ARISS Invites Proposals to Host Amateur Radio Contacts with Space Station Crew

By | |
Leave a comment

Some SBARC members have asked me about how to get involved with Amateur Radio on the International Space Station.  The application deadline for 2018 ARISS contacts is November 15, 2017.
– Levi K6LCM, ARISS U.S. Education Committee

 

1371433280

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program is seeking proposals from US schools, museums, science centers, and community youth organizations to host Amateur Radio contacts in 2018 with a crew member aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The deadline to submit proposals is November 15. Contacts would be scheduled between July 1 and December 31, 2018.

Each year, ARISS provides tens of thousands of students with opportunities to learn about space technologies and space communication via Amateur Radio. The program provides learning opportunities by connecting students to astronauts aboard the ISS through a partnership that includes NASA, ARRL, AMSAT, and worldwide space agencies. The program’s goal is to inspire students worldwide to pursue interests and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) through Amateur Radio.

“Educators have overwhelmingly reported that student participation in the ARISS program inspires an interest in STEM subjects and careers,” ARISS said in announcing the proposal window. “Ninety-two percent of educators who have participated in the program have indicated that ARISS provided ideas for encouraging student exploration, discussion, and participation, while 78% said that ARISS was effective in stimulating student interest in STEM.”

ARISS is looking for contact hosts that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. Students can learn about satellite communications, wireless technology, science research conducted on the space station, what it is like to work in space, radio science, and any related STEM subject. Students learn to use Amateur Radio to talk directly to an astronaut and ask their STEM-related questions.

ARISS will help educational organizations to locate Amateur Radio groups that can assist with equipment. Proposal webinars for guidance and answers to proposal questions will be offered September 21, at 7 PM EDT (2300 UTC) and September 25 at 4 PM EDT (2000 UTC). Advance registration is necessary.

The ARISS website has additional details on expectations, proposal guidelines, and the proposal form.

Post expires at 9:09pm on Tuesday November 14th, 2017 but will still be available in the archives.

ZUMspot Raspberry Pi Info and Setup

By | | ,
Leave a comment

ZUMspot Raspberry Pi Info and Setup

Here’s some info on what it took for me to get my ZUMspot up and running, updated with new things I’ve learned recently.  This doc is a bit wordy but I’m hoping this will let you know what you need to successfully get your ZUMspot Rpi working using a Windows PC.  Don’t think the below is a lot of work – it’s really not.

I’m pretty impressed with this product which all in is about half the price of the SharkRF Openspot  but with built in Wi-Fi and the possibility of adding a display.  I found configuring the ZUMspot to be as easy as the Openspot and I’m not a Linux person.

Hardware Needs

  • ZUMspot Rpi ($80 + $10 shipping)
  • Raspberry Pi, either the Pi 3 Model B ($35) or the Pi Zero W ($10)
    • If you choose the Pi Zero W you may want additional accessories mentioned later
  • Micro SD card, 2GB or greater. (you likely already own this or <$10)
  • 5V power supply for the Pi with micro USB connector (you likely already own this)

 Software Needs

  •  Latest Pi-Star software image from the internet (free)
  • A windows tools to ‘burn’ the above image to your micro sd card (free)
  • A PC on your network to configure Pi-Star

 

Hardware Details

ZUMspot Rpizum

The ZUMspot Rpi is fully assembled and tested and comes with a short antenna.  It is purchased via email from Bruce Givens, VE2GZI (ve2gzi@gmail.com).  Send him an email stating you’ll like to buy one and he’ll reply pretty quickly (for me in just a few hours).  He produces them in batches so you might be put on a waiting list.  He ships from NY and from the time I paid until it was in my hands was less than 1 business week.  Cost was $80 + $10 shipping.

He does offer a kit consisting of the ZUMspot Rpi + Rpi Zero W + 2×20 header + 4GB microsd card with Pi-Star already on it for $110 + $10 shipping but you can do better putting your own kit together.

