Erin's FFA arduino weather station, sending data over the ham radio AREDN mesh, made the front page of the local paper today!
Monday, May 16, 2016
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Staying technical
One of the things I love about ham radio is the ability to experiment. Whether it be creating a circuit, doing some coding, building an antenna, or just operating, nearly every activity is technical!!! In my day job, I'm an IT leader. I get to work with some amazing people on some incredible projects. I'm currently involved with the migration of every piece of hardware, software, and data for a Fortune 50 company into new data centers. How cool is that!
But the one thing I don't get to do in my day job is code. Or create. Or build. Instead, I handle escalations, improve performance, resolve issues, and build teams. Troubleshooting is a part of my life - at work and in my hobbies. I'm pretty darn good at breaking a problem apart and coming with options, and then executing solutions.
Lately I've been staying technical by helping my daughter Erin build a weather station for the Heyworth FFA. She's built a station out of some sensors, an arduino, a solar panel, and the ham radio AREDN mesh software. It is pretty slick! Erin is getting some great press, along with lots of social media attention. The best part is she is learning to create, build, deploy, troubleshoot and enjoy!
But the one thing I don't get to do in my day job is code. Or create. Or build. Instead, I handle escalations, improve performance, resolve issues, and build teams. Troubleshooting is a part of my life - at work and in my hobbies. I'm pretty darn good at breaking a problem apart and coming with options, and then executing solutions.
Lately I've been staying technical by helping my daughter Erin build a weather station for the Heyworth FFA. She's built a station out of some sensors, an arduino, a solar panel, and the ham radio AREDN mesh software. It is pretty slick! Erin is getting some great press, along with lots of social media attention. The best part is she is learning to create, build, deploy, troubleshoot and enjoy!
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Bahamas - sailing and ham radio
My wife and I have an upcoming trip the Bahamas. We'll be meeting our friends Keith and Terri on their live-aboard sailboat. I got a wild thought...I should take the KX3 and end-fed half wave antenna along, and I'll be maritime mobile from the Exumas! I submitted the paperwork via email, and anxiously awaited my callsign. I got a response back really quick from Ms. Linda with the Bahamian government, asking for an additional form to be completed. My credit card was quickly charged the $35 fee. Today I checked with Ms. Linda on the status. I found out that I won't receive my license until AFTER I return from my trip. This is all on me, as I should have planned this out sooner.
There's still a chance that my license will arrive in time, but it's a pretty slim chance. Fingers crossed.
There's still a chance that my license will arrive in time, but it's a pretty slim chance. Fingers crossed.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Arduino DTMF Decoder and Relay Controller
Another Arduino project I've been working on is a DTMF decoder used to control a relay board. Using a ham radio receiver, I can switch lights, radios, computers...anything...on or off from miles away. Here's the video:
Here's the wiring diagram. And here's the Arduino code.
I'm using a Sainsmart 4 relay board, although pretty much any relay board would work. You'll also need a MT8870 DTMF decoder - these run about $2 on ebay. And of course, you'll need an Arduino Uno. Again, check out ebay for these as well. The total cost here should be less than $12 and you've got a fully functioning radio controlled DTMF relay controller!
Here's the wiring diagram. And here's the Arduino code.
I'm using a Sainsmart 4 relay board, although pretty much any relay board would work. You'll also need a MT8870 DTMF decoder - these run about $2 on ebay. And of course, you'll need an Arduino Uno. Again, check out ebay for these as well. The total cost here should be less than $12 and you've got a fully functioning radio controlled DTMF relay controller!
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Web Based Repeater Power Controller
This week we installed a new Yaesu Fusion DR-1X repeater at a very nice site in Central Illinois. One of the things I'm a big fan of is controlling supply power via the web. This ability to remotely control the repeater is great - even if the controller goes belly up, you can turn the entire system off or just remotely power cycle it. I've used the Digital Loggers data center type power strips before, but they are a bit expensive - over $100. So for this site, I used the Iot Relay - Enclosed High-power Power Relay for Arduino, Raspberry Pi, PIC or Wifi, Relay Shield
also from Digital Loggers. At under $20 from Amazon, it's a great deal. It's a relay connected to four outlets, enclosed in a very nice plastic case. Hooked to a Raspberry Pi, this little box provides me the ability to power cycle or turn off any equipment via the web. How do I get the from the web to the remote repeater site? Well through AREDN ham mesh software running on 5GHz equipment of course!
Since I had an extra Raspberry Pi on the shelf, this quick hack made for a fun project. I'm also going to add a temperature and humidity sensor so that we can monitor the environmental conditions in the repeater building. Here's a short 3 minute video I made explaining the code and the connections. Have fun! Put the Amateur back in Amateur Radio!
also from Digital Loggers. At under $20 from Amazon, it's a great deal. It's a relay connected to four outlets, enclosed in a very nice plastic case. Hooked to a Raspberry Pi, this little box provides me the ability to power cycle or turn off any equipment via the web. How do I get the from the web to the remote repeater site? Well through AREDN ham mesh software running on 5GHz equipment of course!Since I had an extra Raspberry Pi on the shelf, this quick hack made for a fun project. I'm also going to add a temperature and humidity sensor so that we can monitor the environmental conditions in the repeater building. Here's a short 3 minute video I made explaining the code and the connections. Have fun! Put the Amateur back in Amateur Radio!
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