AllStarLink Radio is a global network of linked amateur radios that allow a UHF/VHF technician class operators to communicate around the world using a ham radio and a computer. The easiest way to think about it, is that the AllStarLink Radio network is an internet phone system where the extension is a radio.
Current Situation
My AllStar radio node is a poorly built affair operating on the cheapest of parts and components. The radio itself is a Baofeng 888 radio, which is modified to connect to a Raspberry PI 3 single board computer. The interface is done with a URIx from DMK Engineering. All of the radio modifications were done by me (poorly) and for the most part the system works.
What I like about my current node.
I built it. I take a great deal of pride in learning and building things in case you couldn’t tell. I have used Asterisk in the past and a AllStarLink node is just cool, from a certain very geeky point of view. I also love that it was cheap to build, runs silent and is very low power.
What I do not like about my current node.
The radio signal quality is not as good as it could be. My guess is that this is caused by modifying a really cheap radio aggravated by my poor soldering. The node setup is currently a bunch of devices connected together with USB cables and shoved up on a shelf in my homelab network cabinet. So, it is just annoying to work on. The Raspberry PI was originally located on the shelf and the Radio was connected via USB to the URIx and Radio which was located on the top of cabinet. Far from ideal.
Goals for Version 2
- Build the node with a higher quality mobile radio
- Build the node with a lower power, higher quality computer
- Enclose and Secure the entire node within a 2U Server Chassis to consolidate the installation and clean up my homelab rack