How to kind of fix the shared memory error on Mac for WSJT-X

 Ok this is more of a work around than a fix but it works. 

I have an issue where my mac mini that I use for WSJT-X extensively, loses power often its annoying and a separate issue but anyway.

Anyone running WSJT-X on a mac knows that after each boot you the sysctl.conf file needs to be copied back into the /etc folder to get the shared memory config set right for wsjt-x to work. 

I poked around this a little and found that what happens on boot is OSX will mark /etc/sysctl.conf as quarantined.

This can be undone on boot by making an automator application to execute the command

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /etc/sysctl.conf

A couple of things about this, 

1. This must be executed with Administrator privileges 

2. This must be run on boot so that the file continues to remain in the directory and be processed for next boot. 

So here is how I set this up. 

Step 1 install command line tools open terminal and run this "xcode-select --install"

- This will install developer command line tools that are used to sign the automator app we will talk about next.

Step 2 create an Automator app

- Open automator, click file and new

- Select Application

- Find Utilities on the left and drag "Run Shell Script to the right"

- in the big box on the right paste in this

osascript -e 'do shell script "sudo xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /etc/sysctl.conf" with administrator privileges'

This will remove the quarantine tag from the file, and ask you for your password when it runs so that it can gain the elevated privileges that it requires to move the flag. 

Save this as an application, I used the name fix_wsjt-x but you can call it anything you like. 

Next go to settings, users and Groups find your user and select login items. 

Click the + button and add a new item for the automator app (located in the Applications folder)

A review of the AA-30.Zero Antenna Analyzer

Ok so I bought this because I wanted to analyze my end fed long wire, I wasn't confident that it was working effectively and wanted to understand what the SWR was across the different frequencies.

As I am familiar with arduino stuff I wasn't put off by the fact this device would not work out of the box.

I ordered this part from DX Engineering
https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/reu-aa-30zero

I am really liking them as a vendor, they ship fast and are very responsive to customer service type questions.

Update here - this works really well using a serial break out board and not as well using an arduino. my advice is ditch the arduino and buy a serial break out.


Ok so here is how I go it working with arduino

Step 1, solder on some header pins, I had a spare arduino duo lying around so I broke up the strip of pins to the right number,  put them in the arduino and proceeded to solder them to the AA-30.

A note here, the use of the arduino is basically as a serial to USB converter, I had grand plans to add an oled or something to the setup which I may explore later.

Step 2, Problem 1 - Ok so I needed to upload a sketch to the arduino to make it work, I hit up the rigexpert page here
https://rigexpert.com/products/kits-analyzers/aa-30-zero/getting-started-with-the-zero/
and look there is a sketch to get it started, ok here we go,
Open the arduino IDE
paste in the sketch
ensure the board is set right and com port
upload sketch
FAIL

So the sketch on the site has errors something to do with this line
#include < SoftwareSerial.h >

The second example was using processing so I installed it and tried that example...Fail #2

So I tried googling etc and couldn't find any real info on why this was an issue but as I read the page more I notice this link
https://github.com/RigExpertDev/AA-30.ZERO

I noticed the example here had a different import statement so I tried that and it worked.

Ok now I had a sketch on the arduino....what now.

Step 3 do a test - the example site shows 3 commands to send to the board to run a test
FQ14500000
SW1000000
FRX10
I was able to send the commands to the board using a terminal emulator connected to the serial port and I got a response.

Ok what next the examples show some nice graphs..I want one of those :)

Step 4 make it pretty - Ok next I wanted a graph of the results, using processing had failed for me, I tried the example on the github repo and managed to get a blank screen so I abandoned that. I remembered reading about antscope and found the info on the starting part of the rigexpert page.

I found this link
https://rigexpert.com/products/antenna-analyzers/aa-30-zero/downloads/
Downloaded this and installed it on my windows machine. Followed the instructions once I set the com port for the arduino & the analyzer type there was a reassuring message that the analyzer was detected...woo hoo some progress

I plugged in my antenna, set the frequency range and away it went, there was the graph I was looking for.

