You asked, we listened: VARA & VARA FM beta

[Chris Keller]

Folks,

It's been a long road, but we're now ready to accept beta testers for Pat integration with VARA and VARA FM!

While it's not ready for prime-time, we're confident enough to let some test subjects brave souls try it out. All that we ask is that you let us know about your experience, positive or negative.

The beta downloads can be found in this GDrive folder. In addition to installing that, you'll want to add this to your Pat configuration file:

  "vara": {
    "host": "localhost",
    "cmdPort": 8300,
    "dataPort": 8301,
    "rig": "",
    "ptt_ctrl": false
  },

As with other software-based modems, Pat will not start the modem program for you, so VARA or VARA FM should already be running when you start the Pat connection.

Of course, the biggest challenge with using VARA anywhere except Windows is installing it. For the Raspberry Pi, there is a good installation script in this GitHub repo. Further down in the repo are some experimental scripts for installing VARA under desktop Linux x86 Wine. I haven't heard of anyone successfully using VARA on Mac yet, but hopefully it will also work with Wine.

Many thanks to Jeremy N8JJA for getting us started and hosting the library repo, and of course to Martin LA5NTA for his leadership and encouragement.

Happy testing, and 73!

Chris, K0SWE

[Wheez]

Awesome work! And thanks for the link to my RPi4 project page.

I just wanted to say that the GitHub script will set up everything on Raspberry Pi 4, but if anyone wants to run VARA on x86 Linux (a PC instead of a Pi), they only need to install wine and winetricks, then run “winetricks -q vb6run pdh_nt4 win7 sound=alsa“, then download VARA from the VARA website and install it with wine. The same should go for Mac. I’ll put those systems into the GitHub script one day.

73 de KI7POL,

Eric

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[Chris Keller]

Yes, many thanks to you, Eric, for making this whole thing viable! I was under the impression that running VARA on Linux (let alone RPi) was going to be too difficult to be generally recommended, but your installation script gave me much more confidence that this would work.

[Jeremy Bush]

Eric -

I’ve already forked the script and would be happy to work that in in the next couple weeks. 

Let me know how you want it to go. 

Thanks,

Jeremy

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pat-users/CAG-g-g2vif_icw7zRoKKZbydxK6csEtF2WgB8dFqKsSEJWJvbQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Wheez]

Hey Jeremy (N8JJA),

Thanks for looking into VARA/wine install scripts for x86 Linux OS's. I'll email you to coordinate.

Eric

[Jose Guzman]

OK just install but a little confuse about how to connect my radio to the VARA TNC..only option gives me is Com 1. I use flrig for PAT Modem etc..... i see everything else install in the desktop for VARA...how ARDOP and VARA interact?

[Chris Keller]

Hi Jose,

Tell me a little more about your setup. Which operating system/computer are you using, Raspberry Pi? Which radio, and which radio sound card interface? What flags do you use when you run ARDOP? VARA is going to take the place of ARDOP, so VARA for sure needs to know which sound card to use, and it probably needs to know how to PTT unless you're using VOX (either VOX on your radio, or with a Signalink USB).

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pat-users/c89ac452-2380-4194-9acb-ccc34135c466n%40googlegroups.com.

[thuff...@gmail.com]

Mac's have moved to the ARM processor, wine does not work and ARM windows64 10/11 has issues.  Ps this is written on a new Mac mini and I hope developments on ARM processor can move to the Mac.  

Tim 

KM4ESU

[Wheez]

Hey KM4ESU,

Good question about the new Mac M1 (ARM) processors. I don’t have one to experiment with but it looks like x86 Windows apps (VARA) should able to run on the M1 with a little elbow grease (Wine/CrossOver/PlayOnMac) 

https://youtu.be/aq7j56J38m0&t=1m5s

-Eric

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[Benjamin Seidenberg]

I've been using this for a while (compiled off Chris's GitHub) and it's been working great for me.

