[arm-allstar] IMPORTANT UPDATE! Please read

[Doug Crompton]

We have found and corrected a rather serious bug in the wireless setup code
that has been there for a long time. Certainly prior to version 1.5. The
symptoms were rather random but could be duplicated. When the code was
interrogating for access points if just one access point was returned it
would cause an error. There were also other cases where corrupted data
would cause an error. In some case this bug would prevent users from
setting up wireless Internet on their servers. The current update corrects
this problem. In addition the display of access points has been improved.
It now shows the (SSID | Signal Quality | Signal level) and looks like this
-

NETGEAR-RICHBORO | 70/70 | -24dBm

This is an actual reading on my router with a Pi3 about 4 feet away. Pi3's
will show a maximum 70 so 70/70 is the best it can be. 1/70 would be very
poor. The higher the -dBm reading the poorer the signal. The display now
gives a good indication of actual signal quality.

All users should perform this update or most certainly do it before using
the wireless setup. Thanks to Jim, NH6HI and Pascal, AC7N for pointing this
problem out and working with us to fix it. Update by selecting the ADMIN
menu item 1 and answering yes.

Additional changes -

The cpu_stats.sh script has been updated to correct a display error and add
some info. This script is useful for displaying the CPU temperature.

New or updated scripts -

saytime.pl, the script that says the time on the hour has been updated to
optionally say the temperature and weather conditions for your area. This
depends on the new weather.sh script which it calls. You can call this
script directly to view the conditions based on your zipcode or nearby
airport designator.

[root at 27225-HUB ~]# weather.sh 18954
69 / Partly Sunny
[root at 27225-HUB ~]# weather.sh phl
67 / Partly Sunny

To say time and weather the saytime.pl script should be called like this -

saytime.pl [zipcode|airport code] <node>

It would have these options -

saytime.pl 27225
saytime.pl 18954 27225
saytime.pl phl 27225
saytime.pl 18954 $NODE1

The first one given your node would just say the time, the second the time
and weather conditions/temperature for zipcode 18954, the third the time
and conditions/temperature for airport designator phl - Philadelphia
International Airport, and the fourth shows that your node can use the
$NODE1 variable. Your primary node is assigned to that variable.

saytime.pl says the time in localplay - only to your local node or RF
connected radio or repeater.

By default in the hamvoip code the primary node says the time on the hour.
This is accomplished by a cron entry. The entry looks like this:

[root at WA3DSP-42291-UHF ~]# crontab -l
# Do not remove the following line
# required for lsnodes and allmon
15 03 * * * cd /usr/local/sbin; ./astdb.php cron
00 0-23 * * * (source /usr/local/etc/allstar.env ; /usr/bin/nice -19
/usr/bin/perl /usr/local/sbin/saytime.pl 18954 $NODE1 > /dev/null)

To change your cron to say the weather conditions/temperature add either
your zipcode or local airport designator after saytime.pl as shown above
where zipcode 18954 is added. cron is edited using 'crontab -e' at the
Linux prompt.

The *81 time function can also be changed in rpt.conf if desired so a *81
would also say the weather conditions and temperature.

;81=status,12   ; Time of Day (local)      <<<< Current function shown
commented
81=cmd,/usr/local/sbin/saytime.pl 18954 42291      <<<<<  New function, use
your zip/airport and node number

This says the weather condition only if the actual Alison voice is
available for that particular condition. Some conditions may not play or
may partially play. To turn off the condition part of the statement and
just say the temperature change this line in the /usr/local/sbin/weather.sh
script -

 # Set this to use current WX condition. If "NO" then just temperature
process_condition="YES"

DO NOT depend on the reported weather condition for severe weather
alerts!!!! Use AutoSky or some other method. The condition and temperature
data comes from accuweather.

New wx script

This is a standalone script that graphically shows weather at the Linux
prompt. It has nothing to do with Allstar but is fun to see. It requires
your nearest city name.

wx philadelphia

Since this is an independent script I cannot attest to its accuracy or
where the data comes from.


*73 Doug*

*WA3DSP*

*http://www.crompton.com/hamradio <http://www.crompton.com/hamradio>*