Latest posts

On a new Debian 10 server I wanted to create some system accounts. Like those being used by mysql, postfix and ntp: messagebus:x:104:105::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin unscd:x:105:109::/var/lib/unscd:/usr/sbin/nologin ntp:x:106:112::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin mysql:x:108:114:MySQL Server,,,:/nonexistent:/bin/false postfix:x:109:116::/var/spool/postfix:/usr/sbin/nologin Account are created with useradd, or adduser? Well, man useradd tells me this is a low level command, so better use adduser. Fair enough. man adduser clearly states how to create a system account, use the –system flag. Reading futher, man adduser tells me, that “A home directory is created by the same rules as for normal users“. Really, for a system user? No problem, just add the –no-create-home flag and the problem is solved. What thisRead More →

The new IC-705 has many functions. One of them is D-Star terminal mode (TM). Icom presents TM in two flavours: internal and external. Internal TM uses the WLAN connection and connects directly to the internet, no additional hardware required. However, you have to configure a TM capable reflector in settings. So changing reflector means changing settings. What is needed here is some TM “proxy”, that handles all connections and routes them to the different reflectors, based on D-Star linking commands. In addition, this proxy should implement some form of heartbeat so that the incoming UDP port on your router remains open, even when there is noRead More →

Both the IC-7300 and the IC-9700 have an IF output option. A great feature that enables the receive of all kinds of exotic transmissions. On the IC-7300, Icom pitched this feature at DRM receive. Soon after the IC-7300 launched, it became clear that the IF output bandwidth varies with the receive mode setting, which is illogical (Mr. Spock). For DRM receive, all is fine: set mode to AM, connect something like DREAM to the IF output and listen to PC audio. For CW skimmer, it’s a little more problematic, so maybe Icom only had DRM receive in mind when designing this. It will work, butRead More →

“My IC-7300 has lower power output compared to my previous transceiver.” Yes, with compressor off that’s true. Is the IC-7300 broken? No, it’s not. So what is wrong here? Often, the resulting discussion is about peak meters, PEP, settings, the weather and cosmic radiation. By chance I noticed, when changing tune power levels in WSJT-X, (the slider on the right) that the IC-7300 ALC has very fast attack time. An input level increase above max output level is corrected very quickly (to avoid overshoot). But then the reverse action, the same input level decrease, is followed very slowly by the ALC. It takes up toRead More →