1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,780 I'm going to actually read this this time because I find it so hilarious. 2 00:00:05,020 --> 00:00:11,080 Andrew Rodent Strutt, bio, overall IT experience, 19 years. 3 00:00:11,380 --> 00:00:14,520 Number of years, security experience, 11 years. 4 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,240 That was the bio he actually sent me. 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:23,220 The guy who has been running a POC SAG network at DEF CON for five years 6 00:00:23,220 --> 00:00:26,300 sent me the number of years he's had using a computer, 7 00:00:26,460 --> 00:00:29,180 which I'm reasonably confident still isn't accurate. 8 00:00:29,180 --> 00:00:30,340 The bio was like this long. 9 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,320 If you sent me that bio, I would have read that one, too, 10 00:00:34,380 --> 00:00:36,780 just because, like, okay, he sent me a 12-page bio. 11 00:00:36,860 --> 00:00:38,120 We're starting this talk by reading it. 12 00:00:38,620 --> 00:00:41,500 So, again, for those of you who missed the last introduction, 13 00:00:42,500 --> 00:00:43,420 this is Rodent. 14 00:00:43,540 --> 00:00:44,860 He does awesome things. 15 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:46,740 He's been doing these awesome things for years, 16 00:00:46,900 --> 00:00:50,560 and he's finally standing up in front of a bunch of you talking about how cool it is. 17 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,460 So if you actually want to operationally use radios, 18 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:56,320 this fine gentleman has a lot of experience, 19 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:58,500 and he's got it fitting in a bloody suitcase. 20 00:00:58,500 --> 00:01:01,660 So pay attention and get licensed. 21 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:03,080 Thanks, everybody. 22 00:01:03,300 --> 00:01:04,140 Thank you, Andrew. 23 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:05,640 Thank you, guys. 24 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:06,460 Thanks for staying. 25 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,680 So as I mentioned, and for the next recording, 26 00:01:14,900 --> 00:01:16,820 this is for Sid the Hacker Dog, 27 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,740 and I work with Spirant Federal, Spirant Security Labs, 28 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:21,760 and I'm a member of the ARRL. 29 00:01:22,020 --> 00:01:24,880 So call sign is Kila 6 Alpha Delta Sierra. 30 00:01:25,140 --> 00:01:27,940 Our event call sign this year is November 7 Tango. 31 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:28,840 Tell a freak. 32 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:33,340 So this is just talking about my suitcase build. 33 00:01:33,580 --> 00:01:36,580 I've done several iterations of this. 34 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,780 One, a long time ago, I bought a Motorola actual product that they had. 35 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:41,300 It was a suitcase. 36 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:42,140 It gave me the idea. 37 00:01:42,660 --> 00:01:45,980 But that one, I spent a year trying to program it, 38 00:01:46,020 --> 00:01:47,560 and I could not ever get the code plug. 39 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:51,800 And when I even brought it to a Motorola shop who specialized in old stuff, 40 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,000 they were stumped on how to program it. 41 00:01:55,060 --> 00:01:57,940 So I used it as a volunteer firefighter in Afghanistan, 42 00:01:57,940 --> 00:02:02,380 because with all the noise and uncoordinated environments, 43 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,720 we could barely talk with our handhelds like across the street. 44 00:02:06,220 --> 00:02:08,880 And so I bought the repeater when I was over in Afghanistan. 45 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:14,420 A different one, a Motorola actual product that they made, Bat Labs repeater. 46 00:02:14,500 --> 00:02:18,920 And it worked overseas, but I can't get it to be reconfigured to work in amateur bands. 47 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:23,540 So I started looking at different ways to build more suitcase repeaters. 48 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:24,840 I like amateur radio. 49 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,820 I like being able to provide services in emergencies. 50 00:02:27,940 --> 00:02:29,640 And stuff like that for ARIES. 51 00:02:30,140 --> 00:02:34,160 And so this is my latest one, and it seems to be working pretty good. 52 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:36,680 So we'll get a little bit into it. 53 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:38,400 I have the equipment here, and it's operational. 54 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:43,240 You can transmit on it right now on 440-800. 55 00:02:44,060 --> 00:02:46,600 And I'll give you a little demonstration if it will cooperate. 56 00:02:51,420 --> 00:02:52,520 Google data time. 57 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,400 Saturday, July 29th, 1.38 PM. 58 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:57,760 Is that right? 59 00:02:59,380 --> 00:03:00,180 Yeah, it is. 60 00:03:00,340 --> 00:03:03,180 So it has its own built-in repeater controller. 61 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:05,900 Most of the features on that I disabled. 62 00:03:06,100 --> 00:03:11,700 And I have an IRLP node that is a much more qualified repeater controller 63 00:03:12,100 --> 00:03:15,420 that I use externally that does APRS and a bunch of other bells and whistles. 64 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:21,180 And it's an IRLP, Internet Radio Linking Project, controller and linking device. 65 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:26,020 So that does some of the heavy lifting as far as like the CWID every 10 minutes. 66 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:27,920 And it allows me to do that. 67 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:32,820 And it allows the range to be significantly expanded beyond just the RF capabilities. 68 00:03:36,020 --> 00:03:40,600 So most of it was just making decisions on how to do it. 69 00:03:40,700 --> 00:03:42,400 I mean, I looked at big ones, small ones. 70 00:03:42,620 --> 00:03:46,300 I looked at making suitcase repeaters with multiple handhelds. 71 00:03:46,580 --> 00:03:49,800 For example, I have multiple of these Waxons. 72 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:54,400 Well, with the programming cables, you can cross-connect them, and they do crossband repeat. 73 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,820 And so with a little bit of effort, you can make two 74 00:03:57,820 --> 00:03:59,260 of these become an actual repeater. 75 00:03:59,500 --> 00:04:00,840 You still need a duplexer. 76 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,420 You still need some other stuff, but it was all about the final build decisions 77 00:04:04,420 --> 00:04:08,160 and the hardware decisions, and then the required software and configuration 78 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:09,680 to make it work on amateur bands. 79 00:04:10,340 --> 00:04:16,620 I prefer to use for this type of stuff, for repeaters, to use commercial grade equipment. 