Updated: setup-asl3-gps.rb — ASL3 APRS setup (fixed, mobile, and radioless)
We’ve updated the interactive APRS setup script in hardenedpenguin/asl-misc-scripts. Same curl one-liner as before:
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hardenedpenguin/asl-misc-scripts/refs/heads/main/setup-asl3-gps.rb | sudo ruby
Run from an SSH session or console with sudo. The script walks you through setup and shows a summary before writing anything.
What’s new
The script is no longer mobile-only. It now covers three common setups:
Fixed repeater or base
No GPS dongle
Does not install gpsd
APRS position comes from fixed lat/lon/elev in gps.conf
Mobile node
USB GPS dongle
Installs gpsd (and socat) if not already present
Live GPS position via gpsd; fallback lat/lon when there is no satellite lock
Radioless node (hubs, links, or GPS-only trackers)
No RF frequency or tone to advertise
Skips freq/tone prompts and uses a plain map comment
Sets freq = 0.0 and tone = 0.0 in gps.conf
Fixed + radioless: fixed coordinates only, no gpsd
Mobile + radioless: still uses a GPS dongle for live position, without pretending the node has RF
Clearer prompts
PHG fields (power, height, gain, direction) — shows the full 0–9 digit tables and what each value means on APRS maps. Enter a digit or a real-world value (watts, feet HAAT, dBi, degrees). The script picks the nearest APRS encoding and tells you what will actually show on the map.
Elevation vs HAAT — elev is meters above sea level, not HAAT. HAAT is the separate PHG height digit.
Decimal precision — prompts tell you how many decimal places to use for lat/lon, elevation, MHz, and tone.
APRS passcode — computed from your callsign but shown as ***** on screen (still written correctly to gps.conf).
Confirm before write — full summary at the end. Answer n to abort with no changes.
Re-run safety — backs up existing gps.conf to gps.conf.bak.
What it configures
On every run:
/etc/asterisk/gps.conf
app_gps.so enabled in modules.conf if still set to noload
Asterisk restart
Mobile only:
gpsd, gpsd-clients, socat
/etc/default/gpsd
gpsd-nmea-bridge service (NMEA to /dev/rptgps)
Shared GPS on 127.0.0.1:2947 for saytime-weather-rb, SkywarnPlus-NG, cgps, and similar clients
Not changed: rpt.conf — standard APRS-IS beacons do not need it. APRSStt (touch-tone) is still a separate manual step if you want that.
After setup
asterisk -rx 'gps show status'
On mobile nodes, also try cgps -s -u i or ls -l /dev/rptgps . Then watch for your beacon on aprs.fi.
Full details in the repo README: GitHub - hardenedpenguin/asl-misc-scripts: AllStarLink setup and maintenance scripts. Run with curl; shell, Perl, Ruby. No clone needed. · GitHub
Feedback welcome — especially from fixed repeaters, radioless hubs, and mobile nodes.
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