Node-Ventures

As some folks noticed we were out of stock temporarily – we were missing a component. Production is underway again and the “Buy ClearNode” shopping basket has been restored.

73 … Gerry.

A ClearNode user reported this morning that the Android ClearNode mobile app crashes when there are IN-bound Echolink connections. We were able reproduce the problem and get a fix in place. Version 1.12.4 has been released with the fix. It may take a few hours before the new version propagates across Google’s servers.

73 … Gerry.

The team at AllStarLink completed their server migration successfully and connectivity to stats.allstarlink.org has been restored.

73 … Gerry.

Some infrastructure issues ongoing at the AllStar live node database – likely will be resolved soon.

73 … Gerry.

This release improves the AWS MQTT connection management, particularly in marginal WiFi and Internet situations. We recommend all users upgrade to this release.

73 … Gerry.

Several people have asked for a video explaining the WiFiByLight process for getting your ClearNode on your WiFi and talking to the ClearNode Mobile App. Enjoy !

This release brings the Android implementation up to par with the Apple iOS 1.12 release. Voice telemetry, parrot mode and zip code definition for the *81 weather announcement.

73 … Gerry.

We’ve found an issue with ClearNode where OpenVPN is installed and started as a daemon service via “systemctl” at boot. The RedNode API software service is starting before OpenVPN and establishing it’s messaging connection to the AWS Message Hub. Subsequently OpenVPN changes the network configuration and thus trashes the connection to AWS, preventing the ClearNode mobile app from controlling the node.

The temporary solution is to put a delay into the RedNode startup sequence. Edit the /lib/systemd/system/rednode.service file and add the delay as seen below

[Unit]
 Description=RedNode AWS client and node controller
 After=network.target
 

 [Service]
 Type=simple
 ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 15
 ExecReload=/bin/kill -HUP $MAINPID
 KillMode=process
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=15
 User=root
 WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/rednode/
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/python /usr/local/rednode/nodeControl.py
 

 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target

We tried making rednode.service dependent on the OpenVPN service using the “After” section above, but that didn’t seem to work. You may need to adjust the value of “sleep 15” depending on your installation.

If you need help with taking care of this don’t hesitate to get in touch.

73 … Gerry.

Numerous fixes for the UI – especially issues with the Node Setup screen when changing orientation. Additions to the items in the Node Setup screen:

• Enable voice telemetry
• Enable parrot mode
• Supports changing Bindport
• Set zipcode for *81 weather announcement

Some other additions:

• Rebot/Shutdown via DTMF
• List the available WiFi networks as seen by the ClearNode device
• Radio Screen now supports VHF nodes

73 … Gerry.

This release brings the Android up to date with the current iOS release. Apart from a handful of bug fixes and enhancements, the big news is the Search functionality for the AllStar and Echolink systems. In the Add Connection screen there is a spy-glass search icon in the top right corner – follow the prompts search search for callsigns, affiliations and locations.

73 … Gerry.