80 00:04:16,820 --> 00:04:19,120 The duty cycle can handle the heat. 81 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:24,300 It can handle longer transmissions, and they're much more durable by magnitudes. 82 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:27,740 Amateur radio does make some good stuff, but it's not always metal case. 83 00:04:27,820 --> 00:04:28,380 And so on. 84 00:04:28,460 --> 00:04:32,860 So the decisions were for size, capabilities of the device. 85 00:04:33,260 --> 00:04:36,080 I didn't want to reinvent the wheel numerous times. 86 00:04:36,500 --> 00:04:41,720 So for example, the repeater that I chose has a built-in controller that does CWID. 87 00:04:42,060 --> 00:04:45,160 It has the ability to do battery backup built into it. 88 00:04:45,260 --> 00:04:50,500 So it has all the circuitry that I didn't have to rehack or modify so that I could 89 00:04:50,500 --> 00:04:56,980 easily plug in 12 volts solar battery and utility 110 to 220, and it could do the failover 90 00:04:56,980 --> 00:04:57,680 all automatically. 91 00:04:57,820 --> 00:05:00,020 So that's why I chose this repeater. 92 00:05:00,140 --> 00:05:02,100 It's a Motorola GR-1225. 93 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:03,860 It's widely available. 94 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:08,380 I think they're still widely available, but I think they're almost 30 years old. 95 00:05:08,940 --> 00:05:13,160 So we'll get into a little bit more about the peculiarities of that. 96 00:05:14,900 --> 00:05:19,480 So the practical uses for it, obviously, is the mobile applications and amateur radio 97 00:05:19,480 --> 00:05:20,280 emergency service. 98 00:05:20,780 --> 00:05:24,060 And then, like I mentioned, I do the internet radio linking project with it. 99 00:05:24,140 --> 00:05:26,900 And here's the node for it right here, which runs all off a battery. 100 00:05:27,820 --> 00:05:32,820 And it does APRS, like I said, and it allows you to link to numerous different networks 101 00:05:32,820 --> 00:05:33,720 all around the world. 102 00:05:34,060 --> 00:05:37,280 I am building a new IRLP node to send to Iceland. 103 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:38,980 There's no IRLP nodes in Iceland. 104 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:44,440 And I have a ham buddy who talks on 2600 debt, and he got up to join a local club, 105 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,980 get his license, and I said, hey, I'm going to send you an IRLP node so I can call you 106 00:05:47,980 --> 00:05:49,000 all the time and pester you. 107 00:05:49,220 --> 00:05:54,420 So it allows for some cool stuff that you can do and expand on it. 108 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,660 Now the GR-1225 does have an expansion. 109 00:05:57,660 --> 00:06:02,020 It's an expansion port, which I'm not using, but it's mostly for linking to POTS telephone 110 00:06:02,020 --> 00:06:05,820 lines and to do phone trunking and some other stuff. 111 00:06:05,980 --> 00:06:06,960 But I'm not utilizing that. 112 00:06:07,060 --> 00:06:08,440 But it does have that capability. 113 00:06:08,900 --> 00:06:11,120 That was one of the reasons why I chose this particular chassis. 114 00:06:11,740 --> 00:06:17,020 The other thing I chose this particular chassis for is because it's just a shoebox. 115 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:21,700 And there is guys out there who are recasing them and putting them in racks and doing different 116 00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:21,940 things. 117 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:27,640 Motorola also has their own transportable method for this particular chassis. 118 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:28,020 It's called a regular repeater. 119 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,980 So when I started doing a bunch of research and looking at different people selling stuff 120 00:06:31,980 --> 00:06:39,100 and how they did it, I thought that this was a great choice to re-case, basically just 121 00:06:39,100 --> 00:06:40,240 tear the top off. 122 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:45,140 It has a power supply, a 40 amp power supply, duplexer, controller, and transmitter all 123 00:06:45,140 --> 00:06:46,560 built in in one unit. 124 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:52,920 So it was very simple to take it apart and just mount it in this case and remount the 125 00:06:53,740 --> 00:06:57,560 case, mount the antenna connector, which is an in connector for UHF. 126 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,320 And the 110, 220, and the DC power input. 127 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:07,620 The last field day, I wanted to do battery and solar, but they didn't have enough power 128 00:07:07,620 --> 00:07:09,520 to provide at that level. 129 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:15,280 So I ended up just using an AC converter, inverter, to go battery to 110. 130 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:17,480 But it also does 110 to 220. 131 00:07:17,660 --> 00:07:20,080 So you can plug this thing anywhere and it will basically work. 132 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,220 So that's what it looks like when they sold it 30 years ago. 133 00:07:24,620 --> 00:07:27,620 I do have a microphone that I got with me. 134 00:07:27,620 --> 00:07:32,320 And it's kind of an important component because this is also how you program it, not necessarily 135 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:34,380 with a microphone, but through the mic jack. 136 00:07:38,060 --> 00:07:42,420 So that's nice to have because you can turn off the repeat function and then also just 137 00:07:42,420 --> 00:07:43,340 use it as a base station. 138 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:44,780 So for whatever reason. 139 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,100 I think they marketed it as a dispatcher's stuff. 140 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,440 They have several different markets that they would obviously sell this for. 141 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:54,040 But that was something I thought was nice. 142 00:07:54,340 --> 00:07:55,920 A lot of those do have that. 143 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:56,680 Not all of them do. 144 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:02,540 I've worked with other repeaters that you can build custom with MaxStore or was it Maxtrack? 145 00:08:02,660 --> 00:08:03,040 GE. 146 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:04,740 There's several different. 147 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:08,940 There's a CWID coming out of the thing every 10 minutes. 148 00:08:09,380 --> 00:08:14,460 So there's other different manufacturers out there that you can use to pair up in multiple 149 00:08:14,460 --> 00:08:15,860 devices to build a repeater. 150 00:08:16,140 --> 00:08:17,820 But those are heavier. 151 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:19,800 They're meant for vehicles, stuff like that. 152 00:08:19,980 --> 00:08:24,440 I chose this one because it had all the features I wanted and especially battery backup. 153 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,420 So this is some of the specs that helped me choose why I got this one. 154 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:32,820 I'm not big on the courtesy beep. 155 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:38,260 Some old ham operators or older generation ham operators don't like that stuff. 