Linux HAM-HOWTO, Amateur Radio Software List Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ, terryd@extro.ucc.su.oz.au v1.6, 8 April 1995 It is hoped that this list will assist Amateur Radio operators in finding and trying the various amateur radio software that has been written for, or ported to Linux. It is also hoped that as a conse- quence of this information being available that more amateur radio operators will choose Linux as the platform of choice for their exper- imentation, and that software developers will choose Linux as the platform for their software development, further expanding the role of operating systems like Linux in the Amateur Radio field. 1. Introduction. This list was prompted by comments that had been expressed in the various Linux newsgroups about the number of amateur radio operators that were involved with Linux. It seemed to me that I was catching snippets of information here and there relating to development efforts taking place, but I never really knew where to locate either the person responsible for a particular piece of software, or the software itself. The list is growing as new packages are found. This list is not limited to non-commercial software in any way. Taking a serious look at most amateur radio fields shows that most good developments are those that are designed by individuals and that commercial entities have taken up and disseminated to the mass market. I'd like to see the same happen for Linux support for Amateur Radio software too. This list was originally called the RADIOLINUX list, but Matt Welsh suggested that there was no reason why it shouldn't be distributed with the Linux Documentation Project documents, so it has been renamed the HAM-HOWTO and will be made available with the rest of the Linux Documentation. I make no apologies for the name. 1.1. Changes from the previous version Additions: Added clx - packet cluster software Bruce Perens LinuxForHams CDROM SuperiorMorse - thanks Brian and John svgafft - Spectrum analyser Corrections: Updated SatTrack to version 3.1 - thanks Manfred. Updated IPIP daemon to Bdale recombined version. 2. Where to obtain new versions of this list. This list will be periodically posted to the comp.os.linux.announce newsgroup, and to the HAMS list on niksula.hut.fi. It is also available from the following World Wide Web sites: The Linux Documentation Project runs a Web Server and this list appears there as The HAM-HOWTO (http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/HAM- HOWTO.html). Dennis Boylan N4ZMZ makes it available at the following three locations: www.com (http://www.com/linux/radio/index.html), www.hboc.com (http://www.hboc.com/linux/index.html) and www.lan.com (http://www.lan.com/linux/index.html). John Gotts N8QDW makes it available at: www.engin.umich.edu (http://www.engin.umich.edu/~jgotts/linuxhamsoft.html). Alan Hargreaves VK2KVF makes it available in Australia at: www.dap.csiro.au (http://www.dap.csiro.au/RadioLinux). Please let me know if you'd like to make it available somewhere too. I'd like to see it on some Web Servers that are accessible from radio. 3. Satellite Software. The following software is for use in experimentation with Satellite communication. 3.1. MicroSat Ground Station Software Author John Melton, G0ORX/N6LYT, g0orx@amsat.org and Jonathan Naylor G4KLX, g4klx@amsat.org Description Microsat Ground Station software. Status BETA. Version 0.9-Xaw released. System requirements Alan Cox's kernel based AX.25 support ver 1.1.12 or better. X- Windows. The programs make use of the Athena Widgets and look much better with the 3D libraries. Detail This software allows you to use of a KISS tnc to directly communicate with the Microsat series of satellites. It provides an Athena Widgets based X-Windows interface, and allows you a comprehensive range of means of interacting with the satellite. The software should work with any window manager. The software provides the following programs: xpb: broadcast monitor xpg: ftl0 file upload program, message upload program xtlm: telemetry display program downloaded: downloaded file list viewer directory: directory list viewer message: message preparation application viewtext: uncompressed ASCII text file viewer viewlog: display the contents of some log files xweber: special program for downloading webersat images phs: general purpose PACSAT header stripper Where and How to obtain it. John's software is available from: ftp.ucsd.edu (ftp://ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip/incoming/microsat-0.9-Xaw.tar.gz) or ftp.funet.fi (ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/ham/satellite/microsat/microsat-0.9-Xaw.tar.gz). Please check for new versions. Licensing/Copyright GNU