Re: VARA HF v4.7.7 has AES 256 encryption option for NON HAM users ONLY
Lawrence VE6LS.
How foes VARA modem work with PACTOR which is a modem too?
You really scratched my curiousity!
--
73 de w8nsi Jim
ts-480, ft-857, 75m loop. efhw [40-10], 4btv
ft-818nd, mfj efhw [40-10] for portable
registered Winlink and Vara-modem user
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Re: VARA HF v4.7.7 has AES 256 encryption option for NON HAM users ONLY
Hi Jim,
For non-ham operations (CFARS)? I use encryption both with VARA (nice to have!) and PACTOR.?
Lawrence VE6LS
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Re: VARA HF v4.7.7 has AES 256 encryption option for NON HAM users ONLY
Oops.? I was thinking of Pactor not VARA. Jim Price KO6GM NCA9TC
Communications Center Operations?
Communications Reserve Unit
California Governor's Office of Emergency Services
hjamesprice@...W: 916-845-8624
C: 503-577-1152
H: 916-770-0465
On Wed, Jul 12, 2023 at 8:40?AM William Scholz < whv387@...> wrote: Where is there documentation defining the process to use the encryption option in 4.7.7? My station meets the requirements for non HAM operation from my phone ... Bill Scholz, 714-292-4271
On Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 12:23 Graham < g0nbd@...> wrote: [Edited Message Follows]
VARA HF v4.7.7 has AES 256 encryption option for NON HAM users ONLY?
Additional?AES 256??module?has been? added? to the? VARA HF Modem?
Access? is? restricted to NON-HAM call? formats -ONLY- ,
the? format requires the? first 3 characters?to be?
LETTERS? only ABC123 etc?
KEY Alpha Numeric? Max 32 Chrs? Min 1 Chrs [Algorithm?completes the expansion]
Licence?for Non-Ham users , configured? by the?Encryption menu
VARA HF v4.7.7? available for download now
73-Graham
g0nbd
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Re: VARA HF v4.7.7 has AES 256 encryption option for NON HAM users ONLY
Bill
You select?encryption in the Pactor Settings.? You'll need to contact Farallon in order to enable encryption with the modem. Jim Price KO6GM NCA9TC
Communications Center Operations?
Communications Reserve Unit
California Governor's Office of Emergency Services
hjamesprice@...W: 916-845-8624
C: 503-577-1152
H: 916-770-0465
On Wed, Jul 12, 2023 at 8:40?AM William Scholz < whv387@...> wrote: Where is there documentation defining the process to use the encryption option in 4.7.7? My station meets the requirements for non HAM operation from my phone ... Bill Scholz, 714-292-4271
On Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 12:23 Graham < g0nbd@...> wrote: [Edited Message Follows]
VARA HF v4.7.7 has AES 256 encryption option for NON HAM users ONLY?
Additional?AES 256??module?has been? added? to the? VARA HF Modem?
Access? is? restricted to NON-HAM call? formats -ONLY- ,
the? format requires the? first 3 characters?to be?
LETTERS? only ABC123 etc?
KEY Alpha Numeric? Max 32 Chrs? Min 1 Chrs [Algorithm?completes the expansion]
Licence?for Non-Ham users , configured? by the?Encryption menu
VARA HF v4.7.7? available for download now
73-Graham
g0nbd
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Re: VARA HF v4.7.7 has AES 256 encryption option for NON HAM users ONLY
Its secret -)But you could try this?
You have to enter your special callsign in your? App ,? Winlink Express.? Vara chat what ever you are using to link? to the modem?
[Note the Vara Modem and Vara Chat app are backwards compatible? to? ?WIN-XP]??
Then you can open the Encryption menu in VARA settings menu?
which allows the? modem to be? configured with the? Non-Ham
identifier ,?
73-G
?
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Re: VARA HF v4.7.7 has AES 256 encryption option for NON HAM users ONLY
Where is there documentation defining the process to use the encryption option in 4.7.7? My station meets the requirements for non HAM operation from my phone ... Bill Scholz, 714-292-4271
On Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 12:23 Graham < g0nbd@...> wrote: [Edited Message Follows]
VARA HF v4.7.7 has AES 256 encryption option for NON HAM users ONLY?
