Echolink-In-A-Box

Introduction

The Echolink-In-A-Box (eiab) project aims at building a low cost, easy to implement solution for Echolink based on SvxLink.

Hardware Requirements

Hardware used

The hardware used for this project:

• SAS 868 VHF or UHF Module, PVB Version 1.3 or higher (must have SPKEN Pin)
• NanoPi Neo, Version 1.4
• Raspberry Pi 3B (to be supported later with USB Audio interface)
  
  

Wiring

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Software

Installation Scripts for Echolink-In-A-Box

To install, run this on a NanoPi running Ubuntu:

curl -L https://git.io/J38AI | bash && eiab-setup

To install, run this on a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian:

curl -L https://git.io/JOGsD | bash && eiab-setup

Packages used

Just in case you want to know, here they are...

software-properties-common htop unzip vorbis-tools apache2
php libapache2-mod-php make cmake groff gzip doxygen tar git 
libsigc++ tcl libgcrypt-dev libasound-dev libspeex-dev librtlsdr-dev 
libpopt-dev libgsm1-dev g++ cmake make libsigc++-2.0-dev libgsm1-dev 
libpopt-dev tcl-dev libgcrypt20-dev libspeex-dev libasound2-dev libopus-dev 
librtlsdr-dev doxygen groff alsa-utils vorbis-tools curl libcurl4-openssl-dev 
rtl-sdr libcurl4-openssl-dev libjsoncpp-dev

Getting Started

Wiring up the Hardware

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Getting farimilar with the commands and menus

EIAB consists of an installation script, and various menus that allow you to easily setup the system without console command knowledge.

Getting help: The help command shows the various command available.

$ eiab-help 
Echolink-In-A-Box by ZS6JGP
---------------------------

Available commands:

eiab-setup
    - Setup, Reinstall and Update your System
eiab-shell
    - Management Shell
eiab-help
    - Help on available commands

More info available at https://github.com/JGPorteous/Echolink-In-A-Box/

Setup Menu

The setup menu allows you to setup the system.

$ eiab-setup

    ┌--- Echolink-In-A-Box by ZS6JGP - Setup Menu ---┐
    │ APT Sources                                    │
    │ APT Update                                     │
    │ APT Upgrade                                    │
    │                                                │
    │ Install Dependencies                           │
    │ Install SvxLink                                │
    │                                                │
    │ System Info                                    │
    │ CPU Temperature                                │
    │                                                │
    │ Reboot System                                  │
    │                                                │
    │ Exit                                           │
    └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

This menu allow you to setup APT sources, do updates and upgrades.

Once your system is updated & upgraded you will need to:

1. Install Dependecies
2. Install SvxLink (This can take up to 20 minutes)
   
   

Shell Menu

The Shell command provides access to useful tools

$ eiab-shell

    ┌--- Echolink-In-A-Box by ZS6JGP ---┐
    │ Services Menu                     │
    │ Network Tools                     │
    │ Logs                              │
    │                                   │
    │ Configuration                     │
    │ Operating System                  │
    │ Advanced Menu                     │
    │                                   │
    │ System Info                       │
    │ CPU Temperature                   │
    │                                   │
    │ Exit                              │
    └───────────────────────────────────┘

Configuring the Software

After you have installed EIAB, the dependencies and installed SvxLink, you are ready to customize your system via the eiab-shell menu.

• Configuration > Svlink (Main config)
  • SimplexLogic > CALLSIGN
• Configuration > GPIO (Customize GPIO Pins)
  • No updates required if you are running a NanoPi, else configure your gpio pins as requires
• Configuration > EchoLink Module (EchoLink Settings)
  • ModuleEchoLink > CALLSIGN the callsign for the echolink node
  • ModuleEchoLink > PASSWORD password you have set
  • ModuleEchoLink > SYSOPNAME Club or EchoLink repeater name
  • ModuleEchoLink > LOCATION Location, prefix with [Svx]
  • ModuleEchoLink > DECRIPTION Description of your local club's frequencies or echolink node information

Setting up your Router / Firewall

The prefered method is to setup your DHCP server on your router to provide a static IP Address for the NanoPi or Raspberry by based on it's MAC Address.

You can get the MAC addres or "HWaddr" from running eiab-shell then selecting "Network Tools" > "View IP Settings"

For this IP Address you have chosen, allow the following incoming firewall Port Forwarding rules:

• TCP 5200
• UDP 5198-5199

Once setup and ready to go

Once you have setup your system, use PuTTY or your favorite SSH client to connect to the system. Login with the echolink user, and you will be presented with the eiab-shell menu. Or, login with root and run eiab-shell.

You can add your public keys to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys to simplifly to login process.