I am attempting to get a brand new now # 65369 up and running. I suspect there is more than one problem but the first I’d like to address is the inability to ping allstarlink.org. I can ping other external sites such as rac.ca or cbc.ca so I know I have some connectivity and the DNS seems to be working. I also can’t ping the allstar site using it’s IP address directly.. My node appears as registered on the |ASL portal for several days but there have been no connections. I’m not totally surprised to the lack of connections but I can’t seem to initiate anything from this end. I am using a static public IP and I have opened the appropriate ports in my router. Any suggestions on troubleshooting this issue would be appreciated.
Also, the ASL infrastructure doesn't permit inbound ICMP for bandwidth-consumption reasons. As a network person, I understand why that's irritating - but we're trying to be good stewards of limited operational funds.
Checking configuration:
Info: rpt.conf has configuration for: 65369
Info: /etc/asterisk/iax.conf contains no registration lines.
Info: /etc/asterisk/rpt_http_registrations.conf contains 1 registration line(s)
Info: Registrations present for configured node(s): 65369
Info: IP from >>>>>/conntest-east1.allstarlink.org/ip reports: 185.213.70.17
Info: IP from >>>>>/conntest-west1.allstarlink.org/ip reports: 185.213.70.17
Info: IP from h>>>>>/conntest-west2.allstarlink.org/ip reports: 185.213.70.17
Info: IP from udp://conntest-east1.allstarlink.org:4570 reports: 185.213.70.17
Info: IP from udp://conntest-west1.allstarlink.org:4569 reports: 185.213.70.17
Info: IP from udp://conntest-west2.allstarlink.org:4569 reports: 185.213.70.17
OK: HTTP IP probes have consensus on the same perceived IP
OK: IAX IP probes have consensus on the same perceived IP
Testing node 65369:
OK: Node registration config is well-formed
OK: Node registration type is HTTP
OK: register.allstarlink>>> is reachable (via HTTP)
OK: HTTP registration state is Registered
OK: Perceived IAX IP:PORT for this node is: 185.213.70.17:4569
OK: Registered to aws-east1a-register0.allstarlink.>>> - 52.20.63.146
OK: Server-set UDP port matches bindport in iax.conf
OK: Node registration within 10 minutes: 2026-04-04 17:48:51 UTC
Info: Last time IP changed was 2026-03-23 21:29:32 UTC
OK: Incoming connections to IAX from other nodes is successful
Info: IAX ping test has a roundtrip time of 67ms
OK: No problems detected with node 65369
That changed things. Again, I had to edit the embedded URLs .
When I was copying a response from the node and it included links like HTTP:\allstarlink…..
I would get an error message when I tried to send the message. The error would say that new users are only permitted two links in a message. I actually found it didn’t seem to permit me to send any message with a link in it. If I doctored the links so they didn’t look like links I could send the messages.
Yes, the description that it doesn’t work is not too helpful but I am sort of lost on how to know where the process is failing. As a little background I bought a preassembled node using a URI-141 and a Retevis HT. I expect you are familiar with the setup. It also came with a SD card already loaded with the ASL SW and the OS.
As an example: When I TX *80 I see the RX light illuminate on the HT, I see the COR indication illuminate on the interface and if I turn up the volume too high I see the clip indication illuminate on the HT. I take this to mean I am on frequency, the COR TX from my radio and the COR RX at the HT are correct and that audio is getting at least as far as the 141 interface. At that point the process becomes a black hole for me. It’s good progress in my mind to know that the communications between the node and the remote server is good. Is there a way to have the node key the transmitter and send a tone to prove out the TX path. I thought that being able to get the node to indicate its status would be a good way to prove out the local equipment but I don’t know if the PI is not getting the commands or if it is unable to key the transmitter and provide audio to the transmitter.
Yes, that is correct, it is a simplex node. The correct DTMF syntax would be *32002 correct? The current value parrot=0 in rpt.config. Do I need to change that?
I don’t normally supply SDCards by themselves ie. without an RPi and as part of a complete fully-tested node, so I’m guessing someone else put that together for you, thus I would suggest checking and confirming all the above settings. On complete nodes I sell those are the settings they have, they also support the DTMF commands shown there, and when the node is powered on it will key up and announce the IP and mDNS address.
