Set up a personal no-radio access point to Allstar

AllStarLink
1

Setup Information

Use sudo asl-show-version to obtain this information from the console or SSH

OS Debian 12
Asterisk Version: 22.2.0+asl3-3.4.5-1.deb12
ASL3 Version: 3.7.1.deb

Inquiry

I am a newbie to AllstarLink, but a veteran of ham radio and GNU Radio. My objective is to create a personal no-radio access point to Allstar with no special hardware and all free open source software.

Once completed, I will create a Wiki page describing exactly what I did, with links to appropriate references.

To do this, how should I define my node radio interface and duplex type?

2

Not sure what all you consider "no special hardware", but ASL does require a CM108/CM119 (or compatible) sound chip. Beyond that, you can use a standard mic/speaker/PTT setup. Otherwise, it's pretty straight forward. Use asl-menu to setup a Simplex node and follow the setup steps.

3

Instructions for a radio-less node with an inexpensive USB headset are here:

https://community.allstarlink.org/t/an-inexpensive-radio-less-setup-just-add-a-usb-headset/17076/50

4

Or you could do something interesting with the USRP channel. Just bringing that up since the original poster mentioned GNU Radio.

5

I'm still learning what does what, but would a common usb audio dongle work, or a mic jack if the computer has one? Will any usb audio dongle work, or only certain ones?

6

@Chuck: Thanks, I spotted that with a DuckDuckGo search.

7

I got the impression that was to get input from a USRP receiver, but don't know how the I/Q data gets converted to audio without more GNU Radio blocks involved.

8

As I stated above, currently only CM108/CM119 and compatible chips work. There are some inexpensive dongles that have them, but many do not. An inboard sounds card is not going to work on any platform.

9

For example, see this thread: An inexpensive radio-less setup--just add a USB headset!

1 Like
10

Barry,
My vote is interfacing via usrp channel driver to get all the signaling info you need if you are avoiding hardware..

USRP would be common to both GNUR and ASL.
Otherwise, you are looking at audio conversion for hardware or some other soft audio pipe and still need to deal with signaling. Why reinvent the wheel.

Hopefully that gets you to the right area of investigation.

11

Thanks. Other than the one mention, is there any documentation on that interface? Or do you happen to know the section of code I should dig into? (I'm a career programmer mostly using C.)

12

Should be plenty within GNUR.
The asterisk usrp channel driver I think has little documentation except format in calling it.

But there is this

I would start with help with usrp in GNUR.

Good luck with your project.

13

Nice to hear you are involved with GNU Radio and looking to work with AllStar. I have a Pluto+ SDR that should be arriving soon in the mail and am working (with some help from KA9Q and N8GNJ) on a next-generation repeater project that will support simultaneous input and output channels on analog FM, SSB, M17 and HD digital voice. My initial plan is to use USRP and a voting algorithm to select the best signal from the 4 input modes on 70cm and repeat those to 4 output channels on 2m while also linking to AllStar.

This should be easy enough to setup (I've been a EE working in RF communications systems for 30 years). There's a great book covering the GNU Radio pieces - "Jean-Michel Friedt, Herve Boeglen - Communication Systems Engineering with GNU Radio - A Hands-on Approach (2024, Wiley)" I think the only major challenge may be in getting audio latencies to under a few 10's of mS. The ASL USRP driver should work fine as it's used by DVSwitch and I think that's how RTCM/voting interfaces connect(?). Will be a few months before I get all this set up but in the meantime look forward to hear of any progress anyone makes with SDR and the USRP channel driver.

14

I will be moving next month and already have a lot of my gear packed, but by August I should be ready to tackle development of the ALSA channel app. :grinning_face:
I am a EE and have worked in real-time SCADA and telephone comm systems for 60 years.
I have an Ettus B200mini USRP and an ADALM-Pluto to play with.
For additional info, see User:Duggabe - GNU Radio

15

In the mountain of information about setting up my node, I seem to remember an instruction to change a BIND address from 0.0.0.0 to 127.0.0.1, but now I can't find it in the instructions nor in a .ini or .conf file.
My node shows no connections and 'repeat only' status.
I'm using a GMKtec, Debian 12 setup.

16

Until you make a connection to another node (or someone connects to your node), this is expected.

Has your node successfully registered (sudo asl-menu, "Diagnostics Menu", "Show Asterisk/AllStar registrations") ?

17

yes it has: "65544 24.42.147.63:4569"
the dnsmgr does not show any info

18

Please coordinate with myself and @WA3WCO before you start anything. There is already ongoing work in this area but we'd love more help with it. This isn't as simple as replacing the OSS calls with ALSA calls.

19

What exactly are you trying to do? "No Connection" and "Repeat Only" (presumably you're looking at the Allmon3 web interface?) are the basd condition of the node. You need to connect it to one or more places. Did you try a *3NODE call - e.g. *355553 would connect you to the test parrot.

20

Tnx. I'm still working on the audio side, but wanted to make sure I had a basic node set up. It looks like I do now.
BTW, I'm still in the beginner/learning mode with how it all works. :slightly_smiling_face: