WPSD Setup, Our Way

WPSD is an alternative to Pi-Star. It is based on Pi-Star, but with a much better interface. With everything, there are trade-offs to the improvements because with either Pi-Star or WPSD, there are quirks that are specific to the different versions. If you are familiar with Pi-Star, you know that you can do just about every setup function via the Configuration page, without having to edit the configuration files afterward to restore the functions you had set up prior to editing from the Configuration page. Unfortunately, it is imperative to remember that with WPSD, if you do anything from the Configuration page, it entirely rewrites the configuration files on top of making the slight changes that you have just made.

This is overcome fairly easily if you get used to WPSD’s addition of the Profiles function. Each setup can be made, such as turning on DMR only, YSF and YSF2DMR, etc. and then the configuration files changed to suit your setup, and then saved in a profile. You will see me make a DMR Only profile and a YSF Only profile in this tutorial, primarily because I have no need to run both DMR and YSF at the same time.

There are those of us who only run YSF, and those of us who will utilize both the DMR and the YSF at various times. The profiles makes this a snap. Overall, I have grown to appreciate WPSD for this feature alone, and the tendency for WPSD to have a much better interface. With that said, let’s get started.

WPSD is a project that was perpetuated and is maintained by W0CHP. If you enjoy his product, you should consider supporting him the best you can. The first step in the process is to visit his website here, and download the appropriate version. Here, we will be using the Raspberry Pi version. I will be using the WPSD_RPi_Trixie.img.xz.

Using the Raspberry Pi Imager app, I’ll ‘burn’ the image onto a microSD card. There is no need to decompress the file, as any of the imaging software you use, Belena, Raspberry Pi Imager, etc. will automatically decompress the file. (.xz files are linux compressed files similar to .zip files on Windows.)

The first step is to pick which Raspberry Pi you’ll be using. I’m using a Raspberry Pi 3B+ for this project, which is plenty of computing power for a hotspot.

The next step is to select the OS. Scroll down until you see “Use Custom” and select it. This will open a file select where you will have to navigate to where you’ve downloaded the WPSD image. In my case it is in my Downloads folder. Select the file and then click Open.

The next step is to select your microSD card. If it doesn’t show up on the next screen, make sure you’ve plugged it into your computer using an adapter for writing to the card.

(Insert the image of selecting the SD card)

Unlike the ASL3 node that we built in our tutorial we will not be using the Customization, as the customization is built into the WPSD software. If you use customization, it will inhibit the unit from being seen on your network. It is important to NOT use the customization and skip that step on the Raspberry Pi Imager. No customization. Don’t do it. Unless you like starting over. Having skipped the Customization, click Write, and then wait the few seconds it asks you to wait and click “I Understand Write” button and go grab a nice cold (or hot in the case of coffee, nobody should be drinking iced coffee, period, end of story) beverage of your choice and hang out until the verification is completed. Verification is not entirely necessary, however, it will catch any write errors that were made most of the time.

Once the verification stage is complete and it is safe to remove the SD card, do so and place it into the “Pi-Star Stack” that you built from our tutorial here. Note that we did not install any of the WiFi files that Pi-Star requires. Another good feature of WPSD is the ability to set the WiFi up from the initial setup screen. Once you’ve installed the SD card into the Pi-Star Stack, slap some power to that puppy and let her go through its initial boot. Once the unit has booted, you will be able to reach the setup page by typing wpsd.local into the address bar of your internet browser of choice.

If the unit has completed the boot process you should see the initial setup screen.

If you need to setup your WiFi, click on WiFi Manager and do so at this point. In my case, I hard wire my stack to the LAN at home. Hard wired is a much better choice for speed and fewer errors in the transfer of the packets, so I choose to hard wire mine, not to mention I have the capability to do so. If you don’t have a network switch port available (or router port) then setup your WiFi and let’s get to it. Clicking either setup button will direct you to the login. The default login user name is pi-star and the default password is raspberry.

Set your region in the Regulatory Domain (Country): which in most cases reading this should be US. Click Set Region. Click on Scan for Networks and find your WiFi network. Enter the login information for your network and finalize that portion of the initial setup. You will then be directed back to the Setup Screen.

