There was a python syntax issue in HamVoIP installations, which have a much older version of Python.

Update your RedNode software on your node – look for API Level 140 and Code Revision 2061. Likely the ClearNode Smartphone App will offer you the update.

After the update – go into “Node Details” > “AllStar Setup” … and tap Save in the top right corner.

ALL users and nodes should complete the update..

73 … Gerry.

(Waiting on iOS App Store Review & Release)

This release adds some much requested additional functionality to the Time and Weather Announcement System … see the new options in the Setup Screen.

Note that the “Block When Busy” will eliminate the announcement when there is traffic on the node.

73 … Gerry.

New Time and Weather Announcement System

After multiple user requests we decided to tackle the Time and Weather announcement scripts. The Legacy scripts have been failing – the likes of Weather Underground and AccuWeather have made changes to their APIs. And if you want anything beyond the minimum functionality they require user registration and individual API keys.

We decided to steer clear of the commercial services and to go directly to the National Weather Service, which is, at the end of the day, the major source of all weather data in the US. They also provide their services for free and don’t require API keys.

The new system is now common to all ClearNode devices and both AllStar distributions.

After you run the node upgrade you will have a new Timed Event – “New Say Time & Wx” – it is disabled – you will need to enable it to start getting the announcements. You can rename it if you want. Don’t forget to disable the legacy scripts – you don’t want to run them both on top of each other. The legacy scripts have not changed and will stay in place if you want to continue using them.

As part of the upgrade process we query the latitude and longitude values from your EchoLink or Digital Bridge configuration – it approximates to your account address. We take those values and query the NWS to get a list of NWS stations close to you – we pick the top one (closest) and set it into your configuration.

Note: You may need to check on your “EchoLink Setup” and/or your “Digital Bridge Setup” to make sure Latitude and Longitude are populated appropriately. You can use this link to discover your lat/long – https://gps-coordinates.org – you want the “DD Decimal Degrees” values.

Now let’s look at how this new service is configured – tap on “Node Details” > “AllStar Setup” and scroll down to “NWS Time/Weather Announcement”.

We make the best guess at the best Station ID for you – the closest – but you may well want to choose another – tap “Select NWS Station ID” and your Smartphone App will query the NWS for a list of the closest stations – be patient, sometimes the NWS takes a while to answer .

(BTW – you can put those URLs in a browser if you are curious about what’s going on behind the scenes.)

There are 2 types of stations – Airport Stations – anything starting with a “K” e.g. “KSFO” which is San Francisco International, and, the Non-Airport Stations – all the others that don’t start with a “K”. Typically the Airport Stations, particularly the big airports, have much more sophisticated weather detection systems and provide more detailed information. But they may not be close to your location, perhaps far enough away that the conditions reported aren’t accurate for your site, depending on your local geography. So we suggest you take a look at your favorite map service and do a little research – try the different stations available.

There are also 2 types of “Weather Source”. The “Aviation” source is likely to be more accurate and detailed. But that depends on the airport – a big airport will have modern, sophisticated equipment, but your local Crop Spraying Airstrip might have sketchy old gear that has seen better days.

As you can see from the AllStar Setup screenshot above, there are a lot of options – if all you want is time and temperature, you can turn the others off.

Note: even if you select everything in the configuration, your preferred NWS Station may not be providing all the data requested, so it won’t play in the announcement. A good example is “Say Winds” – most local non-airport stations don’t provide wind speed and direction data.

We have put the new script on DTMF command “* 8 3” – “star eight three”. That leaves the legacy scripts unchanged.

We are aware that some of the sound files in this release sound a little “janky” – we will be working on improvements.

Troubleshooting

If after the upgrade you navigate to “Node Details” > “AllStar Setup” > “NWS Time/Weather Announcement” > “Select NWS Station ID” and you find the station is set to “ERROR” – it is most likely because the latitude and longitude is not properly populated in “EchoLink Setup”. Populate those values and save/reboot, and then you will be able to go back to the AllStar Setup and choose a NWS Station.

If you get an error message when you tap on “Select NWS Station ID”, it most likely as above – you’re missing GPS Coordinates in your setup.

This was a lot of fun to work on … we hope you get something out of it.

And … as ever … community suggestions and reports help us to improve – keep them coming !

73 … Gerry.

Here’s what’s new …

• We now have 4 separate include files for rpt.conf you can deploy in /etc/asterisk/custom – my_private_nodes.conf, my_dtmf_commands.conf, my_telemetry.conf, my_macros.conf. If you’re not familiar with these functions don’t worry, you likely have no need of them. They are there to help advanced users tweak rpt.conf to their liking without having their changes overwritten by the Smartphone App. Note that my_private_nodes.conf is overwritten by the “Configure Private Nodes” utility in “Your Nodes” context menu.
• Fixed some funky behavior of some popup dialogs in the Apple iOS version of the Smartphone app running in iOS 26.
• USB Audio > Preview Audio Settings was not working in ASL3, that should be corrected now
• When pre-configuring new nodes we were not properly updating the “Hourly say time” Timed Event
• We’ve deployed some instrumentation to help us understand which of the Smartphone App functions are popular and which get little or no use

73 … Gerry.

Here’s what’s new …

• Multiple call signs – for you road (air) warriors that have call signs in other countries, and travel with your node. Let us know about your alternative call sign, we’ll add it to your account and it will become selectable in AllStar Setup.
• The “Your Nodes” screen will now sort your nodes alphabetically by tag – if you’ve defined a tag for your node(s)
• Fixed an issue where status bar items were invisible in Android devices running Android API 35+
• Fixed file name clashes when generating announcements
• Fixed broken timeout in WiFiByLight running on the Pi 5B ASL3 devices
• Fixed a corner case that was preventing Voice ID from functioning properly

73 … Gerry.

We’ve cleared the latest batch of releases from AllStarLink.org for their Version 3 distribution. If you have ASL3 installed on your Pi4 or Pi5 based ClearNode you should get a warning that it’s time to upgrade. Please upgrade as soon as you can.

BE PATIENT ! The upgrade takes several minutes – do not interrupt power or reboot your node.

73 … Gerry.

We’re receiving a large number of enquiries about migrating individual ClearNodes from the HamVoIP AllStar distribution to ASL3.

If you own a Raspberry Pi 4B based node – there is a path to ASL3 – contact Support for details.

If you own a Raspberry Pi 5B based node – you are already running ASL3, since that’s the only option for that device.

If you own a Raspberry Pi 3A, 3B or Zero based node – we DO NOT have an image for those devices – they are restricted to the HamVoIP distribution.

73 … Gerry.

Here’s what’s new …

• Now supporting “linktolink” in AllStar Setup
• Fixed issue with “Search WiFi Neworks” in Android App
• Clearer messaging around WiFi Network setup results in ASL3 versions

73 … Gerry.

There seems to be a problem getting new voicerss.org accounts activated. Some users have had zero success interacting with the folks over there – the activation emails are not being sent out. If you already have an active account you’re good, but new users will not be able to use SkyDescribe until this is resolved. SkywarnPlus have been made aware and they have an active “issue” on their Github page.

One possible solution is that SkyDescribe migrates to a different text to speech provider, but that would have to happen in their software implementation.

We will update here as we find out more …

73 … Gerry.

We’ve cleared the latest batch of releases from AllStarLink.org for their Version 3 distribution. If you have ASL3 installed on your Pi4 or Pi5 based ClearNode you should get a warning that it’s time to upgrade. Please upgrade as soon as you can.

BE PATIENT ! The upgrade takes several minutes – do not interrupt power or reboot your node.

73 … Gerry.