Mutara documentation

Mutara is a radio linking node with a web dashboard. These pages tell you how to set up a node, use it every day and keep it running.

Use Mutara #

For operators. Each page is a task: what to click, what you see and what to do if a step fails. Start here.

Start here

How Mutara works #

For technical readers. The configuration file, the links, the audio path, the security and the files on the node.

Open the reference

How Mutara is different #

Some apps do the full radio link on one phone or one computer. Mutara divides the work in two parts:

The node runs all the time on your own hardware: a Raspberry Pi or a Linux computer at home or at the club. A hub with no radio can also run on a cloud server. The node does the links, the codecs, the radio, the timers, the station ID and the announcements.
The clients are the web dashboard and the apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. They carry only your voice and the controls. Many people can use one node at the same time.

Because of this:

A club or a family shares one node and one radio. Each person has an account, and the admin selects what each group may do. The dashboard shows who talks.
The links, the permanent links, the timed reports and the weather alerts continue when your phone sleeps or loses its signal. When you connect again, the links are the same.
The phone does no link protocol and no voice coding for the network. The dashboard works in a modern browser with no installation.
You set up the node in one place. Updates are signed. The logs and the health values are on the node.
You operate the node. You do not need an account with the Mutara project.
The node can be an RF node with a USB radio interface, or an internet hub with no radio.

Mutara at a glance #

flowchart LR
  B["Web browser"] <--> N
  A["iPhone, iPad and Android apps"] <--> N
  I["IAX apps"] <--> N
  N["Mutara node 2100"] <--> R["USB radio interface"]
  N <--> L["AllStarLink nodes 2200 and 2201"]
  N <--> Y["YSF reflector, through the ysf-club module"]
  N <--> D["DMR master, through the dmr-3100 module"]
  N <--> M["M17 reflector, through the m17-club module"]

Figure 1. The parts that connect to one Mutara node.

Text version of figure 1

Web browsers, the iPhone, iPad and Android apps and IAX apps connect to the Mutara node 2100.
The node connects to a USB radio interface, if you have one.
The node links with AllStarLink nodes, for example 2200 and 2201.
A YSF module of the same install, for example ysf-club, connects to a YSF reflector. A DMR module, for example dmr-3100, logs in to a DMR master and listens to one talkgroup. An M17 module, for example m17-club, links to one module of an M17 reflector.

All sections #

Use Mutara

Get started: Install, create the admin account and join the AllStarLink network.
Use the dashboard: Listen, talk, read the levels, play clips, chat and use a room.
Link to other nodes: Link, unlink, permanent links, favorites and DTMF codes.
Connect a radio: A USB radio interface, a radio module, radio modes and levels.
Announcements and weather: The station ID, the voice, the time and weather alerts.
Settings and accounts: Settings pages, user accounts, commands and tones.
Updates, backup and health: Upgrades, a backup of the settings and the Health page.
Android app: Connect the app to your node, listen and talk, use rooms and bundles.
iPhone and iPad app: Listen and talk on an iPhone or iPad, with the iPad layout, keyboard talk, rooms and bundles.
Move from ASL3: Copy the settings of an ASL3 node and switch back if necessary.
Nodes and modules: AllStar nodes, YSF, DMR, M17 and room modules in one install, the module bar and the All nodes page.
Scan: Hear all your nodes on one connection, with priority, your scan list, skip and missed clips.
Rooms: Push-to-talk rooms that are never on the air: members, open mic, manager controls and access.
Bundles and transcripts: Join clips into one recording with chapters, a net log and a transcript. Download it or share a link.
Troubleshooting: What to do when a step does not work.
FAQ: Short answers to frequent questions.

How Mutara works

Architecture: Ports, the mixer and the parts of the program.
Server and clients: Why the node does the work and the clients stay light.
Configuration file: Every key of mutara.yaml, with its type and default.
Links, IAX and AllStar: Registration, lookup, link lists, loop checks and DTMF actions.
Audio, timers and levels: The audio path, the 20 ms mixer, codecs, the radio filters, the listener encoder levels, AGC, keying and the timers.
Announcements inside: The queue, the idle slot, the station ID timing and the voice server.
Security: Sign-in, groups and rights, TLS certificates, caller checks and signed updates.
Files, logs and API: The state folder, the journal, command-line flags and web routes.