Allstar node build project meeting

It was a very good meeting last night! We had 17 members present and all the members are excited about the Allstar build that we will be doing in the coming weeks with Pres, W2PW. We went over the materials list and discussed the various options. Special thanks to Charlie, K2ATF for donating 2 signs to the club. One for our VE Sessions and one for our meeting nights.

The following are a list of items each “participating member” (a member who has elected to participate in this project) will need to acquire for the Allstar Build project.

A Raspberry Pi 3B+, aluminum case, power supply

A Baofeng UV5-R (to be modified but not destroyed) – model linked has upgraded battery pack

DMK URIxB USB radio interface (be sure to specify the Amateur Radio version to obtain the discount vs. the Commercial version)

If you already have a Pi and or a BAOFENG uv5R skip those items and just order the DMK URI

Additionally, the club will put together a kit of misc. wires, connectors components and an 8GB micro SD card to complete this build. The cost will be determined by the number of people participating but it will be somewhere around or below $25

Participating members are encouraged to set up an account on AllstarLink.org and request a node number (you need to set up a “server” and then request a node to attach to it). This can take a day or so to process so please try to have this step done before build day! Remember to bring the number and password info to build day!

We’ll be programming the node at build day but we want to make sure it will work on your home networks too so remember to bring your wifi login information so that can be programmed in so the node will work when you take it home.

The build will take place over a span of two or three sessions.

Most participating members have Windows PCs so they are encouraged to download and install the following software in preparation for the build:

• WinSCP – https://winscp.net/eng/index.php WinSCP allows you to do sftp which is secure file transfer protocol. This is what you will use to transfer files between your raspberry pi and your PC in a windows app.
• Putty – https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham which provides a terminal window (like the old green glowing screens of yore or DOS) which you can use to do ssh to the raspberry pi and have a command line interface direct on the pi from your windows pc.
• USbit (USB image tool) – https://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/ for making the raspberry pi boot image and for backups.

It is possible to do all this from other operating systems and Nate, K3LTC would be happy to help you if you are interested in that.