High speed multimedia for amateur radio : everything you need to set up and use a high speed microwave network [First edition.] 9781625950529, 1625950527

Table of contents :
Introduction to high speed multimedia --
High speed multimedia technologies --
HSMM equipment for amateur radio --
TCP/IP for HSMM --
HSMM applications --
Security and filtering --
Backup and redundancy --
Deploying HSMM networks --
The future of HSMM.

Citation preview

High Speed Multimedi

for Amateur

Radio

Everything You Need to Set Up and Use a High Speed Microwave Network

Glen Popiel, KWSGP Production -

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Michelle Bloom, WB1 ENT Sue Fagan, KB10KW- Cover Art Jodi Morin, KA1JPA David F. Pingree, N1 NAS Maty Weinberg, KB1 EIB

Copyright© 2016 by The American Radio Relay League, Inc.

Copyright secured under the Pan-American Convention All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form except by written permission of the publisher. All rights of translation are reserved. Printed in the USA

Quedan reservados todos las derechos ISBN: 978-1-62595-052-9 First Edition First Printing

We strive to produce books without errors. Sometimes mistakes do occur, however. When we become aware of problems in our books (other than obvious typographical errors), we post corrections on the ARRL website. If you think you have found an error, please check www.arrl.org/notes for corrections. If you don't find a correction there, please let us know by sending e-mail to [email protected].

AMPRnet'M is a trademark of Amateur Radio Digital Communications AREDN'"' is a trademark of the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network'"' BBHN™ and HSMM-MESH™ are trademarks of Broadband-Hamnet'"' 802.11™ is an IEEE Standard, and 802.11™ and its various forms (802.11b™ , 802. 11g™ etc) are trademarks of IEEE

Contents Foreword Acknowledgements About the Author About This Book How This Book is Organized Introduction About the ARRL

1

Introduction to High Speed Multimedia What is HSMM? FCC Part 15 versus Part 97 Rules HSMM Technology Explained HSMM Bands and Frequencies HSMM and TCP/ IP Amateur Packet Radio Network (AMPRNet)

2

High Speed Multimedia Technologies Standard WiFi Broadband-Hamnet (BBHN) Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) HamWAN

3

HSMM Equipment for Amateur Radio Choosing your HSMM Technology Linksys Ubiquiti Mikrotik Feed lines and Antennas Other HSMM Equipment

4

TCP/IP for HSMM Introduction to TCP/IP IP Routing and Routing Protocols Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) Domain Name System (DNS) Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs ) Troubleshooting TCP/IP

5

HSMM Applications Voice over IP (VoIP) Instant Messaging ClearOS ClipBucket Server TeamSpeak Server Internet-based Applications Using Raspberry Pi as an Application Server

6

Security and Filtering Physical Security Network Security Wireless Security Firewalling and Content Filtering for Part 97 Com pliance

7

Backup and Redundancy Power Redundancy Virtualization Network Monitoring Redundant Links

8

Deploying HSMM Networks Site Survey and Mapping Tools Configuring and Deploying HSMM

9

The Future of HSMM

Appendix: Glossary

Foreword For many years radio amateurs have been using our bands at 900 MHz and a bove for a wide variety of modes a nd activities. In additi o n to CW and SSB terrestrial operation, we've had amateur satellite operation at 1.2 and 2.4 GHz. The wide ope n spaces on these bands provides space for amateur tel evision. including FM and digital ATV. Most recently amateurs have been building high speed multimedia (HSM M ) network s on these bands usin g commercial off-the-she lf equipme nt and devel opi ng the ir own software. Wireless Amate ur Radio digita l networks w ith wide area coverage can support many of the functions and services c urre ntly available on the Inte rnet. In this book, author Glen Popiel. KWSGP, introduces HSM M networking, explains the basics of how it works, and describes the vari ous techn ologies in use today. He goes o n to explain, in detail, how to d eploy your own HSMM network along with various applicati ons to put it to work. The infrastructure supports the capability to exc hange vo ice, data. and full-motion video. Use your imagination and th in k about what you could do with your very own high speed wireless network. Some examples: create a robust public service and di saster supp011 network, monitor a nd control webcams, or link repeaters or networks in different areas. Amateurs have a long history of expe rimenting with new modes, bands, and methods of wire less communicati on. HSMM is the nex t fronti e r ~ give it a try 1 David Sumner, KI ZZ C hief Executi ve Officer Newington, Connecticut Marc h 20 16

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Acknowledgements To my Dad - ~f you hadn't recommended taking electronics class in high school, none c~f this would hove ever come to be. Thank you.

