DSL Ham

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[AE7XQ]

I know that there has not been much development with DSL as of late. No matter. What is available is more than sufficient for my current project. Let me start by stating that I have played with DSL on and off for a couple of years now. I have tried various spins of it created by others, including a version that is dedicated to the game of Go. I recently purchased "The Official Damn Small Linux Book". My plan is to install the most recent release candidate into an older laptop I have and then use the mydsl and install the amateur radio software that was created/ported by KE4NT. I am not looking to create a customized DSL. Rather, I am going to see how far I can go in running a state of the art HF/VHF/UHF amateur radio station on minimalist Linux. To this end, I feel that DSL is a better candidate than Puppy or any of the other minimalistic Linux distros. Having had good experiences with DSL in the past, I am trusting that this project will work out well. I plan to use this thread to keep everyone posted of my progress (including pictures as I get the station set up) and also to answer questions relating to Linux, DSL in the ham shack, and amateur radio in general.

I will also be posting my thoughts about how to make DSL better from an amateur radio perspective in this thread. I do like DSL and I recognize its potential and plan to exploit it to the best of my abilities.

[AE7XQ]

I  now have 4.11.RC2 running from disc on a Dell Inspiron. I haven't gotten the wireless internet to work, but I never really planned on connecting to the internet. I am going to download all the appropriate "MyDSL" software to a local disc and burn to CD. My plan involves testing various install methods so to make the system function most efficiently. One area that I have some minor concern over is that of repeater control. However, that may well prove itself as a non-issue for the time being. That is to say that the repeater isn't functional at this time, so whether or not I can control it with DSL is moot point. I will provide a screen shot later.

[AE7XQ]

Along with the amateur radio related software from KE4NT, I have also decided to download the various DSL wireless tools. I do not necessarily have much use for wireless internet given my purposes, but if I can get it to work, it could prove useful when software updates are necessary.

[AE7XQ]

DSL is now installed on a Dell Inspiron laptop. Runs nicely enough. Now I will need to copy those files I downloaded to either a USB stick or CD. Not certain if DSL can read a USB stick. This will be an interesting experiment. Hopefully it will go well. I will find out in the morning. I am planning to use this computer to run my 440 repeater.

[fatmac]

You shouldn't have any problems reading pendrives; if you do, just mount it manually.

[AE7XQ]

Thanks for the advice. I will look up Bash commands later. My work is briefly stalled due to a home repair issue. However, I will certainly check into that. USB stick is certainly easier than burning a CD.