But in any case if you key up any node, it should then at least Tx a courtesy tone back to you. If it’s not, then 99% chance you do not have one of the above settings in the conf files.
No, don't fiddle with the parrot variable. That's something else.
If you are having a problem with DTMF linking to thinks, almost always the problem is receive audio levels being too high or too low. To the following:
From the console, do sudo asterisk -rvvv
While watching the screen, key up your radio set to the hotspot's frequency and key in * 3 2 0 0 2 leaving about a half second in between each press.
Watch the output of the Asterisk console. Does each DTMF value get displayed? If not, then you have any audio tuning problem.
quit out of Asterisk
Run sudo simpleusb-tune-menu.
Using option 2, talk normally into your radio and hit enter, change the value up or down a bit, and then enter again. Repeat this cycle until the average tip of the bar is hitting consistently between 3 and 5
Save the values, exit, and repeat this until you get all the codes to decode.
If you can't dial it in, try fiddling with B and and C in simpleusb-tune-menu.
I have to do some adulting so will have to give this up for a while. I really appreciate all the help today. I am going to make some notes as you have given me some great tools. It seems pretty clear I have a RX audio issue. I’m not seeing anything when I use the option 2 bar graph to set up the incoming audio. When I look at the RX statistics I see -80 when the radio is idle and about -52 when there is unmodulated carrier present. The -52 doesn’t vary that I can discern whether I am speaking or sending tones which is currently a little baffling. I do see a ton of clipping which goes away when I turn down the audio O/P from the radio. The problem may be as you suggested as simple as just not having the level correct. I think I am going to have to get a couple of test cables with the proper connectors and get the TIMS and oscilloscope out. In any case, I believe I now have the tools that I need.
Just so you know ping allstarlink.org
Did not work here either.
It is very likely that the folks lat allstarlink dot org have told it to ignore pings.
I do understand why
used to help moderate a chat room and had an idiot try to flood me with that kind of thing.
Only he was on a Dial up back then I was on a T-line (way more bandwidth) and had a pre-programed “Ignore the last annoyer” key.. He wound flooding himself off the net.
You’re absolutely correct that ASL rejects pings/ICMP packets. N8EI brought me up to speed on that one-thank you. It seems odd to me as a few ping packets seems like a trivial amount of traffic but then again-I am not a network professional so I am happy to follow the lead of people who do know:)
Your packets multiplied by everyone’s packets and then add in all the background probes and “research” and malicious actors - adds up to a lot. When you pay egress charges like you do at any major cloud provider, that’s a non-trivial amount of money. That’s why asl-node-auth-check exists. That tests what (should) work and actually matters.
I presume you are the fella that makes the URI-141 interfaces. Thank you very much for jumping on here. To be honest, it has been a while since I ordered the materials for this project so I don’t remember how it came to be except that the 141 and radio interface was 100% assembled.
So, I just barely know how to view the files you indicated and I have edited that sort of thing before but it will be somewhat arduous. What I am trying to say is, please forgive the dumb questions:)
I opened the cmd line terminal and entered sudo asl-menu. From the menu I selected advanced and then opened the files you indicated. It is going to take a while to figure out how to navigate and be able to confirm the settings you indicated. However, I think we may be onto the problem. I see the following:
rxchannel = dahdi/pseudo ; No radio (hub)
duplex = 2 ; 0 = Half duplex with no telemetry tones or hang time.
; Special Case: Full duplex if linktolink is set to yes.
; This mode is preferred when interfacing with an external multiport repeater controll>
; Comment out idrecording and idtalkover to suppress IDs also
; 1 = Half duplex with telemetry tones and hang time. Do not repeat audio.
; This mode is preferred when interfacing a simplex node.
; 2 = Full Duplex with telemetry tones and hang time.
I’m thinking that is supposed to be rxchannel=SimpleUSB/1999 and duplex=0 since this is a simplex node.
I will continue over the next day or so to confirm as best as possible what is set correctly and what is not.