APRS Digipeater Raspberry Pi Buster
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- Опубліковано 28 лип 2024
- Complete tutorial to set up your APRS digipeater igate on a Raspberry Pi.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:58 Basic Pi Setup
9:18 Direwolf Config Setup
10:29 Setting Xastir permissions
12:48 Crontab Setup
15:42 Xastir Basic Setup
17:37 Xastir Map Setup
21:00 Xastir TNC Setup
23:25 Xastir igate Setup
26:02 System Test
🔹Links mentioned in the video
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🔹Did you just get a raspberry pi and want to hook it up to your radio? Start here • Where to start? Raspbe...
Want your raspberry pi to play nice with your ham radio? Are you into digital modes like FT8, JS8Call, FLDIGI, Winlink, APRS, Digipeaters and others? Each week I put out new content showing you exactly what steps to take to get the latest ham radio software on your raspberry pi. Whether you just want to ragchew or are seriously into emergency preparedness, emcomm, or ARES and want to learn all you can about using the raspberry pi to drive your ham radio, this channel has something for you. Be sure to click the subscribe button and ring the bell before heading off. That way you will get notified of all future videos.
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Definitely a very thorough and clear tutorial. Thanks, Jason!
Excellent video. You have a great way of stepping through the Linux configuration that is clear for the noob. I have been using Linux since we had to download source. I am a noob to ham. Great job!
This is another outstanding video. Thank you, Jason.
Comprehensive and easy to follow. Thank you so very much!
Awesome job explaining the setup for a digipeater and igate. I was able to get mine up and running (NT7R-1). 73 NT7R
Thank you so much Jason for your video. I've been frustrated that my handheld was just never able to connect to a local APRS digi or igate repeater. Then I realized that I had all the components for a igate of my own. It came together with a Raspberry Pi 4, a Signal Link and FT-857D. The video was amazing easy to follow. Thank you for all the awesome work on Build a Pi too. 73 W1UTE
Thanks for telling me about your video Jason! I will be building this at some point👍
You've done a fantastic job with all the tutorials and scripts. I just want to mention - You really don't need to have a screen multiplexer running for those of us that are CLI oriented. I am running this on a Raspberry Pi Zero W, and I need all my processing power going towards important tasks rather than GUIs! I switched out the screen portions of the CLI for this: `nohup $DWCMD 1>> $LOGFILE 2>> $LOGERR &` and added a $LOGERR var above. This works just fine, and means I am not running extra apps in the backgrtound. Thanks for all of your foot work! This was great inspiration either way!
Great video. Very informative. I did not see in your comments where you added the text for the items that you indicated we were supposed to copy and paste to crontab. I can definitely type it in no worries.
Thank you and worth the time you spent. I prefer yaac but this helps when for get something setting up aprs.
Comprehensive walkthrough Jason - hats off 👍👏👏
Couldn't understand why the uploads did not show up on aprs .fi .. and then I went into Configure -> Defaults and turned it on there as well. That fixed it.
Otherwise, this tutorial is awesome and thank you for it. :)
To bad someone doesn’t make a 144.39 receiver hat for the pi.
Thank you for this video! Superb instructions! How is the hardware connected together? I have an old IC-2100 and usb audio interface I’d like to use. How would I connect them? I’m guessing audio out of the radio to the input on the interface, then a custom cable from the interface output to the RJ45 mic jack for PTT and audio?
A vid on how to get Direwolf on Pi-Star would be kewl. Since the GPS on PiStar sucks, we need Direwolf on it.
Jason,
Another Great video. I am running a Raspberry Pi 4 with a signalink sound box and a TYT-9800. I got everything working like in the video except it looks like it is not transmitting. I testing the same setup using direwolf in windows and got it to transmit so I am sure the Signalink-radio interface works. When I attempt to transmit for XASTIR I can see the purple text showing the outgoing data in the Dire Wolf termihnal. Once again, I must be missing a setting for transmit. Thanks in advance for the help
Love your channel. Great explanation of the software install. I suspect every radio is different but would you consider outlining the interface between the radio and the PI? The means by which RF data is received and pushed to the internet. Conversely, the reverse path where data is received from the internet and transmitted via the radio.
