[arm-allstar] webtranceiver

Wed Aug 22 22:36:43 EDT 2018

Wayne,

 The web transceiver is an Allstar thing and likely the server move they
made could have caused a problem. We have no control over that so if that
is the case no one here is going to fix it. No one else has reported a
problem but I really don't know how many people even use it any more. But
It sure seems like a hokey way to manage sites to me. If you set all those
sites up with supermon remote management it would be a breeze to see what
is going on. You  can send DTMF (macros) directly to each node and
instantly see the results as to what is connected.

As far as the remote base code we will be removing that in the future so I
would not depend on it with hamvoip code. With a simple interface and
hamlib with macros it would work that way I am sure and in the long run
more reliably.  I would need to have a better idea of exactly what you are
doing to suggest an alternative.

*73 Doug*

*WA3DSP*

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

On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 3:42 PM, wayne hale <waynehale at mac.com> wrote:

> Doug,
> Thanks for the reply.  As I stated below, my main use of webtranceiver is
> in using it to control my 28146 remote base.  Unless I really have missed
> something along the line, I’m not aware of any other application that
> allows you to connect to a remote base then get instant feedback as to what
> other nodes you are connected to AND easy to read information as to the
> remote base frequency, offset, PL status and power level.  By issuing
> commands from the webtranceiver keypad, it is trivial to change frequency
> or any other parameter and get instant feedback as to the new status
> whether it be frequency, offset, PL or other.
>
> I understand that hamlib is part of the distribution but, in comparison,
> that sure seems like a hard way to do something that was very easy and
> straight forward from the old software, assuming of course you had one of a
> few radios that were supported like the Yaesu FT-897 and Kenwood TMG-707
> plus at least one Icom rig.
>
> As far as I know, any other method requires sending a DTMF string *52 for
> brief status or *51 for full status which will give you an audio string
> with the information.  Not nearly as simple as just seeing the status
> update in real time on the screen.
>
> I have 25 macro’s to steer the remote to different repeaters and simplex
> frequencies, both UHF and VHF, in the Phoenix area, it is much easier to
> send the macro string and see the display instantly update showing the new
> parameters.
>
> As mentioned previously, the remote computer is pretty old and uses a real
> RS-232 port to control PTT.  If this is doable in the hamvoip release,
> please point me in the right direction.
> I doubt seriously that the DNS method is applicable to an old ACID install.
>
> The issue does not seem to be in nodes registering as webtranceiver seems
> to recognize any node I try, Java or IcedTea launches without error, the
> keypad appears, I used to hear 5 or 6 “ringing” tones and then the status
> shows “disconnect” but that quickly changes to “connect”.  Therein lies the
> problem.  Having said that, try node 2000 from webtranceiver, it will
> connect immediately and stay connected.  Node 2024 has been connected for
> the past few days but 2000 is the ONLY node I’ve found out of half a dozen
> or so that will connect and stay connected.
>
> Yes, webtranceiver has some issues but it has been working fine for me for
> years and up until a couple weeks ago was still working.  Sometime in the
> past couple weeks something in the ASL system changed and webtranceiver no
> longer works except for node 2000 which does behave normally.
>
> This has nothing to do with non node owners but it certainly was the
> easiest method for newbies to get their feet wet and be able to navigate
> many different nodes relatively effortlessly.  A side benefit was you can
> only access webtranceiver if you have an active allstarlink.org name and
> password.
>
> I use IAXRPT but unless I’m seriously behind the times, one must know the
> IP address of a given node, the user name and port number plus the
> password.  Yes, I can log into my own nodes as I know all this information
> then use the keypad to connect elsewhere but lacking a node of your own,
> how do you connect to any other random node if you don’t have RF access to
> some other Allstar radio whether repeater or simplex node?  I don’t use
> Echolink, ever, so that is not an option for me.
>
> I’m not asking for a rewrite of old code, just undo what ever was done
> that broke it so it works like it used to.  It may have been a coincidence
> that webtranceiver stopped working about the same time as the registration
> server issue and DNS rollout but it seems odd to me that one node out of
> hundreds still works like it used to but nothing else.
>
> Have you tried using webtranceiver lately?  I’ve had no problem finding
> browsers to work with it under Windows 7, Linux Mint 18.3 and Mac OSX.
> Yes, you have to follow a few rules but overall it is easy to get working.
> One of the “How To’s” on the hamvoip website has detailed instructions on
> how to setup the security exception for Java.
>
> This is not a showstopper and I’m hoping there is a simple fix to put
> things back like they used to be and I’ll be very happy.
>
> 73,
> Wayne
>
> On Aug 22, 2018, at 10:09 AM, Doug Crompton <wa3dsp at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Wayne,
>
