My computers run on the Ubuntu Operating System – Not Windows.  If you did not know there was a choice other than Windows and Macs, you need to check out the totally FREE operating system Ubuntu!  Besides the operating system being free, ALMOST ALL of the application programs are free.  There are thousands of them, doing almost anything you need to do on a Windows or Mac machine.  And, if that weren’t enough, most of those thousands of free programs are installable from inside Ubuntu itself.  You don’t have to go searching the Internet for them.  Usually just ONE CLICK, and boom, your program is installed.  Besides all that, there is very little worry about viruses as on Windows, and increasingly on the Mac.  It is really NICE!

Anyway, that is not really what this post is supposed to be about.  This post is about a nice theme that I came across for my Ubuntu desktop.  Ubuntu, besides being FREE with lots of FREE applications, it is very nice looking, and if you want to dig deeper, you can make it REALLY nice looking.

I usually have my Ubuntu Desktop all decked out with some sort of modified Emerald theme, with transparency, and glowing frames and pulsating buttons and such.  As I was searching around one of the many Ubuntu web sites, I came across a proposed theme for the next version of Ubuntu coded named Maverick Meerkat due to be released on 10/10/10.  I am sure this nice theme I found will not be a default theme, as purple and orange seem to be someones liking on the Ubuntu development teams.  I am personally not that thrilled about the purple/orange theme, and usually look for other options.

The theme I came across is a beautiful blue theme called Ambiance Blue.  It is not fancy, or full of glowing parts, or throbbing buttons, but is a very nice looking simple blue theme.  The Ambiance Blue Theme can be downloaded from HERE.  See the picture of my theme below, or click on the small screenshot to see a larger view of one of my desktops.  Yes, in Ubuntu, you have MULTIPLE VIRTUAL DESKTOPS.  Very Nice!

- John

The ARRL web site had a nice entry about Ubuntu for Ham Radio.  The article could have been four times as long and not cover all the aspects of why Ubuntu Linux is good for Ham Radio.  Also, several of the applications that the author mentioned in the ARRL article that he used with WINE, have alternates available for Linux, including PCB layout software, and Circuit analysis.  Almost ALL FREE.  Besides, Ubuntu’s super easy to install Ham Radio repository of applications, HERE is a page full of stuff, ranging from the latest and greatest to older Linux Ham Radio programs.  Ham Radio is about innovation, and experimentation.  It is sad to see so much of it is built up on a closed, unexperimentalable, unmodifiable, and costly solution like Windows.

73,
John – K7JM

I enjoy playing Gridwars2 on Ubuntu Linux. It used to be available on getdeb.net for Ubuntu Jaunty, but since then, it has disappeared.  It can be downloaded from the authors’ site, but it will not run out of the box on Ubuntu Lucid Lynx.  Here are instructions to get it working on Ubuntu Lucid.  It is quite easy once you figure out how.  This how to, assumes you know the basics of getting around in linux, and know how to work as administrator.

Get the gridwars_lin.zip file from

http://gridwars.marune.de/

Click “lin” for the Linux version.

(*UPDATED* 7/27/10) The above site seems to be gone.  gridwars_lin.zip can be found at:
http://www.sourcefiles.org/Games/Arcade/

Unzip all the files and folders into a directory of your choice.  I put mine in /home/myusername/games/gridwars.  If you have multiple users on your system, you might put it all under /usr/share/games/gridwars

Set permissions:  Locate the file gridwars in the …/gridwars folder.  Right click on it and select Properties.  Click on the Permissions tab and make sure “Allow executing file as program” is checked.

Gridwars2 requires two additional files to run.  They are libstdc++.so.5 and libstdc++.so.5.0.7 .  They can be obtained from the jaunty package libstdc++5_3.3.6-17ubuntu1_i386.deb .

libstdc++5_3.3.6-17ubuntu1_i386.deb can be gotten from

http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/i386/libstdc++5/download .

Pick a download location and save it on your computer somewhere convenient.  DO NOT INSTALL the deb package.  You will most likely get an error if you try.