Additional?AES 256??module?has been? added? to the? VARA HF Modem?
Access? is? restricted to NON-HAM call? formats -ONLY- ,
the? format requires the? first 3 characters?to be?
LETTERS? only ABC123 etc?
KEY Alpha Numeric? Max 32 Chrs? Min 1 Chrs [Algorithm?completes the expansion]
Licence?for Non-Ham users , configured? by the?Encryption menu
VARA HF v4.7.7? available for download now
73-Graham
g0nbd
|
Don't feel bad, the old kenwood radios are still better than most radios on the market today. This is why even used they are priced at $200 for a TH-D7, $300 for a TH-F6, $500 for a TH-D72, and $600-$900 for a TH-D74....?
:)?
All of these radios perform very well with VaraFM, Packet, APRS, etc.. i use them all regularly.. ?
I tried to use Baofeng, Anytone, etc and they all FAILED regularly.. ?
The usual culprit for not being able to complete the connection is the lack of power and decent antenna. ?In fact, I was having troubles with a Yaesu FT8800 connecting to a local digipeater (Packet RMS) and used an HT on the same antenna to verify that I can connect to it! :) ?Turns out the Yaesu had a setting I didn't know about.
73 de K6EF
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On Jul 10, 2023, at 8:39 AM, Chris Robinson KF6NFW DMR ID 3153250 <kf6nfw@...> wrote:
Y'all, are making my radio feel ancient! I am still using the TH-D7AG. It has a DATA port as well as a GPS port MIC and SPKR ports all separately?on the side. ANALOG only, but it's still kicking along after I just replaced the battery this last month, otherwise it runs on a PS. Sincerely, ?Mr. Chris A. Robinson? ?KF6NFW / WQOQ661
It‘s a hand held but long out of production. D-Star and Analog.? The connection is with a DigiRig on the Mic/Speaker.?
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Y'all, are making my radio feel ancient! I am still using the TH-D7AG. It has a DATA port as well as a GPS port MIC and SPKR ports all separately?on the side. ANALOG only, but it's still kicking along after I just replaced the battery this last month, otherwise it runs on a PS. Sincerely, ?Mr. Chris A. Robinson? ?KF6NFW / WQOQ661
It‘s a hand held but long out of production. D-Star and Analog.?
The connection is with a DigiRig on the Mic/Speaker.?
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you all are making my radio feel like a dinosaur now! I am still using my TH-D7G Sincerely, ?Mr. Chris A. Robinson? ?KF6NFW / WQOQ661
It‘s a hand held but long out of production. D-Star and Analog.?
The connection is with a DigiRig on the Mic/Speaker.?
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Re: Vara HF security encryption
If you are outside USA check your licence. Encryption is not allowed here in UK.?
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It‘s a hand held but long out of production. D-Star and Analog.?
The connection is with a DigiRig on the Mic/Speaker.?
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The TH-D74 is a handheld.
When you see Kenwood naming, the H in TH is Handheld.. The M in TM is mobile..?
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On Jul 9, 2023, at 2:08 PM, paul buchanan <paul.buchanan51@...> wrote:
I'm not familiar with that radio. It's not a hand held is it. Hi,
I have an old Kenwood TH-D74 and use it successfully with Packet Radio (Bluetooth connection) or Vara FM with a Digirig (but only in a slow mode)
73 Erwin
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On 7/9/2023 12:23 PM, WA8LMF via
groups.io wrote:
On 7/9/2023 11:19 AM, Kevin Custer
wrote:
Or
better yet - programs could be customized to align PTT timing
with the capabilities of the radio - taking the sound cards PTT
method out of the equation.
This has been done since the beginning of
packet in the very early 1980s.? It's called a setting called
TXD (TX Delay) and determines a delay between PTT and the
beginning of the data tones. Usually specified in
milliseconds, it is user adjustable to correct for the
"slow-on-the-draw" issues of individual radios.
Since the group here is on the topic of VARA -
can you explain where in the VARA software you adjust TXD?
