Working nodes for an ax.25 packet radio node running on a Raspberry Pi.
Hardware:
- Raspberry Pi 4 (any will work)
- USB sound card (mic and speaker jacks)
- 2m FM transceiver
- Microphone interface cable of some sort for your transceiver
Software:
- Raspbian 10 (buster)
- Direwolf
- ax25-utils
- Xastir
Assumptions:
- Working Raspbian 10 install
- Tested working USB sound card
- General familiarity with Linux (editors, networking, command line, etc)
- You know how to program your transceiver
DISCLAIMER
The steps explained here are written from my own experience creating a packet radio node with a Raspberry Pi and a Yaesu FT-2900R. I took full responsibility for my use of the airwaves and acknowledged that I could damage any or all of my hardware by connecting home made devices to this equipment. I expect you to do the same if you proceed. You are a licensed amateur radio operator, you know the rules, I am not liable for any laws you break if you transmit on the wrong frequencies or cause harmful QRM. Additionally, if you break anything, it's not my fault. If you accidentally connect the +8v pin on your mic cable to your Pi's 5v power-in GPIO pin, letting out the magic smoke or anything else you do where harm is brought to you or your equipment is NOT MY FAULT.
Install the Software:
- Direwolf - Follow section 2 of the instructions here to download, compile and install Direwolf
- Ax25-utils:
sudo apt-get install ax25-utils - Xastir:
sudo apt-get install xastir xastir-data
Configure ax25 ports ax25 is natively supported under Linux and has been for over 20 years. First thing we'll do is create a port that we'll use later:
radio NOCALL 1200 255 2 My radio
Replace NOCALL with your callsign and My radio with something to tell you what it is. It's just a comment.
Comment out everything inside /etc/ax25/ax25d.conf. Add the following to the top or bottom of the file:
Working nodes for an ax.25 packet radio node running on a Raspberry Pi.
Hardware:
- Raspberry Pi 4 (any will work)
- USB sound card (mic and speaker jacks)
- 2m FM transceiver
- Microphone interface cable of some sort for your transceiver
Software:
- Raspbian 10 (buster)
- Direwolf
- ax25-utils
- Xastir
Assumptions:
- Working Raspbian 10 install
- Tested working USB sound card
- General familiarity with Linux (editors, networking, command line, etc)
- You know how to program your transceiver
DISCLAIMER
The steps explained here are written from my own experience creating a packet radio node with a Raspberry Pi and a Yaesu FT-2900R. I took full responsibility for my use of the airwaves and acknowledged that I could damage any or all of my hardware by connecting home made devices to this equipment. I expect you to do the same if you proceed. You are a licensed amateur radio operator, you know the rules, I am not liable for any laws you break if you transmit on the wrong frequencies or cause harmful QRM. Additionally, if you break anything, it's not my fault. If you accidentally connect the +8v pin on your mic cable to your Pi's 5v power-in GPIO pin, letting out the magic smoke or anything else you do where harm is brought to you or your equipment is NOT MY FAULT.
Install the Software:
- Direwolf - Follow section 2 of the instructions here to download, compile and install Direwolf
- Ax25-utils:
sudo apt-get install ax25-utils - Xastir:
sudo apt-get install xastir xastir-data
Configure ax25 ports ax25 is natively supported under Linux and has been for over 20 years. First thing we'll do is create a port that we'll use later:
radio NOCALL 1200 255 2 My radio
Replace NOCALL with your callsign and My radio with something to tell you what it is. It's just a comment.
Comment out everything inside /etc/ax25/ax25d.conf. Add the following to the top or bottom of the file replacing MYCALL-N with your call/ssid.
[MYCALL-N VIA radio] NOCALL ****** L default ****** - root /usr/sbin/ax25-node ax25-node <netrom> NOCALL ****** L default ****** - root /usr/sbin/ax25-node ax25-node