Public License. Freely redistributable, No warranty. Contributed by: John Melton, G0ORX/N6LYT, Alan Cox, GW4PTS, Jonathon Naylor, G4KLX 3.2. SatTrack - Satellite tracking program Name SatTrack Author Manfred Bester, DL5KR, manfred@ssl.berkeley.edu, (510) 849-9922 Description Satellite realtime tracking and orbit prediction program with X11 color graphics. Status Version 3.1 has been released. System requirements A vt100 terminal and or X11 server. A Maths Coprocessor is useful but not essential for good performance. Detail SatTrack is a satellite tracking program that has been written in 'C' language on a UNIX workstation. It provides two different live displays, for single or multiple satellites, and two different orbit prediction facilities. Cursor controls used in both live displays are compatible with the VT100 standard, which allows the program to be run basically from any terminal. An optional X Window graphics display shows the typical world map tracking chart. The orbit prediction can be run either interactively or in a batch mode. In the latter case all necessary parameters are specified on the command line. The program uses the NORAD/NASA two-line Keplerian element (TLE) sets directly. The current version of SatTrack can track a single satellite and/or display multiple satellites for a single ground station. It also can control suitable ground station hardware, like antennas and radio equipment, and has an autotrack mode in which it switches automatically between a number of specified satellites. For calibration purposes tracking of the Sun and the Moon are also provided. Future releases will provide more options. SatTrack requires about 5 MB of disk space in the full distribution with eight different world maps (2 styles, with 4 different sizes each, to fit everyone's screen and taste) and less than 1.5 MB of memory at run time. More information can be obtained from the SatTrack WWW Home Page (http://ssl.berkeley.edu/isi_www/sattrack.html) Compiling the software under Linux is quite straightforward. Manfred has designed the Makefile to compile the software directly under your home directory, this is easy to change. The steps I took were: # cd /usr/src # export HOME=/usr/src # gzip -dc sattrack.V3.1.tar.gz | tar xvf - # cd SatTrack/src # vi Makefile {Comment SUN4 compile options} {Uncomment the linux options} {Select the options you want} # make Where and How to obtain it. SatTrack can be found at: ftp.amsat.org (ftp://ftp.amsat.org/amsat/software/Linux/sattrack.V3.1.tar.gz) or ftp.jvnc.net (ftp://ftp.jvnc.net/priv/kupiec/sattrack/sattrack.V3.1.tar.Z) or the SatTrack WWW Home Page (http://ssl.berkeley.edu/isi_www/sattrack-3.1.tar.gz) Licensing/Copyright The software is Copyright of Manfred Bester. It can be used without special permission for non-profit, non-commercial use. For commercial applications a license from the author is required. Contributed by: Manfred Bester, DL5KR 4. Shack Automation Software. Software for simplifying tasks in the shack. Examples might include software for controlling the newer breed of radios, logging programs, QSL database, or antenna rotation. 5. Packet Radio Software for use in conjunction with, or for facilitating packet radio. 5.1. Kernel Based AX.25 networking. Author Alan Cox, GW4PTS, iialan@iifeak.swan.ac.uk Description Software that allows the Linux Kernel to perform AX.25 networking. Status ALPHA. Quite stable though. System requirements Linux kernel 1.0 or later. Detail Alan's software provides the programmer with a berkeley socket based interface to the AX.25 protocol. AX.25 sockets can opened for either connected, or connectionless modes of operation. Support to allow tcp/ip over AX.25 is provided. The user applications has been Jonathon G4KLX. The software comes in two parts, a kernel patch, and the user programs. The user programs included are: axadd to manipulate the AX.25 ARP table. axattach to convert a serial device into a KISS device. axl an AX.25 listener designed to start a PMS when it receives an incoming connection. The PMS is still very new. axsetcall to change the callsign of a port. beacon generated beacon messages every 30 minutes. call A linemode AX.25 connection program. Call allows you to make connections to other AX.25 nodes. It provides file transmit and receive capabilities, and newer versions allow YAPP binary file transfers. listen a demonstration of how to use intercept AX.25 frames at the raw packet level. Useful as a building block for packet tracing for example. Where and How to obtain it. There are a number of different versions of the software. You must choose the one that suits your version of Linux kernel. The software is available from: sunacm.swan.ac.uk (ftp://sunacm.swan.ac.uk/pub/misc/Linux/Radio/) More detail on where and how to obtain the software is provided in the plain text version of the NET-2-HOWTO (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/howto/NET-2-HOWTO) or if you have WWW access at: NET-2-HOWTO via WWW (http://sunsite.unc.edu/mdw/HOWTO/NET-2-HOWTO.html). Licensing/Copyright Most of the software is covered by the GNU Public License, some of the software is Copyright by the Regents of University California Berkeley, and small portions of the user programs are Copyright Phil Karn KA9Q, whose copyright allows unrestricted use by Amateur Radio, Educational Institutions and Commercial KA9Q OEM license holders. Contributed by: Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ. 5.2. JNOS Author Brandon Allbery, KF8NH, bsa@kf8nh.wariat.org Description Brandon ported JNOS to Linux. His port is currently of the 1.09 (aka 1.08df) release of JNOS. Future versions will probably be based on Doug Crompton's evolution of 1.08df. Brandon suggests that JNOS for Linux is primarily of interest to people with existing DOS-based NOS configurations (especially server/switch configurations) who wish to switch to Linux or to escape the 640K barrier. Status The current version is ALPHA.4. Brandon is still tracking down bugs, as well as evolving new features. System Requirements. Any version of Linux along with ncurses 1.8.1 or 1.8.5 (the latter is preferred). Optionally you will require Linux networking (at least loopback) and slattach (kernels pre-1.1.13 or post-1.1.20 required for this). Detail If you include the Linux networking code in addition to JNOS, you can link the two by a slip link running over a pty, so that Linux can provide services to your radio users. In this way you can easily add servers without having to build them into JNOS itself. Brandon has supplied the following list of known bugs: o some servers seem to be causing unexplained exits. o PPP is reported not to work in ALPHA.4, although it worked in ALPHA.3. o BBS forwarding when convers is compiled in but not configured causes core dumps. o the finger server is getting bad filenames. o the bbs W command is case-munging filenames. Where and How to obtain it. You can obtain JNOS for Linux ALPHA.4 at: ftp.ucsd.edu (ftp://ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip/linux/j109lxA4.tgz) ncurses is available on most Linux ftp sites. Licensing/Copyright Brandon's modifications to JNOS are public domain. Most of the pre-existing NOS code is copyrighted and restricted to non- commercial use by the various contributors from Phil Karn on. Contributed by: Brandon Allbery, KF8NH 5.3. N0ARY Packet BBS for UN*X Author Bob Arasmith, N0ARY, ported to Linux (and others) by Bob Proulx, KF0UW, rwp@fc.hp.com Description A packet bbs implemented under UN*X. Status ALPHA. Bob is running version ARY-0.9 on both Linux and HP-UX. The next version from N0ARY which is called 4.0 is in alpha test/development release. Bob has not been able to bring this online yet and is still running 0.9+kf0uw mods. Bob has about half it working with Alan Cox's AX.25 kernel which would be the desirable combination. System Requirements. Linux installation, C Compiler, plus HAM radio TNC hardware. Detail This bbs has an excellent packet user interface. It has a compatible set of commands with the RLI bbs so users will be familiar with it immediately. It then extends the command set to be a very nice natural language style interface (e.g "list at allus about KPC-3"). Many csh style bang commands are supported. Also included is a mail interface to provide a packet to internet gateway. Currently you need to customize the source code for your installation so you need some C programming proficiency. Where and How to obtain it. For a Linux version or for Linux information send mail to rwp@fc.hp.com. For a SunOS version contact bob@arasmith.com. This code is not packaged for distribution yet since it is not past the alpha stage of development. Licensing/Copyright Copyright by Bob Arasmith, N0ARY, but freely redistributable. Contributed by: Bob Proulx, kf0uw, rwp@fc.hp.com 5.4. MBL/RLI message to NNTP and email converter. Author SM0OHI, pme@it.kth.se Description Software that will convert incoming MBL/RLI messages into either NNTP or RFC-822 formatted mail messages. Status Development, not yet released. System requirements Unknown. Detail This software would be ideally suited to those who want to establish a mail and news gateway between conventional tcp/ip networks and the amateur radio mail network. Where and How to obtain it. Not yet availale. Licensing/Copyright Unknown. Contributed by: SM0OHI 5.5. Packet Cluster Node software Author Franta Bendl, DJ0ZY, and Bernhard ("Ben") Buettner, DL6RAI, root@dl6rai.muc.de Description A PacketCluster like system running on Linux. Status Released in March 1995. System Requirements Linux Kernel version 1.1.50 or greater with Alan Cox's AX.25 version 025 driver, TCP/IP networking, SysV IPC. Also needs Perl and KISS TNC hardware on serial device. Detail PacketCluster nodes have been available for about six years. The original software was written by Dick Newell, AK1A, and is running under DOS. clx is a system which clones a PacketCluster node. To the outside user commands and features are mostly identical, remote PacketCluster nodes, which can be networked, don't see the difference between a generic PacketCluster node and clx. So it fits well into an established network of PacketCluster nodes. clx is not a user application, it is network node software. As such it is not of much use for the individual amateur. SysOPs of PacketCluster nodes with some experience on both PacketCluster and Linux will find this application interesting. Here are some of the features of CLX: o It is fully compatible with the internal PCxx protocol and from a users' point of view. It allows multitasking and different priorities for different things. o The software detects looping DX spots without generating endless messages. clx filters out such duplicate information. We have implemented a concept which allows us to connect the network at multiple points, which would formerly have been called a "Cluster Loop". clx knows of so-called "active" and "passive" links. The outcome is that more DX information is seen by clx. o An interface to call your external programs (even dialog programs). o clx uses modern programming concepts like shared memory for common data, lex & yacc to implement command language, shared libraries to keep binaries small (this is still on our wish list), remote procedure calls for inter process communication. It is strictly modularized with its own dedicated process for every major task. o Comprises the following modules: con_ctl interfaces AX.25 kernel code and provides a socket for local users. rcv_ctl manages receive spooling. snd_ctl manages transmit spooling. rm_disp receive message dispatcher, forwards messages to other processes. usr_req user database requests, forks a process for every database task to make it run in the background. The background process later sends the results directly to send_ctl. mb_ctl mailbox control. The mailbox keeps messages in a file system, header information is stored in the database. usr_ctl user administration (logins, logouts, logbook). usc_mng manages external user commands and command extensions. iu_com inter user communication (talk, conference). send_ctl transmit spooling, handling priorities. icl_com inter node communication (processing and generating PCxx messages). clx_ctl system administration, installing shared memory pages. int_com manages internal program communications. o The following is the only application program which can be run on the console: loc_usr allows console operator(s) to log in like a normal user. Future enhance planned are: o A console monitor to watch ongoing activities o Speed optimization o An internal clx protocol o An additional command shell for experienced users Where and How to obtain it: You can obtain clx from ftp.uni-erlangen.de (ftp://ftp.uni- erlangen.de/pub/public/pc-freeware/hamradio/packet/packclus/clx) Licensing/Copyright clx is available for non-commercial use, but the authors want to keep track of who is using their product, so before you can actually use the software you have to ask for an encrypted callsign string to be placed in the configuration file. You must send mail to to organise this. Contributed by: Bernhard ("Ben") Buettner, DL6RAI 5.6. Single floppy disk AX.25 router. Author Alan Cox, GW4PTS, iialan@iifeak.swan.ac.uk Description A single floppy disk version of linux with enough software to allow a PC to act as an AX.25/IP router. Status Development, not yet released. System requirements. As for any Linux system a 386SX class PC or better. Detail No detail yet. Where and How to obtain it. Not yet available. Licensing/Copyright Unknown/Undecided. Contributed by: Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ 5.7. TNT. Author Mark Wahl, DL4YBG, DL4YBG @ DB0BLO.