ham radio support

[a_hippie]

Hi all,

Are there hams using Mint in their radio shacks? Where do you find support? Here, other forums, IRC?

I've migrated back to Mint from Ubuntu where I found lots of broken packages and zero help from fellow hams using Ubuntu. I also found zero help (or any live persons) using the official IRC channels. Perhaps the vast majority of hams have found better distributions.

I love the debian package system which has kept me using (and enjoying) debian variants. But now that Mint will soon adopt all the software from Ubuntu, I fear the new release will again break my stable shack apps: fldigi, hamlibs, js8call, xaster to name a few. Mainly, the loss of hamlibs with the broken version.

So is there actual ham radio support in the Mint ranks?

I really look forward to finding out and using what I learn to help me make future decisions.

73

Jaye ke6sls

[sideband]

Linux Mint has always used Ubuntu as the base. Not many requests for amateur radio support on the forum - Chirp and USB to Serial cables come to mind but both work fine

I can confirm that Fldigi works well, even better built from source following the Fldigi Wiki. JS8call and WSJT-X work fine
Hamlib support for radios works OK with Fldigi and WSJT-X.


SDR support - GQRX and SDR++ work well - best perhaps built from source, as does Sigdigger, CubicSDR, Linrad, Spyserver (Airspy), Quisk, SDRAngel and SDRGlut. SpectraVue is truly superb using a WINE Appimage and Siqs_ftdi or Python server.

[citfta]

Hi guys. I am also a ham. I didn't know there were any hams on this forum. I was out of the hobby for the last several years but kept my license up. I just recently got a station back on the air. I don't really know much at all about all the digital modes that are now used. I have been able to get CubicSDR working with an SDR receiver I recently got.

I wonder if there are enough hams on this forum to start a submenu just for ham radio topics. In particular the use of Linux and the digital modes.

73,
Carroll (WD4SIX)

[a_hippie]

Hi Carroll & sideband,

Great to see some responses. sideband I understand how Mint is developed and how it uses Ubuntu which is derived from Debian. Just that the ham support has disappeared in Ubuntu which used to be very active.

I'd love a formal ham forum. I do a lot of helping out with newbie users to linux and being able to depend on having a reasonably current distro and ham software has been *very important* to me. The last thing I want to tell anyone is "build it yourself." I've helped so many hams that bought pi's over the years and the number one thing that turned them off in the first place was that advice.

However, having a robust forum of hams REALLY help those that just need to find the tweak to make a ham software package work on their computers. I am absolutely in this camp. Even without a sub forum, just knowing there are actual hams using the software from Mint is a huge plus to me.

I am apprehensive about the next release coming up, but if there are enough ham users, I hope we can figure out any quagmires with the new ham software that will be included with the release. I am keeping my fingers crossed for now.

Thank you!

73
Jaye

[jeff_ve6dv]

I would be in for an amateur radio sub forum. One of the things that I really enjoy doing with Linux Mint is running hotspot software for the digital voice modes. I run QnetGateway on my machine connected to a DVAP dongle. Works very well, especially since the raspberry pi are in short supply.

There are so many apps that we as hams would be interested in using. Perhaps this would help bring more ops to the forum.

Jeff VE6DV

[Pierre]

there is some limited support on this forum,
for those of us, that are an Licensed Ham Operator,


some stuff does work surprisingly well, and yet other stuff doesn't.
thus, if you can't get any ideas from your local LinuxMint Support,
then do try this Ham Site that also an thread about this very subject.

it would also depend, somewhat, on whether you need software / hardware support, too.
- as an aside, I've always found that most CW programs,
do work very well, with ./wine on Linux


73s
& happy DXing

NB: if you search for usb + Chirp + ham + radio
or some combination of those . . there is already several support Topics . . for the chirp program . .

[punkbiscuit]

I use Mint for all my ham radio stuff.

FLDIGI
WSJTX / WSPR
GQRX
CHIRP
Nano VNA Saver
vnaJ


Using WINE for :

MMANA antenna modeling
RFSIM99
Spectrum Lab
Argo
Hamcap

I have 9 PC's here, none have Windows.

[rattkjelke]

I am a ham and LM user.

I think a lot of ham radio linux programs are abandonware or buggy/poorly written.

It's not very likely that problems you encounter with such software will have anything to do with Linux Mint or whatever distro you are using.

If you are having problems with ham related software you would be better off trying to get support from the software's authors, support groups, web sites or ham radio related groups and web sites.

[citfta]

I am pretty sure there are other hams like myself that may have been hams for years but only recently moved from Windows to Linux. I personally have a very limited knowledge of what software is available for hams that also works on Linux. This forum is also my main forum I go to to learn about LM. I have already learned from a previous post in this thread about a ham forum I was unfamiliar with. I joined eHamnet yesterday because of what I learned here.

I also want to thank whoever was responsible for making this a sticky. Now I don't have to hunt for it. Thanks!