Kevin
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On 7/9/2023 12:16 PM, WA8LMF via
groups.io wrote:
The
way this is written seems to generalize that all Class-D audio
power amplification results in distortion.? While some Class-D
audio amps are terrible - (and the ones in these portable radios
certainly are) - not all Class-D audio amplification is flawed
where distortions are concerned.? Plus - we're not really
dealing with "complex data waveforms" here - it's just audio.
It's not "just audio".? If the class-D amp
doesn't switch cleanly or isn't switched at a high-enough
frequency, it can/will produce a lot of IMD (Inter -Moduation
Distortion.
This doesn't affect modes like AX.25 packet
or SSTV that use a single audio tone at a time very much ---
but is disastrous to modes with complex waveforms that use
multiple SIMULTANEOUS audio tones like VARA, MT-2000, etc.,?
If it's "not just audio" what other waveforms
other than audio do you believe exist??
Kevin
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I'm not familiar with that radio. It's not a hand held is it.
Hi,
I have an old Kenwood TH-D74 and use it successfully with Packet Radio (Bluetooth connection) or Vara FM with a Digirig (but only in a slow mode)
73 Erwin
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Hi,
I have an old Kenwood TH-D74 and use it successfully with Packet Radio (Bluetooth connection) or Vara FM with a Digirig (but only in a slow mode)
73 Erwin
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This is why I brought up the TH-F6 which is not purpose built for data. Though it does have a TNC setting in the settings menu for external TNCs.?
My setup for Vara FM on the go is :
Windows 11 Surface GO2 tablet with USB-C connector, connected to a DigiRig that then connects to any of those 4 HTs I've mentioned. ?I regularly use one of 4 local mountain top digital repeaters, two are Vara capable and two are only Packet (they run on Linux servers). They are all less than 14 miles away and are all on mountain tops. I live in the SF Bay Area and we are surrounded by mountains.?
The HTs are all 5W or less (most often less because I don't use external power supplies while I'm out.
The antennas I'm using on the HTs are either stock or BNC attached HT antennas. I also have a Ed Fong ?multi-band rollup antenna that I keep in my bag to put up in a tree or something.?
My home setup is a Windows 11 VM running on a Mac that is also connected to a DigiRig... The radios I most commonly use here are either a Kenwood TM-V71, TM-D710, or a Yaesu FT8800. ?Though sometimes I use an Icom 705 at 10W. The Icom has a built in sound device, so no digirig there is necessary.
The antenna I use at home is either a comet base vertical OR the Ed Fong rollup.
I also use a TNC3 or TNC4 for both APRS and Packet and they are capable of connecting to any of the above radios.
So, while I don't and won't consider myself a digital guru or as experienced as most, these are the radios and devices I use and have regularly been able to check into the Winlink Wednesday net with all of the above radios and setups and have been doing this for over a year now.
The reason I do this is I'm a big fan of testing my equipment for those rare occasions where I wish to be able to send messages or emails in an emergency. ?Every HT I buy and use has to be capable of doing packet or vara.
73 de K6EF
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On Jul 9, 2023, at 9:11 AM, WA8LMF via groups.io <wa8lmf3@...> wrote:
On 7/9/2023 10:35 AM, Mark Cohen via
groups.io wrote:
I
actually disagree. I have many HTs such as a th-d72, th-d74,
th-f6a, and a ic Id-52a. All of which work just fine with either a
digirig or a mobilinkd tnc3/4. All work with either the stock
antenna, after market antenna or externally connected antennas ?
The Kenwood TH-D72 and D74 are the rare
exceptions among hand helds in that they are actually
purpose-built for data.? The RX-to-TX and TX-to-RX turnaround
times are optimized for data to support the built-in TNCs.? I
don't know about the others you mention.
You must have a remarkably clean unobstructed
path to the digipeater or other station if the on-set antennas
actually work for destinations more than a few miles away.? Or
you have the western scenario of digipeaters on mountains
THOUSANDS of feet above the users, yielding a true line-of-sight
low-loss path over long distances. ? Or the digi is sited on a
TV broadcast tower HUNDREDS of feet above ground level.?
