Playing with Pi-Star: Revisions – Recent
Apr 1, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The current status of Pi-Star note to correct the download link:
On Mar 26, 2020, Pi-Star V4.1.0 was released as a regular version. It can be downloaded from the Pi-Star website:
Pi-Star_RPi_V4.1.0_26-Mar-2020.zip
.
Mar 31, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The current status of Pi-Star note:
- Pi-Star V3.4.17 is still available. If you're running a hotspot based on a Raspberry Pi 3B, Zero W, or earlier, you can still use the 3.4.17 release; however, it's not getting any new features and some Raspbian Jessie libraries have been deprecated, so updates may throw errors. Everything seems to be working okay still, but you probably should upgrade to 4.1.0 soon.
Mar 26, 2020
Revised release number
Noted the release of Pi-Star V4.1.0 as a regular version:
Nothing actually changed between the V4.1.0-RC8 release candidate and
the release of the V4.1.0 regular release; it's just now the official regular release.
Revised the Introduction section
Made major revisions to the The current status of Pi-Star note to acknowledge the release of Pi-Star V4.1.0 as a regular release.
Feb 25, 2020
Revised 6e) Some great places to start playing with Pi-Star
Revised the paragraph about Telegram groups:
Additional Telegram groups
There's a good list of Amateur Radio Telegram groups that was compiled by Tom, W2XQ, which is posted on the Colorado Digital website's Resources page: Ham Radio Telegram Channels. One that I really like is for finding DMR nets: Ham Radio DMR Nets. It has a quite comprehensive list of active DMR nets. Each net is displayed an hour before it goes live, making it easy to find out what's currently on the air: https://t.me/HamRadioDMRNets
Feb 21, 2020
Revised release number
Noted the release of Pi-Star dashboard version 20200221:
Adds additional ZUM Radio Radio/Modem board options: the ZUMspot - Duplex Raspberry Pi (GPIO) and ZUM Radio-MMDVM-Nucleo (USB). Renamed the ZUMspot - Raspberry Pi Hat (GPIO) option to ZUMspot - Single Band Raspberry Pi Hat (GPIO).
Also changed the OLED Type of display option to OLED Type 3 (0.96″) and OLED Type 6 (1.3″).
Feb 19, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Minor revisions to the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note.
Revised release number
Noted the release of Pi-Star dashboard version 20200219:
Adds option for the ZUMspot - Duplex Raspberry Pi (GPIO) Radio/Modem board.
Feb 18, 2020
Revised release number
Noted the release of Pi-Star 4.1.8 and dashboard version 20200218:
Changes to fix issues with the BrandMeister API not connecting. For more info, see Active BrandMeister connections not showing. Also, added rng-tools to Pi-Star, which should fix issues with WiFi connectivity.
Revised the Introduction section
Minor revisions to the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note.
Feb 9, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Minor revisions to the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note.
Revised 4) Booting up Pi-Star
Minor revisions to the Overview of Pi-Star Auto AP boot-up steps for a new wireless network illustration.
Feb 5, 2020
Revised release number
Noted the release of dashboard version 20200203:
Changes related to the handling of the DMR Master host ports.
Jan 31, 2020
Revised 5k) Wireless Configuration
Added the following hint:
Hint 2: If you need to set a static IP address for your hotspot, you can edit the /etc/dhcpcd.conf file to add the entries, for example:
interface wlan0
static ip_address=10.0.0.11/24
static routers=10.0.0.1
static domain_name_servers=10.0.0.1
Thanks to Dan, KA5TAA, for this hint.
Jan 24, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Significantly revised the The current status of Pi-Star note.
Rearranged the first sections
Moved the disclaimer to the top. Moved The current status of Pi-Star note to the first thing after the table of contents. Merged the Introduction into section 1, Learning Pi-Star.
Jan 22, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note to add:
- For those willing to experiment, you might want to check out the fork of Pi-Star that is being actively developed by Daniel, F1RMB and includes lots of new features : GitHub: f1rmb/Pi-Star_DV_Dash.
Jan 20, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note.
Jan 14, 2020
Revised 5d) DMR configuration
Revised the notes under the DMR Master bullet point, especially to add "It's important to note that your SelfCare settings are saved per master server. If you change to a new master server, you need to re-enter settings you want to use."
- ☆ DMR Master (a master server connects you to the rest of the system):
- If you want to use only a specific system – Choose a BrandMeister (BM) or DMR+ master, or the TGIF Network. In this case, everything is simpler as you'll see only options specifically for the selected system.
- Note: If you use BrandMeister SelfCare:
- It's important to note that your SelfCare settings are saved per master server. If you change to a new master server, you need to re-enter settings you want to use..
- You can turn on Pi-Star's BrandMeister Manager module, which gives you access to key BrandMeister settings in Pi-Star's Admin view. For more info, see: Pi-Star's BrandMeister Manager module. See also Using the BrandMeister API by Vladimir, AC2F.
- You can turn off sending APRS info via BrandMeister. For more info, see the note: Prevent sending APRS info via BrandMeister.
- Note: If you use BrandMeister SelfCare
- If you want to use only a specific system – Choose a BrandMeister (BM) or DMR+ master, or the TGIF Network
Jan 05, 2020
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note to add a link to more info about the release candidate issues: Pi-Star 4.1 release candidate problems.
Jan 01, 2020
Happy new year!
Revised the Introduction section
Revised the The awkward current status of Pi-Star note to reflect that as of Jan 2020, Pi-Star's status is that the 3.4.x codeline is aging, while the beta 4.1.x codeline isn't quite ready for prime time.