Random Wire 147: Hodgepodge from the hospital room

Before the net this week there was some traffic, so I recorded a little bit of it on my smartphone in a very noisy hospital room. You will hear a hum in the background — that isn’t coming from the M17 signal but from the HVAC system and medical equipment in the hospital room.

Several good topics were discussed, including:

• The first Zero Retries Digital Conference, coming up very soon.

• The LinHT and how that project is progressing.

• Connect Systems radios (CS-7000 and CS-7000 Plus).

• The differences between various digital modes and why M17 matters.

A parallel chat session at https://www.ham.live/views/dashboard was also held with plenty of good questions and answers around M17.

(There is also M17 Activity Day, aka M17 Activity Friday, which seems like an informal “hey, let’s all use M17 today” kind of casual net.)

Later, I captured some audio from the Kansas City Wide M17 reflector, piping it directly into Audacity to avoid picking up the noise in the room around me:

It’s important to recognize that this audio capture isn’t pure M17. The speaker was coming into KCWide over some other digital mode, perhaps DMR or YSF (Yaesu System Fusion). But the audio recording gives you a fair idea of what you might hear on KC Wide through the M17-KCW reflector.

Kansas City Wide has a lot of nets, all week long. You can listen or join via several different digital modes:

Please join us in Kansas City Wide for our many nets. Most are non-directed and informal. Access via local repeater, System Fusion Room 28054, YSF Reflector US-KCWide, DMR Talkgroup 313136, P25 Talkgroup 31313, D-Star XRF458A, Hamshack Hotline 94077, or Echolink. All are welcome!

Since Hamshack Hotline is now offline, KCWide has added Hams Over IP as one of the way to connect:

America’s Kansas City Wide digital network is reachable via Hams Over IP VOIP telephone at extension 15135. This provides a 100% digital connection between your desk or your cell phone and the KCWide network.

If you couldn’t tell, I enjoy the depth and breadth of what KCWide offers to radio amateurs.

A new digital interface

Meet the LiNK500:

The LiNK500 is what you call a true plug-and-play device. It combines a high-quality sound card, CAT control, GPS, and a TNC in a compact housing. With just one USB-C cable, you connect it to your computer, and it provides you with a sound card for audio and three virtual ports for CAT, GPS, and the TNC. The device is compatible with almost any computer and operating system, as well as with tablets and smartphones. A special highlight is the TNC’s Bluetooth connectivity.

Sounds tempting. The closest analogue I can think of is a DigiRig device plus GPS, Bluetooth, and a built-in APRS tracker. Linking cables are available for the Icom IC-705 and a short list of Yaesu transceivers (817, 818, 857, 891). Since I have an FT-891, this becomes even more tempting.

Find the LiNK500 at https://diy599.net/products/link500.

HF antennas ordered

I anticipate having some time to get on the HF bands in the next few months, so I bought a reasonably priced vertical antenna from Ham Radio Outlet:

MFJ MFJ-2980

33 Foot Feather Lite 7 – 54 MHz Wire Vertical Antenna – 600 Watts

The price seemed quite fair at $99.95, but since it comes as an oversize package, the delivery charge was a bit surprising at $49.95.

I’ll also have a telescoping metal whip, and if I remember where I stored my end-fed halfwave wire, I can use that, too. On the off chance I don’t find my old EFHW Chameleon antenna, I ordered a 6-20 meter off-center fed wire from Palomar:

Bullet End Fed OCF Antenna System, 100-1500 Watt Options, 25 Feet, 20-6 meters+WARC, Vertical Radiator for Easy DX, SOTA, POTA

I ordered the 100-watt OCF antenna for $120. It can be used as a vertical wire, a horizontal wire, a sloper, and an L antenna. It’s short at just 25 feet long, so I may be able to use the MFJ 33-foot mast with the Palomar OCF antenna. We’ll see!

When I was first licensed, I built a shortened OCF antenna that worked surprisingly well. I say surprisingly because I was shocked that it worked at all. (I did not grow up working with electronics so even simple things still seem pretty amazing to me.) I made a lot of contacts with that simple antenna so the idea of a new OCF antenna is rather pleasing.

A modular Raspberry Pi Zero case

This case is probably unlike any other Raspberry Pi Zero case you’ve encountered. I’ll call it the Argon POD System. It is a set of modular case components that can be combined to add functionality. The photo below shows three modules snapped together, giving me several more USB-A ports plus a standard Ethernet jack on the back of the case.

That’s a big case for the diminutive Raspberry Pi Zero. Let’s break it down.

First is the RPi Zero case itself. As you would expect, it is not much larger than the RPi Zero board. At just $10, it features an aluminum body with a plastic top and bottom.

The back of the case has the microUSB and HDMI ports you expect to see on an RPi Zero board. The microSD port is exposed on one end (not shown in the following photo). The case comes with a bit of thermal tape that connects the RPi processor to the aluminum case for heat transfer.

