Getting the RPi 3 to work with Bluetooth

Posted on March 23, 2016 by robert

After solving the display rotation issue, I was anxious to get rid of the USB based keyboard and mouse, and move onto Bluetooth based devices.  I had followed a RPi blog instruction to update various parts of the OS, and install a GUI-based tool called Bluez to manage the process. Unfortunately that was HORRIBLE advice.  Bluez is NOT stable at the moment and prevented every Bluetooth keyboard/mouse I had from pairing.  Even trying to remove Bluez turned into a nightmare, so I decided to start from scratch with a new NOOBS image.

The latest NOOBS (1.9) has support for the LCD, Bluetooth, and WiFi support built-in.  No changes were necessary to get it to support the LCD display, so it was possible to boot right into the GUI and setup the WiFi from there.  The line “lcd_rotate=2” still needs to be added to \boot\config.txt to rotate the LCD to work with cases that are currently shipping (IMPORTANT NOTE:  display_rotate=2 will NOT correct the touchscreen — use lcd_rotate=2 for things to work properly).

To setup Bluetooth without the aid of a GUI, one needs open a terminal session and type “bluetoothctl”.  That will open the configuration utility. When I did this, I had to enter the “power on” and “agent on” commands, followed by “scan on” to discover my keyboard (a 1byone keyboard with touchpad that can be found for $24 on Amazon).

After turning the keyboard on, and pressing the <FN><C> keys to start the keyboard discovery process running, the 1byone device showed up in the bluetoothctl tool, revealing its MAC address.  Jot that address down and do the following:

Enter “pair xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx” to pair the device.  This will popup a passcode, which must be typed on the keyboard (followed by the <Enter> key).  You should see a report indicating a successful pair.  If you don’t try things again (I had to do it twice, might have mistyped the passcode for all I know).

After the device pairs, enter the “trust xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx” command.  That enters that MAC address into a trusted list for future connections.

In theory after trusting the device, a “connect xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx” command might be needed, but mine remained connected after trusting.

Exit the bluetoothctl  configuration utility and enjoy the wireless keyboard and mouse!

Note:  you will need to cycle power on the keyboard every time you reboot the RPi, otherwise the keyboard and trackpad don’t seem to reconnect with the RPi.

BlueWorking

As a FYI, I found that my RPi 3 pulls 670 mA from a 5.1 power supply when running Bluetooth, WiFi and the LCD.  Also, a 8GB microSD will have about 2.4 GB left.

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Quest for 250 Confirmations Completed

Posted on March 23, 2016 by robert

With the arrival of a LotW confirmation from 3C7A (Equatorial Guinea), my LotW count reached 246.  I have 4 QSLs in hand from S01WS (Western Sahara), E40VB (Palestine), DV1UD (Philippines), and XW3DT (Laos).  That will put me at the 250 mark and the next DXCC endorsement.  I’m making plans to travel to the ARRL to have the cards checked into the system soon.

WB4SON DXCC

That will also bring my DXCC Challenge to 1184, and add the final confirmation required for Hawaii to complete 30-meter WAS.

Posted in DX, Operating | 4 Comments

Fixing an Upside-Down RPi3 7″ LCD Display

Posted on March 21, 2016 by robert

The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced their new RPi Model 3 this month, upping the processor speed and memory yet again.  They also announced the availability of an “official” 7″ LCD with touchscreen.

I couldn’t resist picking up one of each to try things out.  I also purchased a cleaver Plexiglas cast/stand for the LCD made by Pimo Roni (sold by Adafruit as their P2033 case).

Imagine my surprise, when I put things together and found out the display was upside down — it wasn’t an assembly error, the display was different.  When I checked the RPi Foundation website, their online video clearly showed that the display and case were mounted properly.

It turns out that they discovered they had not selected the correct orientation of the display in their initial samples.

It’s pretty easy to add “lcd_rotate=2” to the \boot\config.txt file and correct things, but it is also clear that the LCD viewing angle is better with the display as shipped.  The foundation is working on the problem which also puts some cable openings in less than desired locations.  They are suggesting that users wait for case vendors to change things around. (IMPORTANT NOTE:  display_rotate=2 will NOT correct the touchscreen — use lcd_rotate=2 for things to work properly).

Meanwhile, thing work good enough with the lcd_rotate=2 command, and the touchscreen/LCD make for a nice small package.

P3 Display Front

P3 Display Rear

For ISS-Above users, the …/boot/config.txt settings can be reached through the built-in web server.  Simply enter the dotted address of your ISS-Above with “/admin” as shown below.  Then click on the “Configure HDMI Settings” highlight to open an editor.  scroll to the bottom of the file and add the “lcd_rotate=2” setting.  Save it, then click on the “Power off/reboot” tab to reboot the machine and have the invert setting take effect as it boots up.

 

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A Small Step Forward for 12-m WAS

Posted on March 7, 2016 by robert

While the DXCC counts continue to creep up slowly, my WAS activity has been stuck in the mud needing Hawaii on 30m, plus Delaware and West Virginia on 12m.  Yesterday, I stumbled across Glenn, W3WTE, on 12m, and received confirmation today.

I have a QSL card from a Hawaiian QSO on 30m waiting to be checked by a DXCC Field Checker.  So in theory 30m is complete as well (if that links into the WAS account).  Now I’m just a West Virginia 12m QSO away from 8BWAS.

