Since several of the devices on which OpenWRT runs have USB interfaces, it would be interesting to see if some of the ham radio programs which run on PC sound cards could be ported over to OpenWRT. I might take up this task on my own, but anyone interested in encouraging me / working on it / testing should let me know so the effort cane move along faster.

If they're currently running on a PC Sound Card, they aren't software controlled radios.  So, what do these Ham Radio programs do?  Is it something that would benefit from running on a WiFi Access Point / Router / Firewall device?

Take Care,
David Baldock

What these programs do is to use the sound card as a specialized modem for digital ham radio. You would connect them to the microphone and speaker of a ham radio transceiver.  These new modes of digital communication can be used on 'shortwave' HF radio to span the world at low speed (think 31 bps) or comparatively high speed using VHF/UHF radio for more local communication (up to a hundred miles or so). The most you can get out of a soundcard modem is about 9600 bps. So this isn't great for web surfing but it's a fun hobby.

To answer your second question, about running on an AP type device: Often, the radios and computers used in VHF/UHF communication are located on the top of a mountain or tall building to get better range, much like a lot of WiFi hackers do to create mesh networks, etc. The low power consumption of an AP-like device is attractive because it makes running the radio station off of wind or solar power. The small size and low cost is helpful as well. Ham radio is limited to passing non-encrypted, non-commercial traffic that meets community standards (i.e. porn is frowned upon). The prohibition on encryption and commercial  traffic means that in general, ham radio should not be used as a replacement for wifi. Of course, traffic that is private and pre-screened for content can pass. Also, while encrpytion is prohibited, digital signatures are not.

There is support for the VHF/UHF modes in the Linux kernel. It's very mature code. The HF modes may be trickier to get working in a text environment. If you're interested in learning more about this digital ham radio stuff, do a web search for psk31, mfsk16, and DominoEX.

It is worth noting that you no longer need to know Morse code to get a ham radio license. Online practice exams are available, and a great way to study for the test. It's not hard - it just takes a bit of time and effort to learn enough to pass the test. How much time it takes, depends on the background knowledge you already have.

It is possible that the technology developed for ham radio applications could be used on a commercial, business band radio. I am not sure exactly what the licensing process here would be, but I imagine that the equipment would have to be FCC certified (which is not true of ham radio equipment).

Thanks for the thorough answer!  Sounds pretty interesting, and the technology has been moving right along.

My exposure to Ham Radio dates back to the mid-70's to mid-80's.  In the 70's, I had a Jr. High School Spanish teacher whose husband was a Ham operator. His name was Tom Pickle, and in his Ham shack (besides his various voice and key sets) he had some old teletype machines that had been part of the communications system in Union Railway Station at Little Rock, Arkansas.  In the 80's, when I was in Tech School at Texas A&M, one of our teachers demonstrated Packet Radio with an automotive Ham tranceiver connected to a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 laptop, using a kit-built interface that went between the serial port and the Microphone/Speaker jacks.

Sounds like you're talking about an updated version of those old technologies.

Take Care,
David Baldock

(Last edited by dbaldock on 25 Aug 2007, 03:49)

I don't think psk31 would be needed ---

802.11g has been deemed ok to use in the 2.4Ghz ham bands and iv been looking to learn how to set the channel to -1 or 0, its outside of the usa private wireless .... but inside of the Ham allocation ..

Im sure practically any Voip will work for ham voice ....

I have not done any packet radio in 15 years but it could be interesting to see if it's possible to hook up a USB modem such as a BayCom on OpenWRT. No need of a sound card and low CPU requirements.

VE2OMS

Not needed - the usb modem ... -

SV2AGW has a tcpip virtual engine that passes ax.25 through the internet .... Im sure others do too ..

So computer connected via lan to router thats on ch0 or ch-1 connected to a packet node on 802.11g

But .... how to get the router onto "CH0" ??
I have an Atheros based router, surely it can do this?

Why can't one do encryption on shortwave radio?  Is this a law in the US?