DIGIPI Ham Software ILI9486 Screen Configuration

Digipi Ham Software with ILI9846 Screen

I recently bought an ICOM 7300 and have been playing with all the digitals modes on Windows, Mac, and Linux and various hunks of software.  I’m a Raspberry Pi geek and found a distribution called DIGIPI by KM6LYW.   The download is behind a paywall and you can get it for as little as $1.  Anyway, DIGIPI can also be used with server screens and the one I bought is the ILI9486.

That was pretty great and it works once you select it during the Initialization phase.  I found a file to 3D print a case and lo and behold my display was upside down.

NOTE:  This blog only deals with flipping the screen on the ILI9486 screen.  It is assumed that you have DIGIPI running and ran into the same issue I did!
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Ham Radio License – General Class

In August 2017 I took and passed the Ham Radio License test for Technician Class.  As soon as I completed that I decided I’d take a study break before pursuing the General Class license.  That study break lasted about 7 years.

I recently purchased the General Class License Manual, 10th Edition.  As I began to study I started hitting harder and harder material and just paused.   To my surprise the local Amateur Radio Club offered a free 8 week General class (2 hours a week) and administered the exam at the end of the course.  The book can cost about $25 to $35 depending on where you get it from and the exam costs $15.

The book has the actual test bank with answers in the back.  Additionally, the ARRL website has a practice exam that uses the actual questions found on the final exam.

ARRL Practice Tests

A combination of attending class and taking the practice exams a few times a day allowed me to pretty easily obtain my General Class License.   I highly recommend having at least one person in your circle getting and maintaining a ham radio license.  After the last hurricane in Western NC and other states we proved that ham radio is still viable and works when nothing else does.

John – KN4FMV

XHDATA E-100 Ham Radio Review

XHDATA E-100

One of my favorite radio manufacturers just entered the amateur radio game.  Introducing the XHDATA E-100. ($24.98 with a 15% off promotion currently).  I was provided a pre-release radio about a month earlier to review and to provide feedback to XHDATA.

The official release date is 22 October 2024.

XHDATA has been making GREAT shortwave radios for ages and I think I own most of them.  I’ve never had an issue and I’ve even reviewed a couple of them here on my blog.

So, after testing the radio for a month, I will tell you what I think.
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Astron SS-25M Power Supply Minor Repair

Astron SS-25M Power Supply

I’m an Amateur Radio operator and have all manner of short wave radios.  Most of these radios require an external power supply to function.  Generally, the voltage requirement is around 13.8 volts DC.   Additionally, some of these power supplies can be pretty pricey.  This quick entry will be about a score I made recently on Facebook Marketplace.  I picked up an Astron SS-25M Power Supply for almost nothing.

Did I get a deal, or did I get taken to the cleaners?  Let’s find out.

When I saw the ad I didn’t hesitate.  I knew even if it were not functional that I could fix it.  So I took a chance.  When I received it, I quickly powered it up and noticed the output power was rock solid at 13.8 volts.  Sweet.

The On/Off Switch LED was flickering and that could be anything from the lamp in the switch itself to a current problem.  But the output power was solid so I figured it was the lamp.

Then I tried to install it and that’s why I realized I was able to score it for so cheap.
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Best DMR Radio For 2024

Digital Mobile Radio, aka DMR Radios are expensive.  If you are a Ham radio operator you can get a hand held radio that is decent for less than $50.  Not so much in the world of digital hand held radios.   The radio that seems to be ordained for the top slot costs around $329.  John’s Tech Blog has ordained that the best DMR radio for 2024 is the Retevis RT3S which costs about $86 for a non-GPS version, and about $90 for the GPS version.
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SharkRF OpenSpot 4 Pro Review

SharkRF Openspot 4 Pro

I bought a SharkRF Openspot 1 in around 2018.  So I have been a long time user of SharkRF gear.  I absolutely, positively did NOT need another DMR hotspot but I sprung for the SharkRF Openspot 4 Pro anyway.

Boy I sure am I glad that I did.

I am no hotspot rookie and currently have 4 Raspberry Pi with various MMDVM boards in rotation here at Casa John’s Tech Blog.   I run Pi-Star and WPSD OS’s.  And have toyed with various other OS’s over the years.

There are strengths and weaknesses in all these DMR hotspots.  One weakness in the Pi-Star world is that it needs to be shut down elegantly.  When you have a hotspot plugged in a USB port in your truck which uses your cell phone for internet it is kind of hard (and very inconvenient) to find the IP address, open a web page on your phone and shut it down.  Sooner rather than later you are going to corrupt the SD card on the Raspberry Pi if you just kill the power.  In fact I have done this a few times.

The SharkRF Openspot 4 Pro caught my eye because it is battery powered.

And that is all I really wanted for my mobile hotspot.  Something I wouldn’t kill from uncommanded shut downs.

What I got was so much more than I expected.   Read on.
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Best DMR Hotspot

DMR Hotspot

So you have decided to take the leap into Digital Mobile Radio (DMR).  DMR uses the internet as the backbone for carrying communications.  Adding an MMDVM board to a Raspberry Pi is one common way to create a hotspot.

To get to that backbone you need to enter the internet either through a DMR Repeater or through a DMR Hotspot.

A hotspot is just a gateway to the internet and your radio talks to the hotspot and then your transmission is carried through the net to someone else’s repeater or hotspot.

I’d be remiss in not pointing out that so far no radio companies have really jumped in this market.  You would think that the big dog radio manufacturers that sell DMR radios would also produce DMR Hotspots, but they really don’t.

It is mostly amateur operators who design and produce MMDVM boards and sell them to the public.  You then roll your own.  There are a couple of exceptions here as Bridgecom Systems sells pre-configured DMR Hotspots.  Also, a company called Shark RF sells a hotspot called OpenSpot.  Both are kind of pricey.
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