For my setup in this video, the signalink tigertronics.com/ was the interface that I chose. It provides audio into and out of the pi via USB and handles PTT. Tigertronics supports many different radios. Check their site to see if they support the radio you want to use.
Jason, on trick with Xastir, I saw you had problems zooming out, you can right click on the map and select a zoom level directly instead of switching between all of them, you can also see the zomm level at the bottom status bar. 73
Thanks for the tip!
Nice tutorial, but I would have added the pi user to the xastir-ax25 group rather than chmod-ing the binary. Advantage is that if a software update happens to replace xastir with a new one and resets the mode, nothing breaks.
Good point!
Great information ....
I have a question Jason,
Do you have tested bpq32 running on GNU / Linux ???
I need to setup some services and have some question about Digirepeater
Great video just one question I most have missed something but when xastir restarts at 11 I lose my settings and have to reconfigure it is there a way to save the settings?
I have the same radio. I am going to do the same project after I build my hotspot for fusion and dmr. Would like to know or see the physical set up. Signalink, radio, cable, settings etc. Love your Videos..you actually got me into Raspberry Pi. Thanks and 73 KO4PJW.
Hey Jason I have learned so much from your vids. Do you have a video specific to making an iGate only. Mobile one at that.
I haven't done a video for receive only igates.
If you use the signalink is dire wolf still needed. Was hoping to see you set up the hardware side also. Thanks for sharing this. I have all my stuff and will get mine up and running ASAP.
Yes. You will need direwolf as well. The hardware setup is pretty simple. If you need help, shoot me a message through Patreon and I’ll be happy to assist. 😀
@@KM4ACK Thank you!!
Great description of working APRS system as a gateway and RF digipeater. Is there a way to also add a weather station data feed as well? Thanks much N8LXY
I am sure there is but I don't have a weather station. Head over to the direwolf forums. Those guys should be able to point you in the right direction groups.io/g/direwolf/topics
xastir was my fave.. til i move to wx3in1
I have a radio, antenna and a computer/ iPad( have internet access at home). What do I need for aprs/ Weather station setup? ( equipment/ software)
Thanks Jason you are the best. KI4YWW
Would be great to see some details about the hardware. Which sound card did you use? What station fits this role? Any receiver works or transceivers required because TX needs ?
I used the Signalink sound card which can be used with a multitude of radios. Check their website to see which radio are supported.
Thanks for the great video! BTW the word is pronounced “Zaster” the X makes a Z sound as in Xanadu. It is sort of a play on words as “X” is the window manager in Linux/unix. I am laughing every time you say ik-zaster. ha h
It's an awful name! Doesn't seem to mean anything, unpleasant to read or pronounce. My current reasoning is "must be European. Maybe the I is like ē.", so my best guess was something like exa-steer.
@@matthewkriebel7342 Well, it's an initialism that's trying so hard to be an acronym.
I did assume it would be pronounced with a leading "Z" like "Xylophone".
Maybe it's SUPPOSED to sound like the last 2/3 of "disaster"?
Is this still a valid process for the new 73Linus on the WoWe?
Have you done a video to setup a RTL-SDR. RTL2832U & R820T2-Based Software Defined Radio
I have not, sorry
I have a very similar setup, but I didn't setup, configure, or run direwolf. Using YAAC and it's working great. What part does Direwolf play?
Direwolf is the TNC
Another great video, thanks for the tutorial! - 73, KN6KS
Hi Jason, first of all many thanks for making your two videos on iGate/Digipeater. I’ve followed both videos to the second. But when I send a packet from my FT3D thinking it will be iGated from my newly setup pi and baofeng uv5r it goes to a station which is a few miles away from myself and not mine. Is there something I’ve not done I really don’t know. I’ve even tried another UA-cam’s video. Sorry to be that one, but I could really do with some help please. 73
It could be as simple as the other gateway is reporting it first though a faster internet connection. Watch direwolf on your pi and see if it is decoding the APRS packet from your FT3D.
