Easy As Pi RASPBERRY PI RF PROJECTS FOR HAM RADIO FANS BY JIM REED – N4BFR JANUARY 07, 2017

V 1 . 1 – I N C L U D E S C L E A N U P F R O M 1 / 5 P R E S E N TAT I O N

What is a Raspberry Pi • Hobbyist Computer - $35 for the board, $85 fully loaded • Founded in 2012 by a British Educational Foundation • Versatile project platform in the “maker” spirit.

Pi Flavors – Current Models

• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

1.2 Ghz, Quad Core 64 Bit ARM v8 Includes WiFi & Bluetooth

• Raspberry Pi Zero v1.3

1.0 Ghz, Single Core, Mini HDMI USB OTG ports, 512 MB RAM

What can you connect to a Pi?

USB 4 USB 2.0 Ports

Ethernet

40 PIN GPIO

100 Base T

GPS, Sensors, Motors, printers…

3.5 MM 4 Pole Audio or Composite Video

Display Port Touchscreen display is about $70

Camera Port 8 MP Camera or IR Image Sensor

Micro SD Storage is Solid State.

HDMI Wireless Connectivity 802.11N Networking, Bluetooth 4.0 & BLE

Micro USB Power

What can you connect to a Pi GPIO? GPIO Pins Include • • • • •

5 & 3.3V Power I2C UART SPI Sensed Hi/Low pins

What makes you a Raspberry Pi Expert? • I’m no expert, I just like experimenting.

• My projects are built on the backs of others, but I try and add my own personal twist or enhancement • I consider myself basic at Linux and have no formal knowledge of programming languages outside of HTML.

• Current Active Pi Projects 2 Dashboards / Kiosks • 2 GPS Stratum 1 Clocks • Shack Automation Relay Panel • ADSB Aviation Receiver • APRS Receiver / iGate • DVAP server • Ad Blocking DNS • 2 Home Security Cameras • RetroPie Gaming Console •

Project Pictures

What about Ardunio, BeagleBone… • Also good hobbyist platforms for developing automation. • Many are used for things like Robots or other and/or functions. • Rule of thumb… 2 ANDs. So if you want to… •

Do something AND something else AND a third thing, you want a Pi.

Recapping: What is the Raspberry Pi • Hobbyist Computer - $35 for the board, $85 fully loaded •

Also the Pi Zero - $5 but need to add special cables.

• Versions of Raspberry Pi •

Most Popular: C (Full boards) & Zero (small board)

• Pi is a ARM based processor, so you can’t run standard Windows or Mac software on it. •

But you can run many flavors of Linux including the “standard” Raspbian Jessie.

• Pi just had it’s 4th birthday in September 2016

Linux: The intimidation factor • Yes, it’s Linux based. BUT… you can do at least 1 project without knowing ANY Linux. • If you don’t know Linux but… You are comfortable working with a command prompt in windows OR • You are comfortable with old school items like “shell scripts” OR • You are good and following sometimes vague blog based instructions and surfing the internet to find answers YOU can master the Raspberry Pi! •

Raspbian is based on Debian. Latest version features the PIXEL desktop.

Includes: Python, Scratch, Java, Mathmatica. Generally comes as an image file you burn to an SD card to start,

Two RF Related Projects • PiAware – Receiving ADSB (airplane tracking) signals on 1090 Mhz and tracking them. •

Skill Level: EASY! Closest to Plug and Play of any Pi Project

• DVAP a-la Pi •

Skill Level: Easy to Medium – includes setting up remote desktop access

Before you start… a few notable items • These are NOT intended to be complete instructions! • Your mileage and skill level may vary. • Development on some of these projects is ongoing, so what works today may not work tomorrow. • Not every project will work on every model of Raspberry Pi

Jim’s Tips 1. Don’t be afraid to break it. At $35 you are out the cost of a Baofeng if you do.

PiAware Airplane Tracker WATCH THE PLANES GO OVER YOUR HOUSE!

PiAware Airplane Tracking WHAT WE’RE BUILDING

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• Receiver to download, interpret and map airplane traffic based on the ADS-B beacons they transmit.

• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

•

Note: ADS-B is not required for all aircraft until 2020, so you will not see every plane.

• Typical Accessories 8 GB MicroSD Card • 5V 2A Power Supply (Minimum) •

• RTL “TV Tuner” Dongle

• 1090 Mhz Antenna.

PiAware Airplane Tracking 5 Key Steps

• Download Image File from Flightaware.com/piaware • Write image to MicroSD card and insert in Pi

• Build 1090 Mhz Antenna (Samples at URL) • Connect Antenna to RTL Dongle, Dongle to Pi, Pi to Power • Go to FlightAware.com and claim your Pi.