156 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:43,600 But the simple programmer, repeater controller on this, you can program it to do a courtesy 157 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,460 beep with selectable tone, length, and so on. 158 00:08:46,780 --> 00:08:48,780 Do the CWID built into it. 159 00:08:49,220 --> 00:08:52,140 And it's adjustable from 25 to 45 watts. 160 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:54,600 That was one thing that I was a little concerned about. 161 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:56,660 But I've since worked a little bit of a hack at it. 162 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:59,420 So I can get the power level a little lower. 163 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:04,820 It's all digitally controlled, which I found was very interesting looking at repeaterbuilders.com 164 00:09:04,820 --> 00:09:08,280 and pulling through all the documentation to figure out how to program this thing. 165 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:12,900 And I did need help with a Motorola shop to tune the duplexer. 166 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,480 I don't have the equipment to do that. 167 00:09:14,700 --> 00:09:18,200 So once I chose the frequencies and I knew how to program it and whatnot, I programmed 168 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:19,160 it and I brought it to them. 169 00:09:19,260 --> 00:09:25,060 And then they did the duplexer so that you can use one antenna on one frequency or one 170 00:09:25,060 --> 00:09:25,820 set of repeater pairs. 171 00:09:25,820 --> 00:09:28,240 So that was the main piece of why I chose this one. 172 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:33,080 I have it kind of in between 25 and 45 watts because I'm not running it through an amplifier. 173 00:09:33,700 --> 00:09:38,200 I think I have it if I did the math right or the heat right through my testing at like 174 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:39,260 50% duty cycle. 175 00:09:39,940 --> 00:09:43,640 Earlier today I had it on a ham net. 176 00:09:44,260 --> 00:09:50,600 And there's people calling into the net from Ukraine, Ireland, all over the US and just 177 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,260 to talk about us and technology and stuff like that. 178 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:54,920 They mentioned hackers. 179 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:59,100 I was like trying to get in there to talk about it, but didn't get a chance. 180 00:09:59,300 --> 00:10:03,060 But when it was on the net, it was almost keyed up 100% of the time. 181 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:07,820 The hang time when you unkey, I had that set to zero. 182 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,700 So it will unkey and try to cool down as much as possible. 183 00:10:11,900 --> 00:10:16,520 And I did build a fan into it, but with my testing I figured I needed to turn the power 184 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:17,560 down a little bit more. 185 00:10:17,660 --> 00:10:18,540 It does get really hot. 186 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:23,920 So I'm either going to turn the power down even more and add an amplifier, a portable 187 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:29,360 amplifier, or I'm going to add a ton more fans and cooling and keep the power where 188 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,740 it's at in between like 25 and 35 watts. 189 00:10:32,060 --> 00:10:34,020 And you get pretty effective range on it. 190 00:10:34,140 --> 00:10:37,740 I made a homemade antenna to be extra transportable. 191 00:10:37,780 --> 00:10:41,520 And basically I just measured out the coax length for this center conductor. 192 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,480 So that's a quarter wave at 440 megahertz thereabouts. 193 00:10:45,820 --> 00:10:49,720 And then I just tied a zip strip on the end of it so it won't fall out of the PVC pipe 194 00:10:50,170 --> 00:10:51,720 and put it in there and glued it. 195 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:53,900 I do have the same antenna. 196 00:10:53,900 --> 00:10:57,160 I have the same antenna for the POGSEC network that I use for this because they're near same 197 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:57,600 in frequency. 198 00:10:58,080 --> 00:10:59,900 The POGSEC network is on 433. 199 00:11:00,100 --> 00:11:01,080 This is on 440. 200 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:07,600 So I do have a five-eighths wave high gain antenna that I can run off of this. 201 00:11:07,940 --> 00:11:10,060 But it was a little too strong for my room. 202 00:11:10,180 --> 00:11:13,620 I was actually saturating and interfering with the POGSEC network. 203 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:20,220 So much so that there was enough radiation from this transmitter that it was activating 204 00:11:20,220 --> 00:11:22,100 the amplifier on the other network. 205 00:11:22,340 --> 00:11:22,780 So. 206 00:11:23,900 --> 00:11:24,020 . . . . . . . . . and it kind of jerked up. 207 00:11:24,140 --> 00:11:28,460 . . . they call it chatter and it . . . . . . . . . . . . . and so I realized and at one point 208 00:11:28,460 --> 00:11:32,200 I put the antenna in my bathroom to get like enough isolation between the two. 209 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:37,580 And that worked for a while but I needed to use the bathroom and it's a lot of RF 210 00:11:37,580 --> 00:11:39,980 exposure in there so I went back to this antenna. 211 00:11:40,220 --> 00:11:45,380 So, I did want to ask these guys if maybe I can leave it here and bring the big antenna 212 00:11:45,380 --> 00:11:46,800 and stuff like that, but I hadn't decided. 213 00:11:47,340 --> 00:11:49,700 There's still pretty good range even with the quarter wave. 214 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:53,140 I think that's a zero dB J pole. 215 00:11:53,260 --> 00:11:53,880 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in fact it's not that much. 216 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:55,660 not a quarter wave. But people were 217 00:11:55,660 --> 00:11:57,700 able to use it with a handheld down at the 218 00:11:57,700 --> 00:11:59,660 Cosmo, which is pretty decent range 219 00:11:59,660 --> 00:12:01,540 for, you know, one to five watt 220 00:12:01,540 --> 00:12:03,700 handheld into my potentially 221 00:12:03,700 --> 00:12:04,960 zero dB J-pole. 222 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:07,640 So it's pretty decent range, and that repeats everything 223 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:09,260 out, obviously. So 224 00:12:09,260 --> 00:12:11,980 how much time do I got? 225 00:12:12,100 --> 00:12:13,860 Oh, I'm getting there. So the major 226 00:12:13,860 --> 00:12:15,920 components to configure the thing is a beast, 227 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:17,720 and that was the hardest part. 228 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:19,520 Configuring the hardware and 229 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,800 recasing it and all the hardware 230 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:23,860 stuff was semantics. I had 231 00:12:23,860 --> 00:12:25,580 to make the right decisions, choose the right hardware, 232 00:12:25,780 --> 00:12:27,380 find a case that it would fit it, 233 00:12:27,500 --> 00:12:29,900 and find a case I could drill without destroying 234 00:12:29,900 --> 00:12:31,540 it, and stuff like that. 235 00:12:31,980 --> 00:12:33,860 But the hardest part, and as I 236 00:12:33,860 --> 00:12:35,240 mentioned before, the other repeater, 237 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:37,020 suitcase repeater I bought, 238 00:12:37,540 --> 00:12:39,200 it was almost impossible to 239 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:41,840 reconfigure for 240 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:43,260 amateur bands. This one, 241 00:12:43,420 --> 00:12:45,940 I spent months looking 242 00:12:45,940 --> 00:12:48,080 around for the right software, the right configurations, 243 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,420 pulling through repeaterbuilders.com. 244 00:12:50,500 --> 00:12:51,780 There's a ton of information up there. 