Building a Linux Packet Node

"Building a Linux Packet Node – How to hack together a 1200 baud Swiss army knife from antiquated software!" Presentation to the Oakland Radio Communication Association (ORCA) club meeting on February 5, 2022 by Jim K2YE. I walk through my personal journey learning about packet and building a node on Linux that can be used as EmComm data infrastructure. Covers antennas, radios, hardware, and software including Direwolf, AX.25, Net/Rom, AXDigi, URONode, WinLink RMS.

MONTC:K2YE-5
Located 900 feet above sea level near Montclair, Oakland Hills.
PORTS: ax0 145.05 / ax1 144.91 / ax2 145.63 / ax3 145.09 / ax4 223.60

HOP FREQUENCIES: After connecting to MONTC, use "nodes" to see who you can reach. Use "c call" to connect via NET/ROM virtual circuit using routes. Alternatively, use "nodes *" to see what port stations are on. Then use "c port call" to connect via AX.25 links.

DIGIPEATERS: Use these callsigns as digipeaters in your "via" path to connect to a node on the listed OUTPUT frequency, without connecting to MONTC first:
via K2YE-6 to reach nodes on 145.050
via K2YE-7 to reach nodes on 144.910
via K2YE-8 to reach nodes on 145.630
via K2YE-9 to reach nodes on 145.090
via K2YE-4 to reach nodes on 223.600

ABOUT THE NODE
Antennas: (2) Arrow Antenna OSJ-146/440 J-Poles, Arrow Antenna OSJ-220 J-Pole, about 900 feet above sea level.
Power: 40Ah Bioenno LiFePO4 battery backup with solar recharge capability.
Radios: Kenwood TM-D700, Kenwood TM-D710A, BridgeComm BCM-220.
TNC: (3) SignaLink USB soundcards w/Direwolf, (2) internal radio TNCs.
Computer: Raspberry Pi 4 (8GB Model B, 1.5GHz 64-bit quad-core CPU)
Services: NET/ROM URONode (K2YE-5), WinLink RMS (K2YE-10)
Sysop: Jim Beno, K2YE ([email protected])