#.DEU.EU, wahlm@zelator.de Description A Hostmode terminal program for TNC's that support the WA8DED hostmode protocol. Status Version 0.8 is reportedly stable. System requirements TNC supporting WA8DED hostmode protocol, serial line. Detail TNT is a full featured hostmode terminal program. Compiling it on Linux is as difficult as untarring the source and typing `make'. It provides both a `dumb' terminal and X11 version. It comes with some comprehensive documentation which describes its features in some detail. Its main features are: Multiple sessions: TNT supports multiple packet radio connections on virtual screens that you can switch between. Each session window provides split screen (seperate transmit and receive text) operation with a status line. Commands can be entered in either a command session, or in any terminal session using a command key. Each of the virtual screens can be larger than the physical screen and can be scrolled around. Data capture, file transfer and logging: A number of options are available for logging received text to files. You can log transmit, receive or both to a log file. You can overwrite or append received data to existing files. You can use the `autobin' protocol to transmit or receive binary files. Remote Shell operation: You can provide a shell to remote users so that they can access other programs on your computer. You can also run a program and direct its input/output to a channel so that users can use it. Redirection of devices to a channel: TNT allows you to redirect input/output from a channel to a device, a modem for example. Umlaut conversion: TNT provides umlaut conversion if necessary. Remote mode: Remote users can issue command themselves if allowed to do so. Socket mode: You can configure tnt so that it opens a socket for users to telnet to that allows them operation just as you have from the console. This is useful where your linux machine is on an ethernet and you want other terminal on the net to have use of your radio. Where and How to obtain it. The software is available by anonymous ftp from: ftp.funet.fi (ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/ham/unix/packet/tntsrc08.tgz). This site is mirrored at a number of places so you will probably find it at other places as well. Licensing/Copyright GNU Public License. Freely redistributable, no warranty. Contributed by: Steffen Weinreich, DL5ZBG. 5.8. IPIP encapsulation daemon. Name Mike Westerhof's IPIP encapsulation daemon. Author Mike Westerhof KA9WSB (original code), then Bdale Garbee N3EUA (port to BSD), then Ron Atkinson N8FOW and John Paul Morrison (port to Linux), then Bdale rolled it all back together again. Description A daemon that will allow you to use your linux machine as an IPIP encapsulating gateway. Status Ron is running this code himself, and the other version have been run quite successfully. System requirements KISS TNC, any version of Linux supporting RAW sockets. Detail If you've ever used an internet gateway from your amateur packet radio you have probably been connected by an encapsulation gateway of some descpription. Most run KA9Q's NOS and DOS, but others run Unix and this daemon. It allows you to encapsulate IP within IP, so that you can 'tunnel' IP connections over the Internet. The software allows you to connect a KISS TNC to your linux machine and to have all datagrams received on it carried across the Internet to a similar gateway. Bdale has installation instructions in the package. Where and How to obtain it. This software is available from the col.hp.com (ftp:///col.hp.com/hamradio/packet/etc/ipip/ipip.tar.gz) ftp site. Licensing/Copyright etc. Freely distributable, though Bdale asks that if you use the code and like it you might send him a QSL card or a postcard. Contributed by: Ron Atkinson, N8FOW, and Bdale Garbee, N3EUA 5.9. AXIP encapsulation daemon. Name Mike Westerhof's AXIP encapsulation daemon. Author Mike Westerhof KA9WSB, ported to Linux by Ron Atkinson N8FOW. Description A daemon that will allow you to use your linux machine as an AXIP encapsul ating gateway. Status Not properly tested, but assumed to work ok. System requirements KISS TNC, any version of Linux supporting RAW sockets. Detail This daemon is the partner to the IPIP encapsulation daemon. It allows you to encapsulate AX.25 frames in IP to carry them across the Internet. This is useful for linking AX.25 networks in remote areas. Ron has supplied a Makefile for linux, and with it the software compiled without errors on my system running a recent version kernel. Ron has also written some README files which give you the detail necessary to compile the system and the original documentation describes how to configure it. Where and How to obtain it. This software is available in the sunsite.unc.edu ham apps directory (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/ham/ax25ip.tar.gz). Licensing/Copyright etc. Freely distributable so long as the original copyright notice is not removed. Contributed by: Ron Atkinson, N8FOW 5.10. Ping-Pong Convers Server Name Fred Baumgartens Convers Server for Linux. Author Fred Baumgarten, DC6IQ, Description This is a version of the convers server that