As admin, open up libstdc++5_3.3.6-17ubuntu1_i386.deb with Archive Manager (not the GDebi Package Installer) and place files libstdc++.so.5 and libstdc++.so.5.0.7 into the /usr/lib32 folder .  These are 32 bit files but will work on 64 bit Lucid.

To use nautilus as admin for the above steps, type

$ sudo nautilus

in a terminal window.  You can then right click on libstdc++5_3.3.6-17ubuntu1_i386.deb and select “Open with Archive Manager.”  You then can drag and drop the files where you need them.

That is it.  To run gridwars2, locate the file “gridwars” in the gridwars folder and double-click to start it.  You can use System -> Preferences -> Main Menu to add gridwars2 to the menu system. A nice icon can be located at …/gridwars/gfx/High/whiteplayer.png .

Enjoy playing gridwars2!

- John K7JM

Since I have a sick sense of humor, I find these kind of things entertaining.  A large area of Helena, MT lost its power yesterday because… “A TRANSISTOR POLE EXPLODED”.  I read it in the news paper, it HAS to be TRUE.   Here it is…

Click the article to got the the Helena Independent Record‘s web site.

New Logo, New URL

I am an avid user of the Linux operating system, and of course, a Ham Radio Operator. There happens to be a great podcast that combines these two endeavors into one.  Linux In The Ham Shack.  Recently, they have moved their web page and therefore have a new URL and here it is:  http://lhspodcast.info/ Check out Russ’s and Richard’s Linux In The Ham Shack site and their podcast.  If you are a regular listener to the podcast, it might be worth mentioning that they also have a new feed, so if you have been missing episodes lately (like I have), try updating the podcast feed.

I’ve also updated their link on my Links page.  Check that page out for other places I visit often.

Keep up the great work guys!

John – K7JM

I’ve been hacked! My web sites have been hacked.  Fortunately, the hack was so bad that it just broke the web site and I noticed it right away.  It looks as if they came in through my hosting company some how, but I have not received any notice that a server at the hosting company has been compromised.  I deleted the web site and restored it all from a reliable backup.  It was a learning experience; and I am glad that I am fanatical about backups!

73,
John – K7JM

Click the picture to see more of the Zenith x390W Radio.

Today I found a new toy. Whenever the opportunity comes my way, I like to collect old radios.  Here is another one for my collection.

The radio is a Zenith Long Distance Radio, model X390W.  I think the “W” stands for “wood”, as there is also a X390 model that looks like it has a plastic case.  This radio WORKS! And it “glows in the dark” like all good radios do.  The radio seems to be in pretty good shape except for a label on the bottom of the wood case.  It looks like it was scrubbed partially away.  The Zenith X390W is and AM and FM radio that has a nice clock, and alarm function.  Click on the picture to see more.

Audio

John – K7JM

The corner of my web page with a link to view my Ham Radio log file.

Being a Ham Radio operator, I’ve wanted, for some time, to display my log file on my web site. I’ve been researching it for some time, and mostly ran into methods that require java or php, or some sort of web scripting. This is beyond me and I wanted something simpler; and this is what I have come up with.

My computers run on the Ubuntu Linux Operating System.  I came across a small command line utility program called txt2html.  The name pretty much explains what it does.  It has many features that include many formatting options; one being, that I can pre-append a file to the front of another file.  I tested this feature to apply a preformatted html heading to my log page.  I made a simple sample of a text log page listing contacts, and ran it through txt2html and it attached my header to the log page and spit it all out as an html file ready to display on my web page.

My sample log page was called log.txt and looks like this:

call            QTH
k7jm            Helena, MT
wa7vxm          Butte, MT

My sample heading was called ‘log_file_heading.html’ and looks like this:

K7JM’s Log File

I put it all through txt2html with a command like this:

txt2html --append_head ./log_file_heading.html ./log.txt >./log.html

And the output file ‘log.html’ looks like this and is ready to display on your web page:

call            QTH
k7jm            Helena, MT
wa7vxm          Butte, MT

I wanted to automate a way to put this file on my web site without getting too complicated.  The simple ftp command would work, but it takes a bit to automate it. After a bit of research, I came across ‘kermit‘.  ‘kermit’ is a simple program that takes data from a file and performs the commands listed in the file.  Perfect.  I put the following commands in a file called ‘log.kermit’:

ftp open ftp.myhostsite.net /user:myusername /password:mypassword
put ./log.html /www/whereyou/wantit/log.html
exit

I then called kermit like this:

kermit ./log.kermit

and it is done.

