I’ve been using the Pi-Star image for my hotspots. I like this setup. It uses the same MMDVM and related software as most of the other images. The difference is how they package it and the tools provided for setup and operation.
In their latest release (3.4.3 released on 09-Aug-2017) you will find some nice updates:
- This one is a game changer, not only does it have the new, on-board information from BrandMeister, able to show you what TalkGroups / Reflectors you have connected by getting the information directly from the BM network, but also…
- From this version forwards, *FULL* updates are available. This means that from here on, there should be further reduction in the number of times you ever need to write an image. This is going to be a manual process for the remains of the 3.4.x train, with plans for full automatic coming later!
This may not seem like much, but it’s big. In previous versions, the automated update process would update everything except the dashboard. To update the dashboard, a user would have to go through the following process:
- do a backup
- burn a new image
- fire up the Pi
- restore their settings
Decidedly easier on Pi-Star that others, but still frustrating.
This update shows a change coming, and I can’t wait. In addition, the team posted some changes coming soon:
- Dashboard config hardening – there have been reports of issues with the configuration page on the dash failing when submitting any characters that are not alphanumeric. The code has now been hardened to take care of those edge cases and just clean up when you do enter characters that it cannot cope with.
- P25 SelfOnly – P25 is getting the same Public / Private protection mode as D-Star and DMR. All credit to Jonathan (G4KLX), although there are some Pi-Star patches for it with a pull request submitted upstream.
- Dashboard fixes – various small fixes to the dashboard to help reduce the errors logged in the webserver log.
- Testing USB Max Current – Pi-Star never had this option set, I suspect this may be the cause of some of the issues with some USB modems.
- Modem support improved – better support for the DV-Mega on Arduino modems, plus separated ZUMspot modem options out in preparation for auto firmware updates that are coming later.
Wait, what? Firmware updates are coming to Pi-Star…WOW! Now you know the latest updates from Pi-Star.
Get yours from the P-Star page.