This book never would have happened without the invaluable assistance of Ryan Turner, K0RET Michael Knight. KK4IOH. and the HamWAN Memphis Metro group. Thanks also go out to Jim Kin ter, K5KTF, and the Broadband-Hamnet group for allowing me to use mate rials from their website. I would also like to thank my friend , Tim Billingsley, KDSCKP, for leadi ng the way and introducing everyone in the Olive Branch Amateur Radio club to BBHN and mesh networking, for being my sounding board as the concept for this book came to be, and for his amazing skills as my personal grammar coach. There are so many others who helped make this book happen, and I apologize in advance to anyone I may have omitted. Thanks to the Olive Branch Amateur Radio Club for their suppo11 and encouragement. I would also like to thank ARRL Publications Manager Steve Ford, WB8IMY, my editor, Mark Wilson, KIRO, and the staff at ARRL for allowing me the opportunity to work with them. And a special thanks to the in trepid pioneers in the wireless networking technologies. Your continuing experimentation and development has opened up a whole new world of digital communications for Amateur Radio. Thank you.

About the Author Glen Popiel is a Network Engineer and Technology Consul tant for Ciber, Inc and the Mississippi Department of Education, specializing in Open Source technology solutions. First published in Kilobaud Microco111puti11g in 1979 for circuits he designed for the RCA 180 2 mic ro processor. he continues to work with computers, microcontrollers, and the ir uses in Amateur Radio. He has written numerous articles on computers a nd Amate ur Radio and is the author of ARRL's Arduinoj(1r Ham Radio. Always taking things apart (and sometimes even getting them to work afterward), he discovered elec tronics in high sc hool and has never looked back. As a tee nage r. he had one of the first true "home com pute rs," a Digital Equipment (DEC) PDP-8 minicomputer (complete w ith state-of-the-art Model 35 Teletype) in his bedroom that he and his friends salvaged from the scrap heap. Over his 40+ year career. he has worked for various aerospace and computer manufacturers o n radio a nd military turboj et research data acquisi tion and control systems. Always a fan of the di gital modes, beginning w ith RTTY in the 1970s, he was on the leading edge o f the packet radio movement in the 1980s and was a me mber of the tea m that installed the firs t packet digipeater on Mt Cheaha in Anniston, A labama, linking Atlanta, Georgia, a nd Birmingham. Alabama, via packe t radio. Gle n has worked with T C P/IP and networkin g since the micl- l 990s and has led numero us seminars fo r the Mississipp i Departmen t o f Ed ucation on TCP/IP, Routin g and Routing Protocols, Voice-ove r-JP (VOiP), Ne twork Security. Firewalls, and Interne t Content Filtering. At one point, more than half o f the Mississippi school districts used the CfearOS Open Source Content Fi ltering solutio n he adapted for use in the Mississippi K- l 2 network environme nt. Since discovering the Arduino several years ago, he has de veloped a

passion for this powerful, inexpensive microcontroller and has given a number of seminars and hamfest forums on the subject of the Arduino a nd Open Source. He is a member of the Olive Branch Amateur Radio Club (OBARC), QRP Amate ur Radio C lub International (QRP-ARCI), a nd the QRP SkunkWerks, a design team of fellow hams and Arduino enthusiasts who have succeeded in getting the JT65 digital mode working natively on the Ten-Tee Rebel, a CW-only (so they thought ) QRP Transceiver. Gle n is also a lormer cat show judge and has exhibited Maine Coon cats all over the country, with the highlight being a Best in Show at Madison Square Garden in 1989. He now lives in Southave n, Mississ ippi, w here he continues to create fun and exciting new Arduino proj ects for Amateur Radio with his new Maine Coon editors-in-training, Shadow and Angel.