The initial screen that you will see when you click on the WPSD Configuration button will be the following:

Change the callsign to your call sign and enter your DMR ID. If you have an NXDN ID, enter that as well. (Note that the WPSD software will usually automatically fill in these numbers, but in the event it doesn’t, you can type them in.) The stack that we built in our tutorial requires that we set the unit to Duplex. Select the Radio/Modem Type for the unit you have. The unit we built will be MMDVM_HS_Dual_HAT (DB9MAT, DF2ET & DO7EN) for Pi (GPIO). We must now click the Apply Changes for the initial settings to take place before we can move forward. This is what takes the most time. Waiting on the changes to be written to the unit. So, click Apply Changes and grab another cold (or hot) beverage of your choice.

The initial configuration will hand you a warning that you don’t have any profiles setup yet. Good, we’ll do that soon, but not right now. We’re gonna make the unit ready for deployment into that mode first.

Scroll down and set your frequencies. Note that there are two decimal points. No bueno, we only need one. So, here goes. We’re using 440.125 and 445.125 for our frequencies. You choose yours. (You’ll have to program your radio, so if you’ve got one programmed for Pi-Star already, copy those frequencies and you’re in like Flynn.) Set your time zone and if you choose to have 24 hour time format, set the radio button to that. Unlike Pi-Star, we can make wholesale changes at this point and they will stick, so I scroll down and click on the ‘Click here to auto-detect and populate your approximate location coordinates.’ This will auto populate the location settings. If you would like for your WPSD hotspot to appear on the WPSD website user map, click Display. If you choose to set up APRS, do so now as well. Note that we haven’t setup the Nextion screen yet. We will do so very soon. Scroll down until you see MMDVMHost/Modem Display Configuration and select Nextion from the list. In my case, I will also use the modem selection because my screen feed is soldered directly to the modem. Click Apply Changes and then the layout type can be set to ON7LDS 3 for the 3.5″ screens. In my case, I am setting it to ON7LDS 2 because I am using an older 2.4″ screen. Set your Idle Brightness to your desired brightness. I like mine a little higher than the stock 20, so I put it to 100. Old eyes. Click Apply Changes again. Then we’ll set up some

At this point we are ready to set the hotspot to use DMR or YSF. I am going to set up my DMR first. It should be noted that Pi-Star uses a prefix of 4 for TGIF, and the entire string needs to be six numbers long. So our TGIF talkgroup of 48429 becomes 4048429 to satisfy this. In WPSD, someone thought it would be a brilliant idea to change that prefix to a 5 when using the automatic configuration. We will have to change this. For now, we’re going to turn on DMR first. Continue to ignore the warning for the profile setup, it’s gonna happen pretty quickly at this point so let it complain. Turn on the DMR in Main Radio Modes

You can choose a primary DMR network as well, in my case I will choose Brandmeister. This won’t matter, as when we get to the actual configuration file, we’re going to make some wholesale changes. Just click Apply Changes at this point.

It is now time to edit the configuration file for DMR. Click on Advanced on the menu at the top right.

Click the Full Editors dropdown, hover over DMR and select DMR Gateway.

I highlight the entire code in the DMR Gateway configuration file and delete it, then copy and past the following. Note that the Primary is set to 4, making TGIF the primary DMR network. You must change your ID’s in each network listed, and passwords from the respective network’s Self Care pages. Delete or replace any line beginning with 4 asterisks (****).

[General]
RptAddress=127.0.0.1
RptPort=62032
LocalAddress=127.0.0.1
LocalPort=62031
RuleTrace=0
Daemon=1
Debug=0
RFTimeout=20
NetTimeout=20
Suffix=R
Primary=4

[Log]
DisplayLevel=0
FileLevel=1
FilePath=/var/log/pi-star
FileRoot=DMRGateway

[Voice]
Enabled=1
Language=en_US
Directory=/usr/local/etc/DMR_Audio

[Info]
Enabled=0
RXFrequency=440125000
TXFrequency=445125000 (****SET YOUR FREQUENCIES WITH NO DECIMAL, NINE PLACES****)
Power=1
Latitude=28.945300
Longitude=-81.298900
Height=0
Location="****SET YOUR LOCATION HERE****"
Description="United States of Merica"
URL=http://www.mw0mwz.co.uk/pi-star/

[XLX Network]
Enabled=0
Startup=493
File=/usr/local/etc/XLXHosts.txt
Port=62030
Password=passw0rd
ReloadTime=60
Slot=2
TG=6
Base=64000
Relink=60
Debug=0
Id=****SET YOUR ID HERE****
UserControl=1
Module=E