Normally, any kind of? on-the-set? antennas
are going provide NEGATIVE gain, due to the radio chassis being
too small to provide a decent ground plane/counterpoise to the
whip.? (On two meters, the radio chassis would have to be 19"
tall to be a decent ground to the whip.)? The "rubber duck" or
other whip may be tuned to match the 50-ohm output of the
transmitter -- but the radiation pattern is mostly skewed up in
the air? instead of straight out at the horizon.?? The only
exception would be end-fed half-wave antenna designs which are
38" tall on 2M.?
FURTHER..... Traditional 1200-baud packet/APRS uses audio
frequency-shift keying of a single sine-wave audio tone. Simple
AFSK can tolerate a lot of audio distortion and uneven frequency
response in the TX and RX audio systems, and still work. ?
ON THE OTHER HAND...
VARA uses multiple QAM (quadrature amplitude
modulation) audio subcarrier tones SIMULTANEOUSLY. This kind of
very-complex wave form is FAR FAR less tolerant of audio
distortion, uneven frequency response and over-driven transmit
audio limiters in the radio, than the simple single-tone
sine-wave modes like AX.25 packet or SSTV.
??? Audio Inter-modulation distortion (a.k.a. "IMD") in the TX
and/or RX audio stages takes the original multiple tones and
adds/subtracts them to/from each other, creating numerous
additional audio frequencies in the pass-band. All this
additional "trash" in the audio pass-band then makes decoding
the original tones much more difficult.? Note that this kind of
IMD can happen either in the transmit audio chain, or in the
receive audio chain if levels are set too high.
??? Transmit audio level setting is very critical on modes like
VARA -- You MUST keep the TX audio level low enough that no
clipping or IMD happens in the TX mic amp and modulator chain.
??
??? (This is the reason for the complex "auto-tune"
trial-and-error level-setting feature in VARA. If you have a
communications monitor with a modulation scope, you don't need
the auto-tune process -- you can instantly see if the audio wave
forms of the transmitted VARA signal have clipped flat tops
instead of a mass of smooth rounded over-lapping sine waves)
Stephen H. Smith???
wa8lmf (at) aol.com
Skype:??????? WA8LMF
EchoLink:? Node #? 14400? [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]
Home Page:?????????
-- APRS over FLdigi Modes? --
??
60-Meter APRS!?? HF NVIS APRS Igate Now Operating
??
Flying Digipeater!
??
11 Copies of UIview in Action on One Computer! ?
Live Off-The-Air APRS Activity Maps
??
|
On 7/9/2023 11:19 AM, Kevin Custer
wrote:
Or
better yet - programs could be customized to align PTT timing with
the capabilities of the radio - taking the sound cards PTT method
out of the equation.
This has been done since the beginning of
packet in the very early 1980s.? It's called a setting called
TXD (TX Delay) and determines a delay between PTT and the
beginning of the data tones. Usually specified in milliseconds,
it is user adjustable to correct for the "slow-on-the-draw"
issues of individual radios.
|
Re: Zeus ZS-1 SDR radio and Vara - Audio link ???
Hi Pedro,
I think you will need to use virtual audio cable connections between the ZS-1 software and the Vara software.?
Mike KV4TT?
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On 7/9/2023 11:19 AM, Kevin Custer
wrote:
The way
this is written seems to generalize that all Class-D audio power
amplification results in distortion.? While some Class-D audio
amps are terrible - (and the ones in these portable radios
certainly are) - not all Class-D audio amplification is flawed
where distortions are concerned.? Plus - we're not really dealing
with "complex data waveforms" here - it's just audio.
It's not "just audio".? If the class-D amp
doesn't switch cleanly or isn't switched at a high-enough
frequency, it can/will produce a lot of IMD (Inter -Moduation
Distortion.
This doesn't affect modes like AX.25 packet or
SSTV that use a single audio tone at a time very much --- but is
disastrous to modes with complex waveforms that use multiple
SIMULTANEOUS audio tones like VARA, MT-2000, etc., ?
|
W8NSI James
Lawrence
CalOES SOCC Officer - Jim Price
Kevin Custer
Mike (KV4TT)