Downloading an Image File About Image Files

From Image to Pi on Windows:

• Image files are a starting point for building your operating system on the Pi.

• Start with SD Formatter V4.0

• PiAware is one of those bundled deployments – download, burn and “go”

• Write with Win32 Disk Imager

•

You’ll want a completely clean SD card for your new project.

From Image to Pi on Mac: • Use built in image burning tools

MicroSD Cards Micro SD Cards • I find 8 GB cards (about 7.3 GB actual) are the optimum size / price combination. • It’s worth it to buy several of the same one to not be stuck with an image to big for an offsized card.

• Save the plastic “SD” adapter, good for use in Pi A & B.

Jim’s Tips 1. Don’t be afraid to break it. At $35 you are out the cost of a Baofeng if you do. 2. BACKUP. Even a good MicroSD card can get corrupted by a power blip or unintentional shutdown. Win32DiskImager and Mac can both read from the card and write an image file with a backup.

Which Dongle do you want? • RTL-SDR Dongle • • • •

Originally made to be a “digital TV tuner” Can open up to about 25 Mhz to 1.2 Ghz via software. $17 on Amazon for the Flight Aware branded $20 at Amazon for the generic

What else could you do with a radio that receives such a broad range?

Antennas 1090 Mhz Antenna • There are nice antennas you can buy. They work well. • It’s a good hands on part of the project to build your own if you like. • Take the antenna that comes with the TV Tuner Stick, cut the cable and use that to make a small receiving antenna.

PiAware Airplane Tracking CONNECT IT ALL UP • RTL Dongle can go in any of the USB ports • Connect to Ethernet to start •

WiFi will have to be set up after.

• Power On & Wait a few minutes •

Really, look at a clock, give it 3-4 minutes.

• Go to FlightAware.com on your PC and claim your tracker!

ACCESSING YOUR PI 1. Find your Pi’s IP address 2. Watch the planes your Pi sees by visiting the internal webpage for PiAware. 1.

Something on your LAN like: http://192.168.1.###:8080

3. Access via SSH (Telnet) 1. 2.

PuTTY client is free for Windows Use Terminal in Mac

4. Plug in Keyboard, Mouse & Monitor

What success looks like

Jim’s Tips 1. Don’t be afraid to break it. At $35 you are out the cost of a Baufeng if you do. 2. BACKUP. Even a good MicroSD card can get corrupted by a power blip or unintentional shutdown. Win32DiskImager and Mac can both read from the card and write an image file with a backup. 3. PASSWORDS. Everyone knows that the pi default, so change yours Username: pi

Password: raspberry

PiAware Hints and Kinks • Height matters if you want good reception •

Identical PiAware at N4BFR and N4EWT shacks. N4EWT hears 2x or more flights and 2X distance due to Height.

• Things you may want to go in and clean up: •

Use SSH or Pi Desktop and Run sudo raspi-config. Good things to do include Expand the File System, change the default password, connect it via WiFi.

• Watch your time & location. •

Check the stats at FlightAware.com for your Pi and watch that MLAT is enabled. That will share data with other local PiAware receivers. BUT it’s very sensitive to Location & Time setting so be as accurate as you can.

Jim’s Tips 3. PASSWORDS. Everyone knows that the pi default, so change yours Username: pi Username: pi

Password: raspberry Password: flightaware

4. There is plenty of help online Getting Started with Pi: - Adafruit.com LEARN section - Search DUMP1090 for more on the core PiAware program

DVAP a-la Pi A D-STAR REPEATER FOR YOUR HOUSE!

DVAP a-la Pi WHAT WE’RE BUILDING

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• A DVAP is a DV Access Point Dongle.

• Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

• It acts as a DStar repeater connected to for your home network.

• Typical Accessories 8 GB MicroSD Card • 5V 2A Power Supply •

• You can connect one with a Pi for an “always on” setup.

• DVAP

• Linux / Pi is officially supported! www.dvapdongle.com

• Broadband Internet Connection

DVAP a-la Pi 5 Key Steps

• Download Rasbian Jessie Image File & load to the Pi • Connect Pi to DVAP, Network and Power

• Set up VNC for Desktop Sharing • Download DVAP Software for Pi

• Start DVAP, Connect & Make QSO’s around the world.

Image File Start Smart with an Image File 1. Before you do anything else run these two commands. 1. 2.

sudo raspi-config sudo apt-get update

2. Next, set up your local customization (wireless network, time server, etc). 3. STOP, shut down, and SAVE THIS VERSION. Then start new projects from here to save time!

Connecting The DVAP to the pi Connecting DVAP and Pi • Couldn’t be more plug and play. • Remember to use a 2A power supply for your Pi. •

The DVAP radio draws TX power from the Pi. If you starve the Pi for power you’ll be scratching your head and wondering why it keeps crashing.

