DX expedition to Kenya,Tanzania and Zanzibar

DX expedition From Kenya to Zanzibar via Tanzania

I am planning a DX expedition From Kenya to Zanzibar in August 2013 and will keep you in the loop regarding the progress on approval to operate with temp guest license.
Due to the 15KG wait limit I have decided not to take any equipment with :-(

Equipment:
I plan to take HF Rig with dipole for 40,30 and 20m.

Modes of operation would be SSB, PSK, RTTY and PSKMail.

Will try and send APRS message with PSKmail of my position if possible.

This is a family holiday and will properly on have time in the evenings when we have set-up camp ( 14H00 till   18H00 GMT)


Ref. Documents.
Temp guest license application form for Kenya is available here (CCK/F/FSM/02) http://www.cck.go.ke/licensing/spectrum/downloads/Application_for_Amateur_licence_Form.pdf

Temp guest license application form for Tanzania is available here
http://www.tcra.go.tz/licensing/application_forms/amateurARSL.pdf

Ethernet network interface not detected in Ubuntu 12.04

Ethernet interface eth0 not detected in Ubuntu 12.04

I got a new I7 ASUS motherboard P8H77-V (3 PCI Slots for sound cards) and Ubuntu 12.04  64Bit and 32bit versions did not detect the motherboard default Ethernet port.

Check that the led's flicker when you plugin the Ethernet cable, if not check in your bios and enable Ethernet there.

Here is what I had to do to make it work.
Run the following command in your terminal.

sudo  lspci
You should see the following in the list of devices to confirm this is the Ethernet interface you have.

 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)

Then install the driver from Ubuntu

Don't get the drivers released after 2012-05-10 it will not work

 wget -O- http://linuxwireless.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/compat-wireless-2012-05-09-p.tar.bz2 | tar -xj

cd compat-wireless-2012-05-09-p

./scripts/driver-select alx

make

sudo Make install

Then load the new driver module.

sudo modprobe alx 

If your network cable is connected with your router on DHCP.

run ifconfig and you should see your interface eth0

ifconfig to see your new ethernet ports.

and it should work now.

Enabling Java for Chromium Web Browser on Linux

Enabling Java for Chromium Web Browser on Linux (for webSDR)

First install Java jdk or jre from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html

JRE = runtime only you cant compile java only run java

JDK = You can compile and run java

I installed the JDK as I am also a java developer (1.7 latest is fine) jdk-7u11-linux-x64.tar.gz

Change to the directory where you saved the download

Open command terminal

cd /home/anton/Downloads

tar -cvf jdk-7u11-linux-x64.tar.gz

It will unzip all the files creating a directory  similar to this jdk1.7.0_11cd /usr/lib/chromium-browser/plugins

cd jdk1.7.0_11

Need to add the java plugin into the Chromium Web Browser
The path mite be different on your Linux change to fit

cd /usr/lib/chromium-browser/plugins
sudo ln -s /home/anton/Downloads/jdk1.7.0_11/jre/lib/amd64/libnpjp2.so libnpjp2.so

Need to change the System default java to point to new java JDK I know installed above

sudo update-alternatives --install "/usr/bin/java" "java" "/home/anton/Downloads/jdk1.7.0_11/bin/java" 1

Know take you browser to http://zr6aic.giga.co.za:8901  and see if webSDR is know working.

Here is a map of webSDR receivers.

webSDR map

Add the Asus Xonar D1 sound card to my websdr

Add the Asus Xonar D1 sound card to my websSDR server to widen the 40m Band with to 192Khz

Asus Xonar D1 192Kb Sampling (one A/D stereo input)

1. The Sound Card has only one A/D input but it has drivers for Linux. (-;
2. My existing M-audio Delta 44 cards has 4 mono inputs but can be link to give you 2 Stereo inputs. it has only 96Kb sampling capability. (Max webSDR band with would be about 96khz) Where the Asus Xonar D1 will give you the 192Khz band with but uses one PCI slot on your server there for you will run out of PCI slots in your computer if you want to upgrade all your Delta 44 cards to Asus Xonar D1 cards.

