Bits, Bytes, & Radio Waves

A Journey Through Discovery

  • RTL-SDR Blog V4 on Raspberry Pi OS

    Introduction I do have to admit that using the word blog with a physical device is a little odd to me. Nonetheless, this little dongle is quite a nice addition to a new amateur radio operator like myself. Even if you do not have a license, you can try this out since it is a…

  • CHIRP on Ubuntu

    Installing CHIRP is relatively easy. It’s connecting the radio to the computer that can be troublesome. I needed a cable that did not rely on Windows since I go between Ubuntu, macOS, and Windows. I found a MIRKIT FTDI USB Programming Cable Model 3 on Amazon.com that has worked without any fuss with Windows and…

  • Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)

    Note:This is a living page; the information may be confusing, incomplete, out of order, or possibly incorrect at this time. I am still learning and researching this technology. Background The Automatic Packet Reporting System, or APRS, was developed by Bob Bruninga (SK) for the US Navy back in the early 1980’s. Protocol AX.25 – https://www.tapr.org/pdf/AX25.2.2.pdf…

  • Amateur Radio License Journey

    I had some downtime recently with work and decided it would be a good time to get my amateur radio license. I started to look into the requirements with a serious focus. When I tell people I went from Technician Class (August 8, 2024) to Amateur Extra Class (September 17, 2024) in 40 days, naturally…

  • VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle, VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), and VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer (ALB) (Avi)

    Overview So besides all the variations of product names in play, pre-Broadcom acquisition and post, there is something that has been baffling me for quite some time. How to create the globalenvironment in VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle using VMware NSX Advanced Load Balancer (ALB) (Avi) as the load balancer. Installation Issues Things I am still…

  • iXsystems TrueNAS CORE and VMware

    Overview iXsystems publishes a White Paper, titled TrueNAS for VMware, which provides Best Practices for VMware. In this post, I am going to breakdown each of the best practices with an example. Hopefully this will help others, newcomers and experts, alike, at an optimally configured TrueNAS. For me, it will help ease the pain of…

This is how it all started…

I started this site with the intent to aggregate as much information as possible in one place. I use this to record lessons learned or frustrating configurations I have experienced on the job or just tinkering (learning) and just couldn’t find a better resource available. I have tried to be as thorough and accurate as possible, but technology is rapidly evolving and every environment is different. I may miss things along the way and my setup most likely differs compared to yours.

I hope you find this site has some value to you.

Welcome to Bits, Bytes, and Radio Waves! 

If you have any questions or comments (or just want to give me a shout-out), please feel free to contact me!

Aaron Rombaut

Writer & Technologist