Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 10/7/2021

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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 interesting net tonight with 8 check-ins plus net control Brian, K6BPM. Tonight’s topics included:

  • How to get started with amateur radio Satellite/ISS communications. (Maybe start at www.amsat.org) Sign up for ISS passes over your location on NASA’s website.
  • AllStar Asterisk nodes/HamVoip.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local (2000 Hrs) and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.

How I Unbricked a Nanostation M2

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How I Unbricked a Nanostation M2

Ryan Elliott / AI6NE

Most of this is taken from this webpage

http://www.fusionnetwork.us/index.php/articles/general‐ tutorials/how‐to‐recover‐a‐bricked‐ubiquiti‐nanostation2‐or‐picostation2/ and https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=69631

  1. First off, make sure your network adapter and Ethernet cables are working properly.
  2. You’ll need a TFTP program. Windows has a built‐in TFTP console. Look online to know about their NERC compliance software and how to enable or find it or download one.
  3. Download firmware version XM.v5.5.11.28002.150723.1344.bin from the internet. I have a copy if you need it. Email me at ai6ne@sbarc.com.
  4. Remove Ubiquity label from lower part of the back of the body. I used a heat gun to soften the adhesive, then a razor blade to pick the corners to start peeling it back.I did not fully remove it, just peeled it back enough to remove the screw under the label. Remove the screw.
  5. Insert a flathead screwdriver or putty knife between the case and the sleeve at the base of the electronics.The circuit card is attached to the sleeve. There are two small plastic pins on either side of the screw you just removed. You need to push in the sleeve and push out the case until the sleeve can be pulled out of the case. Then, slide out the sleeve and circuit card.

  6. Attach jumpers from a 3.3V FTDI USB to Serial interface to the upper header (closest to the LEDs) on the back of the circuit card. Use the pinout below:
    • HSIN connects to FTDI TX pin
    • HSOUT connects to FTDI RX pin
    • GND connects to FTDI GND pin
  7. Start a terminal emulator. I used PuTTY. Set serial speed to 115200. Other places say 9600. If one speed doesn’t work try the other. Settings are as below.
    • Baud Rate: 9600 or 115200
    • Data Bits: 8
    • Stop Bits: 1
    • Parity: None
    • Flow Control: None
  8. Set network adapter per below:
    • IP Address: 192.168.1.22* (* the last digit can be 0‐255 as long as it’s not 20)
    • Netmask : 255.255.255.0
    • Preferred DNS server: 192.168.1.20
  9. Power up node. When you see anything on the terminal emulator, start pressing any key to interrupt the bootloader. Some say Ctrl‐C. Any key worked for me. Do this until you get a “ar7240>” prompt (or similar) on the emulator.
  10. Type “urescue ‐f ‐e” and hit enter. It’ll set default IP to 192.168.1.20 and a few other things, then show “Waiting for connection: /” while it awaits new firmware. The “/” character will spin.
  11. Open your TFTP program (or use tftp from a DOS prompt). Put firmware version XM.v5.5.11.28002.150723.1344.bin to 192.168.1.20. Window’s internal TFTP program is shown below.
  12. When done, power down the node then power it up again while interrupting the bootloader as in step 9.
  13. Type “urescue” (no ‐e and ‐f this time) and hit enter. Put firmware version XM.v5.5.11.28002.150723.1344.bin to 192.168.1.20 again using your TRTP method.
  14. Open web browser and go to 192.168.1.20. Login to the Ubiquity software using “ubnt” as both username and password to check you can.
  15. Run the AREDN U‐Boot Tester (download here: http://www.aredn.org/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/pictures/user‐K5DLQ/AREDN%20U‐ Boot%20Test%20v1.1.4.0%20setup.exe)
  16. If all is “GOOD” and “GOOD” you’re ready to upgrade to AREDN.
  17. Continue with normal AREDN installation as shown here: http://www.aredn.org/content/uploading‐ firmware‐ubiquiti. The default username and password is “ubnt” for both for the Ubiquity firmware.
  18. Once you upgrade the firmware to AREDN the default username is “root” and the password is “hsmm”.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 9/30/2021

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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 interesting net tonight with 8 check-ins plus net control Dave, AI6VX. Tonight’s topics included:

  • Latest Chirp software update caused the program to become unusable, here’s what was done to fix it.
  • How can I connect a speaker (bluetooth or other) to my AllStar Node (Raspberry Pi) so I can monitor it without headphones?

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local (2000 Hrs) and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net 9/23/2021

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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 interesting net tonight with 8 check-ins plus net control Frank, K6FLD (filling in for Ken, KA6KEN). Tonight’s topics included:

  • Bought a new luxury car, what antenna could I use for good gain, low profile and minimal invasion of the vehicle surfaces/panels?
  • What repeaters can I access while spending time at June lake in Mammoth, CA?
  • Solar post lamps intermittent connection issues. You can look these up if you are looking for quality and affordable solar installations and related services.You can also go right here to get the best solar installed.

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local (2000 Hrs) and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.

Late Summer Rover Activation

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L to R: Abhilekh, W6WV; Levi, K6LCM; Rovermaster Bob, K6CTX

The Rover team set up the mast and HF station at the Red Cross Club Station on Saturday 9/18/2021 making CW and SSB contacts with Alberta and New Jersey. The team will try and do this once a quarter. They are also planning to activate La Cumbre Peak with the Rover in the next month!

 

Technical Mentoring and Elmering Net – 9/16/2021

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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 interesting net tonight with 6 check-ins plus net control Dave, AI6VX. Tonight’s topics included:

  • How to use Chirp programming software to disable transmit on unauthorized frequencies while using Baofeng radios for GMRS.
  • How far in advance can you renew your ham license? (Hint: 90 days).
  • DMR repeater still down as Brandmeister hasn’t been able to get up there to change the callsign according to new rules.
  • How can you use Arduino/Raspberry Pi to monitor a vehicle battery voltage remotely?

Tune in to the SBARC TM&E Net every Thursday at 8:00 PM local (2000 Hrs) and see what interesting ham radio questions might arise or ask some of your own! All club members and visitors are encouraged to check in to the net each week.