[DMR Network 1]
Enabled=0
Address=3104.master.brandmeister.network
Port=62031
Password="NotTodayElvis"
Id=****SET YOUR ID HERE****
Debug=0
Location=1
Name=BM_3104_United_States
TGRewrite0=2,8,2,9,1
PCRewrite0=2,24000,2,4000,1001
TypeRewrite0=2,9990,2,9990
SrcRewrite0=2,4000,2,9,1001
PCRewrite1=1,2009990,1,9990,1
PCRewrite2=2,2009990,2,9990,1
PCRewrite3=1,2000001,1,1,999999
PCRewrite4=2,2000001,2,1,999999
TypeRewrite1=1,2009990,1,9990
TypeRewrite2=2,2009990,2,9990
TGRewrite1=1,2000001,1,1,999999
TGRewrite2=2,2000001,2,1,999999
SrcRewrite1=1,9990,1,2009990,1
SrcRewrite2=2,9990,2,2009990,1
SrcRewrite3=1,1,1,2000001,999999
SrcRewrite4=2,1,2,2000001,999999

[DMR Network 2]
Enabled=0
Address=usacentral.ddns.net
Port=62031
TGRewrite0=2,8,2,9,1
PCRewrite0=2,84000,2,4000,1001
Password="passw0rd"
Id=****SET YOUR ID HERE****
Debug=0
Location=0
Name=FreeDMR_USA-Central
PCRewrite1=1,8009990,1,9990,1
PCRewrite2=2,8009990,2,9990,1
PCRewrite3=1,8000001,1,1,999999
PCRewrite4=2,8000001,2,1,999999
TypeRewrite1=1,8009990,1,9990
TypeRewrite2=2,8009990,2,9990
TGRewrite1=1,8000001,1,1,999999
TGRewrite2=2,8000001,2,1,999999
SrcRewrite1=1,9990,1,8009990,1
SrcRewrite2=2,9990,2,8009990,1
SrcRewrite3=1,1,1,8000001,999999
SrcRewrite4=2,1,2,8000001,999999

[DMR Network 3]
Enabled=0
Name=HBLink
Address=1.2.3.4
Port=5555
TGRewrite=2,11,2,11,1
Password="PASSWORD"
Location=0
Debug=0
#Id=specific_id
TGRewrite0=2,11,2,11,1

[GPSD]
Enable=0
Address=127.0.0.1
Port=2947

[APRS]
Enable=0
Address=127.0.0.1
Port=8673
Suffix=D
Description=APRS for DMRGateway
Symbol="Wi"

[Dynamic TG Control]
Enabled=1
Port=3769

[Remote Control]
Enable=1
Port=7643
Address=127.0.0.1

[DMR Network 5]
Location=0
Debug=0
Id=****SET YOUR ID HERE****
Address=usa.freestar.network
Password="passw0rd"
Port=62031
Name=SystemX_United_States
TGRewrite0=2,4,2,9,1
PCRewrite0=2,44000,2,4000,1001
PCRewrite1=1,4009990,1,9990,1
PCRewrite2=2,4009990,2,9990,1
PCRewrite3=1,4000001,1,1,999999
PCRewrite4=2,4000001,2,1,999999
TypeRewrite1=1,4009990,1,9990
TypeRewrite2=2,4009990,2,9990
TGRewrite1=1,4000001,1,1,999999
TGRewrite2=2,4000001,2,1,999999
SrcRewrite1=1,9990,1,4009990,1
SrcRewrite2=2,9990,2,4009990,1
SrcRewrite3=1,1,1,4000001,999999
SrcRewrite4=2,1,2,4000001,999999
Enabled=0

[DMR Network Custom]
Enabled=0
Location=0
Debug=0
Id=****SET YOUR ID HERE****

[DMR Network 4]
Enabled=1
Address=tgif.network
Port=62031
Name=TGIF_Network
Debug=0
Location=0
Id=****SET YOUR ID HERE****
Password="ImCaucasionIndian"
TGRewrite0=2,4,2,9,1
PCRewrite0=2,44000,2,4000,1001
PCRewrite1=1,4009990,1,9990,1
PCRewrite2=2,4009990,2,9990,1
PCRewrite3=1,4000001,1,1,999999
PCRewrite4=2,4000001,2,1,999999
TypeRewrite1=1,4009990,1,9990
TypeRewrite2=2,4009990,2,9990
TGRewrite1=1,4000001,1,1,999999
TGRewrite2=2,4000001,2,1,999999
SrcRewrite1=1,9990,1,4009990,1
SrcRewrite2=2,9990,2,4009990,1
SrcRewrite3=1,1,1,4000001,999999
SrcRewrite4=2,1,2,4000001,999999
PassAllPC0=1
PassAllTG0=1
PassAllPC1=2
PassAllTG1=2

