[arm-allstar] Boot from Raspberry Pi 3B+ USB Stick

[Jeff Hochberg]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the response. Right out of the gate, the only purpose the RPi
will serve is providing EchoLink to our users. The RPi that's been running
at the repeater site is/was running svxlink purely for EchoLink service.
Since it has been so unreliable, I am going to swap out the power supply
with one that's designed specifically for a Raspberry Pi as opposed to the
generic one that was originally installed.

All that will be connected to the RPi is a USB sound card interface that
has a connection directly to our RLC Club Deluxe repeater controller.

I'm fairly certain this is the model we're using:

http://www.masterscommunications.com/products/radio-adapter/ra40.html

The controller links EchoLink to our 2m analog repeater (most of the time)
and we link in a 220 MHz repeater during our nets which take place a couple
of times a week.

We are not using a RIM at all at this time, though it is something we've
considered.

We did buy an RTCM at one point with the intent of using it for
site-linking it at a remote receiver site, but were never able to secure a
physical location, so it's been sitting around with nothing to do. I know
MicroNode is no longer in business, so we likely won't be using it since it
would be difficult (if not impossible) to replace if it were to fail. That
said, we would likely go with a RIM if/when we are able to secure a
location for a remote receiver.

***************************************************
Georgia Digital: http://dmr.georgiadigital.net/ipsc
GeorgiaDMR.net on Groups.io: https://groups.io/g/GeorgiaDMR
Appalachian Trail Golden Packet: https://atgp.groups.io/g/main
***************************************************

Jeff Hochberg
W4JEW
Atlanta, GA
404-304-4575
jeff at w4jew.com


On Sat, Jan 2, 2021 at 8:01 AM Kevin Custer <kevin at kc-wireless.com> wrote:

> Jeff,
>
> If you are using the RB RIM (not a lite version - but the full blown RIM
> that's packaged like the URI), because of its design, it takes a good bit
> of DC current.  One reason is because of the onboard DC-DC converter
> (charge pump) to create a higher voltage for the audio amplifiers.
> Obviously - this current has to come from the Raspberry Pi and its power
> supply.  This additional current draw may be taxing your power supply
> making the system unstable.  As has been mentioned previously, powering may
> be the cause of your instability.
>
> If you're using one of the "Lite" versions - then this information doesn't
> apply, because they draw the same as any other radio adapter - probably
> less.
>
> All of AllStar compatible USB radio interface modules that Repeater
> Builder builds use a genuine C-Media CM119A.  IMHO - over time - this has
> been proven to be the best chipset for AllStar utilization, regardless of
> the software or channel driver method chosen to run it.
>
> Disclosure - The RIM is not my product - it's Scott Zimmerman's (RB the
> company) <http://www.repeater-builder.com/rbtip/whoisrb.html>, but I
> helped design it.  The same chipset is used in all of my RA, RL, and DRA
> products.
>
> Kevin - W3KKC
>
>
> On 1/1/2021 6:16 PM, "Jeff Hochberg via ARM-allstar" wrote:
>
> For what it's worth - we have a USB audio card from Repeater Builder - IRRC
> (C-Media chipset) that's connected to the svxlink box, then that goes to
> our RLC controller.
>
> I have a USB sound card here (also with a C-Media chipset - I believe the
> exact same chipset), so I'm going through the setup process hoping that
> when I remove the USB sound card I'm using temporarily and replace it with
> the production USB sound card, that all will work well.
>
>
>
>