GETTING STARTED WITH HAMPI

BY DAVE SLOTTER, W3DJS

WHAT’S A RASPBERRY PI?

• RPi 4 : low cost completely functional computer ($30 - $75 USD) size of card deck

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WHAT OPERATING SYSTEMS DOES RASPBERRY PI USE?

WHAT CAN I DO WITH RASPBERRY PI?

RASPBERRY PI 4 POWER REQUIREMENTS

• Input voltage of 4.0 V to 5.5 V with absolute max rating of 6V before damage occurs
• Reasonable power range is 4.7 V to 5.25 V
• Power supply recommended provides 3A (15W) with minimum current of 2.5A if USB peripherals consume less than 500mA in total
• Original Pi 4 has non-compliant USB-C power port. This has now been fixed.

WHY USE RASPBERRY PI FOR HAM RADIO?

• Great in the shack or for going portable
• Small form-factor
• Lightweight
• Low power needs
• Some people even power from solar!
• Uses Linux which is already well supported

WHERE DO I START?

1. Determine needs for Raspberry Pi – will determine equipment
2. Buy Raspberry Pi + power supply + micro sd card from local retailer
1. Alternatively: SATA SDD + Cable or NVME SSD + NVME USB3 Adapter
3. Reuse USB keyboard, mouse and display. Don’t forget the micro HDMI cable!
4. Download software image to flash
• HamPi Image v1.0 (hampi.radiowaves.ca)
5. Download BalenaEtcher for Windows, Mac or Linux & flash micro SD card
6. Plug it all together, insert SD card and watch!

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HAMPI IMAGE V1.0

• Custom-built ham radio software image chock full of ~80 applications:
• Created using Ansible, software automation tool.

WHERE DO I FIND HAMPI IMAGE V1.0?

• http://hampi.radiowaves.ca/
• Image is compressed with XZ in TAR format and is ~4GB.
• Over 6,000 direct downloads in first 60 days!

WHERE DO I GET SUPPORT FOR HAMPI V1.0?

• HamPi Forum on Groups.io
• https://groups.io/g/Ham-Pi
• GitHub Wiki:
• https://github.com/dslotter/hampi/wiki
• QRZ
• https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/hampi-1-0-released.711515/
• GARS Workshops!

HOW CAN I PUT IMAGE ON (MICRO) SD CARD?

• You just can’t copy the image as a file on to the (micro) SD card.
• (some people have tried – and failed)
• One solution: dd (for Linux)
• But what if I have a Windows PC?
• Solution: BalenaEtcher, available at https://www.balena.io/etcher/

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WHAT IS THE INITIAL USERNAME AND PASSWORD?

• Username: pi
• Password: raspberry

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• Security note: please change the password to something unique, especially if you put your Raspberry Pi on the Internet like me.

HOW CAN I CHANGE THE PASSWORD?

• Quick answer: run “passwd” command from command line / shell
• (will need old password to change it, unless you are logged in as root)

HOW CAN I CHANGE THE USERNAME “PI”?

• YOU DON’T – It causes a huge security risk, according to Kyle, W4KDA.

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• But you can add a new user to the system!
• sudo adduser <username>
• Don’t forget to add security groups!
• sudo groupmems –group dialout ---add <username>

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HOW DO I EXPAND THE IMAGE TO USE ENTIRE (MICRO) SD CARD?

• You have a 128GB microSD card and the Pi is only using 16GB. What do you do?
• This is automatic on Raspbian Buster
• On older versions of Raspbian:
• sudo raspi-config
• Expand Filesystem

HOW DO I CONNECT THE PI TO MY RADIO?

• Short answer: USB
• Cable from RIG
• USB Sound Card
• SignaLink: $135
• Sabrent USB Sound Adapter $7
• Another short answer:�DRAWS Ham Radio HAT by�NW Digital Radio $150

HOW TO KEEP ACCURATE TIME ON THE PI?

