Pskmail
Installation Notes
The pskmail server wiki has some information at: http://pskmail.wikispaces.com/Server Here are some notes based on my experiences.
- Download and install fldigi - http://www.w1hkj.com/download.html - follow README instructions. (install in /usr/local)
- Configure fldigi for pskmail - Here is the quick start guide for fldigi, good read. http://www.w1hkj.com/beginners.html
- Enter call sign info
- Set up sound card
- switch to 48000 sampling
- verify audio levels
- adjust squelch (1/2 way up)
- set misc/pskmail 1000 Carrier, Report ARQ frames, reset to carrier
- set misc/sweetspoot to 1000 for psk, check always start new modems at these frequencies
- Download pskmail server.1.5-installer.sh script. http://www.pskmail.org/PSKMaildownloads.html
- Run the script.
- chmod +x pskmail_server-1.51-installer.sh
- sudo pskmail_server-1.51-installer.sh (i.e. install as root) - installs libraries, etc. so must be SU
- answer 'y' to install questions. (asks about installing packages.)
- Download pskmailserver update from link above (pskmail_server-1.52)
- Unpack 'tar xvf psmkmail_server-version.tar.gz'
- Change into the directory. cd pskmail_server... check out README. Note, the scripts are in the ./scripts subdirectory. The readme is wrong.
- cd scripts
- sudo ./libinstall.sh - updates the libraries.
- sudo ./install.sh
When you are all done with the installs, there will be a subdirectory called ~/.pskmail where all the configuration files reside. The next step is to edit the pskmailrc.pl file. This follows the perl syntax. At a minimum, change ServerCall. Set $MARS=1, which disables the connection to the aprs.fi map.
Configuration Notes
The following provides some specifics on configuring pskmail.
pskmailrc.pl
/home/usr/.pskmail/pskmailrc.pl is the main configuration file for the program. Here are some important notes.
Sending E-mail
pskmail sends e-mail via an SMTP account. You can set up a gmail account and use it. Or, you can do something local. Set the following lines in pskmailrc.pl to match your account details. Note, the \@. This is perl syntax so the \ escapes the @ symbol. Outgoing mail uses port 587, which is SMTP submission.
$relay = "smtp.gmail.com"; $smtpauthlevel = 2; $smtptlsuser = "userid\@gmail.com"; $smtptlspass = "gmailpassword"; $smtptlsport = 587; $monitor = 1;
Directories
I hard code the directories by replacing $ENV{HOME} with /home/user, where user is the name pskmail operates under.
$dbfile = "$ENV{HOME}/.pskmail/rflinkusers/rflink_users.db";
$output = ">$ENV{HOME}/.pskmail/gmfsk_autofile"; # deprecated
$TxInputfile = "$ENV{HOME}/.pskmail/TxInputfile";
$Inputfile = "$ENV{HOME}/.pskmail/gMFSK.log"; # deprecated
Location and APRS Beacon
Fix the lat/long for the beacons. The format is in DDMM.decimal minutes. Change $serverstatus to the latest. Update the APRS beacon text. The aprs addresses may need adjusting, too. They should point to a the APRS server for the system. Set the servers to something bogus, otherwise you will show up on the aprs maps.
$latitude = "0000.00N"; $longitude = "00000.00E"; $serverstatus = "PSKmail 1.4.8 server "; $Aprs_beacon = "0000.00NP00000.00E&PSKmail 1.4.8 server "; @Aprs_address = qw (netherlands.aprs2.net germany.aprs2.net italys.aprs2.net);
Make sure you adjust E to W, if you are in the US.
The 'P' and '&' in the APRS beacon corresponds to the APRS symbol. The defaults are a gateway symbol.
Rig Control
pskmail uses hamlib for rig control. Find your rig # using 'rigctl -l'. Rig # 326 corresponds to an Icom 756. The default server mode is PSK250R. Adjust the frequency corrections to match the desired center frequency of the pskmail signal in the audio passband. Set $scheduler = 1 to enable scanning, 0 to disable. The frequencies and mode for scanning are controlled by the QRG file.
# Scan or Note
$scheduler = 0;
# Rig Type - see text above
$rigtype = 326;
# Rig Control Serial port parameters
$rigrate = 9600;
$rigdevice = "/dev/ttyS0";
# M = channel, F= frequency, ""= none
$scanner = "";
# Name of QRG file. (Scanning frequencies and mode)
$qrgfile = "$ENV{HOME}/.pskmail/qrg/freqs.txt";
$freq_offset = 0;
# Sweet spot
@freq_corrections = qw (-1000 -1000 -1000 -1000 -1000);
$traffic_qrg = 0;
# Default mode
$Defaultmode = "PSK250R"; # default mode
QRG file
The frequency control file specified by $qrgfile is /home/user/.pskmail/qrg/freqs.txt. Edit this to correspond to the scanning sequence. There are 24 lines, one for each hour of the day. This allows you to set up different scanning sequences to account for propagation. The radio will cycle through each frequency on the line in 5 minutes. At T=0M:F=F1, T=1M:F=F2... T=4:F=F5,T=5:F=F1.
The last line is the default mode for each minute. For testing, choose different modes to help ensure beacons are heard.
You will also need to adjust the $scanner variable in pskmailrc.pl to the proper value. Use "M" if the QRG file specifies 'channels'. Use "F" if the QRG specifies frequencies. Set to "" (i.e. nothing) if not scanning.
Running pskmail_server
Starting
Start fldigi in a terminal window.
fldigi
Start pskmail in another window.
pskmail_server
Stopping
Press CTRL-C in the pskmail window.
Sometimes, pskmail doesn't stop nicely and you have to look for old processes. grep for process and kill the process ID
ps ax | grep pskmail kill #
FLDIGI
JD 40 version. New version of FLDIG at www.w1hkj.com/JD/ mode map
Original mode New Temporary Mode Speed Bandwidth (-3dB) PSK63 1 Carrier PSK1000R 880WPM 1000Hz PSK125 1 Carrier PSK1000 1600WPM 1000Hz PSK250 6 Carriers PSK250 2400WPM 2000Hz PSK500 2 Carriers PSK1000 3200WPM 2400Hz PSK125R 2 Carriers PSK500 1600WPM 1200Hz PSK250R 2 Carriers PSK1000R 1760WPM 2400Hz PSK500R 14 Carriers PSK125 1540WPM 2400Hz I have also re-mapped the MFSK and THOR modes the following way: Original mode New Temporary Mode Speed Bandwidth (-3dB) MFSK16 MFSK64 240WPM 960Hz MFSK32 MFSK128 480WPM 1920Hz THOR8 THOR44-Double spaced 156WPM 1600Hz THOR11 THOR44 156WPM 800Hz THOR22 THOR88 312WPM 1600Hz