245 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:53,540 Definitely use that as a resource. 246 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:55,880 But there was nothing that exactly 247 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:57,740 addressed my configuration, 248 00:12:58,080 --> 00:12:59,920 my use case, and this particular 249 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:01,700 box. So there's 250 00:13:01,700 --> 00:13:03,660 a couple different pieces that make it work. 251 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:05,700 Obviously the Motorola radio 252 00:13:05,700 --> 00:13:07,180 service software, the RSS, 253 00:13:07,500 --> 00:13:09,920 they have like 10 different versions 254 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:11,820 of it through many different generations 255 00:13:11,820 --> 00:13:13,520 that are CPU and 256 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:15,120 speed dependent, 257 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:17,020 processor dependent, 258 00:13:17,540 --> 00:13:20,000 adapter dependent, and it's a huge 259 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:21,620 mess. And Motorola does not like you. 260 00:13:21,620 --> 00:13:23,120 using this for amateur stuff. 261 00:13:23,500 --> 00:13:25,680 They don't like you buying the software through unauthorized 262 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:27,420 sources, so obviously do that appropriately. 263 00:13:28,660 --> 00:13:29,020 And 264 00:13:29,940 --> 00:13:31,760 some Motorola dealers don't know what to 265 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:33,720 do when you come and you want to bring it for amateur 266 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:35,860 radio, so you have to build a relationship and whatnot. 267 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:37,580 I did work a relationship 268 00:13:37,580 --> 00:13:39,660 to get the duplexer tuned, but 269 00:13:39,660 --> 00:13:41,560 otherwise I did all the research to 270 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:43,620 program it myself and to get the software 271 00:13:43,620 --> 00:13:45,640 working and whatnot. So, old 272 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:47,620 operating systems. I read that you needed old 273 00:13:47,620 --> 00:13:49,540 operating systems. So first I tried, I was like, 274 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:51,600 no, you don't need to go that old, so I tried, 275 00:13:51,620 --> 00:13:53,640 I tried Windows 7 VM, slowed that down, 276 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:55,600 it wouldn't work. You turn off FIFO 277 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,260 buffers because over the serial interface, 278 00:13:57,740 --> 00:13:59,640 this was before FIFO buffers were even 279 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:01,520 invented, before the new serial chips were even 280 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:03,640 invented, and it screws up the 281 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,500 programming, and you can very easily brick 282 00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:07,460 the microcontrollers on this thing. So 283 00:14:07,460 --> 00:14:09,840 first I tried Windows 7, thinking that it would work, 284 00:14:10,540 --> 00:14:11,580 didn't work. Tried 285 00:14:11,580 --> 00:14:13,580 Windows XP, thinking, oh, this will be 286 00:14:13,580 --> 00:14:15,360 the kicker, because I saw a piece of information, 287 00:14:15,540 --> 00:14:17,460 a guy did it with Windows XP, it still 288 00:14:17,460 --> 00:14:19,440 didn't work. So I bought a utility 289 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:21,400 that you can slow the speed of the virtual 290 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:23,380 machine down, slowed it down to 100 291 00:14:23,380 --> 00:14:25,460 megahertz, and I got it to, like, send 292 00:14:25,460 --> 00:14:27,420 the header off the radio. So I knew I was on 293 00:14:27,420 --> 00:14:29,280 the right track. I ended up having to get a 294 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,480 Windows 95 VM, slowed it down 295 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:33,500 to 100 megahertz, and then 296 00:14:33,500 --> 00:14:35,500 that USB adapter that I showed you earlier, 297 00:14:36,060 --> 00:14:37,280 I set the latency 298 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:39,460 on that to max, and I set the 299 00:14:39,460 --> 00:14:40,960 buffers to the minimum. 300 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:43,300 And then it started to talk to the radio. 301 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:45,600 So, and before you try to write anything 302 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:47,360 to the radio with the appropriate RSS 303 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,540 software, you just want to read the existing 304 00:14:49,540 --> 00:14:51,260 configuration. So I spent, 305 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,140 weeks and weeks, just trying to get 306 00:14:53,140 --> 00:14:55,400 the configuration off of it, to read 307 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,500 it. And I knew it could 308 00:14:57,500 --> 00:14:59,360 do amateur radio, I just needed 309 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,180 to retune the duplexer to be 310 00:15:01,180 --> 00:15:03,360 on amateur radio. So once I got it to 311 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,460 read the configuration out, it was like, 312 00:15:05,580 --> 00:15:07,420 yay, success, I'm talking to 313 00:15:07,420 --> 00:15:09,380 it. Then I had to go through all the 314 00:15:09,380 --> 00:15:11,460 many different things in the RSS software 315 00:15:11,460 --> 00:15:13,460 to configure it. I disabled the 316 00:15:13,460 --> 00:15:15,460 CWID, I set the hang 317 00:15:15,460 --> 00:15:16,140 time to zero, 318 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:19,400 and I tweaked the 319 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,120 power. Now, the interesting thing that 320 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:22,320 I found about the power, 321 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,040 and a lot of radio equipment, even modern radio 322 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,100 equipment, it's analog controlled 323 00:15:27,100 --> 00:15:28,900 with a potentiometer. 