AmateurRadio.com

In this episode, we have a great interview with Linux software developer and ham radio enthusiast from the Czeck Republic, Petr Hlozek – OK2CQR. He is the author of CQRlog and HamQTH.com. Unfortunately, Petr’s audio was a little hot and nothing we could do made it better. Our sincerest apologies. Sound problems aside, we hope you enjoy this fascinating look into the life and mind of an Open Source ham.

73 de The LHS Guys

Episode #117 Audio (Listen now!):

Topics

Episode #116 Audio (Listen now!):

Hello, podcast listeners! It's getting cold outside. Now would be a good time to curl up in your favorite chair with your media player, a warm fire and an episode of Linux in the Ham Shack. As it happens, we have a new one for you right now. Your hosts discuss some newly updated ham radio software for Linux, including a lightweight logging application, CW decoder and VHF propagation modeler. Then they give you an in-depth peek at the distribution known as Point Linux. All of that is followed by feedback and a few announcements that you really should stay tuned for. Please enjoy, and thanks for being a valued member of the Linux in the Ham Shack community.

73 de The LHS Guys

This week in the heart-pounding, blood-stopping episode of Linux in the Ham Shack, our intrepid hosts discuss a variety of topics from call sign look-up databases to Ubuntu, freeware collaboration suites to mobile computing, and QRP kits to hosted developer platforms. As if that were not enough, there’s music, banter, a cameo by Wil Wheaton and a rocking good time. What more could you possible want?

73 de The LHS Guys

Introduction:

• Russ flies solo on LHS! Well, almost. Harrison, VE2HKW, fills in as co-host.

Topics:

• What’s in a name? Russ talks about the philosophical ramifications of the phrase “Linux distribution”, and referring to Linux vs. GNU/Linux. Richard Stallman prefers using GNU/Linux to refer to the operating system, and Russ seems to agree, but feels it doesn’t go far enough. Share your thoughts via the usual communication channels.
• hamqth.com is an alternative to QRZ.com for callsign lookups, and has an application program interface (API). Russ has programmed the gnorman bot in the LHS IRC channel to access hamqth.com. While in the chat, enter “.qrz some_callsign”, and gnorman will return the info.
• Another application that uses the hamqth.com API is QtLog. It’s mostly in German, but there’s enough English to allow you to use the program. It seems to require that you have a MySQL server running on the same computer. It also supports HamLib for rig control. You can use Google Translate to translate the website.
• Harrison offers an overview of oscilloscopes, including what they are, the controls, and how you might use one in your ham shack. There are several instructional videos available on W2AEW’s YouTube channel. (You can learn more about Alan, W2AEW, on his QSL.net page. There are also software-based oscilloscopes, like xoscope. Of course, you’ll need a hardware interface to the computer’s sound card.

Feedback:

• Please make a donation to our Dayton Hamvention fund, like these fine people: Paul G. (annual membership and 2 donations), Ron E. (yearly membership), Jeremy H. (monthly membership), Scott P. (monthly membership), Bill A. (monthly membership), Bill H. (monthly membership and donation), Gary U. (monthly membership), John K. (yearly membership), and Jerome S. (donation). Thank you, all!
• Gary (KE2YK) expresses his appreciation for Richard’s screencast Introduction to JT-65.
• Brian (WB4ES) sends his best wishes to Richard.
• 100th episode audio feedback from Claudio of the Linux Basement podcast.

Contact Info:

• Contact Harrison at [email protected].
• Contact Russ at [email protected] or [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 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), 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 Merch 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:

• “Fraud” by Jonathan Coulton from the album Artificial Heart.
• “Down Today” by Jonathan Coulton from the album Artificial Heart.

Introduction:

• Welcome back to another episode of LHS.

Topics:

• Texoma Hamarama
  Richard attended Texoma Hamarama at the Ardmore Convention Center in Ardmore, OK. He had a great time and describes his adventures. He took a few pictures and wrote a blog entry for the web site.
• HamQTH
  HamQTH is a callsign lookup service that is free and does not require a subscription. Russ gives his review. By registering, you can edit some of your information or use the search results in your logging program. Thanks to Ted, WA0EIR, for telling us about it.
• Adventures in Printing
  • Richard recently installed Linux Mint on his wife’s machine as she was becoming increasingly frustrated with the speed of Windows. He did run into an issue with getting her Lexmark all-in-one printer working, which leads him to a discussion of printing in Linux.
  • CUPS, Common Unix Printing System, originally developed by Apple for OS X, has become the standard printing system for Linux. You can administer CUPS by pointing your web browser to http://localhost:631
  • Most distributions install the Foomatic driver database. Another source of drivers is Gutenprint.
  • If your printer is not listed specifically, you may have success using a generic PCL5, PCL6 or Postscript driver.
  • Also check the Linux Foundation OpenPrinting project to see how well a given printer is supported in Linux. It’s a good idea to visit this site before you buy the printer.
  • Most network printers will be recognized and configured automatically by CUPS.

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 1-909-LHS-SHOW (1-909-547-7469), 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 Merch 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:

• To be added.