Raspberry Pi Cooler

Ever since the Raspberry Pi 4 came out, there has been concern of the CPU and board overheating, and rightly so. After trying many cooling configurations, I finally landed on a cool answer to this hot problem, with great success.

The pictured heat sink armor case is the fan-less version by Geekworm. I believe it may be sold under several other names as well. There is a dual-fan version of this case, but based on personal experience, I would not recommend using it because the fans are junk and the fan wiring prohibits the use of hats on the GPIO pins.

This Argon Artik fan is a very quiet, programmable fan hat set on an extended GPIO so it clears the case nicely. In this configuration, the RPi 4 CPU temps have never gone above 43 degrees Celsius, and the fan speed has not yet run higher than 10%, or at least the 25% LED indicator. I haven't timed the fan cycle, but it's off far more than it's on, which should lead to a nice long fan life. Custom programming provides a scaled response to CPU temperature rise. I programmed this to:

• 43 C, fan on 10%
• 45 C, fan on 25%
• 50 C, fan on 50%
• 55 C, fan on 75%
• 60 C, fan on 100%

As you can see from the photo, a second hat can be mounted nicely on top of the fan using a male/male pin set. Here, a ZUM Radio repeater controller is mounted on top, and the fan works flawlessly cooling the Pi as well as the repeater controller. An RTC or other less-than-full-size hat may be a little awkward, but for the big boards, it's a go.

Raspberry Pi 3 model B+ with the same setup works fan-tastic

How much do I like this setup? I have the same thing on all of my RPi's, and I must say, this makes for one cool Raspberry Pi!

GOTA

updated: 10/05/2020

Space TV

Of all the out-of-the-box things I can think of, this was not one of them - sending pictures via amateur radio from space to earth, especially when they originate from the International Space Station orbiting the earth at 19,000 mph!

Here are the results of my very first attempt with SSTV on August 3, 2019.

And the confirmation from ARISS.

How cool is that!

Are you experimenting with amateur radio? If not, why not.

ZUMspot Nextion

Ah, the awesome ZUMspot, a digital voice door open to the world! How fantastic it is to talk all around the world with no static and no noise, like everyone is in the same room! Very cool! Between all the modes of digital voice, I have to say my favorite is YSF C4FM for its exceptional voice quality. My second favorite is DMR, but this requires getting used to the frequent "R2D2" picket fence sound.

The thing about the ZUMspot - and many other hotspots - is there is no display. It has the Pi-Star on-board html software, but to see the station information requires using a second device. But since this technology is fairly new, it is evolving very quickly. This is a good thing.

Riding along with this forward momentum, I'm now exploring computer programming for Raspberry Pi, and designing programs for the Nextion display. As it goes, I now have an awesome 3.2 inch Nextion touch display programmed and connected via USB to my ZUMspot. OMGoodness! It is, yes, AWESOME!

Next? Maybe program links to QRZ on the call sign...

Here Spot!

As I said previously, my home, mobile, and HT radios are all Yaesu with but one exception, that being a recent purchase of a Tytera MD-390 HT for DMR.

For several years now, I have been gaining interest in VoIP and digital comms in general. A Yaesu HRI-200 WIRES-X node might be pretty cool, but to my understanding, I would have to dedicate a Windows computer and a Yaesu C4FM radio like my FTM-400XDR. That is a bit more investment than I am willing to commit to given I don't even know if I will like it, so I began searching out other VoIP solutions.

After a bit of research, I decided to purchase the ZUMspot RPi kit which includes the ZUMspot-RPi UHF board rev. 0.4, Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless, and a micro SD card programmed with the Pi-Star software image. I also bought a layered case to keep it all safe.

After getting it assembled into the case, and setting up the WiFi and software, my first impression  was, "This thing is awesome!" Talk about easy to set up, this was so quick and simple. And how does it work? Fantastic!

One of the first "rooms" I connected to was the FCS00290, America Link WIRES-X. Immediately I hear clear, crisp, full-quieting digital voice from fellow HAMs in Australia, Japan, England, and Wales. Very cool! The one problem I had, though, was feeling as though I was cheating or something. Having a QSO on the internet just isn't the same as a QSO using only my own equipment, but man, it sure is interesting. Effortless QSOs with people all over the world. Who'd a thought!

And the ZUMspot is smaller than a 1 inch cut-off from a piece of 2x4 stud! Totally awesome!

