Discovering Allstarlink
Use that old or cheap dualband analogue HT & bring it back to life, fancy simple DTMF (old skool touch tones - remember dial up) call up & great audio over ip ? Absolutely yes !
Like a lot of projects I stumbled over Allstar.org through meandering around digital projects and having a Raspberry Pi3B sitting idle. I started a few years back flashing an SD card for use in a Zumspot for DMR, quickly finding Dstar & C4FM and using Echolink on my Network Radio. I’m going to stop there as there is a myriad of codecs & wares out there, take the ‘Red Pill’ and enjoy that ride. But Allstar is different, no fancy HT and a little sideways investment in using a Raspberry, choosing a node kit or built, a little Linux learning (even I could do this) and not only the sense of achievement but also a new world of possibilityAn open mind to learning & the definition of Ham radio, some struggle with that. Allstar is about rf, but that’s a dead horse for some people.
You'll need...
An open mind to learning & the definition of Ham radio, some struggle with that. Allstar is about rf, but that’s a dead horse for some people.
A reasonable investment in time, read patience & concentration in that for me at least and for a ham about £100-140 investment with Brexit factored, joke, another dead horse.
The node itself will be either a G7RPG or Shari, plus any builds based around a PI and listed parts. Again the adventure can be tailored to your knowledge and experience, read mine as minimal so you can do it.
Useful links :
I’m sure like me you will find more including :
Things I learnt :
I discovered the great world of Raspberry Pi
I had already started using Rpi for Asterisk for a PBX on my Aredn network, in English I had some knowledge of the Asterisk program from using it to create an ip phone exchange for my Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network https://www.arednmesh.org/ project.
I actually took a look at Linux
I had no knowledge, but don’t be put off. There are some good user friendly applications to help https://mobaxterm.mobatek.net or https://www.putty.org
I dusted off an old HT
Although in truth you could use your £500+ HT, why would you. The joy of retrieving one of my other radios and dedicating it to Allstar is brilliant.
Easily built an echolink connected Node
With a little more effort you can build a useable node locally linked to Allstarlink & Echolink. & made it discoverable.
