AmateurRadio.com

Welcome to Episode #059 of Linux in the Ham Shack. On this edition, we talk with Jonathan Nadeau of Frostbite Systems about Linux for the sight impaired. Jonathan, being a blind Linux user, has overcome many challenges when it comes to using his favorite operating system and he shares with us the ins and outs of accessibility on Linux systems. There is a Linux distribution dedicated to blind users called Vinux, along with an accessible version of Arch called Talking Arch. Even newer versions of Slackware are jumping on the bandwagon with a Speakup enabled installation kernel.

This is also the first episode of LHS with a blooper reel left in at the end. Listen all the way to the last so you don’t miss out on any of the fun. Many thanks to Jonathan for his time and expertise, and many thanks to our listeners for making our show so fun to do.

73 de The LHS Guys

Introduction:

• Indiana LinuxFest promo, March 25-27, 2011.

Announcements:

• Jerry Taylor, KD0BIK, has announced that he will be recording new episodes of The Practical Amateur Radio Podcast. Welcome back, Jerry!
• The Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNet Con) has been postponed until Spring of 2012.
• Check out the Resonant Frequency podcast.
• Linux in the Ham Shack will be at the Indiana LinuxFest, March 25-27, 2011 in Indianapolis. Stop by and say hello. LHS will also be at the SouthEast LinuxFest and the Ohio LinuxFest.

Feedback:

• Ilan Rabinovitch writes to tell us about the Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE 9X), February 25-27, 2011.
  Thanks, Ilan. Sorry we couldn’t include this earlier.
• Kevin, KB9RLW, writes in response to Episode 51 that he agrees that Linux is a good fit for the amateur radio community for several reasons: added flexibility, security, and more choices. Even Windows 7 is still vulnerable and he points to a recent Sophos test. He keeps a WindowsXP virtual machine, in VirtualBox for those Windows applications he must run, though WINE usually works fine. He’s also a fan of The GIMP, OpenOffice, Inkscape, and Scribus. Good points, Kevin, thanks.
• Dave, KA6YQ, points us to instructions for running the DX Lab suite in Linux, which, unfortunately, just says that you can run their software in a Windows XP virtual machine, which isn’t the same as running it on Linux.
• Rick, K9AO, tells us of a native Linux EchoLink client SvxLink. Russ uses the Windows EchoLink program under WINE, but checked out the program. He tried building it from source, because he’s running Debian instead of Fedora, using the posted instructions, without success, but he’ll keep trying.
• Joseph C. sent a donation to the LHS Dayton Hamvention fund. Thank you very much, Joseph!
• Jonathan Nadeau of Frostbite Systems says that if you want to install the extra codecs in Debian, you must first add the multimedia repository to your sources list file (/etc/apt/sources.list). Add the repo, then install the codecs you want. Linux Mint Debian does much of this by default.
  Richard spent most of a day trying to uninstall Gnash and install Flash… without success. And it’s true that IceWeasel and IceDove are the same as Firefox and Thunderbird, but they are one release back. Richard prefers running the current versions.
• Russ tells us that by adding the following line to your /etc/app/sources.list file

  deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing main non-free

  and then doing an apt-get update, you’ll be able to install the non-free codecs.

• Russ and Richard then talk about removing Gnash:

  dpkg --remove --force-all gnash

• Russ recommends GhostBSD if you’d like to play with BSD.
• John, EI7IG, writes that Episode 53 was a “cracker” and that he’s a fan of fldigi, too. He also tells us of APRSISCE32, an APRS client for Windows written by Lynn, KJ4ERJ. John has been running IPV6 in the shack and points us to this article by Geoff Huston. Thanks, John.
• Larry Bushey and Tom Chaudoir of the Going Linux podcast send their regards.
• Russ gives an impromptu review of the Linux Reality podcast by Chess Griffin.
• LHS is a sponsor of the upcoming Indiana LinuxFest, and Lord D. sent his appreciation.
• Mogens, OZ1AKN, asks for help on a couple of topics.Question: Is it possible to automatically start a program under WINE?
  Russ responds with:To make a program under WINE start at boot, look at /etc/rc.d/skeleton for a sample. Copy the skeleton file to the name of the WINE app you want to start, then edit it to start whatever you want to start, such as /usr/bin/wine/echolink.If you want a program to start when the X session starts, click:
  menu -> system -> preferences -> statup applications -> Add a startup app
  In the dialog, give it a name and add the command: /usr/bin/wine <application path>

  Question: How do you reinstall Windows in a dual-boot setup?

  Russ responds with:

  It’s easier to install Windows first, then Linux, as the Linux boot loader will automatically detect Windows and include it in the boot menu. If you install Linux first, then Windows, Windows will overwrite the Linux boot loader.

  Otherwise, if you’re trying to repair a dual-boot system, try booting with a system rescue CD to repair GRUB.

  Google “linux boot ntldr ” to find instructions to tell the Windows NTLDR to also boot Linux.