324 00:15:29,140 --> 00:15:31,080 You can just get in there with a screwdriver, if you know 325 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,180 where to turn, on the right pot, and adjust 326 00:15:33,180 --> 00:15:35,160 the power. This thing actually 327 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,140 uses the microprocessor and sends 328 00:15:37,140 --> 00:15:37,740 a PPM 329 00:15:39,500 --> 00:15:40,980 transmission to adjust 330 00:15:40,980 --> 00:15:42,940 so at the speed it sends the pulses 331 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:45,020 is what determines the 332 00:15:45,020 --> 00:15:46,900 power output. So it's really 333 00:15:46,900 --> 00:15:48,820 strange. Like, when I got into the RSS 334 00:15:48,820 --> 00:15:50,360 and started to look at RSS software, 335 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,120 and I looked at the power settings, there was 336 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:55,100 like 24 bars, or 12 337 00:15:55,100 --> 00:15:57,180 bars of, it wasn't just a 338 00:15:57,180 --> 00:15:59,020 power setting. I had to tune 339 00:15:59,020 --> 00:16:01,180 each bar to get the appropriate 340 00:16:01,180 --> 00:16:02,940 I've learned later that 341 00:16:02,940 --> 00:16:04,040 it's mostly for 342 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,140 the different channels, so you'll set your duplexer 343 00:16:07,140 --> 00:16:09,320 on a center frequency, and it gets less efficient 344 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:10,960 as you vary off those frequencies. 345 00:16:11,500 --> 00:16:13,140 So you want to adjust the power 346 00:16:13,140 --> 00:16:15,080 so either SWR or 347 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:16,620 reflection from the duplexer, 348 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:19,120 so when you get off the center frequency, like 349 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:21,100 on channel 12 versus channel 1, and you're going to get off the center frequency. 350 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:23,040 You're tuned for channel 6, that you're not going to fry 351 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,120 your radio. So I set the power max in the 352 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:27,140 middle, and then I taper off on the other side. 353 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:29,020 So, it was a 354 00:16:29,020 --> 00:16:30,840 lot to be able to configure 355 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,040 it. I read all 356 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:34,860 over the place, and there's guys on eBay selling 357 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:37,080 ancient laptops with all 358 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:39,060 the Motorola software on it, and all the 359 00:16:39,060 --> 00:16:41,260 adapters for like thousands of dollars. 360 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:42,940 Like, here's what you need to configure it. 361 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:45,080 There's no other way to do it 362 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:46,280 ever. You need to buy this. 363 00:16:46,700 --> 00:16:49,080 It wasn't acceptable for me. Now, I did find 364 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:50,720 through the repeater builders forums, 365 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,160 there was one guy that mentioned that he was able to do 366 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,000 it with virtualization for a totally different 367 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,300 piece of equipment, for a different newer generation 368 00:16:57,300 --> 00:16:59,300 stuff, but when I saw that, I figured 369 00:16:59,300 --> 00:17:00,880 there is a way to make this work. 370 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:02,640 Like, I'm a big virtualization guy. 371 00:17:03,180 --> 00:17:05,120 I like making old technology work with 372 00:17:05,120 --> 00:17:07,120 new technology, and so when I saw that 373 00:17:07,120 --> 00:17:09,120 little tidbit of information, he said, well, I did it 374 00:17:09,120 --> 00:17:11,140 with an XP VM. That's what 375 00:17:11,140 --> 00:17:12,720 made me think, oh, I'll try it with XP, 376 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,160 Windows 7, and so on, but the only way I could do 377 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:16,740 it was with Windows 5, 378 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:18,860 Windows 95, and 100 379 00:17:18,860 --> 00:17:20,940 megahertz, and with that USB to 380 00:17:21,120 --> 00:17:23,060 serial adapter that could even slow it down even 381 00:17:23,060 --> 00:17:24,480 more, so that was 382 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,900 a big deal, and I was pretty happy 383 00:17:26,900 --> 00:17:29,080 with that because all the information out 384 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:30,960 there was saying that it couldn't be done, and then 385 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:32,880 eventually I was able to do it, so I was pretty 386 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:34,760 happy with myself on that, but 387 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:36,820 I think a lot of it mostly depends on that 388 00:17:36,820 --> 00:17:38,980 serial adapter. Even though they 389 00:17:38,980 --> 00:17:40,960 said that you could do it virtually, they wanted you 390 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:42,760 to have a physical serial 391 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:44,960 port, and I 392 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:46,840 think it's mostly for, like, multitasking, 393 00:17:46,900 --> 00:17:49,020 so if the device isn't available 394 00:17:49,020 --> 00:17:51,000 for that microsecond or what have you, 395 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:52,880 it'll lose contact with the 396 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:54,360 radio, and you'll brick it, 397 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:56,860 and these are hard to find, they're not cheap, and 398 00:17:56,860 --> 00:17:58,920 so on, so at all costs, I 399 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:00,780 just wanted to make sure I would not brick 400 00:18:00,780 --> 00:18:02,840 the radio, so 401 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:04,840 I was very, very careful about 402 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:06,400 working with the serial adapters 403 00:18:07,900 --> 00:18:08,700 over virtualization, 404 00:18:09,300 --> 00:18:10,800 and then the other thing that 405 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,900 Motorola does, and I'm not sure why they do this, but they 406 00:18:12,900 --> 00:18:14,500 do this serial magic 407 00:18:14,500 --> 00:18:16,880 where they have different ways of 408 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:18,800 configuring the multiple generations that they 409 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:20,820 have, and so they sell this thing called the 410 00:18:20,820 --> 00:18:22,620 RIB, the Radio Interface Box, 411 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:24,140 and it basically drops 412 00:18:24,140 --> 00:18:25,900 voltage into the serial, 413 00:18:26,460 --> 00:18:28,040 you can plug power into it, and 414 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:29,640 or a 9-volt battery, 415 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,520 and this was the only way you can 416 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:34,620 configure it. There were people saying that you 417 00:18:34,620 --> 00:18:36,640 could do it ribless, they sell 418 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:38,340 stuff out there to do it ribless, 419 00:18:38,580 --> 00:18:40,560 and