First Up!
Power your hotspot up using the correct port (see image below) and the power supply provided.
Be gentle with the micro USB port on your hotspot, it can be easily damaged. The power port is for power only, it has nothing to do with internet connection, which is done via Wi-Fi.
If possible, it’s best to leave your hotspot running continuously, that way it will run Pi-Star update each night.
NOTE: If you plug the power into the wrong port you risk cooking your new hotspot!
The two biggest issues you are likely to encounter are:
Incorrect radio programming so the radio doesn’t communicate with the hotspot.
Poor or no internet connection to the hotspot.
Remember! I’ve fully tested your hotspot, so it works fine!
Your new DuraSpot 2 Simplex has a PCB mounted RF antenna, so is designed to use with a handheld transceiver close by, such as in your shack – on a lower power stetting, usually minimum of 1W.
Also works well with a mobile transceiver at low power – even if it’s into a dummy load.
For best RF results from your radio to you may have to experiment with the location of your hotspot.
Hotspot ports:
Getting into the hotspot’s Pi-Star software dashboard:
The best way to connect to your hotspot’s dashboard is via its local IP address, which will be displayed on the hotspot’s screen – see image below. Otherwise you scan your PC to find it. To do that you may need to download and install https://www.advanced-ip-scanner.com/
The hotspot will appear in the Wi-Fi list as pi-star.
The default Pi-Star user login and password are pi-star and raspberry.
BOTH your computer and the hotspot must be accessing the same Wi-Fi connection/router or your phone’s hotspot in order to see and access the pi-star dashboard.
*IMPORTANT* Back Up Your Hotspot’s Configuration:
Run the backup from the Pi-Star dashboard and save it to your PC – that way if you have a software issue you can restore your back up.
Hotspot Temperature:
It will usually run in the high 40’s – mid 50’s Celsius. In hotter climates you may see it run in the high 60’s. This is normal operation.
IMPORTANT Wi-Fi NOTES:
The hotspot’s Wi-Fi has has a very small range so it will be imperative that your Wi-Fi router be located in your shack or very close by, otherwise it simply won’t connect properly. Even if it’s only a few metres away, the Wi-Fi signal quality can be affected. Once you set up your hotspot, you can place it beside your Wi-Fi router or alternatively buy a Wi-Fi range extender for your shack.
The image below shows a perfect strong connection with a link quality of 100%.
Ethernet Connection:
Instead of using Wi-Fi you can use an Ethernet connection to your hotspot via a regular LAN cable from your modem/router using the supplied adapter.
This connection will override any Wi-Fi connections that have already been set up, that way you will be able to configure all Wi-Fi connections. The IP address for ethernet will be different to WIFI.
This adapter is plug and play and doesn’t require any software installations, make sure you use the correct port on your hotspot. To use the adapter first power your hotspot down, plug the adapter in, power up your hotspot, it will now be connected to Ethernet. To access the Pi-Star dashboard take note of the IP address that appears on the screen at startup, type it into any browser on the same network and you’ll be able to access the Pi-Star dashboard.
See a video here:
Setting up a new WiFi connection: (only needed if I didn’t set it up for you)
Use the Ethernet connection – refer above on how to do that. Now watch the video:
Shutting your hotspot down
Using your radio – RF:
Pi-Star remote has been enabled so you can shut the hotspot down via RF.
Firstly the hotspot needs to be idle – not receiving any stations.
Using a DMR radio: PTT Talk Group 9999996 on slot 2, if it’s not programmed, most radios have a manual dial menu.
Using a Fusion radio: First press the D/X button to enable Wires X and PTT Room 99996.
Using a D-Star radio PTT SHUTDOWN.
Using a P25 radio PTT Talk Group 65534.
The hotspot will shut down – takes about 30 seconds, the display will probably say “CLOSE”.
You’ll notice LED’s will still be active – that’s because the hotspot has power to it.
You can safely power it down.
Shutting your hotspot down
Via the Pi-Star dashboard:
Go to the configuration page, then click on the power menu.
The next screen you can shut the hotspot down, this shuts the software down, not the hardware so some LED’s will remain on until you switch the power off.
If you run more than one hotspot:
Make sure you have a reasonable frequency split between all of your hotspots. Also you’ll need to reduce the RF power output on all of your hotspots, otherwise they’ll interfere with each other.
To do this, log into the Pi-Star dashboard, go to Configuration-> Expert->MMDVM Host and scroll down to Modem. RF level is set by default at 100 which is % (10mw) so my recommendation is to set it to 10% (1mw) and then apply changes.
Switching Modes in Pi-Star:
In the Pi-Star dashboard you can easily switch modes on and off. For each mode you’ll need the appropriate radio. You can also run multiple modes at the same time – but that does come with some possible complications. You can also crossmode as well.
I do recommend running one mode at a time – this is definitely the best option. To switch modes simply tap/slide the button to toggle on or off and then hit apply changes. Once the page refreshes you’ll have to add your configuration details.
D-Star radio setup:
Below is a screenshot of how you could set your radio’s D-Star hotspot channel up.
It needs to be setup as a duplex channel on the hotspot’s frequency with zero offset. The repeater callsign needs to match your hotspot. In this case it is VK7VKS(space)B. The “B” is the band that your radio communicates with your hotspot so these need to match – see images below.
The gateway callsign is treated the same way only it has a “G” suffix, so this is VK7VKS(space)G.
Of course you’ll be using your call sign – these are just examples.
Image showing “Band B” which matches the radio programming. Of course you’ll be using your call sign – these are just examples.
Band reference guide below. Keep in mind you can use any letter but never use “G”.
