Shiawassee Amateur Radio Association ~ W8QQQ
Whiskey 8 Quack Quack Quack
James P. Capitan Center, Lower Level; 149 E. Corunna Ave.; Corunna, MI 48817
Our ham station is located in Grid Square EN72wx at the EOC Center for James P. Capitan Center, Lower Level.
Latitude: 42.9819 N Longitude: -84.1164 W Alitude: 760 ft
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SARA Reference Materials
Follow the links below for better understanding of things and to assist in your design efforts:
Shiawassee County HSMM/BBHN Removal/Rework of Older HSMM/BBHN Information ~ Posted 09 Dec. 2018
Highspeed Multimedia [HSMM] ~ Broadband Ham Network [BBHN] efforts are ongoing by individual members (not a 'club' sponsored activiity). The data is getting a little old and removal/reworks are planned for 2019. These members provide the operating site networking for the club's Field Day activity. Usually three to six stations, each using a computer logging program on the 'linked system' for smooth operation. Networking details are captured here to assist members in keeping things coordinated for ease of setup.
- Shiawassee HSMM-BBHN Efforts ~ What we have been doing.
- Router Setup ~ Details on converting Linksys WRT54G to BBHN.
- Shiawassee HSMM Standard ~ Standards for Shiawassee County BBHN for better linking support.
SARA continues to utilize the BBHN hardware for Field Day logging and linking of the various station positions. It is a great way of keeping things synced up in the field. We have not continued to expand into a 'county-wide' emergency network even though we continue to discuss the topic. We will keep the topic open, but plan or removing some to the olderer data soon.
Raspberry Pi ~ RPi Removal of Older RPi Material ~ Posted 09 Dec. 2018
NOTICE: We will be redoing the Raspberry Pi portion of this page in 2019. We have recieved zero direct comments on this contrent and the 'Web counter' is not showing many new hits (or repeat visitors). We will look at keeping some RPi content but we will remove the current content... if you find any value to what we have had posted please take the time to let us know what you might like to have going forward. Use the 'Web Site Contact' link in the footer of our web pages to state your wishes.
===== Older Data Links
Some club members are starting activities using Raspberry Pi 2 and status will be reported here as we have items to report. (starting December, 2015). These little computers are great around the home and radio shack for many little tasks - you should look carefully at what they can do for you. New hardware (RPi 3A+) and software (Raspian in 3 different versions) continue to be added (Nov-2018), keep checking back as the new features and tweaks may change what you want to do with the RPi. I know that the RPi environment has changed quite a lot over the four plus years I have been following (Dec-2018).
- SARA's Raspberry Pi Efforts ~ A quick 'splash'/'flood' of information on the Raspberry Pi, Model 2, with lots of background reference links. Also, link to D-Star (using DV-3000) and the Raspberry Pi.
- SARA's Linux Starting Page ~ A quick view of some really basic Linux.
- SARA's RPi Initial Boot ~ A 'step-by-step' initial boot and look around of RPi.
- Raspberry Overview ~ Raspberry Pi Guides / Projects / Overview.
- Raspberry Pi D-Star Setup Details ~ from Maryland D-Star Group.
- HSMM-RPi Setup GitHub ~ Using RPi as HSmm/Broadband-Hamnet Node.
- N8MDP's Setup DV Access Point Dongle on RPi ~ D-Star / Fusion / DMR Hotspot Setup.
- Genesee County ARC Presentation - April 2018 ~ Microcontroller/Microcomputer Presentation by WB8GUS.
===== end older links
Some of the 'new look' links we are working with (2019) and will add any 'original' information we decide to keep:
- RPi Quickstart Guide ~ The Raspberry Pi organizations 'official' guide to get started learning RPi. Great for first time and begining users.
- RPi Projects ~ Many 'project' concepts and implementations.
- RPi Orgs Documentation ~ Documentation on the various RPis.
- RPi Forums ~ A place to voice your questions and expect answers to be provided.
- Index of RPI (MagPi) issues and RPi books ~ The complete pdf file downloads area for RPi topics (free). Includes Beginners books; Essentials "topic" - where topic is Bash (Command Line), C, Camera, etc.
That is a couple of years worth of reading on RPi... it is a GREAT (and 'FREE Information' site! Enjoy.
'Plug' for Adafruit
If you have been looking at microcontrollers, microcomputers, etc. then you have probably seen an Adafruit adtervisement and/or already started purchasing hardware and looked at the software/learning portions of their web presense. Well, there is a little known area that takes a little longer to find call 'Ada Box'. In an area under Kits and Projects, there are currently (Jan, 2019) five AdaBox kits. The offer a subscription on a quarterly basis or you can buy individul kits. These are in the $60.00 range (to ~70.00 in 'single order'), but make excellent gifts for someone {or just for you}. They are at pretty basic technical level and good for someone just starting electronics in a Do It Yourself [DIY] process. They come with all the components to make the 'kit'. I admit I bought one and have used the other boxes more as a 'project concept' learning tool... they have all support material (software and logic) and hardware interconnects (physical layouts) on the kit projects. If you have person who may be interested, what a way to kick start them along a successful learning path. You should check them out!
'Plug for DigiKey'
Several of our club members are using DigiKey as a source for their electronic needs. They are an excellent supplier of a very wide spectrum of electronic items along with great customer support. A few of the members have used them from the start of DigiKey's business, lets just say a 'long time' and not get specific. Each member has a story or two, but all have been greatly satisfied at the end and highly reccommend them as a 'major source' for their electronic needs. You should give them a try and use them for your electronic projects supplier.
Arduino / AD9850 / AD9851 / Si5351 Projects & References
- Arduino / AD9850 VFO Project {SARA page} ~ Take off from BITX-40 to a DDS VFO project.
- RPi / Arduino / Linux Tutorials - Top Tech Boys Site - Great Learning site for beginners.
- Adafruit Web Site - Projects and Tutorials (and purchase parts).
- Sparkfun Arduino Article ~ Tutorial and quick description of Arduino(s).
- All About Arduino Libraries ~ Software Library at Adafruit Learn.
- BiCmosCurveTracer/Arduino ~ Make a Transistor Curve Tracer from you Arduino.
Amateur Packet Reporting System [APRS] Shiawassee County, MI and GPS
- APRS Beginners Guide ~ KC8ETW ~ Project to make small APRS Tracker Boxes.
- u-center Windows (GPS) ~ GPS Development / Evaluation Software.
Electronic and Physical References
- SARA's Capacitor Reference ~ Disc / Monolythic Markings Guide and Basic Information.
- SARA's Electronics Reference ~ Basic Electronics Materials for Hams.
- SARA's Mathematics Reference ~ Fractional Equivalents and Formulas for Hams.
ESP-32 Information [Useful for ESP8266 as well]
- ESP32 Information at SARA/W8QQQ ~ SARA's efforts and information collection on the ESP32 WROOM 32D. [Internal Linked Page]
- ESP32 Overview - 'High Level' view on theis chip/development board.
- Datasheet ESP32-WROOM-32 - What is inside this thing?
- ESP32 Getting Started - ExpressIf thoughts on where to start development.
- Programming Guide - ExpressIf ESP32 information on programing details.
- Resources - Some information on where to find infromation.
- Forum - where to post your questions.
- Hackaday - How to Get Started with ESP32 - Some thoughts on ESP32 development.
- esp32-devkit-v4 Development Kit Zip File - File has what you need to get going.
- ESP32 Course & Book ~ $39.00 - A book to summarize things.
The following links are all EXTERNAL LINKS:
Various Online Calculators
- Calculator Edge Site ~ Many types of online calculators.
- VK2ZAY Calculators ~ Many types of electronics calculators.
Solar References
- Current Solar Conditions ~ Near live conditions, Like the widget on SARA's opening home page.
- Solar Influences Data Center [SIDC] Site ~ Royal Observatory of Belgium includes World Data Center for sunspot index.
- NASA Sunspot Count (monthly values) - Data from Jan. 1749 through Apr. 2015 (in text format).
- PR2BA - PROBA2 Science Center ~ Sun Watcher images of the solar corona.
- NOAA Geomagnetic Indices Predictions (issued on Mondays) ~ Indice predictions (27 day) for radio flux, Planetary A and largest Kp index.
- Space Weather Prediction Center ~ NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
- Solar Activity & HF Propagation ~ NA5N's Presentation to Four Days in May (about 6 pages).
- The Sun, the Earth, and Near-Earth Space ~ Book by John A. Eddy on the Sun-Earth System. (pdf format).
Solar influences to radio conditions is an area of study for amateur radio operators. We track and use the information in predicting radio paths. This area is meant to be a small reference to solar activity and information for hams..