Here is my .asoundrc config file with the combination of my M-audio Delta 44, Asus Xonar D1 and on board IXP sound interface. (one IXP, two M-audio and one Asus card)

Here is the Simplified file below this one there is a more complex file with some remapping if you want.


#This configeration file is for sdr server pc.
#This pc has 3 sound cards
# 1) IXP motherboard (1 sterio input and 1 sterio output)
# 2) M44 M-Audio Delta 44 (4 mono inputs and 4 mono outputs)
# 3) Audiophile192 M-Audio Audiophile 192 (2 mono inputs and 2 mono outputs)
# 4) M44_1 M-Audio Delta 44 (4 mono inputs and 4 mono outputs)
# 5) D1 Asus Xonar d1 (1 Sterio input)
# 6) D1_1 Asus Xonar d1 (1 Sterio input)
#************************** pcm definition ************************************
pcm.sdrM44_card {# defining the card to be used
     type hw
     card M44 # this has to be done to force reboot to point to same card
}
pcm.sdrXonarD1_card {# defining the card to be used
      type hw
      card  "D1" # this has to the same as above to force reboot to point to the same card
}
pcm.sdrXonarD1_1_card {# defining the card to be used
      type hw
      card  "D1_1" # this has to the same as above to force reboot to point to the same card
}

#************************* controle section ***********************************
ctl.sdrM44_card {#defining the control interface
     type hw
     card M44 # this has to the same as above
     }
ctl.sdrXonarD1_card {#defining the control interface
     type hw
     card "D1"  # this has to be the same as above
     }
ctl.sdrXonarD1_1_card {#defining the control interface
     type hw
     card "D1_1"  # this has to be the same as above
     }

#******************************** channel dev *****************************

#        0 1   # front left

#        1 0   # front right

#        2 6   # rear left

#        3 7   # rear right

#        4 2   # center

#        5 3   # lfe

#        6 4   # side left

#        7 5   # side right

#****************************** dsnoop ***************************************

pcm.dsnooper_M44 {

     type dsnoop #This plugin splits one capture stream to more streams

     ipc_key 4711

         slave {

         pcm sdrM44_card

        rate 96000

         }

}

pcm.dsnooper_XonarD1 {

     type dsnoop #This plugin splits one capture stream to more streams

     ipc_key 42229

         slave {

         pcm sdrXonarD1_card

         rate 192000

         }

}

pcm.dsnooper_XonarD1_1 {

     type dsnoop #This plugin splits one capture stream to more streams

     ipc_key 72329

         slave {

         pcm sdrXonarD1_1_card

         rate 192000

         }

}

#****************************** recording ***********************************

pcm.sdrM44Record12 { # input input 1 and 2

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_M44"

     }

}

pcm.sdrM44Record34 { # input input 2 and 3

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_M44"

     }

}

pcm.sdrXonarD1Record12 { # input input 1 and 2

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_XonarD1"

channels 2

}

}

pcm.sdrXonarD1Record34 { # input input 3 and 4

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_XonarD1_1"

channels 2

}

}

The config below also worked but used to much CPU. 

#This configeration file is for sdr server pc.
#This pc has 3 sound cards
# 1) IXP motherboard (1 sterio input and 1 sterio output)
# 2) M44 M-Audio Delta 44 (4 mono inputs and 4 mono outputs)
# 3) Audiophile192 M-Audio Audiophile 192 (2 mono inputs and 2 mono outputs)
# 4) M44_1 M-Audio Delta 44 (4 mono inputs and 4 mono outputs)
# 5) D1 Asus Xonar d1 (1 Sterio input)
# 5) D1_1 Asus Xonar d1 (1 Sterio input)
#************************** pcm definition ************************************
pcm.sdrMIXP_card{# interal sound card
type hw
card IXP #internal sound card
}
pcm.sdrM44_card {# defining the card to be used
     type hw
     card M44 # this has to be done to force reboot to point to same card
}
pcm.sdrM44_1_card {# defining the card to be used
     type hw
     card M44_1 # this has to be done to force reboot to point to same card
}