>     My question would be why do you need the web transceiver. I suspect it
> is at the end of its life as most are not going to mess around with old
> versions of browsers that are much less secure just to use it.
>
> Much of what the transceiver did is now replaced by things like iaxrpt on
> a smartphone or PC. Also supermon is a great Allstar remote system manager.
> There are many ways to skin a cat. If you need to offer entrance to
> non-node owners use echolink and encourage them to get an Allstar node.
>
>
> *73 Doug*
>
> *WA3DSP*
>
> *http://www.crompton.com/hamradio <http://www.crompton.com/hamradio>*
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 12:12 PM, wayne hale <waynehale at mac.com> wrote:
>
>> Webtranceiver has worked perfectly for me for several years.  I use
>> Firefox ESR browsers which takes care of the non Java support issues.
>> Palemoon browser also still supports Java and has worked fine on Windows
>> and Linux.
>>
>> The current problem started about the same time as the registration
>> server issues.  I just verified again this morning that webtranceiver on
>> Mac OSX, Firefox ESR WILL connect to node 2000 but that is the ONLY node it
>> will connect to.  Any other node looks like it is going to connect but it
>> disconnects almost immediately.
>>
>> I can connect to 2000 via webtranceiver, then connect to my remote base
>> node from within webtranceiver but cannot connect directly to my remote
>> base 28146 via webtranceiver.  I can connect via IAXRPT, 28146 shows green
>> in the node list.  Unfortunately 28146 is running a very old version of
>> ACID on an ITX motherboard with a URI and an adapter board that uses a real
>> RS-232 connection for PTT.
>>
>> I have no idea how to use a more recent hamvoip version on a pi to
>> accomplish the same remote base functionality.  It has worked fine in the
>> past using the old software and hardware.  28146 works except by
>> webtranceiver.  I can connect to my hub node via IAXRPT and then connect to
>> 28146 so I don’t really think it is a registration issue with my nodes or
>> other nodes I’ve used in the past but won’t connect now via webtranceiver.
>>
>> Tim asked a question if someone had been working on the phone portal as
>> it may be related to the recent webtranceiver issues.
>>
>> I know I’m in a very small minority of people who actually like the way
>> webtranceiver worked, especially for remote bases where it shows you, on
>> the screen, what the remote frequency, offset, PL and power are.
>>
>> I have no idea why node 2000 works like it always has.  2000 is connected
>> to 2024 so someone else is playing with it too.  Tim Sawyer has looked at
>> the issue but has no solution either.
>>
>> I realize that webtranceiver has fallen from grace for a variety of
>> reasons, the JAVA issue probably foremost but there are easy ways around
>> that by using the Firefox Extended Support Release (32 bit for Windows) or
>> Palemoon and setting the security exception in the Java Control Panel.  If
>> using Linux Mint 18.3 IcedTea works in place of Oracle Java.
>>
>> Regardless of platform, the webtranceiver issue is the same.  Nodes look
>> like they are going to connect but immediately fail although the keypad
>> screen looks normal.  For some reason node 2000 does work as expected??
>>
>> 73,
>> Wayne W6IZK
>> 28146 remote base
>> 29629 927.700 simplex
>> 40799 145.23 repeater Phoenix
>> 40809 Hub
>>
>> > On Aug 22, 2018, at 7:06 AM, Doug Crompton via arm-allstar <
>> arm-allstar at hamvoip.org> wrote:
>> >
>> > Wayne,
>> >
>> > If you are talking about the web transceiver I don't know as it has been
>> > hit or miss for quite sometime due to enhanced security restrictions in
>> > browsers regarding java. If you are having general connection problems
>> in
>> > your nodes make sure you are using the latest V1.5.3-40 update which is
>> > using DNS node lookup from our servers. If you are still having problems
>> > check that the node(s) are registered using check_reg.sh - if not we
>> could
>> > issue a temporary registration line you could add that uses our servers.
>> > The next update, coming soon, will add all hamvoip V1.5 users to the
>> > hamvoip registration server.
>> >
>> >
>> > *73 Doug*
>> >
>> > *WA3DSP*
>> >
>> > *http://www.crompton.com/hamradio <http://www.crompton.com/hamradio>*
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Aug 21, 2018 at 3:57 PM, "wayne hale via arm-allstar" <
>> > arm-allstar at hamvoip.org> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Somebody must be working on the Webtranceiver issue.  Node 2000 is now
>> >> reachable via webtranceiver and when I checked today (08/21/2018) 2000
>> was
>> >> connected to 2040.  It recognized my login correctly but when I
>> >> interrogated it with *70, it correctly id’d 2040 but recited “space” as
>> >> tranceive as on the screen there was a blank space between 2040 and
>> W6IZK
>> >> as being connected.
>> >>
>> >> No other nodes I tried will stay connected more than a second or two.
>> >>
>> >> Wayne W6IZK
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >>
>> >> arm-allstar mailing list
>> >> arm-allstar at hamvoip.org
>> >> http://lists.hamvoip.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/arm-allstar
>> >>
>> >> Visit the BBB and RPi2/3 web page - http://hamvoip.org
>> > _______________________________________________
>> >
>> > arm-allstar mailing list
>> > arm-allstar at hamvoip.org
>> > http://lists.hamvoip.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/arm-allstar
>> >
>> > Visit the BBB and RPi2/3 web page - http://hamvoip.org
>>
>>
>
>