they even said that it would work with the 420 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:42,620 GR1225. I bought one, 421 00:18:42,780 --> 00:18:44,740 it doesn't work, and I went 422 00:18:44,740 --> 00:18:46,560 through the guy who's making them and selling 423 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:48,660 them, and he said, oh yeah, it'll work, it'll work. I mean, 424 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:50,520 I sent him a video saying, no, dude, this 425 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:52,640 doesn't work. So, I ended 426 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:53,700 up buying an actual real, 427 00:18:54,180 --> 00:18:56,140 I bought a Chinese knockoff one, 428 00:18:56,300 --> 00:18:58,400 and they had the schematics for it, it looked 429 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:00,360 exactly like the Motorola one, 430 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,500 it didn't work for some reason. So, I ended up 431 00:19:02,500 --> 00:19:04,140 buying an actual Motorola RIB, 432 00:19:04,260 --> 00:19:06,460 which wasn't very expensive, they were just very 433 00:19:06,460 --> 00:19:07,920 rare on eBay to find. 434 00:19:08,260 --> 00:19:10,640 And this was the final piece that I needed 435 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:12,360 to be able to configure it. 436 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,800 I also found guys who were saying that it would work 437 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:16,520 with just DB9 to the 438 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:18,600 RJ45, it 439 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:20,260 doesn't work. It has to go DB9, 440 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:21,840 through the RIB, to DB25, 441 00:19:22,500 --> 00:19:24,400 to RJ45. And I 442 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:26,200 looked through all the wiring and the schematics, 443 00:19:26,420 --> 00:19:28,580 and it drove me crazy 444 00:19:28,580 --> 00:19:30,140 because it looked right, but 445 00:19:30,140 --> 00:19:32,180 for some reason, Motorola is very 446 00:19:32,180 --> 00:19:34,140 particular about how they want to be programmed. 447 00:19:34,460 --> 00:19:35,880 So, this was a major piece, 448 00:19:36,180 --> 00:19:38,120 I had to get this paired to that, 449 00:19:38,260 --> 00:19:40,360 I didn't have to modify it or anything, but I had to get 450 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:41,580 the cable for the GR25, 451 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:44,420 RJ45 to DB25, an actual 452 00:19:44,420 --> 00:19:46,360 Motorola RIB. I tried a 453 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:47,740 RIBLESS, and it still didn't work. 454 00:19:48,220 --> 00:19:50,440 And then this is just a standard DB9, 455 00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:52,440 so this was a major 456 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:53,840 piece, and it delayed me weeks 457 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:56,080 after I'd built it, and 458 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:57,540 everything was working, 459 00:19:58,140 --> 00:20:00,320 but I wanted to configure and change some of the other 460 00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,080 settings, and I went through 461 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,440 pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to get it to 462 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:06,280 talk on the right operating 463 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:07,820 system, with the right serial configuration, 464 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,400 and the right wiring. So, that was a major 465 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,320 piece, and hopefully 466 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:13,240 I never lose this thing. 467 00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:16,680 You don't have to reconfigure 468 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:18,420 it very often, very rarely. 469 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:20,280 Some repeaters, they get configured and they 470 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:21,760 stay that way for their entire life. 471 00:20:22,660 --> 00:20:24,200 So, but it's nice to have, 472 00:20:24,380 --> 00:20:26,300 and it's good know-how. I like 473 00:20:26,300 --> 00:20:28,020 working with this old equipment, and 474 00:20:28,020 --> 00:20:29,940 intend to build more stuff 475 00:20:30,500 --> 00:20:31,500 to do this. 476 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:34,280 So, I was trying to find a 477 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,380 quote from Vlad, because he's pretty good 478 00:20:36,380 --> 00:20:38,300 with quotes, and giving me tidbits 479 00:20:38,300 --> 00:20:40,320 of information, but I couldn't find one. 480 00:20:40,380 --> 00:20:42,220 I searched through all my emails trying to get a quote 481 00:20:42,220 --> 00:20:44,180 from him, but I ended up finding this quote from 482 00:20:44,180 --> 00:20:45,540 ARRL and Ares. 483 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:48,120 Hamradar's motto is, when all else fails. 484 00:20:49,700 --> 00:20:50,120 So, 485 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:51,800 this is one of the reasons why I built this, 486 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:53,800 and I demonstrated it at the 487 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:54,960 amateur radio field day, 488 00:20:56,300 --> 00:20:57,860 so that on a 489 00:20:57,860 --> 00:21:00,200 fly, you can roll up anywhere with no power 490 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:01,880 or very little power and infrastructure 491 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:03,660 and still be able to get radio communications. 492 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,180 And so, when I did it out there, I ran 493 00:21:06,180 --> 00:21:08,100 it all off my car and an AC 494 00:21:08,100 --> 00:21:09,440 inverter, and it worked great. 495 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:11,960 Everyone was doing a bunch of HF 496 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:14,080 contesting at the field 497 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:15,880 day, but no one had set up an 498 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,040 on-site UHF repeater to talk just 499 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:19,200 point-to-point with everyone. 500 00:21:19,700 --> 00:21:20,100 So, 501 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:22,020 I brought it up, and they liked it, and then I 502 00:21:22,020 --> 00:21:24,200 turned on the IRLP, and so we could link 503 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:26,240 to other places, which was very cool. 504 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:27,880 So, I'll do a quick demonstration of that. 505 00:21:27,980 --> 00:21:30,220 I think we're linked up, but let's see here. 506 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:35,120 I'll call into the Las Vegas Western Reflector on IRLP. 507 00:21:35,180 --> 00:21:35,840 Let's see if it'll work. 508 00:22:07,380 --> 00:22:16,420 So, what I've done is I've connected the repeater through IRLP to a reflector, which is point-to-multipoint. 