Jason, one request. Have you any notes or comments on how you hooked up the Baofeng to the Signallink? Was it just audio/vox with the speaker/mic connector?
The signalink has its own VOX circuit. No need to use the one on the radio.
@@KM4ACK yes, I meant to say regular sound card. I’ve ordered the spare microphone cable for the Baofeng and I have half an RJ 45 cable, so with a bit of luck, I’ll stick the two together and have the sound working. Right now, I can see it sending APRS messages to the signal link So everything looks like it’s working. I’ve just got to familiarise myself with all the other software in your package.
This is a bit off-topic, but could you tell me how I can have a terminal window open up automatically on the desktop of my RPi at reboot?
Tnx es 73 de Arnie W8DU
Adding the following line to cron should do it *@reboot export DISPLAY=:0 && /usr/bin/lxterminal*
Thanks for making this video and sharing it with all of us! Part way into the video it was mentioned there might be a similar video that has signal link being used? Is there another video that shows this same setup or similar using signal link? I am of course subscribed with notifications turned on and thumbs up! 73 W3GUY
I used a signalink for this tutorial.
@@KM4ACK Apologies, I misunderstood which hardware you were using in this particular video. I will watch it again and try to pay better attention! Thanks for the reply and 73 W3GUY
Is it possible to use a pi zero and a MMDVM to make a APRS Beaconing transmitter. I want it small and not have to use a portable.
Probably possible but I haven't done it.
Jason, I'm sure you have a video that explains what I'm looking for. I have a Kenwood TM v71a and a signal link TNC for it. I have configured Pat Winlink to use this setup for email. I want to put this radio and TNC in my pickup and use it for APRS. Do you have a video that would help me know what software I need to run on the pi to send out APRS beacons to track my position, etc.? Thanks so much!
The SignaLink is not a TNC. It is a sound card interface. When used with a computer it provides a separate sound card so that you don't wind up transmitting computer sound effects, etc. You still need a piece of software or hardware that takes the data and turns it into the sounds to be transmitted as well as processes received sounds back into data. That is the job of the TNC which effectively acts like a modem (modulator/demodulator) for your radio.
For APRS you minimally need a KISS TNC. I use a Mobilinkd TNC3 that connects to my cell phone or laptop via Bluetooth and to the data port on the back of TM-V71A. I can then run APRS software on my smartphone or laptop to receive and transmit beacons. This setup does not require a separate soundcard device because the Mobilinkd handles everything and interfaces directly with the APRS and Winlink software.
I'm not a pi expert, but I believe what you need to look for is a piece of software that performs the TNC function that you can instruct to use the SignaLink soundcard as your input/output device.
I would suggest looking into Direwolf which I believe handles at least the TNC function and may also eliminate the need for the SignaLink.
Once you ha e a TNC solution (either hardware or software), you should be able to use YAAC or Xastir as discussed by Jason to do the actual APRS work. The TNC may or may not eliminate the need for the SignaLink.
I have followed the video and it works sometimes. I seem to have an audio volume issue. i am using the Signalink USB and the TX volume is either to loud or to low I cant seem to get it right on the signalink and in ALSAMixer. Any help would be great. Thank you
Try setting alsa to 100% and then use the adjustment knobs on the Signalink to dial it it. The Signalink gives you fairly fine volume control.
Most excellent! 73 de KM6TRZ
Can YAAC be added to the Crontab to auto boot? Thanks for any help. Rick
Yes. Something like this should work - *@reboot sleep 90 && export DISPLAY=:0 && /path/to/YAAC*
Hey Jason, I need a little more help, I can't identify the path. I'm use your Buid A Pi and can click on it under HamRadio tab and it works. So can you help me find the path. Rick
Can you add a gps unit to the raspberry pi and have it be a tracker too?
yes. that would be doable.
