB battery

WSPR: WsprryPi + TAPR QRPi TX Shield

4/30/16: 20m : 100 mW 2180 miles to W4DJW in South Carolina!

WSPR: WsprryPi + TAPR QRP TX Shield

DSTAR Access Point (DVAP dongle & others)

DV Access Point USB DongleRequires DSTAR radio

From:http://www.dvapdongle.com/DV_Access_Point_Dongle/Home.html

DVMega

- various models, some require DSTAR radio- AMBE3000 takes analog input and converts to DSTAR data signal

From:http://www.dvmega.auria.nl/AMBE3000_shield.html

Packet Radio and Raspberry Pi

Lots of options!ax25 networking stack support in LinuxAlready installed or easily installed on Linux distros

Provides basic tools like call: axcall 1 kberr

Direwolf (Packet soundcard modem / TNC)Also supports APRS beacons, iGates https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf

LinPac (Packet terminal app) http://linpac.sourceforge.net/overview.php

PiLinBPQ: BPQ32 Packet BBS http://www.cantab.net/users/john.wiseman/Documents/InstallingLINBPQ.htm

Hardware TNC boards: TNC-Pi

Checkout Joe DeAngelo AG6QO's site on setting up the WINTBB Raspberry Pi BBS: http://ag6qo.com/PiPBBS.html

Prebuilt SD Card images for Packet

Don't need to install apps yourself, prebuilt OS images (SD Card):F6BVP: Xastir, FPAC, LinFBBUses TNC-Pi by default

http://f6bvp.free.fr/AX25_BBS_Node_RaspBerry_Pi_install.html

HALDigital: https://sourceforge.net/p/haldigital/wiki/Home/Prebuild Raspbian image with ax25, Direwolf, etc

Menu driven configuration

If you want more flexibility/options, can still install all parts yourself

Direwolf soundcard modem

Soundcard Packet modem (Linux and Windows versions)https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf

AWESOME documentation

Easy setup

KISS app support

AGWE app support

APRS / Smart Beaconing / GPS board support

APRS iGate

Direwolf and PiLinBPQ

Raspberry Pi + Direwolf + PiLinBPQ:Low cost / low power packet BBS and CHAT station

Portable Packet BBS? Add USB battery packs

BPQ32: ax25 Node Windows and Linux versionshttp://www.cantab.net/users/john.wiseman/Documents/BPQ32.html

PiLinBPQ: Raspberry Pi versionAdd on apps: BBS, CHAT, other integration

Direwolf and axcall/LinPac

Raspberry Pi + Direwolf + axcall/LinPacLow cost / low power packet station

Portable Packet station? Add USB battery packs

Linpack: http://linpac.sourceforge.net/overview.php

Direwolf and APRS: Xastir

APRS client: http://xastir.org/index.php/Main_Page

Direwolf and APRS: YAAC

YAAC Yet another APRS Client: http://www.ka2ddo.org/ka2ddo/YAAC.html

Example Pi Packet setup

Example Pi Packet setup

HT radio

Soundcard interface

Pi + Direwolf

Add USB batteries for portable setup

Left:Pi 1 (headless)

PiLinBBS

Right:Pi 3 + 7 touchscreen

Axcall into BBS

(WiFi hub is for ssh into Pi for demo, not needed as part of setup)

Future Project: RTL SDR and Direwolf
Self-contained Pi SDR Packet station?

Setup:RTL USB dongle

rtl_sdr / rtl_fm

Direwolf soundcard modem

(see Direwolf docs for instructions)

Self-contained SDR packet station for < $60 ?

What about transmit?RPiTX: https://github.com/F5OEO/rpitx

QTCSDR: https://github.com/ha7ilm/qtcsdr

Demos and Questions