Good news for HF APRS users: a new receive-only Igate (Internet Gateway) is being tested at the clubhouse. Using the callsign VK2MB-6, the gateway is currently connected to the main club HF rig and TH-6 antenna, beaming west, but will eventually be coupled to a CODAN 7004 crystal locked receiver with its own single band dipole antenna. (Update 9 February: now testing on the club 40m dipole, which is as close as we have to a 30m dipole at present.)
The gateway comprises a Raspberry Pi Zero, a “3D Sound” USB sound card, a WiFi dongle (because the Pi was not the “W” version) and of course power and cabling, as shown in the photo above.
The software doing the hard work is DireWolf, and the Pi was configured using Jason KM4ACK’s Build-a-Pi script.
If you have a TinyTrak or similar tracker, and would like to try HF APRS, use the configuration guide at http://aprs.net.au/configuration/tinytrak3/ or http://aprs.net.au/configuration/tinytrak4/. Other tracker types will have similar settings. Note that HF APRS settings have several important differences from the more familiar VHF operation, because of the lower transmission rate and coverage area.
If you’re interested in this or other radio applications of the Raspberry Pi, check out Jason KM4ACK’s YouTube channel.
Update, 17 February 2021: Yves VK2AUJ has moved the iGate to a Codan 8528 and our “WARC antenna” to free up the main rig and 40m antenna for general use during club meetings.
Update, 18 February 2021: the Codan / WARC antenna combination seems to be somewhat deaf. Fear not, we’re investigating…
Update 6 March 2021 and beyond … please refer to the following post.
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