I did find that I managed to crash libpbq pretty reliably with Pat - something about Pat was subtly different than Winlink, but the libpbq author pushed a fix.

I did just recently find that VARA under wine can't trigger a DRA-style device's PTT - but managed to keep that working by using Pat's Hamlib PTT support.

So: Thanks to the authors for this!

Benjamin, WY2K

[William Tracy]

I installed the new dpkg for PAT and added the vara section to "pat configure", but I couldn't get the vara mode to

control the frequency on the radio until I added addr to pat configure.  I don't know if that's the right way to make it work or if it will break something else.  Should I try something else.

I got it working on the KX2.  It works every time I try it.

But I can't get it to work on the IC-705.  I don't know how to make the sound work in VARA on the IC-705.

I thought the sound came over the ttyACM1 device.

Can someone help me get this to work on the IC-705.  I've got rigctld set for IC-7300 CI-V on the IC-705.

Here is how I set rigctld.

(KX2)  /usr/local/bin/rigctld -r /dev/ttyUSB0 -m 2044 -s 38400
(IC-705 set to CI-V 7300 x94)  /usr/local/bin/rigctld -c 148 -r /dev/ttyACM1 -m 3073 -s 38400

pi@raspberrypi-black:~ $ ls -l /dev/serial/by-id
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Mar 10 10:18 usb-Icom_Inc._IC-705_IC-705_12005197-if00 -> ../../ttyACM1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Mar 10 10:18 usb-Icom_Inc._IC-705_IC-705_12005197-if02 -> ../../ttyACM2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Mar 10 10:08 usb-u-blox_AG_-_www.u-blox.com_u-blox_7_-_GPS_GNSS_Receiver-if00 -> ../../ttyACM0
pi@raspberrypi-black:~ $

  "vara": {
    "addr": "localhost:8515",

    "host": "localhost",
    "cmdPort": 8300,
    "dataPort": 8301,

    "rig": "my-rig",
    "ptt_ctrl": false
  },

[Wheez]

I did just recently find that VARA under wine can't trigger a DRA-style device's PTT

Yes, this is a known bug for now. I believe it might be a bug in Box86, though I don't have a DRA device to test with.  I submitted a bug report to Box86's developer a while back to try to move forward on that.

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[Chris Keller]

Hi William,

Setting the `addr` field in the `vara` stanza won't break anything, but it's not going to fix anything either. It's not part of the config data structure, so it will just be ignored.

Glad to hear it's working on the KX2! As for the IC-705, I don't have one to test (looks like a nice rig!), but it looks like your CAT/CIV/rigctld setup is correct. Based on your helpful console output, it will either be ttyACM1 or ttyACM2 (I don't know why it's exposing two). Do the frequency control and PTT seem to work? If not, I guess double-check your CIV address in the -c parameter or try the opposite serial device. Oh, and you'll probably need to change your Pat config to say `"ptt_ctrl": true`.

As for choosing the sound card for the data channels, that will be set up in the VARA configuration. Sometimes I use a mixer program called `pavucontrol` to help me figure out which audio channel is on which device, and `pavucontrol` will even let you choose alternate audio streams on a program-by-program basis.

Let me know if that helps!

Chris

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[Benjamin Seidenberg]

> I believe it might be a bug in Box86 [...]

Let me know if you get that into upstream wine too - I'm doing this with just standard Debian wine on x86_64.

I was able to work around it no problem just using Pat/HamLib for PTT. Long term I think I might want to build a virtual serial interface that does DTR -> CM108 conversion but I'm too lazy for now.

[Benjamin Seidenberg]

Hey William:

So I've used an IC-705 before with the pre-release Pat Vara support and it worked great for me. Here are some comments that might help:

There are two parts of the interface: Rig Control and Audio. The /dev/ttyACM* devices are serial devices for rig control. One is a CAT interface and the other is for the GPS. (I've also heard it'll do PTT on DTR but I couldn't get that working). Usually the lower number is the CAT one, though it's not guaranteed unless you do a udev rule.. Audio is separate - it shows up as a USB Sound Card. I had some issues getting Vara to see the right one. I have some notes about my setup that cover this (and predate this release, so ignore the parts about building Pat) at https://github.com/bseidenberg/winlink-canary/blob/main/computer_setup.md - This might help you?

