Mike Richards G4WNC

WSJT-X vs JTDX test results and source file

Mike Richards — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 15:48:46 +0000

The following links contain the audio recording and the Excel spreadsheet used for my WSJT-X vs JTDX comparison.

The following link will download the audio file (WAV format) used for the performance comparison. This was recorded in the late afternoon of 31st December 2022.

FT-8-Comp-31-12-22-5mins Download

Use Raspberry Pi Imager to burn zip file images

Mike Richards — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 13:18:11 +0000

The excellent Raspberry Pi Imager software is ideal for burning zipped operating system images to a SD card or hard drive. There’s no need to unzip the file as Imager does it for you.
Here’s the step-by-step process:

Download the free Imager from here: Raspberry Pi Imager software:
Double-click the downloaded file to install the Imager.
Run the Imager
Insert your blank SD card (16GB or more) into a card reader on your Windows computer
Click the Operating System box (left-hand) of Imager and scroll down to Use Custom
Navigate to the zip file that you want to burn
Move to the Storage box in Imager and choose your blank SD card. Be careful here to choose the correct drive
Click the Write box and follow the prompts
When the copy has been verified you will see a message to that effect
Move your new card to the Pi, which may boot a couple of times before being ready for use.

Reset Admin password for Zabbix web server

Mike Richards — Wed, 15 Jun 2022 11:11:59 +0000

Zabbix is an excellent monitoring tool for larger computer networks but there are times when the Admin password needs to be reset. Fortunately, this is easy to do with the following steps:

Open Mysql or whatever database you are using. For MySql use: mysql.exe -uroot -p
Enter the following line, but change ‘mynewpassword’ to your new password:
update zabbix.users set passwd=md5(‘mynewpassword’) where alias=’Admin’;
NB: Don’t forget the semicolon at the end of the line.
To exit MySql enter: quit;
You will also need to restart the webserver with: sudo systemctl restart zabbix-server
That’s it

Test files for the FT-8 performance comparison.

Mike Richards — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 16:11:00 +0000

In the August Data Modes column in PW I will be comparing the decoding performance of WSJT-X, JTDX, MSHV and WSJT-Z. For those that want to run similar tests, I’ve uploaded my test files to DropBox and they are available HERE post.

Raspberry Pi Unreliable WiFi & Power Saving

Mike Richards — Sat, 21 May 2022 16:44:47 +0000

When using the Raspberry Pi over marginal Wi-Fi links I have experienced problems with the Pi dropping the network entirely. When that happens the only fix is a reboot. After much searching, it would appear that the Wi-Fi power save feature may be contributing to the problem. The Wi-Fi power save is enabled by default but can be temporarily disabled by entering:

iw wlan0 set power_save off

To make the change permanent, open a terminal session and use the following commands to edit the rc.local file.

sudo nano /etc/rc.local

In a blank line above exit 0, enter the following:

/sbin/iw dev wlan0 set power_save off

Next press Ctl+X followed by Enter to exit and save the file
That completes the changes and you can reboot the Pi. To check that the wlan power save is disabled use the following command:

iw wlan0 get power_save

Front & rear panel graphics for the NanoKeyer

Mike Richards — Tue, 10 May 2022 16:44:52 +0000

The NanoKeyer by Oscar, DJ0MY is an excellent project for which Oscar can supply blank PCBs. These are designed to fit in a Fischer case, which is, unfortunately, not available in the UK. However, there is a smaller alternative Fischer case that is available from Farnell. Here are the case details

Farnell order code: 2481096 cost is £21.28 each

The Fischer code for the case is: AKG105-30-100ME

To help with panel markings, I have produced PDF artwork that can be printed onto the clear, self-adhesive, film that’s available for inkjet printers. When using your printer, you must ensure it prints to scale. For this, you will need to deselect ‘fit to page’ or any other scaling settings. In addition to being useful for panel markings, the artwork can be printed onto plain paper and used as a drilling guide.

Click here to download the PDF: NanoKeyer Graphics

GoPro Hero 10 WebCam on Windows 11

Mike Richards — Thu, 28 Apr 2022 09:40:31 +0000

Having recently changed to a GoPro Hero 10, I was disappointed to find that the GoPro WebCam application doesn’t work on Windows 11. This is a driver problem that GoPro has yet to fix. Fortunately, there’s a quick fix that will get the camera working again. Here are the steps to take:

Make sure the GoPro WebCam app is running on your PC. It should be visible in the task panel.
Power up and connect your Hero 10 using a USB cable; the GoPro should display USB connected.
Open Device Manager – Network adapters and you should see the GoPro listed as GoPro UsbNcm Host Device with an exclamation mark. The exclamation mark indicates a driver problem.
Right-click on the GoPro entry and choose “Update Drivers” – “Browse my computer for drivers”
In the next window choose “Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer”
You will probably see two drivers, the GoPro and a generic driver called “UsbNcm Host Device”.
Choose the generic device and click Next
That will update the driver.
Exit and restart the GoPro WebCam application and your camera should be working again.