509 00:22:16,900 --> 00:22:18,720 So, I don't know who's connected to the reflector 510 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:20,100 at this time, but it's going to work. 511 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:22,640 But there can be hundreds of nodes that are connected to it and whatnot. 512 00:22:23,300 --> 00:22:26,640 So, I'm basically using this as a repeater controller and a link. 513 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:32,780 I'm obviously using a hotspot right now, but I use an open VPN tunnel, so that's all contained 514 00:22:32,780 --> 00:22:34,100 and more secure. 515 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:36,180 And it works quite well. 516 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,320 So, this can run forever off of batteries. 517 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,400 I forgot to charge the other big battery, but I used that for a day and a half, and 518 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:43,280 it ran that. 519 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:47,360 This is also a 70-centimeter transmitter, but this only does like a quarter watt. 520 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:50,100 It's basically acting as just another unit. 521 00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:51,100 So, it's like a user on the repeater. 522 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:56,440 It transmits through the input, and the repeater transmits on the output, and it comes out. 523 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:57,860 So, this will do the CWID. 524 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:00,580 It'll link to other repeater networks and so on. 525 00:23:00,940 --> 00:23:04,000 And I'll do another one where there may be some other chatter from other networks here. 526 00:23:09,120 --> 00:23:15,060 Note 925, Western Reflector, Las Vegas, Nevada, link off. 527 00:23:16,260 --> 00:23:18,020 So, there's another super busy network. 528 00:23:21,780 --> 00:23:28,400 And that's the CWID, obviously, and if you can read that, November 7, Tango-R, for repeater. 529 00:23:28,900 --> 00:23:29,660 Slash-R, yeah. 530 00:23:30,740 --> 00:23:36,620 So, were you decoding it, or are you just ... So, I'll connect to another repeater network 531 00:23:36,620 --> 00:23:40,200 that there's usually a lot of traffic on, and it's called the WIN system, the Western 532 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:45,280 Inner ... Western something Inner Tie, I always forget. 533 00:23:46,820 --> 00:23:49,660 It's a weird word, and I give Shorty trouble for it. 534 00:23:49,780 --> 00:23:50,020 And ... 535 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:51,040 Yeah, so, here. 536 00:23:57,300 --> 00:23:58,780 But on this network, there's like ... 537 00:23:58,780 --> 00:24:03,060 Welcome to the WIN system reflector, 9100, link on. 538 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:10,360 There's anywhere from like 40 to 50 repeaters connected to this repeater all the time. 539 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:15,020 It's basically down to Mexico, all the way up to Washington, D.C., and Idaho, and throughout. 540 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,620 So, currently, we're connected to that, and so I have a footprint of thousands of miles. 541 00:24:20,860 --> 00:24:25,420 So, if there's a little break, it just sounds like some normal chatter, if there's a little 542 00:24:25,420 --> 00:24:28,900 break, I'll ask for a demonstration from these guys, and usually, people will pop up 543 00:24:28,900 --> 00:24:33,560 on frequency and say, hey, I'm in Washington, hey, I'm in Mexico, and so they want to show 544 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:33,820 off. 545 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,120 Yeah, that's on your end. 546 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:45,720 Yeah, that's on your end. 547 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:48,960 All right. 548 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:49,120 Thank you. 549 00:24:51,180 --> 00:24:53,660 This is K6ADS in Las Vegas. 550 00:24:53,780 --> 00:24:56,040 Can I get a demonstration on the WIN system, please? 551 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:23,940 Hi, this is K6ADS in Las Vegas. Can I get a 552 00:25:23,940 --> 00:25:33,920 demonstration of the wind system please? I have to get a break in between transmissions 553 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:38,080 to catch them. So when I transmit there's like a half a second delay and then on the 554 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,060 other side there's another half a second delay so you really, when you're linking across 555 00:25:41,060 --> 00:25:46,700 multiple repeater networks you have to catch it. There we go. 556 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,920 One system demo, KF6ADS. 557 00:26:00,660 --> 00:26:06,820 Hey, I appreciate the call back. I'm actually giving a talk here at DEF CON in Las Vegas 558 00:26:07,300 --> 00:26:13,500 about internet radio linking and mobile repeaters so I appreciate the quick come back and giving 559 00:26:13,500 --> 00:26:17,000 us a demonstration of the wind system. This is K6ADS. I'll be clear and monitoring. 560 00:26:24,260 --> 00:26:29,340 So that's a demonstration of the system and the linking. Sometimes you can run into some 561 00:26:29,340 --> 00:26:35,140 grouchy ham radio operators and that's just the way that it is. So, but that's a demonstration 562 00:26:35,140 --> 00:26:40,920 but feel free to use the repeater if you have a license. If you're within eye shot of another 563 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:46,880 amateur radio operator you can as an unlicensed radio operator use the ham band. So just 564 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:51,700 use our event call sign November 7th Tangle, N7T and if you're around another ham radio 565 00:26:51,700 --> 00:26:53,920 operator or like such as myself I can give you a demonstration of the system and the 566 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:58,820 radio. I can give you a radio and you're welcome to try it out and test it. So that's 567 00:26:58,820 --> 00:27:01,120 about it. I think I'm good for time. 568 00:27:09,780 --> 00:27:23,800 Any questions? I think he was first here. Go, eyeball. So he's asking about the serial 569 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:29,640 driver for the programming of the Motorola device. So and when I'm using virtualization 570 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:35,440 so in Windows it has the driver, is the host operating system for Windows 7 so that driver 571 00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:43,380 and then through VMware that just translate that back into the VM. So the specific adapter 572 00:27:43,380 --> 00:27:48,540 that I have the driver allows you to tweak latency in the buffers. Some USB adapters 573 00:27:48,540 --> 00:27:52,320 are just plain dumb and they just connect and they just work. This driver actually lets 574 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:53,900 you tweak some of those settings. So I'm going to show them. So, I'm going to show 575 00:27:53,900 --> 00:27:57,000 So, I don't remember how I found that one, 576 00:27:57,140 --> 00:27:59,500 but it's been super advantageous that I've had that USB adapter. 577 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:01,220 So, it's just using the Windows driver. 578 00:28:02,260 --> 00:28:03,680 Inside the virtual machine, 579 00:28:04,180 --> 00:28:06,900 it's just a standard serial port as far as the VM is concerned. 