allows multiple users to simultaneously chat with each other in a round-table style conversation. It is compatible with the NOS convers servers, but provides extra facilities such as saving/restoring of Personal Text and Chanel Topics. Status In use of a number of popular convers servers, appears very stable. System requirements. Linux, GNU make, C compiler. Detail. Complete installation instructions are included in the INSTALL file that is included in the distribution. Where and How to obtain it. A distribution of this software is available in the sunsite.unc.edu ham apps directory (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/ham/convers-941122.tar.gz). The home of the software is at insu1.etec.uni-karlsruhe.de ftp server (ftp://insu1.etec.uni- karlsruhe.de/pub/hamradio/convers/convers) Licensing/Copright etc. Presumably copyright Fred Baumgarten (not specifically stated), but some portions appear to be free for non-commercial use and copying provided the copyright notices stay intact. Contributed by: Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ 5.11. Wampes A port of Wampes to Linux. Could someone send me details of the latest wampes release please ? 6. Morse Code Software for use in conjunction with, or for facilitating Morse communication. 6.1. GW4PTS Morse trainer. Author Alan Cox, GW4PTS, iialan@iifeak.swan.ac.uk Description A Morse Code trainer that uses the PC internal speaker Status stable, works quite well, unfinished. System requirements Linux, any version Detail Alan wrote this small program in only an hour. It is quite neat, and allows you to play morse at a range of speeds and frequencies through the PC internal speaker. You can specify the text to be played either from the command line, from a file, or the program is capable of generating random character groups. As it stands you must invoke the program from a Linux Virtual Console, as it relies on certain kernel calls to produce the sound, and these don't work as easily from an XTerm. As it sounds each character it lists the character in verbal form (Di, Dit, Dah etc.) to the screen. Alan is hoping that someone will take the code and enhance it with the features he has listed in the comments at the head of the source file. Where and How to obtain it. I've had a large number of responses from people seeking this code, so I've obtained Alan's permission to make it available. You can obtain it from sunsite.unc.edu (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/ham/GW4PTS.morse.tar.gz). Copyright/Licensing GNU Public License 2, freely redistributable, no warranty. Contributed by: Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ, terryd@extro.ucc.su.oz.au 6.2. morse (aka superiormorse) Author Joe Dellinger, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics, University of Hawaii at Manoa, joe@sep.stanford.edu, jdellinger@trc.amoco.com, joe@soest.hawaii.edu Description A morse-code practice program for UNIX workstations. Status Quite stable System Requirements Currently supports X11, Sun4, HP, Indigo, and Linux Detail Lots of features and options. Includes a utility for generating random content QSOs, similar to those used in the FCC exams. Where and How to obtain it: morse can be obtained from: sepftp.standford.edu (ftp://sepftp.stanford.edu/pub/UNIX_utils/morse/morse.tar.gz). Licensing/Copyright Freely Redistributable Contributed by: Brian Suggs, AC6GV, and John Gotts, jgotts@engin.umich.edu 7. AMTOR Software. Software for use in conjunction with, or for facilitating AMTOR. 8. PACTOR Software. Software for use in conjunction with, or for facilitating PACTOR. 9. Slow Scan Television Software. Software for use in conjunction with, or for facilitating Slow Scan Television. 10. Facsimile Software. Software for use in conjunction with, or for facilitating Facsimile. 11. Design and Construction Software. Software to assist in the design and construction of amateur radio related things. Antenna, Circuit Board, Filter, and QSL card design packages are all good candidates for this section. 