Since you're running XASTIR for APRS digipeater and iGate, do you leave those functions inactive on Direwolf?
Yes. It can be done with direwolf alone but I leave them disabled as I prefer the GUI interface of Xastir.
@@KM4ACK Yes and it is pronounced “zaster”. X pronounced as a “z” just like Xanadu is pronounced, zanadu. ha ha
Hey Jason, I need a little more help, I can't identify the path for YAAC. I'm use your Buid A Pi and can click on it under HamRadio tab and it works. So can you help me find the path. Rick
should be in your home directory. The directory name is YAAC
I had Old Man glitch in the brain, Got it working. Thanks
Hi, I have build a pi running. I started using xastir. It kept crashing. I started it and then checked on it 24 hours later, pi showed me the opening screen that the pi shows, no xastir running. went through that 3 days in a row. Started YAAC and no problems for several months. Have you had anyone complain like this about xastir? Thanks
No, I don't have any issues with Xastir but YAAC is a great alternative.
I should say that I have a Mobilinkd TNC 3 and not a Mobilink3d!
Quick question for you.. How difficult would it be to change the sound card for this into the Sabrent sound card?
Depending on the radio, not hard at all. The radio I chose didn't have a CAT port to use for PTT control. I could have rigged something up for PTT but had the Signalink on hand and not being used at the moment. If I had chose something like the Yaesu 857, it would be pretty easy to use the Sabrent instead.
@@KM4ACK Thank you Jason!
Can you provide a link for "Build a pie" - I cannot find it via Google search
github.com/km4ack/pi-build
I followed your video and setup as iGate only. The Xastir and Direwolf are working. I does not seem to be igating. APRS password is good. The system seems not go to sleep after 15 min.
In Xastir:
File, Configure, Defaults, [x] Allow RF->Inet and Inet->RF traffic
I was having the same problem this past weekend, & eventually found that was the trick.
Good morning Jason, I/m having an issue with xastir, while updating the permissions my line does have the -x but it lists root root and not xastir -ax25
Jason, KM4ACK here. Kevin doesn't work here :-) You can change ownership of the file with *sudo chown root:xastir-ax25 xastir*
LOL you caught that before I edited it. I got it working, I had to use: sudo addgroup xastir-ax25 before your command before changing the permissions. However after the first reboot at 11:00 xastir seems to have reverted to default and I have to go through the configuration again. Map bookmarks saved but no station configuration. Any thoughts on this? Thanks again@@KM4ACK
Awesome. I have to purchase some more gear. Thank you for your insight.
8P6RC
Hello Jason, I built the station you describe and I have had it working satisfactorily for many months. This is great because there are no other digipeaters in my city of 80'000 here in Peterborough Ontario. There is one aspect of the station that does not work as far as I can tell. All APRS packets get posted to ASRS.FI but always from a station that I repeat to. My station does not post APRS information. I have tried using a very poor antenna so that no other stations hear me but there is no APRS listings from my station when I send a position report to my station from my HT. I have checked and double checked all my XASTIR settings. I wonder if I should be sending APRS reports to a different server up here in Canada? Any suggestions from anyone? My station is connected to the internet through an ethernet cable from my RPi to my house wifi. It receives bulletin information.
Double check your APRS pass and verify that it is correct. Any of the servers should work.
TNX Jason. I want to start by saying that I think your video was very well produced and easy to follow.
I checked the APRS PASSCODE and it is correct and is entered correctly in xastir in Interface control>internet server...>properties. It is not a huge problem because the APRS position reports get posted by other IGATES that my station repeats to. I just find it unfortunate that my IGATE does not seem to report any position reports.
Bob ve3obo
Hi Jason, I’m not able to see my HT, (KF4RAF-7) when beaconing or any other RF beaconing traffic on aprs.fi website. However, I do see my igates on apes.fi. Everything is showing up on Xastir as normal. I also have “Allow RF - Inlet and Inet - RF” checked. Any suggestions and thanks in advance. Phil KF4RAF-10. P.S. when I run APRSIS32 program on another computer all show up on aprs.fi as normal. Thanks again
Double check that your passcode is correct and that the interface is "up" and shows no errors.
