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Using a VT132 for Packet Radio

I have an AEA PK-232 that I picked up a couple of years ago at my Amateur Radio club’s White Elephant sale for a few bucks. With the VT132 that I just recently built, it works as an excellent terminal client to the PK-232.

To connect, set baud rate in the VT132 to 1200 8N1. Connect with a null modem cable. Power on the PK-232 and you should see:

Press type a star (*) for auto-baud routine.

Press * and then you should see the AEA PK-232 startup copyright message.

To get a cmd: prompt to enter commands, press Ctrl-C.

I’ve attached my 2m radio with the audio in so far, and here’s a pic while decoding some APRS messages:

Next I need to make a custom cable to connect to my Icom’s data port, and then I should be all set to work some packet.

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Creating a new AWS Lambda project with Serverless

Assuming the Serverless cli is already installed (here), init a new project with ‘serverless’ and answer the following questions:

% serverless       
 Serverless: No project detected. Do you want to create a new one? Yes
 Serverless: What do you want to make? AWS Node.js
 Serverless: What do you want to call this project? lambda-example
 Project successfully created in 'lambda-example' folder.

To deploy, run ‘serverless deploy’

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VT132 assembly: USB add on board notes

There’s no explicit instructions on the VT132 website for how to attach the optional USB addon board instead of the default PS/2 connector but there is an extremely details step by step video here.

Summarizing the additional steps:

  • trim the 4 back legs of the USB connector so that it sits flush to the red addon board and make sure the pins don’t protrude from the board, then solder the back pins to the add on board and make sure the soldering is flush so it will sit flush to the main board
  • solder the 2 larger outer pins from the back first, then the inside 2 pins
  • the addon board attaches to the main board component side up
  • push the black spacer of the 6 pin header all the way down so the spacer is flush to the end of the pins
  • attach the row of header pins though the top of addon baord to the back; there shouldn’t be any length of the header pins extending on the top
  • solder the header pins on the back of the addon board
  • put a small strip of electrical tape across the bottom side of the addon board before inserting to main board before soldering, to avoid any contact with the original PS/2 connector pads on the circuit board
  • insert the addon board, turn over and solder the pins
  • solder the two front structural legs on the usb connector
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VT132 kit assembly – step by step

I’ve just finished assembling my VT132 standalone kit from The High Nibble. It was an enjoyable build and pushed my soldering skills with soldering the tiny pins on the ESP32 chip. Initially I had issues getting solder to flow onto the tiny pins and pads, but I changed to a thinner tip which worked well.

Here’s a look at the board as it comes in the kit. I chose the option USB keyboard option instead of the default PS/2 keyboard connector:

Starting with the ESP32 first, here’s a look at my soldering on those tiny pins. I used the liquid flux, and the ‘drag’ method to pull the solder from the pads up to the exposed connector on the chip board:

Row of resistors for the VGA connector completed, and a few of the caps:

Almost done, just need to attach the DB9 and DB25 connectors:

First power on and looking at the settings. To access the ‘Set-up’ from a regular keyboard, press Alt PrtScrn. To view the onscreen menu help press F1:

More details on using the VT132 coming up in following posts.

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