Raspberry Pi

With the Raspberry Pi and you have 2 choices – the Pi Zero W, or the Pi 3 Model B.  Make sure you get exactly one of these part numbers.  The older version of each do not have built in Wi-Fi.

zero

Raspberry Pi Zero W is the smallest, cheapest, and more power frugal of the two.  It only has Wi-Fi access (no wired Ethernet) and currently sells for $10 here (https://www.adafruit.com/product/3400).  It does not come with a 2×20 header which is needed to attach the ZumSpot and if you do not already have one lying around, Adafruit sells them here https://www.adafruit.com/product/2822 .

The Pi Zero W gets its small size by using smaller and fewer connectors.  There is only one micro USB port and the HDMI connector is mini.  Thankfully you no longer need to hook up a keyboard or monitor to set up the ZUMspot if you go with the Pi Zero W, but here are some OPTIONAL adapters to enable you to do so if you want to dabble deeper into using the Pi Zero W for some other project.

Rasberry Pi 3 Model B is larger because of the standard sized USB and HDMI connectors (which won’t matter in this application).  It also has a wired ethernet jack so if you require a wired connection, this is the Pi for you (it will do wireless also).  An added bonus is that the 2×20 header is already installed.  Other things that allow the Pi 3 Model B to command a higher price is more ram and a faster multi-coreprocessor – neither of which is much of an advantage to running a ZUMspot.

The Pi 3 Model B normally sells for $35 and is available from many vendors.

Micro SD card

I’m not going to be much help here.  I read that the Pi-Star image fit on a 2 GB Micro SD card and since I had a few lying around, of unknown speed, I went ahead and used what I had and it worked.  On Amazon the price of 2, 4, 8, 16 GB cards are nearly all the same.  See if you too already have one you can use or buy what you feel is a good value.  Note that Pi-Star normally does not write to the card except during configuration which explains why the speed is not a big issue.

5V Power Supply

Both Raspberry Pi’s take 5V power.  Current needs peak at <400mA for the Pi 3 Model B and <300mA for the Pi Zero W with steady state being about 100ma less than peak.  This can easily be handled with a cellphone power adapter with a micro USB connector commonly used with android devices.

For me I used a cellphone power adapter that takes a plug in USB cable and bought one of these cables with an in-line switch.  I hate plugging and unplugging the power connector from a Pi to reboot it and this makes life easier https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JU24Z3W

 

Software Details – Preparing Your Memory Card

Pi-Star

The heart of the system is the Raspberry Pi software Pi-Star.  It can be downloaded here http://www.pistar.uk/downloads/  (you want the version with ‘RPi’ in the name.) I downloaded the .ZIP version as the burning tool in the next section can use the .ZIP directly.  Download the Pi-Star image to your machine.

pistardl

Burning Image to Micro SD Card

Now you need to get this image onto your Micro SD card.  Since I’m using windows, I used Etcher which I found in a link here  https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/installing-images/windows.md

Using Etcher is self explanatory.  Install and run it to burn your image to your micro-sd card. 2

Internet Configuration – Wi-Fi (Pi Zero B or Pi 3 Model B)

In this next step you’ll be creating a wireless configuration file so that when you boot up your ZUMspot it will automatically connect to your home network.  This is especially important if you use a Pi Zero W as later the Pi-Star software configuration is only performed in a web browser and the Zero has no wired ethernet.

  1. Open a web browser and navigate to http://www.pistar.uk/wifi_builder.phpWi-Fi
  2. Enter the SSID and password of your home Wi-Fi network into the boxes and click the Submit button.  A file will be created and downloaded to your pc.
  3. Find the file ‘wpa_supplicant.conf’ in your download folder and copy it into the root (top level) directory of the micro-sd card you prepared above.  In my example below, my micro-sd card is drive F: on my PC.wpa_supplicant

Internet Configuration – Wired Connection (Pi 3 Model B only)

  1. Connect an ethernet cable from your home network to the ethernet connector on the Pi3 Model B

That’s it!

