Your Own Portable POTA Callsign Database

-
Image
  Have you ever wanted to search the FCC database outside the shack on a POTA or at Field Day? It's easy when you have cell coverage, but what if you are in the middle of nowhere? Or what if you want to see all the amateurs around you, search by last name or even who have a callsign like yours? K3NG's has come up with a powerful command line tool called HamDB that let's you have the entire FCC database available locally on your Raspberry Pi.  One thing I thought was missing was an easy to use UI, so I have put something together called HamDB GUI . With it you can search by call, name, zip code or callsign wildcard, right in your web browser. It's easy to get installed and up and running. All you need is a Raspberry Pi 3B or better and a 32GB SD card. If you are looking to power you Raspberry Pi in the field there are a number of <$10 converters like this one on Amazon that will allow you to run the Pi off 12 volts easily.  First you'll need to setup your Pi....
Post a Comment

What is Kiwix and why I have it installed on my POTA computer

-

 



I always thought it would be good to have information resources on my computer that aren't internet dependent.  What if I’m out in the field doing a POTA and need a reference manual or some medical information? Or my cable modem goes out and I really need to look up an old club newsletter from 2016?

Kiwix is an app for offline reading on the go, remote areas, emergencies, or independent knowledge access. It is a program you can install on your Raspberry Pi, Windows or Mac computer that gives you offline access to resources like Wikipedia, TED, Stack Exchange, or your favorite website (via Zimit) so you can have a library of manuals or other reference materials specific to your needs.  

Let’s install Kiwix – to download the program go to https://kiwix.org/en/applications/


Pick the correct version for your computer and install the program.

Upon starting the program and choosing Categories you will see a list of databases you can download, including the entire Wikipedia (110GB with pictures), Urban Prepper, MDWiki Medical Encyclopedia, and more. All great info to have out in the field and off grid.





Let’s look for some Amateur Radio content – I searched all the categories and found a database in StackExchange and then searched for “radio”.  


Now I see that it has 8K articles and is only 68MB to download.




If I click on it, I can get more information and an option to download it.




After downloading it, click the option to open the main page.



Now you can scroll through the article entries.


Or search a topic with the search bar, choosing the database(s) you want to search in.


Then you can click on the articles that interest you.


I think all that is cool, but here’s where things can get interesting. You can also download entire websites to have them at you fingertips by using Zimit (https://zimit.kiwix.org/).

Fill in the website and your email. The reason why they need your email is if you close the window you’ll lose the download link. They will send you a link so you can access the file for a week. You can even build your own Zim server, if you want to do everything yourself.






Then click the advanced options button and enter a title and description for future reference to the database.  If you want to download everything on the site, under Scope Type, chose any. Files can get big, so be careful which option you pick. Then click Let’s ZIM it!

You might have to wait a while until a slot opens up on the website download server, but then it will start capturing the site.


Once a slot opens up it will begin downloading the site.




Once it is complete – open the .zim file you downloaded in Kiwix.




Next, select it and then press Open Main Page.


Now you will see the site in the Kiwix window and you just click on links like you would normally do in a web browser but everything is local to your computer. 

That’s all there is to it.  I found some sites online with equipment manuals and have used Zimit to download them so I can have them on my computer.  It is great to have a full manual set when you are out in the field

73








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How To Get Precise Time Outside Your Shack

-
Image
  Often when I decide to do Parks on the Air (POTA), I just grab my gear and go forgetting to sync my laptop’s time.  When I get to the park, sometimes my system clock is 5-30 seconds off which means I’m not able to do FT8. I have found some inexpensive solutions to help fix this issue.  First, you’ll need a GPS dongle to capture accurate time signals.  These dongles are great and can get time almost anywhere, if they have a good view of the sky.  Here is the one I like since I can move it around if I need to and can keep it away from my radio to reduce RFI. It is called the “VFAN USB GPS Receiver Antenna Gmouse for Laptop PC Car Marine Navigation Magnetic Base” and available on Amazon for $20.  If you want something less expensive ($12) and smaller, I’ve heard good things about this unit (although I have never used it) – “HiLetgo VK172 G-Mouse USB GPS/GLONASS USB GPS Receiver for Windows 10/8/7/VISTA/XP”. Next, you’ll need software to allow your computer...
Read more

How To Set Up Your Own Remote Station

-
Image
  I’m going to share with you an inexpensive way you can control your station from a web browser on your home network.  This is the first step in setting up a remote station for yourself.  Once you have the radio  working locally, you can explore more advanced access solutions like Tailscale or Zerotier VPNs for operation outside of your home network. I found a great free program to remote control radios from F4HTB called “Universal_HamRadio_Remote_HTML5”.  Here is a link to his Github with more information - https://github.com/F4HTB/Universal_HamRadio_Remote_HTML5. Since there are a lot of steps to setting it up manually, I have put together a script that will do a large portion of the work for you.  I have tested the script with an Icom IC-705 and Yaesu FTDX10 utilizing both radio soundcards so there is no need to construct the hardware interface for these radios that he mentions.  The difference between the two radios is which version of Hamlib is...
Read more

Why You Might Want To Set Up Your Raspberry Pi Internet Web Server on 44Net

-
Image
  I had a big problem with my blog. Since it’s hosted on Blogger, there were issues with Google and Bing indexing it. I must have spent nearly two weeks trying to figure out why search engines were having trouble with redirects and couldn’t index the site. After some research, I found out this is a common problem with Blogger. So, I decided it was time to set up my own web server. That way, I’d have full control over everything—from which content management system and plug-ins I use to how the site is hosted. I had a spare Raspberry Pi sitting around that I could use, since my site doesn’t get a lot of traffic. All I needed was a static, internet-addressable IP address. But those are generally hard to come by without an expensive business-class internet connection. As hams, we have access to millions of IPs for free, thanks to some forward-thinking operators from the 1980s via 44Net. Here’s a link to an article and a short video on the history of 44Net: https://www.ardc.net/ardc-ki...
Read more

