Re: [Hamlib-developer] new to project--want to help

[Nate B. <n0...@ne...>]

On Tue, Oct 09, 2001 at 10:16:29AM -0400, Larry Braden wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> My name is Larry Braden.
> 
> I would like to help with this project, however I am not sure at this point 
> in what capacity.  I will be looking over the work that is done so far.

Hi Larry.

Welcome to Hamlib!  I'm sure Stephane has a number of things to be done,
not all of which require knowledge of C programming.  Just testing and
trying to get things going on your radio is often a big help.

> My motivation in subscribing to the list come from owning an ICOM T81A and 
> finding the software/hardware necessary for programming the radio a bit 
> expensive and, to say the least, I am a bit miffed that the software, at 
> least, is not offered free by the company.  When one buys a radio that is 
> capable of being controlled and/or programmed by a computer --almost a 
> necessity given the features in some cases-- then it should be included.  To 
> include the software and/or programming cables would help sell more units of 
> the radio, imho which would more than outweigh offering necessary items as 
> accesories for additional payment.
> 
> Additionally, I believe that linux--in particular--offers users of ham radios 
> and computer hardware a great deal of freedom to come up with new, more 
> convenient and powerful, means to do high performance radio.  What hams 
> actually do with radios is not always anticipated by radio manufacturers.

Ahhh, we of like minds.  Welcome to the world of Free Software--an
often loud and somewhat intimidating place (if judged by sites like
Slahsdot).  However, the noise is often passion expressed and in the end 
the code speaks for itself.

> My background is in information technology.  My radio interests are 
> homebrewing, both with tubes and silicon,  and 6 meter band communications.

I have a similar background although different ham interests, such as a
bit of contesting, public service, digital, and FM/repeaters to name a
few.

> I am not sure, at this point, if the control codes for the ICOM T81A are 
> available or how they compare to the HF rigs this company makes.  I realize 
> that this project is dealing primarily with creating a user interface library 
> for developing rig control applications, and that the rig control codes sent 
> to the radio are at another level of an application.   These control codes 
> are accessed as needed and appropriate by the application and the user 
> interface, and thus by switching the codes a generalized user interface 
> library can be used to control almost any radio device.  Very good idea for a 
> number of reasons, and I can see that this would make the development of 
> applications go much faster rather than trying to hang the user interface off 
> the control codes in a case by case fashion.  So this project is a 
> commendable example of putting the horse before the cart, in my opinion.

Actually, this project is focusing on communicating directly with the
radio (or other controllable hardware, rotors, etc.) and providing an 
abstracted rig API.  So, whatever command info you can provide on your 
radio (providing Stephane needs it!) is most welcome.  This isn't a 
flashy project.  Rather it is low level backend type stuff, but for 
folks who like tinkering with hardware too, it's an interesting
project.

I jumped in and volunteered to work on the Web pages and the Hamlib
reference docs.  The Web pages are reasonably up-to-date, but the manual
is a couple of versions behind.  Your feedback to me on these items
would be most helpful, especially the part about getting Hamlib from
CVS in Chapter 1.

Stephane has been doing most of the coding of late.  We haven't heard
from Frank in a while and understand he is quite busy.  Terry has done a
nice job with the Debian packages.  I'm quite busy right now, but the 
weather is supposed to be a bit rainy around here which may give me 
some extra time the next few days to work on the manual.  

73, de Nate >>

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