• Tom H. sent a donation to the Dayton Hamvention fund. Thanks, Tom!
• Frazer writes that the LHS Facebook fanpage seems to be geoblocked in Canada. (Russ has fixed the problem. Thanks, Frazer.)
• Jim, KG9EQ, discovered the podcast while searching for QSSTV and wrote to share his appreciation for the website. Thanks, Jim.
• B.B. in the chat room asked if Jerry Taylor has resumed the Practical Amateur Radio podcast. (Richard’s comments were recorded before Jerry resumed recording episodes.)
• Paul, KC9QYB, has resumed his Teen Radio Journey podcast.
• Brady and Rich recently released another episode of the Low SWR podcast.
• Finally, a note to the ICQ Podcast: We encourage Colin to talk more!

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at [email protected], Russ at [email protected], or both at the same time at [email protected].
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

I have to say this was probably the hardest episode to put together so far. I managed to not record the first 20 minutes of my side of the episode. Then there were bits from Episode #057 that needed to be put in. I recorded secondary items that didn’t match up with the original first take. And somehow I think I managed to get it all put together and make it make sense.

Hopefully we will see everyone at Indiana Linux Fest this weekend in Indianapolis. If you can’t make it, be with us in spirit. Thank you to our listeners for all your support. Please continue to help us get to Dayton if you can, and remember to tell a few of your friends about us.

73 de The LHS Guys

Introduction:

• Hacker Public Radio promo.

Announcements:

• Check out the Mid-America GNU/Linux Networkers Conference (MAGNet Con) website for the latest news and registration information. (Note: the event has been postponed until 2012.)
• Take a look at the LHS website for some new screencasts.

Topics:

• Richard and Russ talk about the origins of the LHS podcast name. See Linux on the Desktop podcast.
• Richard talks about how to build a Delta loop antenna, and using a piece of 75 ohm coax to act as a matching transformer between the antenna and the 50 ohm feed line. He also describes velocity factor for coaxial cable. Here’s an illustration of a 20m Delta loop similar to what Richard describes.
• Just for fun: Fab’s Crap Alert
• linSmith, in the Debian repositories, is a program for plotting Smith Charts, and more.
• Richard then talks about Henry Allen W5TYD, formerly K5BUG, of Texas BugCatcher antenna fame, and the inductors he wound around Plexiglas forms. (Henry ceased production of his antennas in 2009 and has retired. -Ed.)
• Russ uses an Alpha Delta DX-CC multiband dipole, in preference to a G5RV dipole.
• Other antennas mentioned:
  • Barker Williamson
  • Resonant dipole antennas
  • 135′ doublet (I use a 4:1 balun and an LDG autotuner. -Bill)
• Impedance of transmission lines: 50 ohms for communications coaxial cable, 75 ohms for cable TV coaxial cable, 300 ohms for the old TV twinlead, 450 ohms for window line, and typically 600 ohms for ladder line.
• Richard explains Standing Wave Ratio (SWR).
• Richard relates an Field Day story from several years ago… Commodore-64 running packet radio on the tailgate of a truck in 100-degree heat, and burning up the C-64.

Feedback:

• Audio feedback from Frasier K. thanking our hosts for the podcast. He’s currently studying for his ham license via HamTestOnline, and learned about Linux from the podcast. He’s now running Ubuntu 10.10 on his laptop and rockbox on his iPod. He’d like some sort of automatic calendar reminder service to alert him when a new episode will be recorded. Thanks, Frasier, and we’ll look into that.
• Mitch, KC2MBN, says that he enjoys the podcast. He’s now an Extra class licensee, but is new to Linux. He recently tried dual-booting Windows 7 with Pinguy OS and reports some troubles, and asks for some recommendations for a distro. Thanks, Mitch. If you have a spare machine, it would be better to run Linux on that rather than going to the trouble and risk of dual-booting. You might try actual Ubuntu, Debian or Linux Mint. Crunchbang Linux is also easy to install, as is PCLinuxOS.

Contact Info:

• Contact Richard at [email protected], Russ at [email protected], or both at the same time at [email protected].
• Listen to the live stream every other Tuesday at 8:00pm Central time. Check the LHS web site for dates.
• Leave us a voice mail at 417-200-4811, or record an introduction to the podcast.
• Sign up for the LHS mailing list.
• Sign up for the MAGNetcon mailing list.
• LHS merchandise is available at the SHOP! link on Web site. Check out the Badgerwear or buy one of the other LHS-branded items at PrintFection.com/lhs or Cafe Press. Thanks!
• Thanks to Dave from Gamma Leonis for the theme music.

Music:

• “Bad Boy (For You)” by Rebolt from the album “Made in Spite EP” courtesy of Jamendo.
• “Daylight” by Singleton from the album “The High Seas” courtesy of Jamendo.

In this very late episode, Linux in the Ham Shack gets back to some basics. For those listeners who haven’t been around ham radio that much, we take a look at some of the basic concepts of radio communication. Then, we get all up in arms about how long our…antennas are. Explore with us some of the concepts of antenna modeling, different types of antenna design and what they’re good for, and some software that might help you make sense of Smith Charts. As if that isn’t enough, we through in some good-natured ribbing, feedback from our listeners and a whole heap of fun. Tune in and let your worries disappear. LHS Top Tip: Don’t fumble your foo dog too hard, it might go off prematurely.

73 de The LHS Guys

This is a short introduction to Linux for Amateur Radio Operators showing a few things that are available for Amateur Radio.