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A free lunch in Amateur Radio is made of free ham radio applications that run on a free operating system, in this case the Mandrake 9.x distribution of Linux. Now, if only the hardware was free, too!

N9NU.net's Linux 4 Hams Web page is just one page at Tim Dickerson's site, but it is a great page for information about using the Linux operating system for Amateur Radio applications, specifically for folks using the Mandrake 9.x distribution of Linux.

The N9NU.net Linux 4 Hams Web page will help you get up and running ham radio software on the Linux operating system.

According to The Linux Home Page at Linux Online, "Linux is a free Unix-type operating system originally created by Linus Torvalds with the assistance of developers around the world. Developed under the GNU General Public License, the source code for Linux is freely available to everyone."

The page starts off with some software installation tips and news regarding the latest Mandrake distribution. Then it lists and describes the various Linux Amateur Radio applications that are available. Each description includes links related to the application, for example, links for downloading the application files and links to other Web pages that support the application.

The Linux Amateur Radio applications are listed by categories, which include antenna modeling, APRS, AX.25 packet, beam heading, call sign server, contesting, DX packet cluster, GPS, grid locating, Morse code training, propagation predicting, PSK-31 and other digital modes, rig control, RTTY, satellite tracking, SSTV, TCP/IP packet, WEFAX and more.

Thanks go out to Ed Beckerich, KC8SBV, for suggesting this Web page. Until next time, keep on surfin'

Editor's note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, has Linux installed on his Mac, but is afraid to use it because he knows he will like it and become addicted to yet another time-consuming technological tool. You can encourage Stan to try Linux by sending him e-mail to wa1lou@arrl.net.

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Next: NASA: Cracks in Earth's Magnetic Field Stay Open to Let in Solar Wind