Pi-Star Configuration

  1. Attach the ZUMspot RPi to your Raspberry Pi.  (if you are using the Pi Zero W, you should have already soldered the 2×20 header to the board).
  2. Connect power to the Pi and wait  ~ 2mins for the unit to fully boot up.
  3. Using Internet Explorer on a PC on your network (Chrome didn’t work for me), type into the address bar this address and hit return:

pi-star.local

The following screen will come up*.

3

And after 10 seconds you should be prompted with a login.

(* if you cannot access the configuration page, you can type in the IP address of the Pi into the browser.  How do you know what IP address your Pi is?  One way is to log into your router and in the DHCP section for IP address requested, look for the name ‘Pi-Star’.  Another way is to connect a monitor to the HDMI port of your Pi and in the text scrolling by during bootup, the IP address of the Pi will be shown.)

  1. Enter the username ‘pi-star’ and password of ‘raspberry’ without quote. You will now see this configuration page.
    1. In the Radio/Modem Type: dropdown, choose ‘ZumSpot – Raspberry Pi Hat (GPIO)’ and then click on Apply Changes.

4

  1. Pi-Star will restart and after a bit, for whatever reason, you’ll get this warning.
    1. Click ‘OK’ and you will again be on the configuration page.

5

  1. Back to the configuration page under General Configuration, set these parameters
    1. In the Radio/Modem Type: dropdown, choose ‘ZumSpot – Raspberry Pi Hat (GPIO)’
    2. Enter your call sign in Node Callsign
    3. Enter your DMR ID in CCS7/DMR ID
    4. Enter your desired RF frequency in Radio Frequency
    5. Enter ‘USA for Country
    6. Choose ‘America/Los Angeles’ for System Time Zone

6

When complete, click on Apply Changes and wait for changes to be saved.

  1. In the DMR Configuration section, under the DMR Master pulldown, choose ‘BM_United_States_3101’ or 3102 or 3103, then click Apply Changes and wait for changes to be saved.

7

  1. You can set up more than one Wi-Fi access point (AP), or your first AP if you are using the Pi 3 Model B in wired Ethernet mode. By adding more than one AP, Pi-Star will automatically switch to another AP when the currently connected one goes away.
    1. Click on Configure Wi-Fi to proceed.8
    2. Click on Scan for Networks (10 secs) to survey your site. After a brief pause, a list of AP’s will be shown. Click Connect for the AP you wish to connect to.9
    3. After clicking Connect your choice will be added to the existing table with a blank box for the passphrase/security key. Enter the key and then click on Save (and connect) to save your settings.a

Misc Notes:

  • There are other ‘menus’ available in Pi-Star. You can get to the other menus by clicking on the menu name at the top of the screen.
    • The Dashboard menu shows last activity heard. The webpage updates live whenever there is activity.b
  • The Pi-Star ‘scans’ all the digital modes that are enabled on the configuration page, the LED on the ZUMspot showing which mode is active. Once Pi-Star figures out what mode is being requested, it stays on that mode until until there is no activity for 20 seconds before resuming the scan.  (the 20 seconds is configurable).  The default setting has D-Star and DMR enabled and I disabled D-Star as all I’m doing is DMR.
  • Power consumption in milliamps for the Pi Zero W is ~ 180mA, about twice that for the Pi 3 Model B.
  • I’ve seen that one can add a display to the Pi – I have yet to play with that. Not sure what it shows. In the Pi-Star configuration page, there is a section to enable this feature.
  • If you cannot find your Pi on your network, another way is if you have a monitor AND a keyboard attached to the Pi, you can log into it (username ‘pi-star’, password ‘raspberry’) and issue this command ‘sudo ifconfig’ (without the quotes).
  • I originally brought up my ZUMspot using a Pi 3 model B with a wired Ethernet connection – and glad I did. I didn’t know about how to configure the Wi-Fi from the Pi terminal itself at the time. Later did I find a snipped on how to do it and verified that it worked for this document.