pcm.sdrAudiophile192_card {# defining the card to be used
     type hw
     card Audiophile192 # this has to the same as above to force reboot to point to same card
}
pcm.sdrXonarD1_card {# defining the card to be used
      type hw
      card  "D1" # this has to the same as above to force reboot to point to the same card
}
#D1_1
pcm.sdrXonarD1_card_1 {# defining the card to be used
      type hw
      card  "D1_1" # this has to the same as above to force reboot to point to the same card
}

#************************* control section ***********************************

ctl.sdrM44_card {#defining the control interface

     type hw

     card M44 # this has to the same as above

     }

ctl.sdrM44_1_card {#defining the control interface

     type hw

     card M44_1 # this has to be the same as above

     }

ctl.sdrAudiophile192_card {#defining the control interface

     type hw

     card  Audiophile192 # this has to be the same as above

     }

ctl.sdrIXP_card {#defining the control interface

     type hw

     card IXP  # this has to be the same as above

     }

ctl.sdrXonarD1_card {#defining the control interface

     type hw

     card "D1"  # this has to be the same as above

     }

ctl.sdrXonarD1_card_1 {#defining the control interface

     type hw

     card "D1_1"  # this has to be the same as above

     }

#******************************** channel dev *****************************

#        0 1   # front left

#        1 0   # front right

#        2 6   # rear left

#        3 7   # rear right

#        4 2   # center

#        5 3   # lfe

#        6 4   # side left

#        7 5   # side right

#****************************** dsnoop ***************************************

pcm.dsnooper_M44 {

     type dsnoop #This plugin splits one capture stream to more streams

     ipc_key 4711

         slave {

         pcm sdrM44_card

channels 12

         format S32_LE

         period_time 0

         period_size 512

         buffer_size 4096

rate 96000

         }

         bindings {

                       0 0

                       1 1

      2 2

      3 3

         }

}

pcm.dsnooper_M44_1 {

     type dsnoop #This plugin splits one capture stream to more streams

     ipc_key 4771

         slave {

         pcm sdrM44_1_card

         channels 12

         format S32_LE

         period_time 0

         period_size 512

         buffer_size 4096

        rate 96000

         }

         bindings {

                       0 0

                       1 1

                       2 2

                       3 3

         }

}

pcm.dsnooper_Audiophile192 {

     type dsnoop #This plugin splits one capture stream to more streams

     ipc_key 47129

         slave {

         pcm sdrAudiophile192_card

         channels 4

         format S32_LE

         period_time 0

         period_size 512

         buffer_size 4096

        rate 96000

         }

         bindings {

                       0 0

                       1 1

         }

}

pcm.dsnooper_XonarD1 {

     type dsnoop #This plugin splits one capture stream to more streams

     ipc_key 42229

         slave {

         pcm sdrXonarD1_card

         rate 192000

         }

}

pcm.dsnooper_XonarD1_1 {

     type dsnoop #This plugin splits one capture stream to more streams

     ipc_key 42229

         slave {

         pcm sdrXonarD1_card_1

         rate 192000

         }

}

#****************************** recording ***********************************

pcm.sdrM44Record12 { # input input 1 and 2

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_M44"

     channels 4

     }

ttable.0.0 1

         ttable.1.1 1

}

pcm.sdrM44Record34 { # input input 2 and 3

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_M44"

     channels 4

     }

         ttable.0.2 1

         ttable.1.3 1

}

pcm.sdrM44Record_1_12 { # input input 1 and 2

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_M44_1"