Maybe you’d rather have a couple of full-size USB ports. No problem. Just snap the main RPi POD module to the Argon POD USB-HDMI module, using the ports as connectors.

In the photo above, the main POD module contains the RPi Zero and the right-hand POD module has the USB-A ports, an HDMI port, and a microUSB power port.

Now, what if you want to use a standard Ethernet cable to jack into the machine? You are out of luck unless you snap on the Argon POD USB-LAN module. This adds four USB-A ports (two on the back, two on the front) and an Ethernet port.

All in all, it makes for a handsome little chunk of a machine. There is also a matching capacitive screen that can go on top, but I haven’t experimented with that yet.

I discovered a few gotchas along the way. First, the caps on the main RPI Zero POD and the USB-HDMI POD simply snap onto the body of the case. If your use case is in a vehicle or you’ll be frequently picking up and moving the case, the Argon POD system might not be your best choice.

Second, you don’t need the header pins soldered to the Raspberry Pi Zero board unless you are going to need them for something, or if you are going to add the capacitive screen. In my implementation, I simply used a Raspberry Pi Zero 2WH board that I had on hand as it already had the headers soldered in.

Third — and I feel this is an oversight by the Argon 40 folks — there is no USB-C port. Especially for powering the device, it seems like there was an opportunity to change the microUSB power port on the USB-HDMI module to a USB-C port. As it is, you’ll either have to use a microUSB power supply or get an adapter if you wish to use a different form factor for powering the Pi.

Fourth, the LED diffuser lens fits loosely in the main POD hole. Whenever I turned the pod over, it would fall out and then rattle around inside the case.

To fix that, I brushed a very small amount of superglue to the lip of the lens, then used my long tweezers to carefully place it in the hole. That worked great:

It’s been running for a few days, around the clock, and at idle it is a very normal 106 to 107°F. Under load it hit 120°F. That’s not bad for a passively cooled case.

The easiest place to see the collection of POD modules is on Argon 40’s shop page, at: https://argon40.com/collections/zero-board-kits

Pricing is reasonable: $10 for just the RPi POD, or $20 if you buy the RPi POD and the USB-HDMI module together. Add another $20 if you want even more USB-A ports and a standard Ethernet port.

Coming up

Trying antennas

I’ll be trying various wire and telescoping antennas over the next several weeks. I’d like one I can carry easily in the pickup truck that is quick to set up and performs well on 6 to 20 meters (40 meters would be a bonus).

I’ve pulled my Yaesu FT-450D and Yaesu FT-891 radios out of storage. I just need to find time to get them set up again. Once I have a good antenna setup working at the lake house QTH, I also want to play some with the HFSignals zBitx. I envision the zBitx becoming part of my portable radio kit for use when I’m traveling.

ZUMspot-USB device

In my ongoing quest for easy, small, radio-based devices for digital modes, I’m going to try a ZUMspot-USB. The product documentation says it supports the M17 protocol, but I think that will depend on BlueDV on my Windows laptop. It’s not clear to me that BlueDV supports M17, so that will be a worthwhile test. If it doesn’t work, I can still use the Zumspot-USB for DMR, D-STAR, and Fusion.

MX Linux

Since MX Linux has a version for ARM-based computers, I want to try it on my RPi 4 or RPi 5 machine. In particular, the RPi 5 with MX Linux and an XFCE or KDE desktop environment might work pretty well. I’m curious, so I’ll poke at the operating system to see whether I like it. I’m sure that giving AllStarLink 3 software a try on the MX Linux platform is in the offing, too.

TD H3 Plus radio

I bought a pair of radios: TIDRADIO TD-H3 Plus Ham Radio Handheld,Bluetooth-headphone-connectable,Wireless Programming, Multi-band Walkie Talkies Long Range NOAA Emergency Weather Radios for Survival Gear Hunting Crystal 2 Pack

I did this after reading about a radio amateur who listened to the pilot’s radio traffic while on an airplane, using his Google Pixel earbuds connected to the TD-H3 Plus radio over Bluetooth. Yep, I’d like to try using regular over-the-counter Bluetooth earbuds and headphones with this radio. Might be a game changer, especially as a way to avoid disturbing the family late at night and for us while traveling.

Closing…

Under the miscellaneous category, I realized my installation of AllScan on my AllStar “node in the cloud” at https://kj7t.net was out of date, so I updated it to the latest AllScan release. Significantly, AllScan version 0.96, released on August 30, 2025, made a major change, according to the release notes:

Use of allmon.ini files has now been removed. Node# and AMI Cfgs can now be set on the Cfgs Tab, or if not set there will be read from /etc/asterisk/rpt.conf and manager.conf.