• In the Hamshack: use timedatectl and NTP
• Command: timedatectl
• Command: ntpdate –q 0.us.pool.ntp.org
• For more info, see�https://raspberrytips.com/time-sync-raspberry-pi/
• In the Field: use GPS receiver & gpsd
• GLONASS GPS Tracker Module for�Raspberry Pi: $8
• Alternative: RTC Module $15
• Alternative: DRAWS Hat GPS Receiver $150

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HOW DO I POWER MY RASPBERRY PI?

• In the Ham Shack: Power Adapter aka “wall wart”
• Also in the Ham Shack: Power over Ethernet (PoE) $20
• GPIO Pin #2 (5V) GPIO Pin #6 (GND)�Dangerous – only use if you know what you’re doing
• Mobile Power – USB Battery Pack $15+
• MoPi 2 – Hot-Swap Mobile Power £29
• PiJuice Solar Panels

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: OPERATING DIGITAL MODES

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: LOGGING

• Software included:
• TrustedQSL - LotW client from ARRL
• CQRlog - Ham Radio Logging Application
• PyQSO - Logging software (written in Python)
• klog - The Ham Radio Logging program
• tlf - console based ham radio contest logger
• tucnak2 - VHF/UHF/SHF Hamradio contest log version 2
• twlog - basic logging program for ham radio
• wsjtx_to_n3fjp - Logging adapter to allow WSJT-X to log to N3FJP by yours truly, W3DJS
• xlog - GTK+ Logging program for Hamradio Operators

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: APRS

• Software included:
• Direwolf - Software "soundcard" AX.25 packet modem/TNC and APRS encoder/decoder
• Xastir - APRS GUI client / Digipeater / Igate
• YAAC - Yet Another APRS Client
• APRS Message App for JS8Call
• aprsdigi - digipeater for APRS
• aprx - APRS Digipeater and iGate
• soundmodem - Sound Card Amateur Packet Radio Modems

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: CW / MORSE CODE

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: D-STAR

• Software included:
• d-rats - A communication tool for D-STAR
• NOTE: THIS INCLUDES INSTANT UPDATE ABILITY
• BlueDV - Client for D-Star, DMR and YSF (Phone)

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO (SDR)

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: SATELLITE COMMUNICATION

• Software included:
• Gpredict - Satellite prediction
• predict-gsat - Graphical Predict client
• gnss-sdr - GLONASS satellite system Software Defined Receiver
• wxtoimg - NOAA weather imaging software

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: WINLINK / EMCOMM

• Software included:
• Pat WinLink - WinLink for Raspberry Pi (and other platforms)
• ARDOP support for Pat WinLink
• ARDOP-GUI - Provides graphical representation of ARDOP connections
• Find ARDOP - Retrieves local ARDOP sources by KM4ACK
• AX25 support for Pat WinLink
• PMON - a PACTOR® Monitoring Utility for Linux

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: ANTENNA MODELING

• Software included:
• antennavis - Antenna Visualization Software
• gsmc - A GTK Smith Chart Calculator for RF impedance matching
• nec2c - Translation of the NEC2 FORTRAN source code to the C language
• xnecview - NEC structure and gain pattern viewer
• yagiuda - software to analyse performance of Yagi-Uda antennas
• VOACAP - HF propagation prediction

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: HAM TRAINING / TESTING

• Software included:
• fccexam - Study tool for USA FCC commercial radio license exams.
• hamexam - Study guide for USA FCC amateur radio (ham radio) license examinations.

HAMPI V1.0�USE CASE: MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS

• Software included:
• CHIRP - Radio Programming Software
• QTel - EchoLink client
• QSSTV - Slow Scan TV (e.g. "Fax")
• FreeDV - Free digital voice vocoder
• WsprryPi - WSPR software
• ADS-B Flight Tracking Software
• Xdx is a DX-cluster client
• DXSpider - DX Cluster Server

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HAMPI V1.0 SUPPORTS THESE CHARITIES

• TFRM and AFESP – 50/50 Shared Parenting

DEMO + QUESTIONS

• Demo of remote station operation.
• (Hey, I tested it this morning!)
• RFI sensitivity concerns
• Use Ferrite chokes