(Note that when I used it with VARA and Pat in WINE for the 705, I let Vara handle PTT for me via CAT and didn't both with frequency control - I just did that manually on the rig's front panel).

Hopefully those are useful.

Benjamin, WY2K

[Wheez]

I did just recently find that VARA under wine can't trigger a DRA-style device's PTT - but managed to keep that working by using Pat's Hamlib PTT support.

I'm doing this with just standard Debian wine on x86_64.

Benjamin,
That's really interesting. Thanks for testing that out! That would indeed help to narrow that issue to Wine instead of box86, like you said (VARA doesn't rely on wine-mono - and also wouldn't be using Box86 on your x86_64 Linux PC as you mentioned).  I've been scratching my head on this one and that's good insight.

I also just also want to check if you had the PTT.DLL & CAT.dll in your VARA directories:

sudo apt install p7zip-full -y

wget http://uz7.ho.ua/modem_beta/ptt-dll.zip

7z x ptt-dll.zip -o"$HOME/.wine/drive_c/VARA/"

7z x ptt-dll.zip -o"$HOME/.wine/drive_c/VARA FM/"

I'm really interested in this topic and would like to continue working on it with your help either via direct email or on this github issue.
- Eric

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pat-users/d34cbfbb-1d9d-4197-986a-c38f8e592dban%40googlegroups.com.

[Chris Keller]

Hi Dwayne,

This does work on the RPi 4, but it uses Wine in addition to Box86. Box86 translates from ARM to x86, and then Wine x86 translates from Linux to Windows APIs. I've found the setup surprisingly performant considering all of the emulation that's happening!

Chris

On Fri, Mar 11, 2022 at 9:00 AM Dwayne Ayers <outlook_0455...@outlook.com> wrote:

Is this supposed to work without wine on the RPi4?

Dwayne N4MIO

---

From: pat-...@googlegroups.com <pat-...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Chris Keller <xyl...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2022, 8:21 PM
To: William Tracy <wpt...@gmail.com>
Cc: pat-users <pat-...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: You asked, we listened: VARA & VARA FM beta

Hi William,

Setting the `addr` field in the `vara` stanza won't break anything, but it's not going to fix anything either. It's not part of the config data structure, so it will just be ignored.

Glad to hear it's working on the KX2! As for the IC-705, I don't have one to test (looks like a nice rig!), but it looks like your CAT/CIV/rigctld setup is correct. Based on your helpful console output, it will either be ttyACM1 or ttyACM2 (I don't know why it's exposing two). Do the frequency control and PTT seem to work? If not, I guess double-check your CIV address in the -c parameter or try the opposite serial device. Oh, and you'll probably need to change your Pat config to say `"ptt_ctrl": true`.

As for choosing the sound card for the data channels, that will be set up in the VARA configuration. Sometimes I use a mixer program called `pavucontrol` to help me figure out which audio channel is on which device, and `pavucontrol` will even let you choose alternate audio streams on a program-by-program basis.

Let me know if that helps!

Chris

On Thu, Mar 10, 2022 at 10:47 AM William Tracy <wpt...@gmail.com> wrote:

I installed the new dpkg for PAT and added the vara section to "pat configure", but I couldn't get the vara mode to

control the frequency on the radio until I added addr to pat configure.  I don't know if that's the right way to make it work or if it will break something else.  Should I try something else.

I got it working on the KX2.  It works every time I try it.

But I can't get it to work on the IC-705.  I don't know how to make the sound work in VARA on the IC-705.

I thought the sound came over the ttyACM1 device.

