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.