[aprssig] SheevaPlug plug computers for igates?

[Chris Kantarjiev]

> The dd-wrt /wrt54gl igates discussed here recently have wifi and DC
> power, and a UART if you want to hack a bit.  Not sure about USB
> (guess it depends on the router and/or willingness to ack, wrt54gl
> doesn't have it out of the box).  All this for about half the current
> price of the SheevaPlug.

That's OpenWRT, with aprs4r :-) The ASUS WL-500 supports OpenWRT and aprs4r, and has native USB (and 
WiFi). It's a little more expensive but has lots of ram/flash and doesn't need hardware hacking. 
That's where I'd go for a more-turnkey solution, if you don't want to build an integrated package.

The NSLU2/Slug is a fun little box, but it has a lot of limitations. The worst, in my opinion, is
that it wants 5V, not 12V, at about 1A - and that's just running a thumb drive and Elcom USB TNC. I 
have a Linux RMS gateway built on one, but only because it was an interesting challenge, not 
necessarily a good idea :-)

If all you want is a cheap, modern remote digi, I think that your best bet today is one that's based 
on the TNC-X. The latest X-Digi plugin card firmware handles remote update now. Not a lot of bells 
and whistles, but fairly rock solid.

Scott's Tracker2 has some good features, but I have to say (sorry, Scott) that the software really 
seems to be in perpetual beta, and has some issues around buffer limitations.

73 de chris K6DBG