About this Book Welcome fellow hams and networking enthusiasts. Radio Amateurs have always been at the cutting edge of technology. and the exciting area of high speed multimedia (HSMM) data communications is no exception. Using commercial off-the-shelf equipment and developing their own software, groups of hams have created high speed wireless Amateur Radio digital networks with wide area coverage that can support many of the functions and services currently available on the Internet. The possible uses for these high speed data networks in the Amateur Radio community are endless. With the capability to send real-time video and data files, the public service and disaster support aspects of ham radio are expanded tremendously. HSMM networks can be linked together via the Internet, allowing linking of repeaters and other HSMM networks. In an extremely oversimplified view, HSMM allows hams to create a wireless version of the Internet without (or with) the real Internet. In times of disaster, this capability will doubtlessly prove invaluable to the Amateur Radio operators supp01iing public service agencies and disaster relief efforts. With the ability to link to the real Internet under FCC Part 97 rules, HSMM can be used to provide high-speed Internet access in disaster-stri cken areas that have no other way to send email, text messages, video, and other multimedia data to the outside world. But the uses for HSMM don't end with public service and disaster support. HSMM allows hams to link repeaters using modes such as AllStar. EchoLink, D-Star, and others. Vi11ually any service that works on the regu lar Internet can be adapted to an Amateur Radio HSMM network. Video conferencing, instant messaging, voice-over-IP (VoIP). network sensors and cameras. remote station control, and many other services can be used on an HSMM network. High speed multimedia is based on the TCP!TP Internet protocol suite. As such, in order to fully understand how an HSMM network operates, you wi ll need a working knowledge of TCP/IP, IP addressing, subnetting, routing, DNS, and other Internet protocols and services. This book is intended to be an introduction to HSMM. While it does include sections on TCP!TP fundamentals and basics, space restrictions do not permit an in-depth coverage of TCP/IP and the various services and features available with an HSMM network. While some of the HSMM implementations are vi11ually self-configuring and require very little knowledge of TCP!TP to get started, I do recommend at least becoming familiar with TCP!TP, especially as you begin

deploying the various servers and services that can be used on an HSMM network. Two excellent starting points are TCP/IP for Dummies by Candace Leiden and Marshall Wilensky, ISBN 978-0470450604, and an outstanding free online book, The TCP/IP Guide by Charles M. Kozierok at www.tcpipguide.com.

This book is intended to provide an overview of HSMM networking technologies, help with choosing and deploying your HSMM infrastructure, and ideas for putting your HSMM network to work. For more information, I recommended visiting the websites of" the various HSMM development groups for up-to-date and specific information not provided in this book. Since HSMM involves multiple users, nodes, and groups, I also recommend finding or starting a local group as you begin to plan and deploy your HSMM network. There is strength and knowledge in numbers, and with all the moving parts in an J-ISMM network a team effort is definitely the way to go. Every effort has been made to include the current HSMM technologies and infrastructures, but the HSMM world is a constantly evolving landscape as evidenced by the recent inclusion of 900 MHz equipment and software into HSMM network implementations along with the creation of the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN ) development group. It is my hope that this book will provide you with the foundation and information you will need to plan and deploy your own HSMM networks regardless of which direction the future of HSMM in Amateur Radio takes us.

How this Book is Organized This book is intended to introduce wireless high speed multimedia (HSMM) digital data networking for use in Amateur Radio. Starting with a basic introduction to wireless HSMM technology and the use of HSMM digital data networks under Part 97 of the FCC rules for Amateur Radio, the book progresses into the hardware needed to deploy your own HSMM network and the underlying concepts that fonn the foundation of an HSMM network. This is followed by an introduction to TCP/IP networking and the services you can deploy and provide over an HSMM network. Security and network redundancy are also discussed, followed by information on planning and deploying your own HSMM network. Chapter 1, Introduction to High Speed Multim edia, provides an introduction to HSMM technology, frequencies, the differences between some of the various HSMM networks, and the differences between FCC Part 15 and Part 97 rules regarding wireless data networks. Chapter 2, High Speed Multimedia Technologies, describes the various technologies, equipment, frequencies, and concepts used in Amateur Radio HSMM networks. Chapter 3, HSMM Equipmelllfor Amateur Radio. describes the equipment used in Amateur Radio HSMM networks. Chapter 4, TCP/IP.for HSMM, provides an introduction lo TCP/IP addressing, subnetting, routing, routing protocols, DHCP. DNS, and other TCP/IP protocols and services used in wireless HSMM networks. Chapter 5, HSMM Applications, discusses what you can do with a wireless HSMM network, the services and applications that can be used on an HSMM network along with a discussion on how to deploy these services and applications. Chapter 6, Securitr and Filterin[?. discusses methods and techniques to secure your HSMM network and limit its use to authorized Amateur Radio operators. Chapter 7, Backup and Redundancy, discusses methods and tec hniques to improve the availability and red undancy of your HSMM network. Chapter 8, Deploying HSMM, discusses how to plan and deploy the various HSMM networks currently available for Amateur Radio. Chapter 9, The Future of HSMM , takes a final look at where HSMM is today and looks at where and what HSMM may become in the future as it relates to Amateur Radio. Finally, in an Appendix. a Glossary defi nes many of the terms and acronyms used in this book.

