Tag: DMR

The “020” Reflectors

D-Star users have long known about REF020. Reflector 20, as many call it, is one of the original D-Plus Reflectors. A number of repeaters in the New Jersey/New York/Pennsylvania region link to it, including powerhouse K3PDR in Philadelphia and NJ2DG in Martinsville, NJ. It was recently relocated to the cloud by its operator (Scott KB2EAR) when when the site where the server was housed became unavailable. Historically, the busy channel tends to be REF020A.

During the weeks that Reflector 20 was down, I started exploring D-Star smart groups as a way to get together on the air with some of the folks that I talk to regularly. Smart Group CNJHAM was created on the QuadNet array.

Smart Groups can be a bit confusing on repeaters if you don’t know what group is being used as you come into range. My friend Ray <W2RJR> is playing with a low profile Pi-Star based repeater so we decided that repeater use would be simpler if it could connect to a reflector. Then the only destination route needed is CQCQCQ. So XRF020 was born.

Initially, there were challenges getting XRF020 getting listed in the right directories. You see, there is supposed to be one XRF directory that is authoritative, but not all gateway systems seem to pull data from the same place. Pi-Star uses one list, OpenSpot another, and DV4mini yet another. OpenSpot listed XRF020 right away. DV4mini uses the XLX list and you could have an XRF and XLX using the same number, which is “interesting”. Pi-Star took weeks to list XRF020 until I went to the “top guy”. Then it was handled immediately. Once I learned that XLX reflectors self-register, XLX020 was born.

CNJHAM - Our Central New Jersey smart group conference
REF020 - The original D-Plus Reflector 20 operated by KB2EAR
XRF020 - An XRF Reflector that speaks D-Plus and DCS as well as DExtra
XLX020 - A multiprotocol reflector that bridges digital modes

Here is the lay of our digital land.

Smart Group CNJHAM is where a few of us in the Central NJ area meet up daily. It is more or less our local digital intercom, but you are welcome to stop by and say hello. You can also say hello via XRF020A and XLX020A, as well as REF020D. They are all linked. The NJ2DG-C repeater is linked to REF020D, so you can get in that way too.

         CNJHAM <==> XRF020A <==> XLX020A <==> DMR/YSF
                        |
                     REF020D

If you’re an REF020 user, then you’ll want to know that REF020A is linked fulltime to XLX020C. You can connect to the XLX side of things via DMR, D-Star, or YSF. You can also get in via PA7LIM’s Peanut.

             REF020A <==> XLX020C <==> DMR/YSF/Peanut

See you in 020 land.

73

April 1 DMR Security Update

A new security implementation for DMR repeaters has been announced.

It is called “Color of the Day”. The color code will be randomized and rotated daily to ensure that only those with the correct seed will be able to access repeaters. To get the seed you need to make a Paypal donation to the Amateur Radio Security Cabal Inc. This is a not-for-profit organization of amateurs interested in security and is located in Lichtenstein.

For further information please Google “Aprilscherz”.

November DV4mini Image Update

The K2DLS DV4mini image for the Raspberry Pi 2 and 3 (only!) has been updated to include the October 12 release of the DV4mini Control Panel.  This includes XRF through letter Z and REF up to 100 for the D-Star users.  The image will fit nicely on an 8 GB SD Card.

DV4mini RPi Image Updated to Raspbian Stretch

The K2DLS DV4mini image for the Raspberry Pi 2 and 3 has been updated to Raspbian Stretch.  The DV4mini client and BMXTG 1.3 start automatically upon boot.  VNC has been updated to RealVNC.  Both VNC and ssh are started by default.

The installation fits nicely on an 8 GB SD card and it looks great on my 7″ touchscreen display.

The default password for the pi user is “raspberry” — please change it immediately!

The image may be found here.

BMXTG 1.3 released on Github

I’ve added BMXTG to Github and updated it to version 1.3.  File locations have been formalized for consistency and I’ve created a .deb package for easier install.

Brandmeister XTG Dialer v1.3 by K2DLS

If you have a running DV4mini build and want to add BMXTG, grab the .deb file from the link in the README.

To install:

sudo dpkg -i bmxtg-1.3.deb

After installing, copy the desktop file to your Desktop directory.  This will make the desktop icon available.

cp /usr/local/share/bmxtg/bmxtg.desktop ~/Desktop/

 

DV4mini RPi Image Update

Note: This image has been replaced by this one.

I’ve created an updated image for use with the DV4mini and the Raspberry Pi 2 and 3. It incorporates changes through dv4mini software version date 20170517. It also includes my Brandmeister XTG Dialer for use with extended routing.