 

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DXCC Results for Feb 2016

Posted on March 1, 2016 by robert

The march continues slowly.  As of Feb 29, 2016 (Happy Leap Year), 244 countries have been confirmed in LotW, with another 4 QSL cards in hand, making a total of 248.  In terms of band-point for the Challenge, 1150 are in LotW, plus another 22 in QSL form, for a total of 1172.

WB4SON DXCC Feb 29

Obtaining 250 should happen in the next few months.  Although I’ve worked Guinea several times in the past, it has never been confirmed.  The Italian DXPedition Team has been operating as 3XY1T for a month now, and I’m in their log on seven bands so far. They are always great with QSL and LotW confirmations.  So that’s one more I can count on. Perhaps Heard Island, if I am lucky enough to work them, will become #250.

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Sunrise/Sunset for Grey-line DX

Posted on February 3, 2016 by robert

Besides being a true fan of sunshine, I want to wish my way through the dark days of winter by focusing on the fact that there are more hours of daylight each day now.  With the decline in solar activity as we slide down the downward slope of the cycle, gray-line propagation becomes more important.

Here is a graph of sunrise/sunset/hours of sunlight for this year.  The discontinuity occurs when we change from Standard Time to Saving Time on the 2nd Sunday in March, and back on the 1st Sunday in November.

SunriseSunsetNK1

Sunrise in YELLOW, Sunset in RED, and total hours of sunlight in BLUE

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Honored to have contacted VP8STI

Posted on January 25, 2016 by robert

What an amazing DXpedition to two islands off the coast of Antarctica, South Sandwich, and South Georgia.  Despite the fact that it is summer there, it’s still one of the most inhospitable areas on the planet.  Case in point, from DX World today:

January 25 @ 07:20z –  Past night two tents and most of the yagis were destroyed by high winds. Both of their main tents collapsed partially and the team worked very hard through the night to save them. The Braveheart recorded winds of 70 mph (112 Kph). They are running only on 40 meters due antenna damage. Once they can assess damage they can determine whether they can proceed to South Georgia or not. Right now they are doing last QSO as VP8STI – they have asked the Braveheart to extract them when it´s possible. They regret that they have fallen short of their plans , however the team and crew safety is most important.

So as DX-chasers, we are sitting in our warm ham shacks, listening to a single station (and the occasional self-appointed DX police shouting “up-up”), while they are dealing with hurricane strength winds, blizzards, and trying to dig one callsign out of the thousands calling them at the same time.

  • Why do these folks put themselves in harm’s way?
  • How can they afford to do what they do?
  • Why do so many DX chasers moan and groan when things don’t work out?

I feel blessed to have worked them on two different bands.  And each time I made a contact I considered myself very lucky to have had some expert DX operator on the other end manage to hear my meager attempt over the top of howling winds and other hams. Believe me, 99.9999% of the skill and talent is on the far side of the contact.

VP8STI

NEWS UPDATE @ 21:20Z – Nigel Jolly, Braveheart owner, declared an emergency and ordered the VP8STI team to cease all operations and return to the ship. A large ice flow that had broken away due to last night’s storm starts to block the entrance to the Bay where they were camped. There was strong potential for the ice flow to prevent Braveheart reaching  them.

The Team is now safely aboard the Braveheart and they are moving away from Southern Thule Is. All equipment and personal gear is still on the island. They hope to return to camp site during next good weather window. Once they retrieve their equipment they could make a determination as to whether they can proceed to South Georgia to do VP8SGI as planned – VP8STI QRT !

 

 

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Goodbye Solar Cycle 24

Posted on January 20, 2016 by robert

Goodbye Solar Cycle 24, you were fun while you lasted!

Propagation is really impacting the K5P (Palmyra Island), VP8STI (South Sandwich Island), and VP8SGI (South Georgia Island), DXpeditions.

I note that solar levels appear to be somewhat higher than when I got back on the air five years ago, but that is somewhat misleading due to the “average” in the graph being a trailing one.  Still it looks like there is about another year before things really drop off, then five years of doldrums before things pick up again in Cycle 25.

SolarCycle24inJan2016

Posted in From the OM, Operating, Propagation | Leave a comment

First QSOs with K1

Posted on January 7, 2016 by robert

I finally had some time to hook the K1 up to a real antenna.  I gave 30 meters a whirl because that was where there was some transmit issues due to the wrong supplied toroid size, as well as the band where the periodic noise appeared to be the worse.

I had a nice QSO with John, YV5IUA on 10.114.0.  No problem at all with 5 watts output. If the noise was present, I wasn’t able to hear it above the regular atmospheric noise, and it certainly did not color John’s received signal in any way.  A QSO with Troy W4RPS on 14.039.8 followed, with similar success.

Two observations; upon installing the final metal covers, there was some slight shift in the VFO, and about 150 Hz shift in the transmit offset.  In addition, the maximum power level has dropped down to 5 watts, but only because the built-in power meter is now reading about 2 watts high.  In other words, it now thinks it is sending 7 watts, and reading 7 watts, but the reality is it is 5 out the connector.  The RF meter parts are very close to the metal covers, as is the cap used to set the offset.

The final assembly and verification took another hour.  So the total time for the complete K1 now stands at 27 hours.

K1 Done

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AUXCOM Certificate

Posted on January 2, 2016 by robert

The certificates for the AUXCOM class at the end of September were mailed out to the students this week.

Screen Shot 2016-01-02 at 4.40.03 PM

Posted in ECOMM, Education, Public Service | Leave a comment