@@KM4ACK Passcode is 19888 and interface is up with no errors.
I was doing ok until I got to 22:33 and saw I didn't have the following two lines in direwolf: Virtual KISS TNC is available on /dev/pts/1
Created symlink /tmp/kisstnc -> /dev.pts/1. The other lines were there as shown in the video. I am using a Signalink USB connected to a RPi 4. . Where did I miss a step? Anyone have an idea?
tnx, mo
You might have missed the -p option. direwolf -p
@@KM4ACK Lordy, Lordy, I booted up the Pi to check for the -p and the two lines were there and so was the -p. I guess a reboot was due. tnx. de ke4rk
I am having a problem. when I use whereis and I get the /usr/local/bin/xastir
and i have the x in the line but it shows root root not root xastir ax25 in the video and it will not start up on reboot.
You can change the owner of the file using the "chown" command.
@@KM4ACK I am new to all this. Any books or web pages to checkout? And thank you for the help.
Great series of videos and lots of hard work! Just one thing, in my v3 build using your script xastir is in /user/local/bin/ meant I had to modify the crontab line for the auto-start. 73 Justin G8YTZ
I have used only direwolf as an Igate and Digipeater before, is there any advantage to using Xastir instead? 73 de LW9EYP
I was wondering this as well. Perhaps Jason likes the maps capability.
Having xastir gives you a few advantages. It is an easy interface for APRS messages, maps, and placing objects.
@@tyguy609 yes. I did also something similar by connecting xastir via network kiss but the igate and digipeater functionality was handled by direwolf in my case so xastir could be turned off if needed. It was more of a headless solution
AC0QU I am having a problem with the install the direwolf will not start it is showing the soundcard in the signal link error " Dire Wolf version 1.6
Includes optional support for: hamlib cm108-ptt
Reading config file /home/pi/direwolf.conf
Audio device for both receive and transmit: plughw:2,0 (channel 0)
Could not open audio device plughw:2,0 for input
Device or resource busy
Pointless to continue without audio device." I have rebooted the signal link and tried everything I can find to clear the problem HELP PLEASE ben working for a week on this
It seems as though something else is talking to the sound card or the sound card isn't 2,0. You can find the sound card number by running *arecord -l* . If you still can't get it going, post on the forum. groups.io/g/KM4ACK-Pi/topics Handling tech support there is much better than UA-cam comments.
Jason - just awareness, building this today with the latest BAP version fails on DireWolf install. Manually installing Direwolf does work with Apt-get, HOWEVER - your BAP update script will remove it if installed in this manner. This is on a Pi 3 and following the usual steps... was not sure if you were aware or perhaps had a new updated install? (BTW, have family in your town will ping on next visit -- coffee on me if you like!)
Direwolf installed fine on a Pi 4 4gb model this morning running Bullseye. Wonder if it might be due to the limited RAM on a Pi 3?
@@KM4ACK Thank you Jason for the quick reply. I reformatted the and reinstalled again on the Pi 3, this time everything properly installed. I guess a gremlin got in my first attempt... apologies for the false alarm! - Now I owe you a full pot of coffee and lunch ;)
Is this a prebuilt pi image?
no but Build a Pi makes it super easy to install
What does a digipeater do, let you receive and send aprs messages?
It repeats APRS packets that it hears and/or injects them into the internet depending on configuration. It will repeat position reports, bulletins, messages, etc.
@@KM4ACK but how does it benefit? Does it allow you to see the traffic that passes through it?
How about connection information?
Connection information for the pi to the radio? This is where the signalink comes into play.
