[aprssig] APRS Digi "Live" CD?

[Jim]

Appreciating you have loads of PC stuff, but for sheer 100% uptime have you
considered UIDigi in a TNC-2 clone? Removes 99% of the redundant hardware
and failure risk.

How about DOS + Xrouter or DigiNed on a bootable CD? Get the config files
sorted on a lab system and just burn to CD.



Jim, G1HUL
 

-----Original Message-----
From: aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org [mailto:aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org]
On Behalf Of Dave Baxter
Sent: 22 May 2007 16:23
To: aprssig at lists.tapr.org
Subject: [aprssig] APRS Digi "Live" CD?

Hi All...

Does anyone have anything like a bootable Digipeater program disk for PC
hardware, to control a dumb TNC?  (Pac-com or whatever, with no backup
battery, so fresh setup needed each restart)   Something that can reside
on a CD or even a floppy, and not depend on anything like a Hard Disk based
OS to run?...

We have PC hardware coming out of our ears, but so far all the APRS software
I've looked at, needs at least DOS, Windows, or Linux to run, then manual
intervention at some point to get going as a fully fledged digi.  Yes I know
all about scripts and batch files etc, but there is always "something" you
can't cater for doing it that way, and it's that 0.0001% of the time that no
one will be there to kick it.

A group of us in the UK have the permission of our local repeater group to
"convert" a little used packet node to a much needed digi.  But
historically, the power supply at the site is not reliable (people on-site
unplug the kit without warning at times!) so it needs to be 110% bomb proof
power outage recovery wise.  Something the above OS's aren't sadly.  From my
own limited experiments, Linux seems more resilient than Windows, and
something like DOS even more so.  But.....

Having played a bit with some of the "Live CD" versions of Linux (My
favourite at the mo is Puppy Linux, fast, small, does the job) it would be
good if something like that was about for a fully featured APRS Digi/I-Gate
(we cant do the I-Gate, no net connection on site.)

We're looking for something that is simple to get restarted, so if needed,
other members of the group (or the on-site people) who know squat about APRS
and PC's, can if needed just go and switch it all back
on, with absolutely no need to fiddle.   The radio will be either
crystal controlled, or have a hard programmed (ROM) synthesizer.

Any recommendations?

Cheers.

Dave G0WBX.
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