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

[Danny K5CG]

Hint: A "reload" of asterisk is faster and nearly seamless (quiet) compared to a "restart" of asterisk. They're not the same thing. 

> From: "Seth Miller" <N6PLmail at gmail.com>
> To: "Danny K5CG" <k5cg at hamoperator.org>, "ARM Allstar" <arm-allstar at hamvoip.org>
> Sent: Monday, November 23, 2020 1:11:57 AM
> Subject: Re: [arm-allstar] Streaming audio from command line/shell script with
> Allstar disabled

> 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 < [ mailto:k5cg at hamoperator.org |
> 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" < [ mailto:arm-allstar at hamvoip.org |
>> > arm-allstar at hamvoip.org ] >
>>> To: "ARM Allstar" < [ mailto:arm-allstar at hamvoip.org | arm-allstar at hamvoip.org ]
>> > >
>> > Cc: "Seth Miller" < [ mailto:N6PLmail at gmail.com | 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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