Installing Unsigned Drivers on Windows 10 or 11

Mike Richards — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 04:43:22 +0000

There may be occasions where you need to install unsigned drivers on a Windows PC. This can be achieved using several methods, but my recommended technique is to temporarily disable the Windows driver signing enforcement. This is easy to do and exposes your PC for the minimum amount of time. I’ve shown step-by-step instructions below.

Click the Windows icon and go to the Power menu
Press and hold the Shfit key and select Restart
The PC will restart in diagnostic mode
Select Troubleshoot – Advanced Options – Startup Settings
Click the on-screen Restart button
The PC will restart and display the Startup Settings panel
Press 7 – Disable driver signing enforcement
The PC will now restart with the driver signing enforcement disabled
Now you can go ahead and install your unsigned drivers
When your unsigned drivers have been installed, restart the PC
This will reset the driver signing enforcement so your PC is secured again

The Windows signing requirement only applies during driver installation so, once the drivers are installed, you can revert to normal enforcement rules without any ill effects.

Mike – G4WNC

SimSmith on the Raspberry Pi

Mike Richards — Thu, 13 May 2021 11:23:35 +0000

Anyone using a VNA in the workshop will find SimSmith an excellent tool. By combining the analysis of S parameters from a VNA with a circuit simulator, SimSmith becomes a powerful tool for designing matching circuits. In this post, I’ll show you how to install SimSmith on the Raspberry Pi.

SimSmith is a Java program, so all we need is the latest version of Java and the SimSmith.jar file.

Here are the steps to complete installation.

Visit: http://www.ae6ty.com/Smith_Charts.html and follow the links to download the latest SimSmith.jar file

Install Java by opening a terminal session (Ctl-Alt-T) and enter the following commands:

sudo apt install -y default-jdk

Confirm the installation with:java --version

Move the downloaded SimSmith.jar file from Downloads to your pi folder.

mv ~/Downloads/SimSmith.jar ~

Run SimSmith with: java -jar SimSmith.jar

For a desktop link, create a new file in the Desktop folder called SimSmith.desktop and add the following content:

[Desktop Entry] Name=SimSmith Comment=Runs SimSmith Java app from pi folder Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/openbox.xpm Exec=java -jar /home/pi/SimSmith.jar Type=Application Encoding=UTF-8 Terminal=false Categories=None;

NanoVNA Saver on the Raspberry Pi

Mike Richards — Thu, 13 May 2021 10:11:06 +0000

UPDATED 14-April 2023: The latest version of NanoVNA Saver requires PyQt6 which is not yet available for the Pi. I will update these instructions when it’s available.

NanoVNA Saver is an excellent package that provides a host of useful features for owners of the NanoVNA V1 and V2. When looking around the Internet for Pi installation instructions, I found several conflicting and out-of-date posts, so decided to develop my own. I thought it might be helpful if I post my solution here.

NanoVNA Saver works well on the Raspberry Pi models 3, 4 and 400, but installation requires a few simple steps as shown here. These instructions assume you’re using the latest Raspberry Pi OS.

Open a terminal session (Ctl-Atl-T) and enter the following commands sequentially.

cd ~

sudo apt install -y python3-pyqt5 python3-scipy

git clone https://github.com/NanoVNA-Saver/nanovna-saver

cd nanovna-saver

sudo chmod +r ~/nanovna-saver/nanovna-saver.py

You can now run NanoVNA Saver by entering: python3 nanovna-saver.py

To create a desktop link for NanoVNA Saver, use the following steps:

Create a new file called NanoVNA-Saver.desktop, add the following content and save it in the desktop folder.

[Desktop Entry]

Name=NanoVNA-Saver

Comment=Runs NanoVNA Saver from the nanovna-saver folder

Icon=/usr/share/pixmaps/openbox.xpm

Exec=python3 /home/pi/nanovna-saver/nanovna-saver.py

Type=Application

Encoding=UTF-8

Terminal=false

Categories=None;