Carroll WD4SIX

[pilotbob42]

Another ham Linux user here. On my primary Linux Mint box I use GQRX, SDR++, and Quisk (the two former with an Nooelec RTL-SDR dongle and the latter with a Hermes Lite v2). I also run a repeater connected to the Allstar Asterisk network, but that runs off a Pi 4 and Arch (hamvoip image).

73
Bob (KB5ASW)

[Benedetto]

I am a Ham, in the UK. Call G1AEU. I recently bough a Yaesu FT3 hand held. Recovering from a stoke. 18 months ago. I still find some difficulty with speech and have partial paralysis with my right hand which makes type difficult - I am right handed. I am almost 85 now, I use ECHOLINK and Skype.
I have installed WIRES programme but it is not supported by Linux. I have APRS as well but I don't know whether Linux supports it yet.
As I have been Linux only for some while but I decided to re-install W10 Pro, the original programme on my pc and delete LINUX Cinnamon 20.3. This will allow WIRES use. Additionally I have bought a new computer - a Lenovo all-in-one (which saves my desk space). It has W11 currently but will have Cinnamon 21 when it is released. A laptop still has MATE 20.3 installed.

[NeilMarsh]

And still another ham, W7NRM, who's fed up with Microsoft and toying with Linux again after many years. (Somewhere around here I still have the 3½" install floppies for Soft Landing Linux that I bought from Peter McDonald back around 1992.)

[lamar]

I guess I am the senior citizen of the Linux hams. I have been K4ZTT since 1959. Glad to see other hams appear here.
73's

[SteveR]

Also have my license: KE6TDP. Have not really looked into using Linux with my radio equipment. Coincidentally, I am now looking into how to use an Android tablet to control my Yaesu FT-897D. The short story, many years ago our house was hit by lighting and the prior FT-897D, along with virtually all our electronics was fried. At the time, the FT-897 was hooked up to a computer, but we have since reconfigured where our desktops (now using Mint) sit and no-longer have easy access to the FT-897, hence the move towards an Android tablet. Any further advice on what applications can be

Previously, I had developed, under Windows, a logging program using MS Access, but that fell by the wayside. Currently using MariaDB, but have not looked into developing either a new logging program or using an available Linux based logging program.

A good ham radio internet site to visit is eham.net.

[a_hippie]

Good to see you on here Steve, as well as all the others who have posted.

Some folks choose to use a single rig control program like flrig or grig. grig, afaik isn't receiving any more upstream support, but is still available. I used it for quite a long time. However, I prefer to let the individual programs use the control interface as I use them. Like my Monday night net, I use fldigi and flmsg. They have rig control using the hamlibs program which works quite well.

Same with js8call, qsstv and so on. I rarely have two programs both needing access to the rig control. However, that could easily change in the future as I am now considering a logging program. Still have lots to learn about and how I want to roll it out.

Really great to see all of us here.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for a smooth upgrade to 21!

73
Jaye

[citfta]

I am just now learning about digital ham radio. I have installed WSJT-X and gotten it to work with my SDRPlay using CubicSDR. However I noticed that a comment was made in the reviews of WSJT-X that I downloaded from the software manager that the version there was outdated. But Synaptic did not show an option to upgrade WSJT-X. The version I downloaded is 2.1.2 and it seems to work fine. Should I be concerned about updating or just continue to use what I have? I am running LM20.3.

I am amazed at how many world wide stations I could find with FT8. Now I just need to get busy and set up an interface between my PC and my rig so I can contact some of them. I also just installed Js8Call as I like to actually have conversations on the air rather than just exchange contact info. So I have to learn how to use that next.

73
Carroll WD4SIX

[punkbiscuit]

Latest versions of wsjt-x are here -

https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx.html

Release notes here -

https://physics.princeton.edu//pulsar/K ... _Notes.txt

73 de Andy

[Guilden_NL]

Hi all,

Are there hams using Mint in their radio shacks? Where do you find support? Here, other forums, IRC?
I love the debian package system which has kept me using (and enjoying) debian variants. But now that Mint will soon adopt all the software from Ubuntu, I fear the new release will again break my stable shack apps: fldigi, hamlibs, js8call, xaster to name a few. Mainly, the loss of hamlibs with the broken version.

Jaye ke6sls

Not a Ham guy, but always have been very interested. I checked and Hamlib seems to be very up to date on GitHub. https://github.com/Hamlib/Hamlib
You might try getting with the contributors there for help specifically with that.

[a_hippie]

Hi Guilden_NL

I did join their mailing list and posted request. The response was build it yourself.

So I moved along. These programs MUST work so I can recommend them (and OS) to non-computer savvy ham friends.

Mint updater doesn't show new release here on 20.3. Fingers crossed when it does.

Tnx & 73
j

[citfta]

On eHam.net I did a search for hamlib and found several threads about hamlib. And some discussion from one ham that uses hamlib on LM20. So you might find someone there that knows how to get hamlib running on LM20. Here is a link to one of the discussions:

https://www.eham.net/community/smf/inde ... msg1229066

73 de WD4SIX