Testing the in-car APRS map display with USB hub on tablet

Today I had to do a run out to a local branch of discount supermarket Lidl, and thought it was a good opportunity to test out the map setup using a USB hub on the tablet, however some issues came to light during this before and after leaving the house.

The first issue was APRSISCE/32 causing the WiFi adaptor in the tablet to lock up under load, meaning my phone is tethered using a USB cable (Bluetooth was tested and found to be unacceptably slow, and RF from the radio, with the cables in a certain place, would cause the USB to drop and reconnect, which would cause the tethering to switch off in the phone, the USB cable feeding the hub itself was too long anyway and I've found a shorter one in which I have fitted a clip on ferrite to to see if that helps.

The other issue was the COM port allocation for the FTM-400XDE's supplied data cable, this conflicted with a Bluetooth serial port so the number was changed over to one that was not in use, this did involve disconnecting and reconnecting the plug, and to identify the USB port in which the data cable is to always be plugged in it was outlined with blue permanent marker, the phone used one of the other ports, this allows fitting of a wireless keyboard later on

The USB hub is powered from an in-car power lead with variable voltage set at 5 volts, though the computer and hub will only dictate a maximum of 500mA current per port (the data cable won't get close to that but the phone will).

The Bluetooth GPS box, though currently not fitted to the windscreen as it was previously, worked fine stuck to the top of the dash with the blu-tack already on it and unusually got sufficient satellites from cold start which certainly impressed me.

There is still a little bit of testing to do, using the cable that I put a ferrite bead onto, and then there will be the fitting of the mount in the car which has yet to be done though if the weather is not bad I can look into it on Sunday, but to be honest I'm not holding my breath, it is the UK and winter after all.

I hope to have this working ahead of the Blackpool rally in April.

73 de M0WNU

APRS in-car mapping again

The new tablet arrived a few days ago and I got it working with APRSIS32, the Bluetooth GPS receiver and the FTM-400XDE, so I took it out for a test run to see how it faired, it worked fine and was able to show me stations that the radio received, as well as gate them to APRS-IS but it also showed up stations out of range as I used my phone as a WiFi hotspot to connect it to the Internet, in a previous post I mentioned that I need a mount, I still do as it is not quite the end of May yet, in fact it’s only the beginning of May.

As the tablet is Windows 10 it should also allow me to update the firmware of the radio and reprogram it as needed, though I don’t have a need to do either in a hurry as the radio is working and as far as I am aware there are no major fixes though I will double-check Yaesu’s website in the coming weeks.

The best test for the setup will be long journeys though at present I have none planned, next one hopefully will be the Bowburn rally and after that the National Hamfest, though by the latter I should be an M0 by then.

I’ll keep you posted on this topic

73 de 2E0EIJ

System Fusion net

So earlier in the week I had been invited to take part in a System Fusion net on 2-metres, needless to say I obliged without any thought, 5 of us in all and members of the club, we're on for about an hour at most.

As I have my FTM-400XDE configured to show volts instead of the clock as my car has a clock built into the stereo, I kept an eye on the battery to ensure it didn't drop below 12 volts DC, happily it did not do so and I started the car twice for 10 minutes each time to ensure that the battery kept charged, I had my jump starter in the boot just in case.

This has set my best distance for simplex on C4FM to 17 miles, not sure how well this would have been on FM but we all heard each other no problem, we hope to repeat this next week if possible.

My thought is that I have invested in System Fusion I may as well use it, the audio is brilliant for a digital mode (I've heard DMR audio and it doesn't sound that good), it sends your callsign and distance to the other stations (assuming your GPS is on or lat/long is set properly in the radio), and of course with the WIRES-X, which I have used briefly on GB3CD, you can speak to stations all over the world, I highly recommend it to anyone in Amateur radio, it does mean buying Yaesu equipment but it is worth the investment and I'd certainly like to see more people use it, especially in my local area.

This is the first time I have been involved in a net on System Fusion, my first and previous contact was over WIRES-X via GB3CD, currently offline at time of writing, though the repeater itself is still C4FM last I checked.

Anyway, it is close to my bedtime at time of writing so I'll bid you all farewell for now

73 de M6RSQ

A bit of radio activity this afternoon

I took a drive up to my usual radio playground at the top of the hill, my intent was some more System Fusion activity and another go on WIRES-X, sadly this did not work in my favour as no one answered my simplex or repeater calls on System Fusion nor did I get to play with WIRES-X as it was down on GB3CD and the second nearest WIRES-X node is in Middlesbrough and I’m unable to hit it from my location on 5 watts.

I made the spur of the moment decision to drive to Tan Hill, of course avoiding all the sheep that like to casually walk into the road without a care in the world, I approached it from the other side after going across the A66 and back down, I could hear GB3AS in Carlisle from Tan Hill no problem but I could not get into it with my 5 watts, I tried more calls simplex on 2-metres both digital and FM but no luck, guess today was not as lucky as last time I went out to play radio, hopefully WIRES-X will be working again on GB3CD soon.