11.1. Software Oscilloscope Author Jeff Tranter, Jeff_Tranter@Mitel.COM Description Scope is a simple software emulation of an oscilloscope. It graphically displays voltage as a function of time. Status ALPHA. First release. System requirements Sound card with input capability supported by the kernel sound driver. SVGALIB is used to do the display work. Detail Scope uses the /dev/dsp device to take audio in from the soundcard and displays it on the screen in a manner similar to an oscilloscope. Jeff claims Scope was written more for amusement value than for any serious purpose. Where and How to obtain it. You can obtain source, makefile and man page for Scope from: sunsite.unc.edu (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/circuits/scope-0.1.tar.gz) Licensing/Copyright GNU Public License, Freely redistributable, No warranty. Contributed by: Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ 11.2. irsim Author Dmitry Teytelman, dim@leland.stanford.edu Description An event-driven logic-level simulator for MOS circuits Status Version 8.6, production. System Requirements X-Windows. Detail irsim is an X11 based simulator for MOS circuits. It has two simulation modes, either switch where each transistor is modelled as a voltage controlled switch, or linear where each transistor is modelled as a resistor in series with a voltage controlled switch, and each node has a capacitance. Where and How to obtain it. You can obtain irsim from: sunsite.unc.edu (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/circuits/irsim.tar.z). Licensing/Copyright Freely Redistributable Contributed by: Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ 11.3. Spice Author University of California, Berkeley, ported by eoahmad@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg Description Spice is an analog circuit emulator. Status Stable release. Last fortran version produced. System requirements Unknown. Detail Spice allows you to design and test circuits in a computer modelled environment to see how they will behave without having to touch a soldering iron, or solder. Where and How to obtain it. You can obtain version 2g6 of Spice from: sunsite.unc.edu (ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/circuits/spice2g6.tar.z) Licensing/Copyright Copyright held by University California, Berkeley. Freely redistributable. Contributed by: Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ 11.4. svgafft - Spectrum analyser Author Andrew Veliath, drewvel@ayrton.eideti.com Description svgafft is a spectrum analyser for Linux. Status Alpha software, but usable. System requirements Linux supported sound card, svgalib, a 486DX33 or better. Detail svgafft uses the /dev/dsp device and currently supports 16-bit and 8-bit sample resolution on supported Linux soundcards. It's display is something akin to a high-end spectrum analyzer with falling peaks. Where and How to obtain it: Look for svgafft-0.2.tar.gz on sunsite.unc.edu Licensing/Copyright Unknown, check any README supplied. Contributed by: Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ. 12. Training/Educational Software. Software to assist in education or training for amateur radio. Morse Code tutorials, technical examination database, Computer Based Training software, and the like are listed here. 13. Miscellaneous Software. Software that didn't neatly fit into any other category. 13.1. Linux for HAMS CD-ROM Author Bruce Perens, bruce@pixar.com Description A complete linux distribution on CDROM specifically designed for Amateur Radio operators. Status Not yet available. System requirements. Linux compatible hardware, some software will obviously require specialised hardware to operate. No additional software should be required. Detail A complete Linux distribution specifically catering for Amateur Radio operators. It will include a fully featured Linux installationplus a range of amateur radio specific software such as those listed in this document. Bruce has detail and updated status report available at the LinuxForHams WWW page (http://www.rahul.net/perens/LinuxForHams). Where and how to obtain it: It isn't yet available, details will be made available when it is released. Licensing/Copyright Unknown. Contributed by: Bruce Perens, bruce@pixar.com 13.2. SunClock Author John Mackin, john@cs.su.oz.AU Description A clock that will show you instantly what parts of the globe are exposed by sunlight and what parts aren't. Status Released. System requirements. X-Windows. Detail sunclock is another of those desktop gadgets that most people think look nice but really don't have a lot of use for. I use sunclock to obtain an at-a-glance indication of the time anywhere in the world. In its iconic form it sits in a small Mercator projection. When maximised it produces the same image but obviously larger with slightly more detail. It also displays the date, local time and UTC. sunclock actually calculates mathematically what parts of globe are sunlit and which aren't, it seems quite accurate, so long as you assume the earth has no atmosphere. Where and How to obtain it. I haven't seen any precompiled sunclock binaries for Linux about, so check your nearest archie server. sunclock compiled straight out of the box for me. Licensing/Copyright Public Domain and may be freely copied as long as the notices at the top of sunclock.c remain intact. Contributed by: Terry Dawson, VK2KTJ 13.3. Xearth Author