forum.pistar.uk

Hi.

Pi-Star v4.1.2 On Raspberry PiZero W. OS and Pi-Star Software "Up to date" as of last night (October the 2nd.)

JumboSpot v1.7 Hat, running HS_Hat:v1.4.17 firmware (Single Radio, NOT duplex.)

0.96 inch Oled (128 x 64 pixel) display.

Currently connecting to the Brandmeister UK 2341 network server successfully, TG's Selected and enabled. (235, 2351, 2352, 9990.) Using my G0WBX call ID (+ the 01 tag) as it's base identity.

I can see gateway activity in the dashboard just fine. The MMDVM board indicates (by the LED's) it is transmitting on (438.800) that I can hear on an analogue FM radio, but my Motorola DP3600 though indicating channel activity, is not recognising any data to decode, so stay's silent.

CORRECTION!
While typing this, I have just heard someone, VE3RPH it seems, 'Testing' using 9990, so RX on the Motorola would seem to be OK after all...

However...
If I try and transmit from the Moto', to the Pi-Star, the MMDVM board indicates it is receiving a DMR signal with the LED's, but the Pi-Star ignores the result. Absolutely no indication on the Oled display at all, and no entry in the local RF activity on the Dashboard, or via the Brandmeister self care pages.

It also seems to stop passing received gateway traffic, after I've tried transmitting to it from the radio. But there is no indication of trouble, not on the OLED, LED's, Dashboard or BM status pages.

Question1:- What are the "Detailed" needs of the Pi-Star re a Motorola code-plug channel entry configuration, over and above "Frequency, Colour code, Time-slot and Talk-group? That my not be the default's as set by the code-plug editor.

Question2:- I have two call's (G0WBX and G8KBV) The handheld radio (the DP3600) is ID'd as G8KBV, is that going to be a problem? If so, is there a way to accommodate it, as another radio (A DM4600) also has the call and ID for G0WBX, that I was not planning on using with the Pi-Star.

(I have many times in the past, successfully created zones and channel entries for other repeaters just fine...) Does anyone have any example (screen scrapes OK) code-plug details from a Motorola radio, that works with a Pi-Star Hotspot?

Question3:- Regarding the OLED display. It's happily scrolling the Logo as a screen saver, but often (though not always) the display will be scrambled when there is some gateway activity. What other settings among the many undocumented settings in the Pi-Star configuration could affect, or sort that out?

Last Question:- Other than sending via the LAN, a command to shutdown, or clicking the Power OFF "big red button" in the Configuration "Power" page, is there a clean way to shutdown the Pi-Star, other than pulling the power? Any GPIO pin's being monitored for an undocumented switch or push-button? As I have had the SD card corrupted a few times just by pulling the power... (Re-flahing, updating and reconfiguring or reloading a config is totally time consuming, and probably not possible when not in the shack.)

It's an interesting device/system, but utterly frustrating in regards to the lack of detailed documentation, so common sadly with many other open source projects. I've personally spent 8 days on and off in spare moments getting this far. Others I've asked, seem to be users of commercially supplied hotspots and pre-configured radios, and or, don't have the software tools to find out what I'm asking.

73 for now.

Dave G0WBX (and G8KBV, both valid and with independent DMR ID values..)

Thanks KE7FNS, much appreciated.

But of course, I have other questions based on your replies!

The hotspot access configuration needs to be set on public then.
It is defaulted to private and will ignore transmissions from all DMR ID's that do not match what is set in the configuration.
If you are worried about open access you can setup a whitelist for just your two ID's.

OK, That makes sense. As I've been requested to do this for UK RAYNET purposes, "public" access over RF will be useful, as would a whitelist facility... But.. Where are the hidden settings for that?

Other than the Private/Public Firewall switches towards the end of the Configuration screen. (just before the WiFi section) unless my eyes are painted on, I can't see such a setting for the HotSpot side access. I've also looked in the "Expert" section too, but which one of the subsections would that be in? Or what file and section to edit on the SD card, or via SSH.

OK on the OLED funnies, it does the scrolling logo perfectly, so I'll live with it for now. I've got a number of 2x16 LCD text displays too, so I may see about hooking one of them up. The Nextion displays look nice, but again, looking into what is needed to get those setup too, is a bit of a chore as well.

One thing at a time I think. (What functionality is there from the Nextion Touch screens, back into Pi-Star? Can you for example invoke and configure the WiFi configuration parameters for example? Or other configuration items, RF Frequency and say, the WhiteList?)

Thanks too, for the info re the On/Off shim, and similar from Adafuit. Will look into those. A complete & clean power down is what is needed. Ultimately a cased unit with a battery, and minimal controls (unless the Nextion things can do useful stuff) is what I'm aiming at.

73.
Dave (G0WBX/G8KBV)

Hi again.

Thanks for that info re whitelisting. Much appreciated.

However, I seem to have more fundamental issues at the moment, as even if I abandon whitelisting or public settings, and just reconfigure my radio to have the call and ID the Pi-Star expects, though I can receive fine now, I cannot transmit, no audio passes.

OK on the display issues too.

Re the Nextion displays. Well, I've now found several "how to" guides, and they all conflict with each other as to how you set them up, so considering the issues just getting a radio to work with the thing, I'll not be visiting them for a while yet. They are not cheap to buy either I've found. The lower cost sites always seem to be out of stock, or have delivery times outside the website/money shifting co's acceptable window to raise a complaint if no delivery. (Fingers burnt in the past by that.)

I'm going to start a new thread re the Moto' vs Pi-Star issue, as we've drifted somewhat on here.

Thanks again. and 73.

Dave G8KBV/G0WBX.

Hi again.

I think I need to get the pi-star's basic functionality sorted out before adding anything anything like a Nextion display.

Physically adding one, as in wiring it up is not a problem (I'm a hardware guy, happy with mechanical things, and high power RF stuff.)

Flashing code to a SD card is not an issue either, but again, there are so many different versions and display layouts, the choice is varied, but without displayed examples of what to expect when any particular configuration is installed, it just muddies the water as it were.

As you say, so much of this on t'interweb is woefully out of date.

73.

Dave G0WBX.

PD0DIB has updated his screens recently, just download them.

If you have access to Windows download the Nextion editor, load his screens and mess around with them.
https://nextion.tech/nextion-editor/
You can compile them and debug them by using the simulator to see how they work and function. You can run other peoples .tft files in the simulator but you cannot modify them in any way, so I would advise to not even bother with them, only look for .hmi files.

Its very simple to understand and PD0DIB's github is full of information.

Thanks for the pointers, I'll take a look.
Not sure about Github. I have an account there, but have had several bad experiences, loosing code, and also corrupting other's code by accident too! It's not idiot proof! I'm a hardware guy after all

Though, I have designed and created and adapted GPIB based test software for work, that is running happily in various EMC lab's around the place. The sort of stuff you'll never find public sadly.

I've also found what may be a fix for the scrambled OLED display issue. I'll report back when I've tried the proposed fix and checked it. But from the description it sounds promising.

Also, others are taking a look at my configuration files, to see what I've done wrong or not done, regarding the inability to send any audio from the radio to the network via the pi-star.

But it might yet need a socially distanced meetup in a car park with wifi hotspots and PC's etc.

73.
Dave G0WBX.