A couple of side notes.
First I think it would have been easier to get a USB serial break out board and use that instead of the arduino, this worked a heck of a lot better and made it work with mac using a program called aaplot, which works with Rig Expert analyzers I like the graph in the windows app better

IC-5100 - The Saga Continues

So after having the Ic-4100 for a few weeks I got sick of bringing it inside and putting it back in the car all the time. I decided that I could justify a second radio, as the things I am lacking most is spare time, I need to embrace every second I can for my hobbies.

I considered buying a second IC-4100 but in the end decided to drop a little more, and get the IC-5100,. Again I wanted to be in the d-star ecosystem and I decided I wanted the dual receivers as I still enjoyed listening to the local FM repeaters although to be honest I have never really talked on them.

By comparison the IC-5100 seemed like taking a step back to the 80's the display was much bigger but a lot lower resolution. In an age where everyone is trying to jam as much information into as many pixels into smaller and smaller screens the pixels on this thing were massive.

I didn't bother with any add ons for this rig, I kind of wasted money on the accessories for the last one, so I went with it as is.

This radio is good it operates well, not that I'm trying for any majorly long distance QSO's or anything I spend most of the time using it to speak to the d-star AP about 30cm from the back of the radio :)

I really feel that the screen on this radio lets it down, but its functional and does what it is supposed to do.

IC-4100 - An entry to a hobby

At the time I bought this radio I was a complete noob, newly licensed and no practical experience. I wanted to buy into the D-star ecosystem for various reasons. Firstly because I knew I was unable to put up antenna's in my rental house, secondly because my dad in Australia had a D-star radio and had spoken about using the system for world wide communications.

So I bought the radio off amazon and got it the same day :) I head about things like bluetooth modules and cables to use terminal and AP mode, so I ordered them as well.

First impressions
This radio has a really small display, It seemed somewhat intuitive to use, the menu navigations just kind of made sense.

I put the radio in the car with a glass mount 2m/70cm antenna and it seemed to work the way I expected.

Then came d-star, which I will cover in a separate blog post.

What I will say about the bluetooth module, and cable for AP/Terminal mode is don't bother, I bought these not really knowing what they did, so here is the summary.

The bluetooth module allows you to use a companion app on your phone for various things, I found (and have with all things bluetooth) the connection was flakey and results were lukewarm. I quickly reverted to using the menus on the radio for operation rather than the app...I mean the radio is in the car and looking at the phone screen wasn't all that safe. Here is a tip for Icom if they want this to be useful work with Google and Apple to get their app integrated into Android Auto and Car play.

As for AP/ Terminal mode, this didn't really function the way I had wanted it to. I really wanted this to enable me to talk directly to repeaters without consuming air time on a local repeater, as I always kind of feel guilty about this.

This is kind of what it is but not quite, so for the sake of this I will focus on Terminal mode. What I imagined was that the radio would use the data on my phone to connect to repeaters, was not quite right, I could use the data on my phone to connect to reflectors but I didn't know this at the time.

I quickly lost interest in this for a couple of reasons. Firstly there is so much conflicting information and I ended up mucking around with TCP/UDP port forwarding more than anything else, the actual ports required seemed to be different on almost every web page.

Second I managed to score a cheap DVAP and this was a much better option that worked a lot more robustly than the flakey software and information around the Icom suggested methods.

As this radio was capturing my interest I found that more and more I was bringing the radio inside, and eventually built one of these antennas

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:42yn1TZIFuIJ:kv5r.com/ham-radio/simple-2-meter-antenna/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

I was able to have this up outside in an umbrella stand and as such didn't really need to put an antenna up.

This turned out to be a disaster and in the end I bought a copper J-pole off ebay which gave me remarkably improved coverage from my house.

This radio now has a permanent home in my truck, and I use it with pi-star based d-star hotspot and my cars wifi to talk to people (including my Dad) all over the world.

I would probably buy this radio again it has done well, a larger screen would be nice, and also some backlit text on the function buttons under the screen would be very useful.