Changes include enhacements for YSF reflectors, DMR, DStar as well as the introduction of a text chat window.

Thanks to Ulrich Prinz (DC3AX) for his hard work in support of the DV4 community!

For default passwords, see this post.

Running BMXTG on Windows 10

I’ve been able to run the Brandmeister XTG Dialer on Windows 10 by following this procedure.

Visit the PyGTK FAQ page and fully read 21.1.

I installed the following items referred to in the FAQ:

Python 2.7.13
PyGTK for Microsoft Windows using the all-in-one installer

Run a Windows command prompt as Administrator.

cd \Python27
python -m pip install -U pip setuptools
python -m pip install -U requests

Exit the Administrator command prompt and then open a command prompt as a regular user.

cd %AppData%
mkdir Python

Copy bmxtg-v1.2.zip into your %AppData%\Python directory and unzip.

Create a desktop shortcut to bmxtg.py. The “Target” should be “C:\Python27\pythonw.exe bmxtg.py” and the “Start in” directory should be “%AppData%\Python\bmxtg-v1.2”.

Be certain to review and follow the configuration notes in the README. Then, you’re ready to fire it up!

BMXTG 1.2 Released

The Brandmeister XTG Dialer (BMXTG) has been updated to version 1.2. Enhancements include automatic download of the masters address list and automatic download of talkgroup IDs and labels. Any talkgroup label may be changed through use of the talkgroups.conf file. Be sure to review the README file for changes.

DV4mini control panel in the background with the Brandmeister XTG Dialer in the foreground.

The changes will make BMXTG easier to configure and the user no longer needs to be concerned about IP address changes of the BM servers. A simple stop and start of the program will refresh the server list and talkgroup list automatically.

I’ve also updated the DV4mini Raspberry Pi 2/3 image to include BMXTG v1.2.

BMXTG is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution + Noncommercial 3.0 License. Attribution Required / Noncommercial use permitted.

New Raspberry Pi 2/3 DV4mini Image

Note: This image has been replaced by this one.

The DV4mini software developers have been hard at work fixing bugs, especially with DMR, and making things work better. So, I thought it time to create a new DV4mini RPi image for your enjoyment. I first built my own image last year when I wanted to have turnkey vnc access to my DV4mini/RPi system.

This build no longer contains the unsupported DV4MF2 software. Rather, it has the most recent version of the DV4mini dashboard (201.77), the updated dv_serial (20170106) and my add on Brandmeister XTG Dialer. If you haven’t used the XTG dialer before, you’re in for a treat. It works great with a touchscreen display, but just fine with a keyboard and a mouse too. You might need to edit a couple of text files to set it up to your liking. For details, see /opt/dv4mini/bmxtg/README once you have the distro up and running.

Important default password info follows.

root / raspberry
pi / dv4m

vncviewer – dv4m

You SHOULD change the default passwords after you get things going. The standard unix passwd command is used to change the root and pi passwords. To change the vnc password, use x11vnc -storepasswd.

Running Brandmeister XTG Dialer

[Update January 17, 2017:

The Brandmeister XTG Dialer (bmxtg.py) is now easier to configure. The program itself no longer needs to be edited to get it up and running. All configuration items have been moved to separate files. Download version 1.1 and be sure to read and understand the README file before you begin.]

I’ve received some inquiries on how to get the Brandmeister XTG Dialer script running. Assumptions here are that you can navigate your way around Linux, you know how to use a text editor, and you can look at the python program and figure out how to make a simple change.

1 — Copy the bmxtg.py program file along with the three configuration files (talkgroups.com, buttons.conf and masters.conf) to your home directory. It doesn’t even need to be on the same computer that your dv4mini is connected to, as long as you are behind the same NAT router.

2 — Figure out the URL for the BM Master that you are currently connected to. To do this look at the Brandmeister Masters page. Looks through the list, locate your master, click the status button and note the URL host portion before the first slash. It could be a name or it could be an IP address.

3 — Edit the bmxtg.py program and look for the bm_master assignment statement. There are currently two, with one of them commented out. You’ll need the bm_master variable to point to the master that your dv4mini is currently connected to.

For example, master 3021 is in Canada. Clicking the status button returns http://158.69.203.89/status/status.htm. The line would read:

bm_master = '158.69.204.89'

Be sure that only one bm_master assginment statement is active. You can leave the others there but comment them out by starting the line with a #.

2 — Carefully read and follow the instructions in the README file.