Introduction Did you know thal there is ham radio life above 1.2 GHz'I !l's not j ust the usual ham activity such as CW. SSB. and FM. but ii is indeed still ham radio. These frequencies have become 1hc home of one of the newest forms of Amateur Radi o com munications, known as high speed mu ltimedia digital data (HSMM). Hams have always been experimenters and the world of HSMM networking is their latest playground. Using off-the-shelf commercial wireless devices in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GH z spectrums. hams have adapted these devices for use in high speed wireless ne tworks. linking users and nodes together. allowing for 1he high speed transmission of all forms of digital data across wide areas of coverage. HSMM developers have also recently begun exploring the use of HSMM networking in other bands, incl uding 900 MH z, which will allow even wider areas of coverage . Some times generically (and in some cases incorrectly) referred to as ··mesh networking," HSMM provides a platform for computer-to-computer communication using methods and protocols used o n the Internet. In a very oversimplified way, HSMM networks can be viewed as a wireless Amateur Radio version of the Tnternel that works with or wi thout connection to the actual Internet. Based on the TCP/IP protocols and services used in the Internet, HSMM can be used to provide a wide am1y of d ig ital data services such as voice over IP (Vo IP). video conferencing, file transfer, and j ust about any other service currently available on the Internet. HSMM networks can even be linked togethe r over the Internet. providing an even wider array of se rvi ces and functionality. Since HSMM networks can be linked lo the Internet, repeater linking services such as AllStar, EchoLink. and ot hers can be used to seamlessly link hams and repeaters all over the \vorld. While some HSMM networks are indeed based on a mesh topology (hence the term "mesh networking"), the HSMM landscape is ever-changing, with new concepts and networking models being imple men ted and released all the time. Eac h networking mode l has its advantages a nd disadvantages which will be discussed further in this book. The possibilities for HSMM networking in the public service sector of Amateur Radio are endless. Inexpensive and rapidly deployable portable HSMM netwo rks can be quick.ly set up in times of di saster to provide reliable vo ice and data services with the ability to send and receive data ove r the HSMM network and even the Internet, providing a full range o f video, voice and othe r data communication services to areas that might otherwise have none . Public service agencies can be linked together wire lessly over

HSMM networks, providing a vital communication link between these agencies if the Internet, telephone, or other forms of communication are unavailable. HSMM networks can also be used to access, monitor. and control IP-based webcarns and other devices. providing remote viewing and data teleme try. But an HSMM network is only the vehicle to provide these communication services. Since an HSMM network is TCP/IP based, just as with the Internet. it only provides a path to the various applications and se rv ices. lt is these applications and services that form the core of an HSMM network and what makes it such an infinitely useful tool for the communication of virtually any form of high speed digital data. This book is intended to provide an introduction to HSMM networking, how it works, how to deploy your own HSMM network, and the various applications yo u can use with HSMM networks. Since the techno logy of HSMM is constantly changing, e mphasis has been placed on unde rstanding the underlying technologies, TCP/IP protocols and services, and HSMM applications. It is my intent that by focu sing on the fundamentals and application of HSMM networking rather than trying to cover the minute details of each and every indi vidual aspect o f th e various HSMM networking that could be quickly out1ling lll. 242. 255 .1

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Trace route Ok, so you· ve done your ping tests and somew here along the path to the dest ination. things are fai ling. The next tool in our troubleshooting arsenal is the " tracerou te'" command. On a PC. the command to trace the route packets take to a destinatio n is "tracer!"· while on a Linux workstati on. the command is "traceroute''. Figure 4.17 shows the traceroute from my workstation to the Google public DNS server at 8 .8.8.8. The "-d'" option is used to disable DNS name reso lution during the traceroute. We ·re not conce rned with the DNS portion of the net work at this point. we' ll get c:,Uindous,Systel'l32>t ..acel"t - d 8.8.8.8 to c hecking DNS in just a bit. Tracing 1•oute to 8.8 . 8.8 ove1• a l'laXil'IUl'I of 30 hops The traceroute command w ill show 1 2 3

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