Can someone help me get this to work on the IC-705.  I've got rigctld set for IC-7300 CI-V on the IC-705.

Here is how I set rigctld.

(KX2)  /usr/local/bin/rigctld -r /dev/ttyUSB0 -m 2044 -s 38400
(IC-705 set to CI-V 7300 x94)  /usr/local/bin/rigctld -c 148 -r /dev/ttyACM1 -m 3073 -s 38400

pi@raspberrypi-black:~ $ ls -l /dev/serial/by-id
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Mar 10 10:18 usb-Icom_Inc._IC-705_IC-705_12005197-if00 -> ../../ttyACM1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Mar 10 10:18 usb-Icom_Inc._IC-705_IC-705_12005197-if02 -> ../../ttyACM2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 Mar 10 10:08 usb-u-blox_AG_-_www.u-blox.com_u-blox_7_-_GPS_GNSS_Receiver-if00 -> ../../ttyACM0
pi@raspberrypi-black:~ $

  "vara": {
    "addr": "localhost:8515",

    "host": "localhost",
    "cmdPort": 8300,
    "dataPort": 8301,

    "rig": "my-rig",
    "ptt_ctrl": false
  },

On Monday, March 7, 2022 at 10:14:29 PM UTC-7 xyl...@gmail.com wrote:

Folks,

It's been a long road, but we're now ready to accept beta testers for Pat integration with VARA and VARA FM!

While it's not ready for prime-time, we're confident enough to let some test subjects brave souls try it out. All that we ask is that you let us know about your experience, positive or negative.

The beta downloads can be found in this GDrive folder. In addition to installing that, you'll want to add this to your Pat configuration file:

  "vara": {
    "host": "localhost",
    "cmdPort": 8300,
    "dataPort": 8301,
    "rig": "",
    "ptt_ctrl": false
  },

As with other software-based modems, Pat will not start the modem program for you, so VARA or VARA FM should already be running when you start the Pat connection.

Of course, the biggest challenge with using VARA anywhere except Windows is installing it. For the Raspberry Pi, there is a good installation script in this GitHub repo. Further down in the repo are some experimental scripts for installing VARA under desktop Linux x86 Wine. I haven't heard of anyone successfully using VARA on Mac yet, but hopefully it will also work with Wine.

Many thanks to Jeremy N8JJA for getting us started and hosting the library repo, and of course to Martin LA5NTA for his leadership and encouragement.

Happy testing, and 73!

Chris, K0SWE

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[John Lamb]

I guess I am missing something...which is probably true on many fronts...

Anyways I'm on a RPI4, Xeigu 90, Xeigu interface. I added the vara info to pat configure but when I bring pat up it doesn't show in the drop menu. What am I forgetting?

[Chris Keller]

If you just installed the beta version of Pat and VARA isn't showing up in the transport menu, you might not have restarted the Pat process. You can check under Actions -> About Pat, and the revision should match "a756245" from the beta installer. If it doesn't match, you can issue the command `sudo systemctl restart pat`, or restart your machine.

If that doesn't work, let me know!

Chris

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pat-users/fd82376b-f7f0-4fbc-9e35-5e29335ca35en%40googlegroups.com.

[John Lamb]

Ok got it to show up in list but thats about it. Still not triggering the rig. It shows in the VARA display that it is cycling but not actually transmitting...How do I get pat to figure I'm using a xeigu 90? I'm used to using a signalink with vox but this uses ptt. Is it in the pat configure file under vara? I believe some say that it acts like an Icom and to use Icom rig numbers.? Thanks

[Chris Keller]

If you're used to using VOX, you'll need to go through the wiki article on setting up rig control with hamlib. This involves running a separate program called rigctld that knows the specifics of talking to your radio, then pointing Pat at rigctld.

rigctld -m 3076 -r /dev/ttyUSB0 -s 4800

pat configure

  "hamlib_rigs": {
    "my_precious_rig": {"address": "localhost:4532", "network": "tcp"}
  },

  ...