To make things a bit cleaner and more automatic, I created a script file called ‘log_doit.sh’ that looks something like this:

txt2html –append_head /home/john/Desktop/log_file_heading.html /home/john/Desktop/cqrlog.html >/home/john/Desktop/log.html
kermit /home/john/Desktop/log.kermit
exit

Now, to do the whole process, I just had to update my log file, save it, and run the script ‘log_doit.sh’ and it would be on my web site.

A New Way – With cqrlog

After I put all this together, I remembered hearing about a Linux logging program called cqrlog, on the ‘Linux In The Ham Shack‘ podcast.  If you are a Ham Radio Operator or use Linux, I strongly suggest you give this great podcast a listen.  It is always entertaining, and they have covered some very useful stuff for the Ham that is running a Linux operating system.

Anyway, I downloaded and installed ‘cqrlog’ and started playing with it.  I was specifically looking for a way to export the log file so I could run it through ‘txt2html’.  Lo and behold, ‘cqrlog’ does one step better; it exports the log right into the ‘html’ format.  Wow! Perfect!.

I learned a lot by using txt2html, but now I can skip that step completely and just export the log file in html format and run a simpler script that runs ‘kermit’ to upload the file to my web site.  Click HERE to see the actual page on my web site.  As of when this was written, the file is a test one that was created by playing with ‘cqrlog’.  It will change once I start using ‘cqrlog’ for real.

John – K7JM

call            QTH
k7jm            Helena, MT
wa7vxm          Butte, MT

I was very interested when I read an article in an Assemblies of God newsletter that I received.  It makes so much sense, like Salvation Army‘s SATERN, that Assembly of God’s Convoy of Hope, disaster response organization, should also have Ham Radio involvement.  Here is text from the newsletter:

Federal Communications Commission has authorized Convoy of Hope to form a ham radio club called the Convoy of Hope Amateur Radio Response Service (CARRS). Additional technology will assist in keeping lines of communication open to organization as natural disasters often disrupt commercial communications. For more information, e-mail USDRField@convoyofhope.org.

Convoy of Hope, a disaster response organization and partner with the Assemblies of God, has embarked on a campaign to network with ham radio operators within the Fellowship as a way to improve response to crises.

Because many commercial means of communication are unavailable during a natural disaster, 19 Convoy of Hope staff members have obtained a first-level technician amateur radio license, which allows for local area transmission. Several of those are working on a second-level license that would allow communication globally.

The Federal Communications Commission has authorized the organization to form a ham radio club called the Convoy of Hope Amateur Radio Response Service (CARRS).

“Having this technology in place and building a network through CARRS provides a platform for us to share critical disaster response information around the world with our adherents and missionaries,” says Convoy of Hope U.S. Disaster Response Field Services Director Paul Coroleuski.

Through CARRS, volunteer ham operators in the vicinity of a disaster will be able to relay initial damage assessment information that will help Convoy to better use resources as well as speed up response time.

Ham radio technology today has advanced capacities that include the ability to send e-mail and upload pictures.

“The initial response to this initiative has been overwhelming, and local chapters are expected to form around the nation,” Coroleuski says.

There are an estimated 6 million licensed ham radio operators around the world. For more information, e-mail USDRField@convoyofhope.org.

–Today’s Pentecostal Evangel

Recently, our family made our annual trek up to Glacier Bible Camp. Two of the speakers were Rudi & Sharon Swanepoel.  Rudi and Sharon have a vibrant ministry and are missionaries FROM South Africa to the United States.  Yes, we have come full circle as being founded as a Christian Nation to the sad state that we are in now.

Rudi and Sharon’s web site has an article that caught my eye.  Resistors, Insulators, and Conductors.  It makes one think.  What are YOU?  A Resistor, an Insulator, or a Conductor?

John