A – 23cm band
B- 70cm band
C – 2m band
Here are videos about reflector memory setup and use in Icom radios using the “your (UR) call” memory:
DMR radio setup:
Each radio used on the DMR network is programmed with a unique user ID number.
You MUST enter your DMR ID into your radio for it to work correctly.
ID numbers are managed centrally, and may be obtained here: https://www.radioid.net/register#!
All of the channels that you set up in your codeplug to access any of the DMR networks must be set up simplex and need to have a talk group and matching receive group assigned, also please select the low power setting in each channel.
Make sure you create a receive group for TG9 and add TG9 to it. This way you’ll be able to hear the hotspot’s voice announcements, which are sent to TG9.
An excellent website to get you started: https://vkdmr.com/
VK-DMR repeater dashboard: http://rpt.vkdmr.com/ Hotspot dashboard: http://hot.vkdmr.com/
A video codeplug tutorial (for TYT MD-380) but is a great all round tutorial:
VK-DMR Network configuration in your Hotspot:
Go to the VK-DMR official website for how to configure your hotspot for the VK-DMR Network.
Click on the “Connect your hotspot page”.
https://www.vkdmr.com/connect-your-hotspot/
Brandmeister DMR Network configuration in your Hotspot:
All Brandmeister severs now require a password, so you’ll need to setup a Brandmeister Self Care account and create a password, then apply that same password in your hotspot.
I don’t recommend using the DMR Gateway feature!
Yaesu radio setup for YSF:
With the FT2D or similar you need to set up a simplex channel to the hotspot frequency in DN mode.
With the hotspot, switch off other modes and switch on YSF.
With YSF startup host the busy reflectors are FCS00420 CQ-UK and FCS00390 America link so select the one you want.
Also if it’s not already switched on, switch on WiresX passthrough. That allows you to control the hotspot via the wires X button on the radio.
If using an FT70D then switch on Uppercase Hostfiles, apply changes then run Update.
You can direct enter the reflector, press Search & Direct -> ID-> then enter the reflector number.
Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4lyLn2nYgI
You can see the YSF reflector list here: https://www.pistar.uk/ysf_reflectors.php
Please Note: If you are running an FT991/A the RX audio quality on C4FM can be quite poor. Seems to vary as some radios perform better than others. Unfortunately this is a trait of the radio and so far Yaesu have not addressed this.
Adding a 2nd WiFi network or Tethering Your Phone Wi-Fi/Personal Hotspot:
If you want to go portable/mobile then tethering you phone as an internet source is a great option.
Set you phone’s hotspot up with a basic SSID (Wi-Fi name) with just letters and numbers but without any spaces or special characters. This is really important if you have an iPhone.
To set your DuraSpot up the best way is to use an ethernet adapter for internet as you’ll need to alter the Wi-Fi configuration. Once connected to ethernet, log into Pi-Star via the dashboard, go to the configuration page, scroll down to the Wireless Configuration section and delete any pre-configured Wi-Fi settings then press Save and Connect. The page will refresh, and the Wireless Configuration section should be ready for you to add your phone first and then your home Wi-Fi second. Turn on your phone’s hotspot tethering or personal hotspot, now click Configure Wi-Fi, then click Scan For Networks. Now select your phone Wi-Fi, enter the password and click Save and Connect. Once the page refreshes then do the same and select your home Wi-Fi, enter the password and click Save and Connect. Doing this will place your phone in the 1st Wi-Fi position and your home Wi-Fi in 2nd position. This configuration is important as when the hotspot starts up it will automatically search for your phone first and home Wi-Fi as the second option.
Type in the password and click “Save and connect”.
The Wifi window will refresh, after that the new network will be saved.
NOTE: The hotspot searches and connects to WiFi on boot up, so it looks for the WiFi networks that you have setup in the hotspot based on their position. So that means to say connect to your phone which lets say you have in position 2, but your home WiFi is in position 1, then you need to switch on your phone’s personal hotspot and make sure you are far enough away from your home WiFi, that way the hotspot will connect to your phone.
Notes about BER (bit error rate) and offset adjustment:
I’ve thoroughly tested your hotspot and have sent it to you with zero offset adjustment and low BER recorded. The TCXO (oscillator) that is used in the modem combined with a quality radio chip means that in almost all cases your radio will communicate with the hotspot with very low BER. If you do find that the BER is not in the green zone then please contact me for support before doing anything.
Using other power sources to power up your hotspot:
If possible please only use the power supply provided. Many devices around your home have USB ports but most are low current, not enough to run your hotspot.
If mobile or portable it is advisable to use a battery bank only. Do not use a cigarette lighter USB adapter or your car’s USB ports. These ports are designed to charge batteries and in many cases output more than the required 5 volts. Using these will cause damage to your hotspot.
HAS PI-STAR CRASHED? CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO GO TO THE PI-STAR RESCUE PAGE.
Running multiple modes in Pi-Star:
The pi-star software allows you to turn on multiple modes at the same time, for example DMR, DStar & YSF. Then Pi-Star scans all active modes that you have selected. When it picks up a signal it stops on that mode. If someone is talking on DMR, then the Pi-Star stops on DMR and stays there so if you wanted to talk on D-Star at this point, you cannot as DMR is already in use. That’s where the hang time in the configuration applies. By default it’s set at 20 seconds, that means Pi-Star will stay “stuck” to the mode it hears for 20 seconds.
So….if you run multiple modes then Pi-Star can hijack the qso you are listening to if there is a decent enough pause and another mode becomes active.
Another way around it is more hotspots dedicated to one mode each. For example I run 4 hotspots in my shack, one for VK-DMR, one for D-Star, one for System Fusion and one for DMR Brandmeister.
Many amateurs are now doing this.
NEED HELP? please contact me for support before trying anything!
73, Glenn VK4NGA