As I write the actual closing, it’s 5:00 am in the hospital. I’ve spent a couple of nights on a hospital recliner that I’m certain was designed to look comfortable but actually works to slowly torture the unfortunate person who sits or sleeps in it. It is the most uncomfortable thing to sleep on, so much so I’ve considered sleeping on the cold, hard floor.

During the day, the hospital is jammed with people bustling about. Everyone is going somewhere and doing something. Things are happening! But at 5:00 am, it’s more like a library: quiet, the lights are turned down, and the atmosphere is more peaceful. The roar of the daily grind is but a faint murmur at this time of the day. To avoid disturbing my wife with my keyboarding (and my groaning as I stretch sore muscles from that blankety-blank recliner) I moved down to the lobby to use one of the simple wooden mini-cubicles that seem just the right height for a laptop computer. With a wire mesh chair, this seems wonderfully comfortable, compared to trying to use the recliner.

Floating in my mind is a rather big thought: the importance of community, of feeling connected to others. When my wife had her major incident on May 8th of this year, a friend I’ve known for 30 years came and sat in the small, rural hospital’s emergency room all morning. I was inside with my wife. Even though he wasn’t allowed in, he sat there, just a few walls away, and kept me company by texting me continuously. I don’t know how he knew I was feeling overwhelmed and adrift, but he made sure I wasn’t alone. Later, when my wife had been packed onto a fixed wing aircraft to be flown to Seattle, he took me to lunch. We sat outside on a sunny day and talked while hawks circled overhead and small, fluffy clouds slowly drifted by. That lunch lasted nearly two hours. What he did for me that day by just being present was something I didn’t know I needed, and I am forever indebted to him for it. There is a takeaway there for me, too: just be present for the people you care about. Being present is enough and it is meaningful.

My relationship with him began innocently enough. I was managing a natural resources conservation district in a remote part of Washington State and he was the new manager of my neighboring district. I waited about a week for him to get settled in his new job then called him to offer whatever I could that might help him succeed. We got together and talked over coffee. Then we did it again. Having the same jobs in similar geographies, we had a lot in common. Those one-on-one conversations became a regular thing that blossomed into a friendship that has lasted for several decades. It turns out that by reaching out and offering help, I ultimately received trust, compassion, learning, and friendship.

As radio amateurs, most of us are familiar with the usual banter heard over the air. Comments about the weather, or the amateur’s station equipment, or their health challenges seem to be the top three topics in those conversations. What are we really doing when we have such QSOs? We are connecting around things that we might have in common.

I used to think those conversations were silly and useless. Now I see them as threads that help connect people, even when they don’t realize that’s what they are doing. When we share what we have in common, we also create opportunities to share what makes each of us unique. Those moments of sharing help create the sense of belonging to something that many of us not only want but need. We are part of a community — a very large, very extended family — comprised of people we are close to, people we are acquainted with, strangers, and yes, those odd family members who don’t seem to fit in.

We are there, in those moments, ostensibly because we want to “play radio.” I think we’re really there because we crave being part of a community of radio amateurs. I often think of my community as the hams in my home amateur radio club. They are the voices I recognize on the radio and we have history together. Other times, I realize that my community is very much larger, primarily because of this newsletter. While we rarely talk with each other, something resonates or people would not continue to subscribe.

I appreciate all comments, criticism, feedback, ideas, tips: anything and everything. While I can’t always help solve a problem (I’m thinking of you, my radio friend in Italy!) I enjoy trying, and in the trying, I learn more about amateur radio, more about the person I’m working with, and more about myself. Connections are created that may seem lightweight and almost meaningless, but they are still threads that help us weave this thing called community. Such connections are important because everyone is going through something.

I was recently introduced to the concept of sonder, which means:

The profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing in the street, has a life as complex as one’s own, which they are constantly living despite one’s personal lack of awareness of it.

I think that while our innocent conversations about weather, stations, and medical issues may mask what each of us is going through, they help us form relationships that sometimes deepen to the point we get a glimpse of what someone else is going through. Such moments of deep human connection are a gift and have value that I can’t define, but I know they are important.

I now try to enjoy those silly comments about the weather, what radio your contact is using, and how arthritis is making it hard to do things like summits on the air. The truth is we never know which of those conversations is going to lead to a deeper, more fulfilling relationship. Occasionally, we are gifted a glimpse into what someone else is going through. Such moments help provide context around the things we might be going through and offer moments to build meaningful friendships.

Now it is 6:00 am in the hospital lobby. A Starbucks Coffee place is about 40 feet away. Workers just arrived to get set up for the day. I hear buckets of ice being poured, bumping and clattering of things as they make sure everything is clean, restocked, and ready for customers. They open in just 30 minutes so I think I’ll wait here for a bit, think about people and amateur radio, and then get my first coffee of the day.

73 to all. Remember to touch a radio every day!