  "vara": {
    "rig": "my_precious_rig",

    "ptt_ctrl": true
  },

To figure out what you need for rigctld, try running `rigctl -l` to list all of the supported models, then filter the list down with grep: `rigctl -l | grep -iE "x[ie]+gu"`. On my computer it looks like the Xiegu X108G is model #3076. I don't see the Xiegu G90 listed, but maybe the command set for the X108G is close enough.

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[Jose Guzman]

It happened to me as well but Jason reminded me to make sure I am using the beta version of 2.7 , rebooted the pi and it was there...now I am trying to figure out why I can't get the radio to key

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[Chris Keller]

Alright, twist my arm into buying a new toy. 🙂 I'm picking up an M1 Mac today so we can support that platform.

On Wed, Mar 9, 2022 at 8:39 AM thuff...@gmail.com <thuff...@gmail.com> wrote:

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[Chris Keller]

Hey Jose, did you make progress on getting rig control with hamlib running? That's what should do the PTT under this setup.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pat-users/CAHzTxFKSSeXEJ%2BFEwEbWx76hC9tQAqF%3Dt80Qox7hHaw8a4epTA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Brian Dale]

I just did the install today. Two things that I've noticed is getting these "got a VARA command I wasn't expecting messages". Also, PAT doesn't seem to be telling VARA to switch to 500 hz bandwidth when making a connection to a 500 hz station (appears to stay at default 2300 hz all the time). The red lines on the waterfall should switch from 2300 hz to 500 hz when contacting a 500 hz station and I haven't been able to make a connection to any of them so far.

Thanks for all the effort. This is going to be great!

73 de AD4XJ

[Chris Keller]

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the different bandwidths. That requires a bit more plumbing, and is definitely something I need to address before we push this to stable. Thanks for pointing that out!

And yes, I've also been seeing "got a VARA command I wasn't expecting: REGISTERED <MYCALL>", it seems to be a new message from VARA to the client.

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[Benjamin Seidenberg]

FYI, the signalink will handle PTT in hardware. Just set Vara to VOX and it should just work.

[john.w...@ntlworld.com]

I think this is the latest list of VARA commands and Responses

73,

John G8BPQ

[Chris Keller]

Thanks John, that is indeed newer than our docs!

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[Brian Dale]

There's some 2750 hz stations out there too.

[Chris Keller]

The groundwork for different bandwidths is now laid in https://github.com/la5nta/pat/pull/332, and is now incorporated in the beta branch. I'll cut some new binaries soon.

Also, the fix for "command I wasn't expecting" is now in review in https://github.com/n8jja/Pat-Vara/pull/13.

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[Mark Earnest]

Aside from "command I wasn't expecting", it's working perfectly for me on an M1 Mac mini with Vara running in crossover office and rig control via rigctrld. 

[Chris Keller]

Awesome! Thanks for your report, Mark!

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[Steffen Burmeister]

Hey Chris,

Great work on getting this thing started and running!

I have been up to a good start on my raspi 4:

- Pat update to beta a756245 went fine

- install_winelink.sh vara_only ran good

- Vara HF is starting and working

- Sound / Soundcard RX/TX are working good in a VOX setup with my FT-891

I am even able to get a connection to some RMS's (HF on 80m) as far as establishing a connection and sending FF. But then my luck runs out, as i always get a "connection lost" afterwards.

Any ideas what happens, or where i can dig deeper into logs?

May there be a problem with the implementation of the protocol?

Here are the PAT connection logs:

2022/03/14 22:27:01 Connecting to HB9T (vara)...

2022/03/14 22:27:06 got a vara command I wasn't expecting: REGISTERED

2022/03/14 22:27:17 Connected to HB9T (vara) DO1LPH has 116 daily minutes remaining with HB9T (JN36VW)

[WL2K-5.0-B2FWIHJM$]

;PQ: 68164377

CMS via HB9T >

 >FF

2022/03/14 22:28:14 Exchange failed: connection lost

The same on a different RMS:

2022/03/14 22:39:33 Connecting to HB9AK (vara)...