Kirk Lauritz Johnson, tuna@cag.lcs.mit.edu, modified by Dimitris Evmorfopoulos, devmorfo@cs.mtu.edu. Description A rotating earth for X-windows root window. It has real life shading, and options for geostatic view, and non geostatic view. A prettier and more modern version of sunclock but requires a bit more processing power. Status released, stable. System requirements. X-Windows. Detail xearth is much like sunclock except that it draws a view of the earth onto your root map in blue and green, as the earth would be viewed from space. You have a number of options in determining the behaviour of the view. You can either have it so that the same part of the earth is displayed, and the sun rotates, so you'll have varying light and shadow on the display, or you can have it shown as if you were travelling with the sun, so the whole of the globe is visible, and the earth rotates. You can specify the latitude/longtitude that will be the centre of the display. xearth is also capable of producing gif and ppm graphics output, so you can generate custom graphics of the globe. When run as your root map, you can adjust the interval of time between updates. On my 486sx25 you notice a small degradation in performance when it is recalculating, but it's not annoying. Where and How to obtain it. A precompiled xearth binary is available from: sunsite.unc.edu, or the source can be obtained from just about any X11/contrib directory. Try export.lcs.mit.edu if you can't find it elsewhere. Licensing/Copyright Copyright (C) 1989, 1990, 1993 by Kirk Lauritz Johnson. The copyright notice included states that xearth is freely redistributable so long as the copyright notice is left intact, and be included in documentation. Contributed by: Alan Cox, GW4PTS. 14. How to contribute or update an entry. I'd like for this list to be as complete and up-to-date as possible. So I'm keen to hear about any developments or products that I don't already know about, or that the entry is obselete or outdated for. What I'd like as a minimum set of requirement would be something like the following: Name The name of the software in question. Author Who wrote, or ported the software. An email address, or some other means of contacting them is also essential. Description A single line description of what the software does. Status An indication of the software's status. Is it still in testing? Is it a production release? Is it still in the design stage? System requirements What does the software require to run? Does it require X- Windows? Does it need a soundcard? Does it need a certain version of kernel? Does it need other software to support it? Detail I'm not keen on including a large amount of detail on each piece of software as this would consume a lot of time reading and trying to keep up to date. So instead what I'd like to list is what makes this software unique, anything special about it. Perhaps its most outstanding features, that sort of thing. Where and How to obtain it. If the software is freely distributable then ftp details would be great. If it is commercial software then the name of the company distributing the software, and an address or telephone number. If it is available only by some other means, say mail order, then details on where and how to obtain it. Licensing/Copyright Is the software Copyleft? Copyright? Shareware? Public Domain? Restricted in use in any way? Don't worry if you don't know all of these details, just send me what you do know and I'll list what I can. I'd rather have an incomplete listing than no listing at all. Please mail any contributions to: terryd@extro.ucc.su.oz.au or terry@orac.dn.itg.telecom.com.au I'd list a packet radio address too but I'm still not properly operational again yet after moving house. 15. Discussion relating to Amateur Radio and Linux. There are various places that discussion relating to Amateur Radio and Linux take place. They take place in the comp.os.linux.* newsgroups, they also take place on the HAMS list on niksula.hut.fi. Other places where they are held include the tcp-group mailing list at ucsd.edu (the home of amateur radio tcp/ip discussions), and I believe there is an `IRC' channel that sometimes is used to discuss them as well. To join the Linux HAMS channel on the mail list server, send mail to: linux-activists@niksula.hut.fi with the line: X-Mn-Admin: join HAMS at the top of the message body (not the subject line). To join the tcp-group send mail to: listserver@ucsd.edu with the line: subscribe tcp-group in the body of the text. Note: Please remember that the tcp-group is primarily for discussion of the use of advanced protocols, of which tcp/ip is one, in Amateur Radio. Linux specific questions should not ordinarily go there.