Once you’ve made all of the changes you need to make to this file, click Apply Changes. Then click Dashboard. If you’ve done this properly, you should now be able to use your DMR radio and make contact with our 48429 talkgroup (assuming you’ve programmed your radio to use it.)

It’s Profiles time! Click on Profiles.

Enter a name for your DMR only profile. I use DMROnly. You cannot add any special characters, just alphanumeric characters. So A through Z and 1 through 0. Once you’ve entered that, click Save New Profile.

Your screen will change from the above to what is below.

At this point, any changes you make from the Configuration page will over write everything you’ve done to this point. If you make that mistake, you can revert everything by selecting the DMROnly profile from the Switch Profile box and clicking Switch To Profile which will load everything you’ve saved to this point, overwriting anything that was over written by the Configuration page. This is a good backup plan if you’ve made changes that don’t work.

Now, let’s change some colors to be indicative of which profile is active at a glance. I prefer ‘standard’ colors for the text on DMR and red or maroon colors for the text on YSF so that if I am looking at the dashboard from a phone, it will be easy to tell. White lettering is DMR, red is YSF. easy.

Click on dashboard on the admin menu. Once at the dashboard screen, click on the Appearance menu item.

Click on Customize.

These are my colors to follow. Find yours, find what works for you. Alternately, you can select a premade theme by selecting one from the dropdown menu above.

Once you’ve found the colors you like. Click save at the bottom of the customization page and then go to the dashboard again and select profiles. Click Quick Save Over Current. This is now the profile including color scheme that you will use for DMR only settings. Let’s create the YSF with YSF2DMR. Click on Configuration. (You may have to copy and paste the DMR settings into the DMR Gateway again or the YSF will not work. This isn’t exactly how it should work, but it is how it works for some reason all of the time. If you make these changes and then cannot connect, finish this section, then repeat the copy and paste into the DMR Gateway configuration file in the Advanced section.)

Scroll down and turn off DMR, then turn on YSF in the Main Radio Modes section, click apply and wait for the mode to turn on, then turn on YSF2DMR in the Radio Cross Modes section and do the same. YSF modes will now be available on the main configuration page if you scroll down to Yaesu System Fusion Configuration.

Select the drop down for YSF Startup Host and scroll all the way up to YSF00002 = Link YSF2DMR and select it. Turn on WiresX Passthrough.

Select a random suffix on the drop down for the DMR/SSC7 ID line. Select the DMR Master drop down and type into the search portion TGIF and select TGIF_NETWORK. Enter your TGIF network Self Care password for your hotspot. Change DMR TG: to 48429 and then click Apply Changes. Make sure you do not click Update Current Profile (we’re building a YSF profile now…).

Click on profiles and save a new profile as YSFOnly. Then we’ll change colors again and save it again.

From the main dashboard, click on Appearance again. Select Customize (or another theme of a different color to differentiate DMROnly from YSFOnly at a glance.) I prefer the text color changes with everything else being equal. These are my YSFOnly colors.

Now we’re going to save over our YSFOnly profile and call it a wrap! If you’ve done everything correctly in this tutorial, you now have a working WPSD hotspot with two profiles built. When you want to use DMR, go to the Profiles and activate DMROnly. YSF? Same. Go to the Profiles and activate YSFOnly. Easy. At this point, it is a great idea to fully back up your WPSD setup so that if you must reinstall the WPSD software, you can simply reinstall the backup once during the setup stages of the newly reinstalled software. All settings will then load cleanly, at the point you just got done with, subtracting any of the changes you made that forced you to have to reinstall. Backups are your friends!

Look for our setup tutorial for using your hotspot with a cellular phone internet hotspot as well. That should be written soon. It’s as easy as setting up your WiFi, only using the phone’s hotspot information instead of your home WiFi.

Until the next time…

~73, WF4RT