Node-Ventures

We lost 3 days in the workshop this week. Record temperatures – over 110 deg F – the space was not inhabitable. Solder paste doesn’t do well at those temperatures, so we called a halt.

However, that did mean we could focus a little longer on software ! News coming soon …

So have patience, we will catch up next week …

73 … Gerry.

I have temporarily suspended shipments by UPS in the store.

We have had problem after problem after problem with UPS over the last few weeks – their performance is lamentable. There doesn’t seem to be any common sense guiding what they are doing. We’ve had particular problems getting packages across the country to the East Coast.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but what they are charging us, and therefore you the customer, is quite unreasonable given their performance.

73 … Gerry.

And it’s not good … 🙁

It doesn’t look like there will any supply of the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W until, at least, the 1st half of 2023 – and that’s only if the chip supply chain “recovers” within that time frame.

Given the conversation I had this morning – the prospects for the Pi 4 based ClearNode are also diminishing for the rest of 2022 – there’s a 6 month lead time for that board as well.

Challenging times …

73 … Gerry.

It had to come I suppose, we did our best to put it off as long as possible, but we really have to move the ClearNode Mobile App for Android up to a later minimum SDK version. This is mostly because we’re seeing more and more instability in the older version of the AWS IoT MQTT Libraries that our node control system relies on. We’ve been getting reports of poor connection behavior in the Android app – and we have been able to confirm this in our testing.

We just put out a “point” release for Android 9 (V1.32.8) – most of you will pick that up automatically – this should help with the MQTT connectivity issues. After that, if Android 9 is the most recent version your device will support, you will not be able to get subsequent versions of ClearNode for Android. Your Android 9 device and this version (1.32) of ClearNode will continue to function, you just won’t be able to update it as we move forward with new releases.

The only constant is change …

73 … Gerry.

You may have noticed that the vast majority of ClearNodes and ClearZeros have auto-magically upgraded to RedNode API 90. The ClearNode mobile app – Apple iOS and Android versions 1.32 are already in the App Store and Play Store respectively.

The major changes are “Fleet Last Heard” and “Fleet connection activity” – both available from the “Your Nodes” context/share menu. “Fleet” refers to ALL ClearNodes and ClearZeros currently running – a global view.

Fleet Last Heard

I’ve been impressed how most of the Digital Networks provide a live feed of where traffic is coming from – super useful if you’re looking for “action” or trying to verify if you’re making it into the system. So to make that happen we’re using the internal signaling data to provide a live feed of where nodes are active – i.e. receiving on their embedded radios and putting traffic onto a target system. This release targets the AllStar and EchoLink connections, with limited information for Digital connections. There will be another concerted effort to make the data from the Digital connections more useful – stay tuned – there’s a chunk of complexity in there that needs to be wrangled.

Fleet connection activity

We consistently see frustration among new users who are just getting familiar with Voice Over IP systems – where to go to get involved ? This functionality provides a sorted and time constrained list of where connections are being made and dropped. This is often a good indicator that a Net is getting underway as the inbound connections to a System Hub start ramping up. You can also start your connection and get involved – right there from Connection Activity list !

Other …

• More custom courtesy tones
• Voice ID as alternative to CW ID
• Node host name is exposed for configuration in Operating System Setup
• Fixed the “Change Pi ‘root’ pswd” which got trashed in an earlier release

A lot of work went into this release and it’s a certainty there are bugs … the sooner you report ’em the sooner we fix ’em … 🙂

This foundational work underlies this release and the next – so there’s more to come ! The next Major Release is already on the drawing board … exciting stuff in the works.

Have fun !

73 … Gerry.

Mostly a maintenance release to clean up some outstanding issues. Upgrade is recommended for all users.

73 … Gerry.

This brings the Android app up to the released functionality as the Apple iOS app.

73 … Gerry.

If your email on file with us uses the “cox.net” domain – we are receiving your emails but we CANNOT REPLY.

“cox.net” has been refusing emails from our “node-ventures.com” domain for a number of users. We have a small number of customers who haven’t received their ClearNode Keys because of this situation. It’s not all email address in that domain, but some subset.

PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH AN ALTERNATE ADDRESS !! gmail.com, yahoo.com, or any of the other usual suspects work fine.

If you know of anyone with a “cox.net” email address – please reach out to them and spread the word.

73 … Gerry.

(Hang in there Android users, we’ll catch up shortly.)

Here’s what we’re releasing:

• Configure alternate “link unkey” tones – the “NASA OVER” has been requested many times 🙂
• Configure Propagate DTMF, Propagate phone DTMF and Remote DTMF settings – helps out with apps that send remote DTMF control tones
• Configure the Port for SSH in the Operating System Setup section
• Improves support for those customers that are sharing control of their nodes with other call signs

Have fun !

73 … Gerry.

If you have the latest M1 or M2 chip based MacBook, Pro or Air – the ClearNode mobile app is available in the Mac OS app store. A savvy user spotted it and let me know – we made the app Mac OS compatible during the last couple of releases.

73 … Gerry.