Brian KNØN
Email: <kn0n@WhatcomRadio.org>
Equipment:
iCOM 2200H with UT-118, homebrew cable
PC1 - Athlon 1.2G homebrew PC running Ubuntu Linux 7.1 1G RAM 80G HD serial I/O
PC2 - Intel Core 2 Duo PC 2.4Ghz, Win-XP Pro, 2G RAM 250G HD Hawking USB/serial I/O - Drats in Win32 version
PC3 - Identical hardware/OS to PC-2 but runniing D-Rats in a VMWare environment under Ubuntu Linux 7.1 within XP-Pro
EXPERIENCES:
March 25
I did some playing with multiple instances of D-Rats on the same system feeding the REPEATER program. This has proven to be a very handy way to experiment with D-Rats in my area where RF users are hard to find. I created a web page with instructions that I HOPE a newbie can use to take D-Rats for a spin with no radio required. I tested this approach with both Linux and Windows and it works well using the same settings on either. http://pages.whatcomradio.org/d-ratssansradio
March 20
I got a first time D-Rats user to take the other end and we had success (and FUN) with chat and file transfers using default settings. I set up the repeater server as per Dan's instructions and it works great. I put Repeater on my PC1 linked to the radio on PC1 serial port and accessed it from both D-Rats running on PC1 and D-Rats running on PC3 via my LAN. It would be trivial to open a port on the firewall to make this available to the world, but some kind of access control would be desirable when the Repeater is echoing to a radio.
- Issues:
-Form ICS213_US_OS.xml has a typo ISC should be ICS
-REPEATER - "Remove" function dims the selection but it stays in the list. Quit & restart app for clean slate.
-QST Configuration - I am a little confused by the text box. Text for a new QST can be entered here, but not edited. The TEXT line on the list above can be entered or edited.
-Once a FORM is EDITed, I can't figure out where SAVE puts it :p An EXPORTed form I can find. I know this is not a bug, but where the heck is it saved?
First Use @ 3/1/08
I started with version 0.1.8 on PC2 and had success in chat with another station on area simplex. We were unable to make a file transfer at that time, but we spent most of our time in regualar chat mode... Quick messages worked very well.I have installed the 0.1.10 version now and have it running on the three PC's... At this time PC3 has no serial port and I have not found a Linux driver (or a Win32 driver) for the unmarked USB/Serial adapter I was trying to use. I have a PCI serial card on hand that I will install in that system.
My biggest challange is getting more of the locals to take the time to run tests with me. D-Star is new to this area.