Before I set off I reprogrammed my HTs a little, clearing out repeaters I’d not likely use anytime soon, currently programmed are all my local repeaters and GB3LM in time for the Hamfest as I should be able to hit that with a HT at 5 watts from the Newark showground as it is situated on the roof of Lincoln Cathedral, this repeater is a System Fusion repeater and as I have the corresponding radio I should be able to use it in both modes while I drive down but once at Newark I’ll obviously switch to analogue-only operation as I’ll be wanting to look around the hamfest, but I understand that due to it’s location it does not have WIRES-X like GB3CD, it’s 70cm sister, GB3LS, does have IRLP and Echolink but may not work from Newark.

Hopefully when I next play radio from a hill I’ll have more luck, I suspect I’ll need to get my CRT SS9900 working to do some 10-metre operating as I’ve yet to operate on that band since buying the radio, or even think about buying a 2-metre SSB set at the Hamfest for the right price, and make up a beam antenna.

 

73 de M6RSQ

Results of the Bank Holiday of radio

As mentioned in my previous post I decided to play with System Fusion and WIRES-X, with some success, I initially positioned myself close to the repeater closest to the home QTH, GB3CD, and managed to make contact with a station over near Chester, which was nice but I was hoping to make contacts in the US but I run out of time, I was also hoping for simplex contacts and through the repeater with WIRES-X disconnected, but I can try again another time, as I managed to be able to open the WIRES-X on GB3CD from my usual radio playground near the home QTH I now don't have to drive for miles to play with it all being well, and I found a couple of American nodes of interest on the WIRES-X website but one of them was offline on Sunday but I can try again

Bank Holiday Monday I decided to see if I could expand mobile RF based APRS beyond my Yaesu FTM-400XDE, so I cobbled together a cable out of the speaker mic supplied with my Wouxun as it was hopeless audio wise for Amateur radio, a piece of cable I had lying about, and a suitable connector obtained from Maplin the same day, the results of this endeavour are on YouTube and attached below to this post, this has inspired me to pick up a Bluetooth TNC to make it permanent, along with another Baofeng handheld as I still wish to keep two HTs available for voice just in case one day my significant other gets her Amateur radio licence too,

So, Yesterday's endeavours are below, I'll leave you to watch

73 de M6RSQ

WIRES-X

Yesterday I had a go with WIRES-X, the Internet linking system that goes with Yaesu's System Fusion, with limited success, I was only really able to get it to work as I'd like closer to GB3CD, which meant a bit of a drive to position myself close to it (as I am limited to 5 watts on the radio at present).

I managed to get into the WIRES-X system no problem once I was close enough, and have a look at some of the rooms, but no one came back to me, however it did disconnect mid-way though using it so I decided at this point to drive home and put some calls out on the repeater as normal to see if anyone else in the area was on with System Fusion, no replies, my final call was FM but I had not realised this until I glanced at the display of the radio mid transmission, I intend to give WIRES-X another go and also see if I can suggest that someone puts a node on down here, of course on 2-metres because I have discovered that repeaters and gateways on 70cm are impossible to put on air in the area around my home QTH.

I look forward to having a QSO with you on WIRES-X soon, should also be a perfect way to get my inaugural System Fusion QSO as this has not happened no matter how much I have tried.

73 de M6RSQ

System Fusion

As you may have worked out from some of my previous posts I am interested in making the step to System Fusion (Yaesu's C4FM digital voice system), and have had my eye on the Yaesu mobile rigs capable of this for some time, notably the FTM-100DE and it's more expensive sibling the FTM-400DE (now the FTM-400XDE), along with this as I plan to use the radio mobile no matter which one I get I will replace the mobile antenna with one of a better design, the current one, though fine for TX on 2m/70cm is not brilliant and was only meant as a stop-gap for my previous car until I could get a larger antenna, it's quality is showing with the Baofeng on the other end though it still transmits fine but I really don't want this for System Fusion,

So, a trip to an Amateur radio store is in order, but my current car has already thrown a spanner in the works by virtue of a damaged tyre that I have to get fixed, though I am already on to sorting that out and it should be done by Tuesday (with a swap of the spare to the opposite wheel) thus enabling me to go to the Amateur radio store of choice and see what they can do for me (if I can pay off the cost of the rig over a period of a few months I will be able to take one home with an antenna and an external speaker).

Not only am I interested in operating on C4FM with one of these rigs I am also interested in APRS as these rigs feature it, though from what I currently understand (though I could be wrong) is that the APRS does not transmit and allow voice transmission at the same time on the FTM-100DE meaning I would need the more expensive FTM-400XDE to do this as I'd like to keep up with the APRS side which I've not had chance to use for a while.

Anyway, I shall let you know how I get on and if I become the owner of one of the above mentioned Yaesu rigs, once it's in the car I should then be heard on System Fusion, there are at least 3 other club members so equipped for it, I might just be joining them soon

73 de M6RSQ