A Non-Programmers Guide on How To Use AI to Write Your Own Custom Ham Radio Computer Applications

-
Image
  These days you can’t get away from the Artificial Intelligence (AI) hype, it is unavoidable.  Supposedly it can do anything and everything with no limitations. But beyond the marketing, there is a lot that AI can do to help make your life easier. I’m going to walk you through how you can utilize AI for ham radio applications.  It is a great way to solve problems and create software for your projects, even if you are not a programmer.  I think the best way to show you how to use an AI Large Language Model (LLM) is to run through the prompts I used on a project for remote station temperature monitoring. I needed a way to get sensor readings from an external sensing board on a Raspberry Pi for display on a computer data dashboard.  I decided I wanted a script that could collect the readings every few minutes and transmit them to a second computer that served up all the dashboards for the station.  Some call this a “single pane of glass” since you can go to...
Read more

Why You Should Use SSH Keys Instead of Passwords on Your Raspberry Pi

-
Image
  If you’re running a Raspberry Pi that’s reachable from the Internet — such as through 44Net, or any public-facing IP — security should be your top priority. One of the most important steps you can take is to disable password logins and use SSH keys instead. Why Passwords Are a Problem Password authentication over SSH might feel convenient, but it’s one of the biggest security weaknesses for exposed systems:      • Brute-force attacks — Bots continuously scan IPv4 and IPv6 ranges trying common usernames like pi, admin, or ubuntu.      • Leaked credentials — If you’ve reused a password elsewhere and that service gets breached,             attackers can easily try it against your Pi.      • Keylogging and phishing — Passwords can be intercepted if you log in from an insecure machine or network. Even strong passwords can’t match the security of asymmetric cryptography used by SSH key pairs. What SSH...
Read more

Wifi Network Clock Review: Great Features <$40 With A Security Concern

-
Image
  I have many clocks in my home which all seem to show different time no matter how often I try to sync them to an accurate time source.  I was looking for something inexpensive that I could have in the living room that would auto correct itself often so I had one clock I could depend on there.   I decided to stay away from radio clocks that needed to be able to receive WWV to reset themselves as I knew that would work maybe once a week, if I was lucky. I used to have a WWV correcting watch and I had to remember to put by a window at night to get updates. Ideally, I wanted something that would reset hourly so it could be accurate to within a second or two.   After searching around, I found this clock on Amazon and thought I’d give it a try.  It can be set to synchronize over wifi with any time server worldwide or even a local one if you have your own NTP server. It is customizable via a web browser to display any time zone (including UTC – great for ...
Read more

Internet Remote Software Defined Radio (SDR) Receivers – A Starter Guide

-
Image
  What do you do when you are stuck in an apartment, condo or HOA and you want to experience what HF is all about?  You can try to hide a wire antenna and use a low cost SDR dongle like the RTL-SDR but your experience is going to be very limited in what you will be able to hear.   The best solution (and it is free as well) is to use a remote internet SDR receiver. Here are a couple of sites you can go to get started: WebSDR.org: A directory of receivers around the globe, usually accessible with nothing more than a browser. These are often university or club stations that welcome public use. KiwiSDR Network: Shows active KiwiSDRs on a map. These small receivers are deployed by individuals and groups worldwide and often cover 0–30 MHz. Let’s use KiwiSDR as an example of how to operate a remote SDR.  If you go to rx.linkfanel.net on your web browser, you will see a screen like the one below. Listed here all the receivers that are available worldwide as well as an...
Read more

Automated Server Failover for Remote Stations

-
Image
  Overview Here's a cool trick for anyone with a remote station that wants to have an automated computer failover. This router setup will allow you to have multiple redundant computers on site and if one fails, your remote users will automatically be sent to the backup machine.  When the primary comes back online, users are sent back there.  Any failures can be emailed to you from the router, so you can troubleshoot. What you need 2 computers - can be Windows, Linux (Raspberry Pi, etc) or Mac Mikrotik Router - In my case I'm using the hAP ac3 - which goes for about $110 on Amazon Step By Step Setup (using the Mikrotik Web Gui or Winbox) - this is the IP you give to your users 1. Add a Virtual Service IP This is the “VIP” your LAN clients will always use (e.g. 192.168.1.100 ).     A.  Open IP → Addresses     B. Click Add New           •   Address: 192.168.1.100/24          •...
Read more

Getting WaveNode Power Meter Data Into Node-RED

-
Image
  I've been using a WaveNode WN-2 power meter at our remote station for years now. It's a fantastic piece of gear - four independent RF channels, high SWR alarms, forward and reverse wattage monitoring and a Windows app that displays everything in real time. Check it out at: https://wavenodedevelop.com/controllers/wavenode-wn-2/ But here's the problem: the data lives in the WaveNode application and nowhere else. I wanted that data in my Node-RED dashboard. I wanted it in Grafana for historical trending. I wanted to trigger automations based on SWR readings or power levels. The WaveNode software wasn't designed to share its data with other applications. So I built a bridge. The result is WaveNode-to-MQTT, a small Windows utility that grabs all the WaveNode data and republishes it to MQTT topics. Once it's in MQTT, you can do anything with it - display it in dashboards, log it to databases, trigger alerts, whatever you need. Here is the project link: https://github.co...
Read more

Ham RSS News Feeds

Amateur Radio Daily

Loading...

ARRL News

Loading...

Zero Retries

Loading...