More later...

Logging Software

Chasing HF contacts without a radio log is sort of like playing a game and not keeping score. It's all fun just playing, but it sure is nice to look back and see all the countries and QSO's you made!

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to check out several software-based radio logs and tools. Through time and use, many I have deleted or no longer use, but a few programs have risen to the top of my list and are being used simultaneously, for comparison. The three on the top of my list, alphabetically, are CQRlog, Ham Radio Deluxe, HamLog CloudLog, and Log4OM.

CQRlog

My top pick and current logging software, CQRlog, has it's own post here. (Oct 8, 2020)

Ham Radio Deluxe

Ham Radio Deluxe is, well, very deluxe. It has more features than I have equipment, and it seems to perform all of it's capabilities very well. HRD brings together functions such as ADIF format log upload and download on QRZ, LoTW, and eQSL, a huge list of DX spotters to pick from, QSO mapping, sat tracking, rotator control, digital HF, available HRDLOG.net online log, and a few other goodies. I've been using HRD for about 7 years now, and it keeps getting better.

HRD Log screen

HRD Radio screen

HRD Sat Tracking screen

As you can see, HRD has very detailed screens and really good functionality. My hesitation comes with redundancy of functions, the cumbersome feeling with multiple windows, and too many buttons that perform the same functions.

It's hard to do all things well, especially when there are businesses that shine with their more singular areas of expertise. Do I need to have all the functions of my radio available on the computer screen? Not me. I just want my radio to "go there" when I find "the spot" I have been chasing. My take-away is this. I'm sure HRD will continue to grow and improve for some time to come.

Log4OM

Recently I began using Log4OM, another well integrated log and control program that retains visual simplicity, yet has so much going on behinds the scenes. So far, I am very impressed.

Log4OM has all the same online functions of HRD, and then some, plus and it links with HRDLOG.net for online log publishing on the HRDLOG.net website, or on your own.

Log4OM Recent QSO (log) screen

The various functions of Log4OM are well integrated. From call sign lookup or clicking on a spot or cluster line, all available data fields auto-populate for the potential QSO log entry. The station's gridsquare location and signal path also plot on the program's QSO Information map. To view any or all of your QSO's, Log4OM links to Google Earth and exports a KML file to plot and save all your QSO's grid locations to Google Earth.

Log4OM QSO Information (map) screen

Log4OM Cluster screen

This program is sophisticated, easy to use, and very easy to look at. The main input area always remains in view, while five tabs under the input area show the various info indicated in the pictures above. Super easy, yet doesn't look or function like an old Windows program from a bygone era. There are numerous videos for the beginner, to advanced user, on setup and use of Log4OM on the Terry Genes YouTube channel.

While searching for a radio log app designed for use on a Chromebook or Android tablet, I came across a cloud-based log system designed for use on these, or any platform. Now before you get all started on Chromebooks, let me ask, when was the last time you used a Chromebook? How about a new one? And what OS do I use to publish this blog? And what OS do I use for everything but?Yup, my new Asus C213S Chromebook, and I love it!

Cloud-based systems don't do heavy-lift computing on the user end of things like the PC database systems we are used to. Instead, they function as a workstation and relay data to an off-site server to be stored and retrieved. This can work for the amateur radio operator on a Chromebook just as easily as with a PC. All you need is an internet connection, or the format to temporarily store data while off-line. It's no different than running a call sign search on QRZ.com right now. In fact, it's exactly the same thing.

HamLog CloudLog

Thanks to the people at HamLog CloudLog, we take yet another step into the new era of amateur radio and computing. While still very basic - in logging software standards - HamLog CloudLog is a very efficient system that can run on any OS right now. And with the Android app, field days can be engaged with just an HT and smartphone/tablet. Awesome! What in the world is coming next?

HamLog CloudLog Log screen

HamLog CloudLog Tools screen

HamLog CloudLog Prefs screen

On the Android side of things, below are screenshots of some of the HamLog CloudLog Android app.

HamLog CloudLog Android App log screen

HamLog CloudLog Android App QSO entry screen

HamLog CloudLog Android App tools screen 1

HamLog CloudLog Android App tools screen 2

So there are some brief comments about three - or, really four - ham logs among the somewhat crowded field. In my opinion, and as far as I have researched, these are my top picks for really good radio logging software and systems that will continue to gain in popularity and function. Take your pick. They are all very nice!

Blessings!