Sorry my friend but I'm frustrated with this one. I cant seem to get XASTIR to load up. Hit update select it and it wont come up loading. No files found. Running instructions on minute 11. Whereis cant find it either. I believe this worked before but something changes perhaps. I appreciate your efforts but cant get this one. 73 Pi4 running 64 and then 32... same results. Only looking for APRS.
Check out YAAC. It is much friendlier than Xastir. Both the install and using the program. Also, YAAC has better support for offline maps which is just one of many reasons I run it exclusively now.
@@KM4ACK really made a difference. Now everything is working just fine. Thanks 73
Excellent tutorial but need some guidance for few things
1) how to connect baofeng UV 82 HP radio to raspberry pi for complete function
2) I watched your GPS setup tutorial but it's not working at my pi. GPS model is same as yours
Request your guidance. 73 de VU3WTJ
Here's a tutorial on connecting to a Baofeng mikebeach.org/2015/10/27/using-kf5inz-easy-digi-with-baofeng-uv-b5-or-uv-b6/comment-page-1/ The other option is to use a signalink sound card. They have cables specific for the Baofeng radio.
@@KM4ACK thank you for info. Request to give some guidance on GPS setup
Hi KM4ACK, quick suggestion, instead of changing the permissions on the o+x, why don't you add the user to the xastir-ax25 group? I think that would a bit cleaner. Great tutorials, even though a bit old now :) -73 KJ5BPP
Good point!
Is your background available to the public?
It is now :-) www.dropbox.com/s/5dpd6qwgl7n9tby/aprs-digi.jpg?dl=0
@@KM4ACK Awesome, many thanks!
Google really is your friend! I've done the following and now everything is ok!
First run: hcitool scan (this gives you the MAC address of your TNC3 mine is )
then run: sdptool browse (gives you info about your TNC3 -- look under RFCOMM for channel number (mine is 6)
finally: sudo rfcomm connect /dev/rfcomm0 6
you should see:
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo rfcomm connect /dev/rfcomm0 6
Connected /dev/rfcomm0 to on channel 6
Press CTRL-C for hangup
Hi all VA3BVH here. Wondering what materials are required for this project other than the Pi and software. Thanks! 73
You will also need some sort of sound card interface and the cable to go between the sound card and the radio. Depending on your setup/radio, you may also need a cable for CAT/PTT. Signalink is by far the easiest to configure since it handles the sound/PTT to the radio.
@@KM4ACK would I be able to use a UV5R?
@@KM4ACK I have an aprs cable that I use with my UV5R. Its two pin kenwood to usb. I guess I would still need a tnc...
Its two pin to 3.5mm my bad***
My Mobilink3d give this error when trying to connect; Connection failed - no usable services on this device. Did I forget to do something?
The Pi knows it's there and even shows me the MAC address when I run your command but I still get the above error message.
I had to use /dev/ttyACM0 and set baud rate to 9600 on my Mobilinkd TNC3. Your mileage may vary
If I had checked earlier I would have known that I forgot to tell what channel my TNC was on.
Looking for a cheap setup. I'd rather not use a Signalink.
Checkout the direwolf forum for other options groups.io/g/direwolf/topics
Followed the video. Thank you for making it. using a leixan VV-898and an external USB sound card , , I can receive packets all day/night long.
nothing I have tried will make the radio transmit.
any suggestions?
I am not familiar with that radio. Best place for advice is the direwolf group. If it's possible, someone there has probably figured it out already. groups.io/g/direwolf/topics
@@KM4ACK thanks. that was the 2nd place I asked
Hi, having lots of problems with "pat". When I install it, it cannot be configured, as it doesn't exist. I had built my Pi with different credentials but reverted to @pi@ on a fresh rebuild. Still no difference. I am using the latest PiOs 64bit. Is this the issue? I use RpImager to build it: pi@digipi:~/Downloads $ echo $PATH
/home/pi/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games:/home/pi/bin
pi@digipi:~/Downloads $ pat configure
bash: /usr/bin/pat: No such file or directory
Will these instructions work on a Pi4?
Yes it will work on the Pi 4
Where is Direwolf setup?