QnetGateway/BUILDING

Creating a hotspot based on a Raspberry Pi or a BeagleBone Black that can connect to
XRF and DCS reflectors as well as XREF reflectors based on QnetGateway software is
easy.

Start with a Raspberry Pi with the latest Raspbian image (see http://raspberrypi.org)
or most any other computer with the latest Debian-based image. For this latest version
of QnetGateway requires the c++ compiler of at least version 4.9.

Even if you are building an MMDVMHost-based hot-spot, the executables and their
source code are very small, so you can get away with a system with minimum storage
capacity. We have build gui-less versions on two gigabyte partitions! You don't need
to overclock the RPi for QnetGateway, the default clock rate is just fine.

If you are using a DVAP Dongle or a DVRPTR_V1, or connecting to an Icom Terminal and
Access Point enabled radio,login and plug in your device to see if the OS is
recognizing it. The kernel should auto load drivers and you will see that with the
"lsusb" command. The DVAP and the Icom radio digital-to-serial cable uses a FTDI chip
and the DVRPTR uses Atmel. If you don't see an approprite output from "lsusb" after
your device is plugged in, you need to enable it by executing:

sudo depmod
sudo modprobe <YOURDEVICEMODULE>

where YOURDEVICEMODULE is "ftdi_sio" for the DVAP or is "cdc_acm" for the DVRPTR.
After a reboot you should see the device in the "lsusb" list. If you don't see
the device listed, QnetGateway software will never be able to open it either.

You will need several packages to build the QnetGateway gateway. You will probably
already have all or most of these but it still doesn't hurt to be sure:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install make g++ unzip git

If you are building a QnetGateway + MMDVMHost system, please use the instructions
in the MMDVM.README file. If you are building a QnetGateway for an Icom repeater,
you'll need to switch branches of this repository after downloading it (see below):

git checkout lastudp

Then you can  use the qn.icom.cfg configuration file as a starting point for your
configuration.

If you are building a QnetGateway for a DVAP or a DVRPTR_V1 read on...

git clone git://github.com/n7tae/QnetGateway.git

This will create a QnetGateway directory with everything you need to build a dvap or
dvrptr ircddb gateway.

The first thing to do is change to the build directory with "cd QnetGateway" and then
choose a target to make. There are targets for each of the supported devices:
. "make itap"   will build all programs needed for Icom Terminal mode.
. "make dvap"   will build all programs needed for the DVAP Dongle.
. "make dvrptr" will build all programs needed for the DVRPTR_V1.
. "make mmdvm"  will build all programs needed for MMDVMHost support. (You need
  to download and build MMDVMHost separately, see the MMDVM.README file for more info.
. "make" will build all the QnetGateway executables. This is useful if you are
  experimenting around with lots of different devices.

Next, create your qn.cfg configuration file. Use the menu-driven configuration
script. Type:

./configure

You can configure up to three different modules: a, b and/or c.

The configure script will show you the default values of every parameter the
QnetGateway programs use. In most cases, the defaults are just fine and you don't
need to override them with your own values. Mostly you need to specify you callsign
for the IRC login, specify at least one module and most users will want to enable
the D-Plus legacy authorization. For a DVAP Dongle or a DVRPTR V1, there are some
parameters that must be specified, like the serial number. After you are happy with
your configuration, be sure to write it out. After you install and try out your
system, you may find that you need to change some configuration values. In that
case just start the configure script again. It will read the current qn.cfg file
when it start.

Of course, you can always build your own qn.cfg file. There are three example for
you to look at:
. qn.everything.cfg contains all parameter with comments about what
  each parameter does. The definitions that are commented out are defined with
  their default value.
. qn.dvap.cfg is the simplest possible configuration for a 2m DVAP. If you have
  a 70cm DVAP rename the module to "b" and change the frequency.
. qn.mmdvm.cfg is the starting place for configuring an MMDVMHost repeater. Be sure
  the module assignment agrees with the module configured in your MMDVM.cfg file.
. qn.itap.cfg is a simple configuration file for Icom's Terminal and Access Point
  Mode. Please read ITAP.README for more information.

Remeber the 'everything' file file contain detailed comments about all of
the values you can set. Just read through it and edit accordingly. In the end you will
need a configuration file called "qn.cfg".

Additional information about the configuration as well as other important and
useful features are also in the CONFIGURING file.

