Raspberry Pi 3 DXSpider Installation
CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Kit
The Raspberry Pi 3 DXSpider installation is a little different than on the older units. I found a few guides on the internet for installing DXSpider on the Raspberry Pi 1 & 2, but none were specific to the Pi 3. The hardware is different (adds Bluetooth and Wifi, etc.) and the software, Raspbian, is updated.
This is not a definitive guide for running DXSpider, you'll have to recheck some of the settings and configuration files to make sure they are correct for your station and location. DXSpider is new to me and I'm still learning it.
Let's start by getting the Raspberry Pi 3 setup for the installation. Here are some things to consider:
- You're running this at home, do you have access to your router? You'll need to either do port forwarding or set the IP for the Raspberry Pi 3 to DMZ. Something along those lines anyway.
- Do you have a fully qualified domain name or website? You'll have to edit the DNS to send the traffic to your home routers IP address. That brings up another thing, do you have a static IP?
If you don't have a FQDN or static IP there are services available for free that can help. Here's one: No-IP.
Those things can be worked out later, but if you want others to be able to access your DXSpider node you'll need address those items.
Getting the hardware ready for your Raspberry Pi 3 DXSpider Installation
- Connect a keyboard, mouse and monitor to the Raspberry Pi 3. You can use a wireless keyboard and mouse. This is what I bought for mine, Logitech MK270 and if you want to use a monitor with a VGA cable you can use a HDMI to VGA adapter. You may have to edit the config file to get this working. Here's a YouTube clip that worked for me: How to use a vga monitor with a Raspberry Pi.
- Boot up the device (Raspberry Pi) and follow the instructions to install Raspbian.
- Once Raspbian is installed boot it up and go into the desktop. You'll want to change the password for the user Pi. That's under Preferences>Raspberry Pi Configuration>System. You might as well change the hostname while you're in the system. Make it dxc or something easy to remember.
- Depending on how you have your router setup, you'll probably want a static IP on the internal network. This is the guide that I followed: How to give your Raspberry Pi a Static IP Address.
- You may want to enable VNC. I use a VNC client to remotely access the desktop. To enable it go to Preferences>Raspberry Pi Configuration>Interfaces and select VNC.
- If you need to set the correct time zone use the command: sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata
From this point on I use SSH (PuTTY) on my laptop for the Raspberry Pi 3 DXSpider Installation. So the Pi can be headless (without monitor, keyboard or mouse) and I can use VNC to view the desktop if needed.
Here's my PDF for the installation: Install-raspberry-pi-3-dxspider
At 1:50 in the clip I missed the second part to Step 3 "adduser sysop sudo" and had to go back later to re-enter it. At 5:45 in this clip I didn't get logged in sudo su because I missed step 3, but even with those mistakes the ./cluster started. I went back later and re-entered Step 7 too. All is well 🙂
You can buy a Raspberry Pi on Ebay
NEXT: Running DXSpider On Raspberry Pi 3 And Configuring Partner Links
Thank you for coming by and please comment below.
73, good DX - Rich, K0PIR
Resources:
NEW! Setup Raspberry Pi for Ham-Radio
Hello good day
How to install dxspider from 0
These two commands do not work
In a new istalacion SD of raspberry pi 3
Useradd -m sysop -G spider
Usermod -g spider sysop
Any help will be welcome
Greetings from Tony EA4FIT
Hi Tony,
Yeah, I think I had trouble with that one too if I copy and paste. Try “typing” it in exactly as it appears. It works!
sudo su
groupadd spider
useradd –m sysop –G spider
usermod –g spider sysop
Mine is still working and it’s being used!
Thank you and 73,
Rich K0PIR
Hello good afternoon
I already got my dxspider to work
but nobody can connect, and installed the spider with its manual, I can connect to the nodes that I have but the nodes that want to connect to me, not reviewed everything and I think it’s okay, in the moden I have opened the 8000 , but I can not get any callsign to connect to my node.
Some idea of what might happen.
Greetings from Tony EA4FIT
Hi Tony,
Very nice to hear from you and thank you for commenting. Your issue may be firewall related. On mine, the IP address that the Pi uses is the DMZ. In other words, all outside (Internet) is passed to the Pi IP and can reach it. Not the safest, but it works. You could try and see if it fixes, then setup extra security. On mine I do not allow external SSH to the Pi. I only connect with SSH on my internal network. Okay? 73, Rich, K0PIR
Halo Reach
I do not have much knowledge in linux.
And how do I set it … ????
73, s EA4FIT
Hi Tony,
It would depend on the router you are using in your home network. Check your router instructions on how to set a local IP to DMZ. Careful though. This is outside the scope of my article. All routers are different and security should be taken into consideration. I have some extra security on my router/firewall. Yours may or may not have the same. Okay?
Hello
It is already working, the problem was not in DMZ, it was, well in some ROUTER they are called NAT in other PORT FORWARDING because there was the error does not generate the ip address of my pi and there is open port 8000
Greetings and thanks for all greetings
73, s dx EA4FIT
Hi Tony, that’s awesome! Thanks and happy Dx’ing! – 73 Rich, K0PIR
Hi Richard.
Thank you very much for your instructions on how to install the DXspider on Raspberry.
It was simple enough even for a novice like me.
The only thing I can’t do is start the Raspberry automatically.
I also created SV5FRI files, but it was useless.
Can you help me understand why?
Thanks in advance.
73 de Ik2wad Joe
Hi Joe,
After rebooting the RPi3 it takes about 5+ min for everything to start up.
If it still won’t startup automatically, try doing the startup files again.
Review the last part of this document.
It is a good little project.
Good luck!
73
Rich/K0PIR
Hi Rich,
Thanks for this excellent step by step guide for a DXCluster using RP3. Your guide worked for me, actually better than the others as they missed some steps out that a novice like me didn’t know how to solve.
Only problem I had was in step 6 after the git clone … RP3 replied ‘git command not known’ ? sudo apt-get install git solved that one. I am using the Raspian Buster lite image so minimal installation. Otherwise works fine as local cluster for my club.
Paul,
It’s very nice to hear from you and thank you so much for commenting. I’ll take a look at that and see what the issue is.
I hope all is well with you and yours, please take care and best 73!
This too shall pass.
hello good morning Rich
How can I disconnect a user who misuses DXSpider, is there a command?
Greetings from Tony EA4FIT
Hi Tony,
It’s nice to hear from you and thanks for commenting here. Good question and just off the top of my head, if you are referring to a user logging into your dxspider cluster, can you ban his IP address in your router?
If you can’t do that try joining and asking in this group.