580 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:08,280 So, good questions. 581 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:10,760 You were first here. I'll get you. 582 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:12,060 Go ahead, sir. 583 00:28:12,540 --> 00:28:15,060 Is there a model of the IRP controller? 584 00:28:15,980 --> 00:28:17,860 This is, the question is, 585 00:28:17,860 --> 00:28:20,140 is there a model of the IRP controller that I'm using? 586 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:21,660 This is called a nano node, 587 00:28:21,660 --> 00:28:24,160 and the guy also makes micro node. 588 00:28:24,300 --> 00:28:25,760 There's a couple different iterations of it. 589 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:30,140 It's basically a Raspberry Pi with a UHF transmitter built into it. 590 00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:31,900 It's semi-proprietary, 591 00:28:32,780 --> 00:28:36,160 but it's a very good package, a very good system. 592 00:28:36,340 --> 00:28:38,640 But it's proprietary enough where I messaged the guy 593 00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:40,220 after I paid $600 for it, 594 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,160 and I asked, hey, could I get a shell on my own Linux machine, 595 00:28:44,300 --> 00:28:44,920 and he said no. 596 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,200 So, I said, well, I'll deal with that. 597 00:28:47,260 --> 00:28:48,080 Thank you very much, sir. 598 00:28:49,620 --> 00:28:51,080 So, thank you. Good question. 599 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:51,440 So. 600 00:28:52,260 --> 00:28:52,600 Lindsay. 601 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:56,900 So, the question is, when am I going to get my general? 602 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:58,780 Are they doing tests here at DEF CON? 603 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:03,840 We'll do, you got three VEs? 604 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:05,220 Probably. 605 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:06,920 Get some VEs. We'll do the test. 606 00:29:07,340 --> 00:29:08,880 Now, I brought the book. 607 00:29:08,980 --> 00:29:10,180 I was reading it on my Kindle. 608 00:29:10,220 --> 00:29:12,000 I plan on doing it this DEF CON, 609 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:13,520 but I don't think they're doing tests. 610 00:29:13,740 --> 00:29:14,180 They are? 611 00:29:14,940 --> 00:29:15,400 Yes, sir? 612 00:29:16,900 --> 00:29:17,660 But not today? 613 00:29:20,460 --> 00:29:21,560 Okay, we'll work it out. 614 00:29:22,140 --> 00:29:22,660 Okay. 615 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,520 So, even more encouragement for me to upgrade my license to general, 616 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:28,020 and I will definitely do it, I promise. 617 00:29:28,220 --> 00:29:29,120 Mark my words. 618 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:30,300 Great question. Thank you. 619 00:29:30,540 --> 00:29:31,360 More questions? 620 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:32,920 Sir? 621 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,000 Why did I choose 440? 622 00:29:38,300 --> 00:29:40,200 The antennas are smaller. 623 00:29:40,420 --> 00:29:43,020 It seems to propagate a bit better 624 00:29:43,020 --> 00:29:44,120 in certain different environments. 625 00:29:44,900 --> 00:29:46,960 I've ran other repeaters on two meters, 626 00:29:47,180 --> 00:29:48,740 144, 140 megahertz, 627 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:50,420 and those work fine, 628 00:29:50,420 --> 00:29:52,720 but for some reason, I like 440 better. 629 00:29:52,900 --> 00:29:54,740 I like 70 centimeter better. 630 00:29:55,820 --> 00:29:58,520 It seems to propagate better through stuff, 631 00:29:59,020 --> 00:30:00,980 and it still does a decent amount of range. 632 00:30:01,220 --> 00:30:03,440 But the other major kicker is the antennas are smaller. 633 00:30:03,980 --> 00:30:06,140 That's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of HF. 634 00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,540 You need giant amplifiers, giant antennas. 635 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,620 HF has a purpose and a place, and I'm not against it, 636 00:30:11,740 --> 00:30:12,780 but it's noisy. 637 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:13,820 The antennas are huge. 638 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:15,580 It takes a lot of power, a lot of amplification, 639 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:17,960 and so this works well. 640 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:18,780 So, great question. 641 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:19,360 I appreciate that. 642 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:19,520 Yeah. 643 00:30:20,420 --> 00:30:20,780 Any other? 644 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:21,000 There. 645 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:21,840 Another question. 646 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,060 So the question is that I don't like HF, 647 00:30:30,100 --> 00:30:31,860 and that's why I haven't upgraded my call sign. 648 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:32,680 Maybe. 649 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:35,900 I just haven't felt a big need for it. 650 00:30:35,940 --> 00:30:37,800 I have done HF contesting and whatnot, 651 00:30:38,060 --> 00:30:39,460 like I did at the last field day. 652 00:30:39,980 --> 00:30:41,540 So I've experienced it a lot. 653 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:43,240 My Elmer's been giving me trouble for it 654 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:44,100 for the last 20 years. 655 00:30:45,540 --> 00:30:48,060 But I just haven't had a big purpose for it, 656 00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:48,820 a big need for it. 657 00:30:49,460 --> 00:30:51,980 Especially with IRLP, and this is one of the things. 658 00:30:52,060 --> 00:30:55,500 This is the oldest linking platform that's out there. 659 00:30:55,580 --> 00:30:59,240 There's now All Star and a few others, and also DMR, 660 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,580 and other linking digital modes and whatnot. 661 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:05,060 But this is the first one, and it relies on PGP for the links. 662 00:31:05,380 --> 00:31:07,560 So the guy that built it, Dave Cameron, 663 00:31:07,700 --> 00:31:10,060 built it strong and encrypted from the very beginning. 664 00:31:10,340 --> 00:31:13,840 So even though it's a new type of linking, it's the oldest one. 665 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,240 So it's old school with old school, so on. 666 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:17,080 So good question. 667 00:31:17,700 --> 00:31:18,620 Any other questions? 668 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:23,960 Is there a PL on the repeater? 669 00:31:24,060 --> 00:31:27,860 Yes, it is on 440, 800, and the PL is 123. 670 00:31:30,180 --> 00:31:32,820 The offset for a repeater for standard 70 centimeters 671 00:31:32,820 --> 00:31:34,240 is 5 megahertz positive. 672 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:39,160 Any other questions? 673 00:31:40,060 --> 00:31:41,300 Thank you very much. 674 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:42,420 I appreciate it very much. 675 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:42,780 Thank you.