Authorization to the the Trust DPlus system is first obtained by registering,
see www.dstargateway.org for instructions. Once registered, make sure to enable
it in you software, please see the "dplus" section in the example cfg files.
By default DPlus authorization is off. When you turn it on, the authorizing server
will provide QnetLink with a list of REF reflectors and repeaters on the DPlus
system. In the "dplus" section of you qn.cfg file, you have control over which
systems you want added to your gwy database. Your gwys.txt file is read AFTER
DPlus authorization so any entries their will over-write REF any downloaded
from the DPlus authorization server.

The information downloaded from the DPlus server is dynamic and will change
from hour to hour. You can update QnetLink by sending "       F" to your system.
This will purge the current table and re-authorize with the DPlus server and
then reload gwys.txt.

Because of the way DPlus authorization works, QnetLink can't actually confirm
that the authorization was successful. If your system is unlinked after trying
to transmit into a DPlus system, it means that your authorization was
unsuccessful. This might indicate that their may be a problem with your
DPlus registration.

The gwys.txt file is the internet address and port numbers for any gateway you
would like your ircddb gateway to be able to connect to. The one delivered with
this package is special: It has only DCS reflectors, X-reflectors and DStar
reflectors and the X-reflectors are configured with the 20001 port instead of the
default 30001 prot. This will allow you to connect to these XREF reflectors without
creating any port-forwarding rules on your home router. You will also want to move
X-reflectors to port 20001 if you are going to tether you device via WiFi to a
smart-phone for internet access. Most phone companies will not let you configure
port-forwarding rules on you phone internet account. If you operate behing a
router/firewall without port forwarding in place, you will not be able to
do most callsign routing techniques discussed in CONFIGURING.txt, but you should
still be able to connect to reflectors. You will be able to route to the new
smart-group-server if you are mobile. They have solved the "mobile routing
problem"!

There are MANY OTHER gateways to which you can connect. Executing get_gwys_list.sh
will download a HUGE list of reflectors and gateways from www.va3uv.com with port
address that may need port-forwarding to your sytem.

There is another script, reflist.sh, that will download REF, XRF and DCS reflectors
from another source. This is probably the preferred method to getting a gwys.txt
file. This source is extremely up-to-date, and it also contains the DPlus REF
reflectors. If you want to use data from the DPlus authorization server, be sure
to remove any REF definitions that might over-write DPlus entries.

Based on the above discussion, execute either "./reflist.sh" or "./get_gwy_list.sh"
and then edit it to your needs.

If you plan on using DTMF, you need to copy "qndtmf.sh" to "qndtmf". This is the
file that interprets dtmf command and executes them. As supplied, it parses the
DTMF string and executes a QnetRemote command to perform linking and unlinking
and other useful tasks. It is a /bin/bash script so you can modify it! You can
change the commands or create new commands.

You are now ready to install your QnetGateway system. If you are installing an
MMDVM-based system, follow the instructions in MMDVM.README.

If you are installing Icom's Terminal and Access Point mode, please follow the
instructions in ITAP.README.

To install either DVAP or DVRPTR_V1, type "sudo make installdvap" or "sudo make
installdvrptr", respectively. If you are installing on an Icom repeater, type
"sudo make installicom". This should get you up and running. It will take a few
minutes for QnetGateway to get fully connected to the IRCDDB network.

Finally, if you want/need DTMFS, type "sudo make installdtmfs".

The service scripts in /lib/systemd/system and everything else in /usr/local:
The executables will be in /usr/local/bin and the qn.cfg file and other data
will be in /usr/local/etc. Please note that the qn.cfg file and the gwys.txt
file are actually symbolic links and point back to the files you created in
the build directory. So if you want modify them later, modify the files in the
build directory.

If you are having trouble connecting, use journalctl to view the log output
of each process. "sudo journalctl -u <service name> will show the log from that
service. The QnetGateway service is qngateway, QnetLink is qnlink, QnetDVAP is
qndvap and QnetDVRPTR is qndvrptr.

The beginning of each log file will report the values of all the configuration
parameters (even the ones you didn't specify in qn.cfg) and after that
you will see the verbose reports of what each service is doing. These logs are
invaluable for traking down problems with your qn.cfg file. You can see in real
time what is being added to the logs during operation appending "-f" to the
journalctl command.

You can clean up the build directory of intermediate *.o files, *.d file and the
executables with "make clean".

If you want to uninstall everything return to the build directory and type
"sudo make unistalldvap", "sudo make uninstalldvrptr" or "sudo make uninstallicom"
and possibly "sudo make uninstalldtmfs".  This will shutdown the services and
remove the service scripts and everything from /usr/local.

Tom Early, n7tae (at) arrl (dot) net