     channels 4

     }

         ttable.0.0 1

         ttable.1.1 1

}

pcm.sdrM44Record_1_34 { # input input 2 and 3

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_M44_1"

     channels 4

     }

         ttable.0.2 1

         ttable.1.3 1

}

pcm.sdrAudiophile192Record12 { # input input 1 and 2

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_Audiophile192"

     channels 4

     }

         ttable.0.0 1

         ttable.1.1 1

}

pcm.sdrXonarD1Record12 { # input input 1 and 2

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_XonarD1"

channels 2

}

}

pcm.sdrXonarD1Record34 { # input input 1 and 2

     type plug

     slave {

     pcm "dsnooper_XonarD1_1"

channels 2

}

}

#*************************************linpsk************************************

pcm.LinPSK_Play {

        type plug

        slave {

#************defult atx card**********

pcm "pcm.sdrMIXP_card"

        }

}

#***********************************pnpsk pointing to 30m Band ****************

pcm.LinPSK_Record {

        type plug

        slave {

#************second delta 44 card ****

        pcm "pcm.sdrM44Record_1_12"

        }

}

New 20m SDR receiver added to WEBSDR

 New 20m SDR receiver added to WEBSDR

(Softrock  receiver) Where can I get a softrock recever http://www.giga.co.za

I have build my first Softrock Ensemble RXTX for the 30m, 20m and 17m bands.
more details on the receiver and the assembly details can be found at http://www.wb5rvz.com/sdr/ensemble/.

Building the Softrock Ensemble RXTX

Testing the Local Oscillatory

Signal is pure sine wave

I had to add a command line utility to the Linux webSDR server to control the frequency of the receiver via usb port with the following program usbsoftrock.
The program can be found on Google code https://code.google.com/p/usbsoftrock/downloads/list
You will need to compile the code before you can use it.
here is the command that you could use after compilation

sudo usbsoftrock status
Version     : 15.12
USB SerialID: PE0FKO-0
Startup Freq: 14.210000 (x 4.00)
Xtall Freq  : 114.285000
Smooth Tune : 3500 PPM
Si570 I2C   : 55 Hex
  BPF Enabled: 0

Set the frequency you require
   sudo usbsoftrock set freq 14.210

The frequency was a few khz lower and I had to calibrate the frequency using the following command. You can retrieve the frequency at which your Si570's crystal oscillates with the command sudo usbsoftrock calibrate

Version     : 15.12
fXTALL = 114.207544

Calibrating the frequency with the value you got above.

sudo usbsoftrock -x 114.207544 set freq 14.125
Version     : 15.12

Checking the frequency. sudo usbsoftrock getfreq

Version     : 15.12
Frequency   : 14.089549 (x 4.00)


here is the command list

COMMAND is one of
  calibrate (may require -s option)
  getfreq
  getregisters
  interactive
  getptt                                 (-h option for Mobo only)
  getkeys                                (PE0FKO+TF3LJ+Mobo)
  gettone
  ptt {on|off}
  set bpf {on|off}                       (PE0FKO+TF3LJ+Mobo)
  set bpf_addr <band> <filter>           (PE0FKO >= 15.12+Mobo)
  set bpf_point <crossover> <f in MHz>   (PE0FKO+TF3LJ+Mobo)
  set lpf {on|off}                       (TF3LJ+Mobo only)
  set lpf_addr <band> <filter>                   "
  set lpf_point <crossover> <f in MHz>           "
  set freq <frequency in MHz>
  set si570_addr <i2c address in decimal>
  set si570_multiplier [band] <decimal factor>  (PE0FKO>=15.12+Mobo)
  set startup <frequency in MHz>         (PE0FKO+TF3LJ+Mobo)
  set xtall <frequency in MHz>           (PE0FKO+TF3LJ+Mobo)
  status

  where TF3LJ = Lofturs AtMega168 derivative
        Mobo  = Mobo 4.3 Project AT90USB162 Firmware