Setting up a remote, electrically independent, low power EchoLink relay
Aus DL8RDS Wiki
This is actually a quite big project. It involves several sub-projects and precursors.
- Purchasing the Cisco Linksys WRTSL54GS - done
- A MAX232 level shifter - built and usable
- Flashing OpenWRT to the WRTSL54GS - done
- Compiling and installing my own OpenWRT image
- Making sure my BX-120 USB-Transceiverinterface works with the Linksys
- Building a Linux Ubuntu package of TheLinkBox - done
- Compiling a TheLinkBox package for OpenWRT
- Testing
- Deployment at DB0MHB with my Standard C-408 as a TRX system
- Care for the electrical power supply. The Linksys operates 4.1 Watts. I don't know yet how much power the BX-120 consumes. My C-408 consumes quite little. Yet, I don't know how much exactly. I intend to provide an according solar panel.
- Care for connectivity to my station network over DSL. DB0MHB is about 5 km away. Hope, it works.
Important News:
- My focus has shifted away from the Linksys, turning towards the ASUS WL-500GP model. Reason: It has two USB ports instead of one.
- Yet another change: I am no longer going to use the ASUS router for Echolink control, because there are these new INTEL ATOM CPUs out there now. I am going to give them a try. And the TRX will not be a Bosch KF-166, but a Kenwood TR-7625. It's cheap, it's robust, it's well to repair and it's efficient. And it has a lot of power reserves (25 watts).
- 2009-09-09 After an intermediate success based on the Intel ATOM, I turned to the BeagleBoard. And it works!!! A SVXLink Server based on the BeagleBoard