2022/03/14 22:39:39 got a vara command I wasn't expecting: REGISTERED

2022/03/14 22:39:51 Connected to HB9AK (vara)

RMS Trimode 1.3.43.3 *** WINLINK BERN *** - by SWISS-ARTG

DO1LPH has 110 daily minutes remaining with HB9AK (JN36PV)

[WL2K-5.0-B2FWIHJM$]

;PQ: 78827480

CMS via HB9AK >

>FF

2022/03/14 22:40:30 Exchange failed: connection lost

TU + 73 de DO1LPH

  Steffen

[Wheez]

Hey Steffen (DO1LPH) & Chris (K0SWE),

I can't test OTA HF connections while I'm a ham tech, but I can offer debugging guidance. If this connection issue ended up not being from poor radio propagation or from Pat, then we could try to isolate a possible bug in wine or box86:
1. If this isn't a problem in Pat, then the next step would be to set up wine & VARA on an x86 Linux PC (or a Windows VMWare image running x86 Linux): If the connection error happened here, then the terminal log might show an error and we could submit that to WineHQ's Bugzilla.  If Pat works though and 

2. If it's not a Pat error and the x86 Linux PC w/ wine worked, then the next thing to check might be box86 on the Pi4: If the connection error happened here, then we can try logging box86 to see if anything interesting happens (by running VARA with `BOX86_LOG=1 wine ~/.wine/drive_c/VARA/VARA.exe 2>&1 | tee vara_box86log1.txt` on the Pi4). We could then submit that to Seb at the box86 github.

73 de KI7POL,
Eric

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[Steffen Burmeister]

Hey Eric,

After digging a bit deeper and turning on all the audio including the monitor on my TRX i noticed that the problem might be a timing issue related to VOX keying and overlapping TX/RX audio. I fiddled with VOX settings linke "data VOX delay" and "anti VOX gain" and got it to work better. That may have been an issue of VOX, or possible the lack of computing power on the PI to decode the RX audio in time. I am not sure.

But after that i changed the PAT configuration to use PTT also for the VARA modem in the "ptt_ctrl": true of the vara config in config.json.

With flrig (configured for my FT-891) and rigctld -m 4 running, PAT is successfully able to key up the TRX and the timing issues seem to have gone, and i am able to successfully connect to a HF RMS and send and revieve winlink mail over VARA.

Thank you for your help and suggestions! Keep up the good work, and i hope to hear you soon on HF which is "gerneral"ly a lot of fun ;-)

73 de DO1LPH

  Steffen

[Brian Dale]

Great! Looking forward to a new linuxarm deb file to check out.

On Sunday, March 13, 2022 at 10:02:06 PM UTC-4 xyl...@gmail.com wrote:

[Eric Wiessner]

Awesome, DO1LPH, I'm glad it's working again.  I'll keep an ear out for VOX timing issues from the Pi's computing power. It's good to know that PTT can be a good workaround if VOX is an issue.

And thank you for the encouragement. I'll get to those flashcards and get to a testing center at some point :)

73 de KI7POL,

Eric

[Jose Guzman]

Well. Now that we trying this, can we set up trimode as well for gateways

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[Wheez]

Oh good question Steffen, I hadn't tried that yet.

If you have Winelink installed, try these commands:
```
cd Downloads
wget https://downloads.winlink.org/Sysop%20Programs/RMS_Trimode_install_1-3-43-0.zip
7z x RMS_Trimode_install_1-3-43-0.zip
wine RMS_Trimode_install.exe /SILENT
BOX86_DYNAREC_BIGBLOCK=0 wine ~/.wine/drive_c/RMS/RMS\ Trimode/RMS\ Trimode.exe
```

I'm not sure if I'm using this right, but the program keeps exiting. Can you test it out a bit and maybe report any issues to the Winelink github issue tracker?