Time to get on the desktop Setting up VNC

On the Pi (Server)

1. Headless is not just a horseman, it’s a way to run a Pi with a Desktop GUI from another machine.

• You’ll run a few commands from the command line to configure VNC to let you access a virtual desktop on the Pi. Follow the tutorial at http://learn.adafruit.com

2. There are 2 parts to VNC, the SERVER (Pi) and the CLIENT (PC or MAC).

On the PC / Mac (Client) • Download the FREE VNC client and use it to connect to the virtual Pi desktop.

Download DVAP Software for Pi • File is DVAPTool-1.05-linux64.tgz

• Best source for download: • http://www.dvapdongle.com/ DV_Access_Point_Dongle/Dow nloads.html • Also try: http://opendstar.org/tools/

Basic Overview: • Install dependencies on Pi • Download and extract the DVAPTool file

• Execute •

Options: Adding a desktop ICON

• Pick Frequency, Start DVAP

What success looks like:

DVAP Hints and Kinks • Expert Mode: Take it Mobile •

K4FH uses a Pi and DVAP with a mobile hotspot to always have DStar access while he travels. Others have built these as well, you can find samples online.

• Watch Antenna Placement: •

DVAP only puts out 10 Mw. Don’t blast it with too much signal, but don’t bury it in the basement too far from the shack either.

• Consider Ethernet Connectivity: •

If your home WiFi is marginal, and you can connect this to a wired connection, you’ll save yourself some hassle later on.

Jim’s Tips 3. PASSWORDS. Everyone knows that the pi default, so change yours 4. There is plenty of help online Getting Started with Pi: - Adafruit.com LEARN section - Search DUMP1090 for more on the core PiAware program 5. LINUX is CaSeSenSAtivE! Check for typos first! 6. Build vs Buy? Your call, but why not learn something new?

I’m Inspired – What else could I make? • GPS Stratum 1 Clock • • •

About $100 to make with a GPS Module and Pi Zero Use it as your home NTP server Requires soldering and a little more Linux command line work.

• APRS •

•

Instead of the PiAware on 1090 Mhz tune the SDR to 144.390 and listen to APRS packets. Use Direwolf to decrypt and become a iGate.

• Stream The Repeater •

•

Use the SDR to listen to 146.82 and stream it to your phone or internet sites. Disclaimer: I’ve tried this project with limited success

• Make a Software Defined Radio • •

GQRX is SDR software than can give you a spectrum view Freq Show (Adafruit) is a touch screen scanner.

Now I’m just showing off…

I’m Inspired – What else could I make? • Display Kiosk •

•

Design your own web pages and host them on a Pi in “KIOSK Mode”. Mine displays Time, APRS, ADS-B and I keep antenna info.

• Shack Automation • •

Use some 12V rated relays to turn on lights or radios in your shack. I use the WebIOPi software to control the relays.

• Morse Code Decoder • • •

Connect your key to a pi and practice your CW. This project is the one we have used at Maker Faire Good learning project at raspberrypi.org

• Game On •

•

Forget all the radio stuff, get out an old USB controller and play some retro games. Look up RetroPie for info.

Dashboard to bring it together…

I’m Inspired – What else could I make? Disclaimer: I haven’t tried most of these.

• Custom Video Organization •

Use Openelec to organize your video files and display them on a TV across your network.

• Satellites Gpredict lets you track groups of satellites around the globe. • Rotator controller: configure your satellite antenna to track AMSATS by driving stepper motors. •

• Make a Repeater •

OpenRepeater.com says you can make a repeater with a Pi or Beaglebone.

• Beacons WSPR-PI - This one actually uses the Pi to generate the RF. • FM transmitter off a pin of the pi. •

• Game On Forget all the radio stuff, get out an old USB controller and play some retro games. • Look up RetroPie for info. •

• Shack Computer •

FLDigi and Logging programs are not hardware hogs, make it your experimental desktop.

Jim’s Final Tips

• No, I will not build any of these for you. • Struggling to figure out where you went wrong or how you can improve it yourself is most of the fun. Backup, try something & see what happens! • Remember http://learn.adafruit.com for a well documented site that covers all the basics of getting started with a Raspberry Pi and troubleshooting any gaps. • I am available via email for questions ([email protected]) but I barely keep up to date on my mail now, so don’t expect helpdesk like support. • Please share your success stories!

Troubleshooting

Software Tool Kit All are Shareware or Free Windows SD Card Formatter

Wipe SD Cards Prior to Use https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/ Win32 Disk Imager Write .img files to and from SD Cards https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/ VNC Viewer Remote Desktop Viewer https://www.realvnc.com/download/viewer/ Putty SSH Client for Headless Access http://www.putty.org/ Apple Pi Filler Write Pi Images to SD Cards http://ivanx.com/raspberrypi/