PART 5: Idiot’s Guide To Building An Allstar Node - Baofeng BF888 Modification! Amateur Ham Radio

[@bartleph]

Ben, just wanted to say I followed every You Tube video you posted while gaining a greater knowledge of our hobby. To that end I took my Foundation, then Intermediate and within the year had a full licence, so thank you Ben from Paul M0PHB

[@bartleph]

Brilliant G5REV. Love your videos. So helpful. I'm working on my Foundation Licence now and have ordered a BF5R ready for when I get my licence.

[@ianmc6501]

Great series Ben , Im surprised there are three dislikes as It was well paced, detailed and as always your enthusiasm is infectious . ( great call by the way )

[@RadioRevG5REV]

Thanks Ian! 73

[@jay-rus4437]

Thanks for putting these videos together. Really good instruction

[@RadioRevG5REV]

Thank you!

[@michaelmcneil2020]

You make it all sound so easy 😁 great work 👍

[@vk6op648]

Hi Ben, I've really enjoyed the video series. I'm just learning about Allstar now as a couple of fellow HAM's have gotten me interested in this. I have a suggestion on the Baofeng mod though. If you are removing the final transistor you could probably do away with the chassis as the driver probably doesn't generate much heat. If it did you could probably get away with a small heatsink just to cut down on size. Probably doesn't matter in your setup because you have a good big enclosure. Anyway, cheers and I'll keep watching.

[@RadioRevG5REV]

Great advice. I will have a play and see where I get.

[@andrzejyczewski4045]

Since you removed transistor for low power output i guess aluminium body is not needed anymore to act as a heatsink. I noticed the thermal pad had contact mainly with removed transistor. So getting rid of the heatsink makes our node even smaller and more compact.

[@pmonchet]

Seems so easy. Great guide '73

[@twong689]

Good job! At the same time I was wondering if you could use your BF 5R for the radio part?

[@RichardBrown-s3l]

Hi Ben Great Video. Just finished set up. just one question. When logged into the test server all i am giving is a dead key. I can receive/ hear every thing that is going on. even logged into Putty to boost audio but no joy

[@HamTechRadioScannerDrones]

When the radio goes in the box do you leave it turned on and to a channel ? Thanks

[@RadioRevG5REV]

Yes. Leave it on, and if all the channels are the same (how I program them) then it doesn't matter which channel you are on.

[@morkusvandezee9475]

Hi Ben, is it necessary to remove the transistor? What if you want the radio to TX full power can you then just leave that in place?

[@HamTechRadioScannerDrones]

A new observation if the battery was also fixed inside on a secondry connector it would make the unit more portable no DC required i will work out a way of switching from battery supply to dc remembering the different output -m0fxb

[@RadioRevG5REV]

Yes.. But the battery in the walkie talkie is not 5v so the Pi would need a second battery...

[@HamTechRadioScannerDrones]

@@RadioRevG5REV I think there may be a way to upscale the 4 volts coming from the battery I will look in to it .Seems a waste to throw battery away .Andrea's

[@stephensweeney5167]

Is there a shielding reason you connect the ground to the USB port? Just wondering if I could use one of the many ground pins on the Pi? Great video's... I have ordered all the bits except the Pi... I may have to steal one out of one of my other projects since they are so rare.

[@nickm8101]

I was going to ask the same question. There are multiole GND pins on the 40 pin GPIO connector.

[@stephensweeney5167]

@@nickm8101 I used the Gnd pin and I found there was a bit more noise than what what shown in this build... But that could be anything. Since Pi's are rare and I am moving the one I have around to different projects, the pin is a better choice.

[@ThinKkBIGG]

With a GD-77, would it be less complicated to do this? Need less modification?

[@w6tcp]

Great job Ben !

[@RadioRevG5REV]

Thanks Ian, and thanks for watching again. Only 2 left in this series I think, so hopefully I will get both done over the next couple of days. 73

[@PhilG8PJH]

Hi there, can you please tell me what the COS wire is and what is its function? Many thanks.

[@dacodemonk]

That high pitched whine in the audio is what I've been trying to solve on this build... How do you fix that?

[@revadan]

that 10K resistor for transmit came from nowhere.. where is the the resistor you mentioned added with earth wire.. not a good idea of changing it without telling everyone..

[@frylock436]

What Ohm value are those resistors?

[@garyihussey7262]

Great work Ben! Really enjoying your informative video's.👍 Gary, VK6WCH

[@titantwothree6139]

What happens if you get no transmit to parrot node?

[@ErnestGWilsonII]

Does anyone make an All-Star node complete kit that is fully assembled and functioning without having to diy?

[@RadioRevG5REV]

Yes, there are a few node builders out there. Where are you from?

[@ErnestGWilsonII]

@@RadioRevG5REV I'm in Pennsylvania right near the Delaware line 73 W3GUY

[@RadioRevG5REV]

@@ErnestGWilsonII I would ask your question in a USA based allstar group and I'm sure someone will build one for you. Enjoy.

[@leebo5555666]

@@RadioRevG5REV M7LPE here.. where do they sell them over here?

[@ErnestGWilsonII]

@@RadioRevG5REV I really like what you've built, if you decide to sell a fully assembled and working unit, I'd like to purchase several of them. 73 W3GUY

[@EngineerCorner]

Ben that was really impressive. I'm going to try to build the same network. Very impressive video. 73's va3bgw

[@digitalanaloguehamradio]

Remember to link it to your echo link ID. You need to contact echo link for this. You will then be able to take calls on your phone that are on your node.

[@RadioRevG5REV]

Tell me more... I don't quite get this...

[@mikebowman7002]

Good Series Thanks for sharing the build Mike KA8IIM