Eric

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[Wheez]

Ah, after playing with RMS Trimode on Windows, it looks like it is crashing in Box86 (or wine-mono, or wine) at the moment.  I'll look at debugging Trimode after getting some more Winelink issues cleared up.

Thank you for the suggestion!

[Jose Guzman]

Thanks from Gateway Sysops as we try to maximize every tools 

[Steve R]

I have the Pat beta working on a RasPi 4B using 32 bit OS. Pat + VaraHF/wine working great for normal 2400Hz BW. But there seem to be no options (in the Pat web interface) for choosing Vara-500 or Vara-2750. And the Vara mode does not seem to adapt to stations other than the normal Vara-2400.

Steve

[Chris Keller]

Thanks for the report, Steve! I'm working on the bandwidth issue, first for ARDOP (https://github.com/la5nta/pat/pull/332) and then applying that to the VARA branch. That should be available in the next binary release.

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[Jose Guzman]

Great work team......

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[Brian Dale]

Do the new deb files in the G Drive folder yesterday (3/22) incorporate fixing the VARA bandwidth control issue? I downloaded the linuxarm deb file and yesterday and behavior is still the same--only 2300 hz connections work. 

[Steve R]

I also confirm that the new beta does not change the choices in the Pat Web UI - there is only the 2300Hz default, same as the original beta. The 500Hz VARA connection attempts fail. That's for version be0e792, armhf 32 bit.

[Chris Keller]

Woops! Brian, Steve, you're totally right, be0e792 didn't include bandwidth. That was an oversight. I'll cut a new build shortly. 

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[Steve R]

Thanks Chris - this is such a valuable project.

Steve

[Brian Dale]

Thanks for the new beta files. Confirmed that 500 hz connections work and the unexpected messages are gone!

[Brian Dale]

So, it's been about a month now and everything has been working great. When do we think this will be fully fleshed out and on a normal release?

[Nikolai Ozerov]

I can confirm that the new beta is working fine with VARA (on RPI4 in my case). I use it on a regular bases and it was very stable.

When used PAT in P2P mode, is it possible to specify "vara" in the "listen: list in pat,json config? Somehow it did not work for me.

Thank you,

Nikolai VE3NKL

[Michael Lussier]

I can say that it doesn't work with a Pi and a DRA50. Its senseless to use a signal link with VARA knowing that the best you can do is narrow. 

[Benjamin Seidenberg]

Mike:

What doesn't work for you? I'm using it with a DRA-36 on x86 Linux and it's working fine for me. See up thread for the PTT shenanigans I had to jump through to make it work though. Happy to help if I can.

(Also, modern signalinks with the new audio transformers (not red) should be able to do VARA WIDE just fine).

73,

Benjamin

[Michael Lussier]

Hey Benjamin, 

I have a problem that raspian doesn't seem to recognize the DRA-50. It works fine when I test it using my windoze programming PC. When I did some digging into the problem; I found some docs that made mention to the fact that there was a known issues with DRA and raspian. I dropped the whole idea and I have stuck it out with Packet.. 

[Michael Nadler KI7QIB]

The problem is not in Raspbian.  It detects the C-Media chip in the DRA.  The bug (as I understand it from the Winelink team) is in Wine (or possibly Box86) -- that layer does not recognize C-Media as a HID (Human Interface Device), so it's not available for Soundmodem or Vara to use as a RA-board.  Which means you have to have a VOX-capable device like a DRA-65 (and up) or Signalink.  It's not perfect, but it works OK.  I have a DRA-70, connected to a Pi4.  I run pilinbpq connected to Vara running in Wine.  Or Pat/Vara/Wine.  Or Pat (Packet)/Soundmodem/Wine.  Or Pat (Packet)/Direwolf(CM108).

If you are running Windows on x86, then it will detect C-Media correctly.  So any DRA should work.