[arm-allstar] Streaming audio from command line/shell script with Allstar disabled

[Patrick Perdue]

In my experience, you shouldn't have to restart Asterisk when changing 
duplex modes. Just do rpt reload.

I just hacked together a couple of things so I can use two simplex nodes 
either as independent nodes, or set up where one is rx only, while the 
other is rx or tx. This is so that I can have full duplex operation over 
RF without a repeater if I want it, or split the two nodes apart for 
normal operation. In this configuration, I make two major changes, 
setting txchannel to dahdi/pseudo while using rxchannel=simpleusb, then 
changing duplex from 1 to 2 so I can still break in while the node is 
transmitting. I can enable or reverse these changes, then just use rpt 
reload.

Also, I'm pretty sure the RPTENA message is hard-coded. I initially 
tried using cop2 and cop3 instead of the method I ended up using, but 
forgot that, while that disables transmit, it also disables DTMF 
processing, which I didn't want.


On 11/23/2020 2:11 AM, "Seth Miller via ARM-allstar" wrote:
> Thanks Danny, that is actually a clever yet simple solution that I think
> will work for me. Duplex=0 seems to disable Allstar adequately when in DMR
> mode and I can simply delete any user functionality other than the ability
> to run the 'disable DMR mode' script to return the system to Allstar. The
> only downside is the need to restart Asterisk at each mode change but I
> don't see why that would cause any particular problem.
>
> FWIW I've found that you must also set 'linktolink=yes' for the rpt
> localplay function to work properly when duplex=0. I'm going to test some
> more but with that configuration I believe that I will be able to
> functionally disable Allstar but retain the ability to stream audio and ID.
> Thanks!
>
> BTW if anyone is aware of a way to prevent the 'RPT ENA' voice message when
> COP 2 (system enable) is issued I'd like to know. It seems that this is
> hard-coded and you'd need to re-compile to get rid of it.
>
> Thanks again Danny.
>
> 73,
>
> Seth
>
>
> On Sun, Nov 22, 2020 at 10:49 PM Danny K5CG <k5cg at hamoperator.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi Seth,
>>
>> I don't know if this is the answer or even part of a solution, but think
>> about...
>>
>> Something we do here for our club repeater is we have a "net mode" for
>> RACES etc. The way we do that is to have multiple copies of rpt.conf
>> (actually named rpt.normal and rpt.netmode). The rpt.conf "file" is
>> actually a symbolic link that points at one or the other text file as
>> commanded by a DTMF command that runs a shell script to create the symlink
>> and reload asterisk.
>>
>> So rather than disable asterisk, why not reload it with a configuration
>> that suits your needs. One for analog mode, and one for DMR mode, which
>> might be to only send ID and nothing else.
>>
>> Perhaps even duplex=0 could be key to make the node into a simplex node
>> while in DMR mode.
>>
>> Please let me know how you do eventually solve it.
>>
>> Thanks
>> 73
>> Danny
>> K5CG
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Seth Miller via ARM-allstar" <arm-allstar at hamvoip.org>
>>> To: "ARM Allstar" <arm-allstar at hamvoip.org>
>>> Cc: "Seth Miller" <N6PLmail at gmail.com>
>>> Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2020 9:28:43 PM
>>> Subject: [arm-allstar] Streaming audio from command line/shell script
>> with Allstar disabled
>>
>>> I have a challenge, maybe someone can help: (sorry if a little
>> long-winded)
>>> I have built a mixed-mode Allstar/DMR repeater using an MMDVM-based DMR
>>> controller in conjunction with a Pi running HamVoIP. Switching mode from
>>> Allstar to DMR is accomplished with a macro that among other things
>>> disables Allstar (with COP command 3) so that there will be no activity
>>> while in DMR mode. This all works well except for one minor issue (which
>> is
>>> really the fault of the MMDVM software but hoping to use Allstar to
>>> resolve.)
>>>
>>> First some background:
>>>
>>> The underlying problem is that the CW ID system in the MMDVM software is
>>> very crude in that you can set a 10-minute ID, but if the ID time expires
>>> during a DMR transmission then the ID will simply be skipped/ignored
>> (since
>>> you obviously can't CW ID over a digital transmission without
>> disruption.)
>>> The result of this is that when the system is busy you can exceed the
>>> 10-minute amatuer ID timing requirement by a significant amount, perhaps
>> a
>>> very long time if the system is busy. Not the end of the world but I'd
>>> prefer to operate legally if possible and I theoretically have
>> everything I
>>> need to do so in the Allstar controller.
>>>
>>> One way to solve the issue is to use Pi GPIO and some simple logic, i.e.
>>> monitor PTT from the MMDVM controller and if the ID time has expired
>> while
>>> the transmitter is busy then wait until the transmitter naturally drops
>> to
>>> send the ID. This can be accomplished relatively easily since the MMDVM
>>> board has an external inhibit line which will prevent TX permit (a DMR
>>> thing) to a mobile while the CW ID is being broadcast. This has the minor
>>> negative effect of delaying TX permit to a mobile for a few seconds but
>> is
>>> clearly much better than crashing an ongoing DMR transmission.
>>>
>>> Whew... OK, with that out of the way my actual problem is: simply sending
>>> the ID. With system disable (COP 3) in effect I cannot send an ID from a
>>> shell script using rpt localplay, and streaming audio using Asterisk
>> alone
>>> apparently requires using AGI which is not a trivial task. I understand
>>> that there are other less intrusive ways of limiting Allstar activity but
>>> none are as complete as COP 3 and I need a total cessation of all Allstar
>>> activity while in DMR mode. I could of course momentarily re-enable
>> Allstar
>>> and then send an ID, but doing so causes Alice to recite 'RPT ENA' which
>>> takes too long and I can't figure out any way to suppress the undesired
>>> voice message.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions? Basically I need a way to stream an audio file to the
>>> Allstar USB interface while system disable is in effect, or find a way to
>>> bypass the 'RPT ENA' message, or use AGI, or find some other utility to
>>> stream the ID. Or trigger an external IDer with GPIO I guess but that is
>>> pretty inelegant.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any ideas,
>>>
>>> Seth   N6PL
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>>>
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