73 & Good Luck,
Dave, AI6VX 

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 9/7/17

By | |
Leave a comment

The audio archive of this net can best be followed by downloading the .mp3 file for the appropriate date here and listening with the media player of your choice. You can move the progress slider forward or backward to the subject of interest to you.

We had another good net tonight with 9 check-ins plus net control, Brian, K6BPM and some chat room visitors! Tonight’s subjects included:

  • Why are germanium diodes so common in ham radio when reviewing schematic diagrams?
  • What is the significance or talk group #9 on our DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) network?
  • DMR talk groups for monitoring hurricane Irma – #3199 ad hoc and another to be e-mailed to the digital modes group tomorrow by Brian, K6BPM.
  • What’s going on with the WB6OBB repeater?
  • Zello, a walky-talky type app for Android and iPhone.
  • Pi-hole, an open-source application that will block all ads on your computers and smart phones on your home network – it runs on a Raspberry pie.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local (2000 Hrs) and see what interesting questions will arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week and join in with questions and /or answers to and contribute the knowledge of new and seasoned amateur radio operators alike.

Could an electromagnetic pulse cripple Santa Barbara?

By | |
Leave a comment

The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club will host a public lecture on EMP by Dr. William Radasky

SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. – The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club will host a free, public lecture this month by Dr. William Radasky, a recognized expert in electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

williamradaskyAn EMP occurs when a nuclear device is detonated high in the atmosphere and represents one of the greatest threats to humanity. The electromagnetic discharge could permanently disable the electrical and electronic systems that run nearly all civilian and military infrastructure. A massive EMP attack on the United States would almost certainly produce unimaginable devastation. Communications systems would collapse, transportation would halt and electrical power would simply be non-existent. Sleek Socket can save you from all hazards and wastage.Without robust pre-disaster planning integrating government and non-governmental organizations as well as international support, even a global humanitarian effort would be insufficient to keep hundreds of millions of Americans from death by starvation, exposure, or lack of medicine. The catastrophe would not stop at U.S. borders. Most of Canada would be devastated, too, as its infrastructure is integrated with the U.S. power grid. Without the North American economic engine, the world economy would be severely affected.

Dr. Radasky is a recognized expert on the subject of EMP and has been involved in EMP research since 1968. His presentation will review three severe electromagnetic threats that provide a serious challenge to the operation of the U.S. power grid. These include: a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) attack produced by the detonation of a nuclear device in space; intentional electromagnetic interference (IEMI) produced by a nearby attack using new-technology electromagnetic weapons; and the exposure of the power grid from solar activity producing a severe geomagnetic storm on the Earth. Read my review here to know more about it.

The presentation will be Friday, September 15 at 7:30 PM at the Goleta Union School District Board Room, 400 North Fairview Avenue in Goleta.

SBARC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit public benefit corporation organized to promote education for persons interested in radio telecommunications, to disseminate information about scientific discoveries and progress in the field, and to train communicators for public service and emergency communications. SBARC operates a wide-area network of analog and digital communications systems across Santa Barbara County and encourages and sponsors experiments in electronics while promoting the highest standards of practice and ethics in the conduct of communications.

Hamfest – Sunday Aug 27th – Help Needed

By | |
Leave a comment

We need a couple of people to help with food preparation because of an injury suffered by one of our regular scheduled helpers. We need help preparing the bread, corn etc. If you are handy around the kitchen and can help for an hour or two, this will help ensure that everything is ready at meal time. If you can help, please try to be there by 9:30 or 10:00.

Thanks! Your help will certainly be appreciated!

Post expires at 12:30pm on Sunday August 27th, 2017 but will still be available in the archives.