An update to the station computer has been completed. It is a Linux Ubuntu OS and is named "Sandbox". Linux asks for a computer name when first installed.
A new video card was added to the system. The onboard (built-in) video has been used since day one. It was and can do everything needed as far as a station computer. But I share the computer with my 8 year old granddaughter when she visits and she (and I) play Minecraft with it.
At first, about a year ago, it was doing fine. But something changed either in Minecraft or Ubuntu. Video was getting anoyingly "laggy" in the game. I figured it was time to go to a newer video source. An inexpensive (~$50) but decent video card was obtained and installed, Game play is now as expected. That's the new video card, dead center.
The dust within the machine was getting a bit much. So with the case open, I pulled all the cables and hauled the box out into the shop. there is a large shop air compressor there. That does the best job of clearing out all the dust bunnies that had taken up residence.
So now "Sandbox" is cleaner, faster and just "better".
Started looking at my Omni VII and determined the ham rig may be next for the D&C treatment. But it doesn't have fans pulling air (and dust) through the case.
The first step was to get a few cobwebs out of it's operational readyness. Having neglected real on-the-air operation for sometime, that needed to be fixed. Shame on me...
All the audio connections out of "Sandbox" that fed in and out of the Omni VII, were "pulled" so of course that had to be check out again. Fldigi is used for my digital modes. By just using the audio from the computer and switching to transmit with VOX works very well. No complex external keying necessary.
Making sure the latest version of Fldigi was installed, the Omni VII was fired up with PSK31 on 20 meters. 14.070.000. This was about mid day but there was one good signal from Wisconsin, AA0AW. The rig was left on on all day and I worked more stations as the conditions improved. It sure felt good to know everthing was in working order.
I even got the chance to do a little dusting and cleaning in the log book.