ASL3 Saytime Weather TimeFormat

Top-of-the-hour spoken time and current weather conditions for AllStarLink 3 on Debian 12 Bookworm and Debian 13 Trixie.

This version keeps the nostalgic recorded .gsm voice-file behavior from the earlier KD5FMU Saytime/Weather projects, while adding selectable 12-hour or 24-hour time.

• Installation
• WeatherAPI.com

What it does

• Announces current time and WeatherAPI.com current conditions.

• Supports 12-hour or 24-hour time.

• Uses the recorded voice files downloaded from the original sound file package.
• Stores sound files in the same custom sound location used by the previous repos:

/usr/local/share/asterisk/sounds/custom

• Uses WeatherAPI.com current weather data.
• Installs a systemd service and timer to keep weather data cached.
• Adds an editable root crontab block for hourly announcements.
• Handles multi-word WeatherAPI.com conditions such as Partly Cloudy, Light Rain, and Patchy Rain Nearby by trying to speak each available word in order.

Video

Watch this video to get your WeatherAPI.com API Key

Install

Download the installer from your new GitHub repo after publishing it:

sudo wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KD5FMU/Saytime-Weather-TimeFormat-ASL3/refs/heads/main/install_asl3_saytime_weather_timeformat.sh

then we need to make it executable

sudo chmod +x install_asl3_saytime_weather_timeformat.sh

And then we can run the installer

sudo ./install_asl3_saytime_weather_timeformat.sh

Optional install with location, node, and time format:

sudo ./install_asl3_saytime_weather_timeformat.sh 74437 58176 12

or:

sudo ./install_asl3_saytime_weather_timeformat.sh 74437 58176 24

Configure

Edit the config file:

sudo nano /etc/asterisk/local/weatherapi.ini

Set these values:

API_KEY="your_weatherapi_key"
LOCATION="74437"
NODE="58176"
TIME_FORMAT="12"

LOCATION may be a ZIP code, airport code, city, or airport name supported by WeatherAPI.com.

Examples:

LOCATION="74437"
LOCATION="Henryetta OK"
LOCATION="metar:AIRPORT_CODE"
LOCATION="Tulsa International Airport"

`You may also use ICAO Airport Codes if you wish in this format

Example:

LOCATION="metar:UUVE"

the UUVE example would be your ICAO Airport Code
Reference https://www.avcodes.co.uk/aptcodesearch.asp

`You may also use Latitude and Longitude in this format

Example:

LOCATION="66.3229, -38.8141"

but you would use your coordinattes for your location. Only use four digits past the decimal

Test WeatherAPI.com cache

sudo /usr/local/sbin/asl3-weatherapi-update.sh
/usr/local/sbin/show_weatherapi.sh

Test the spoken announcement

Using config values:

sudo /usr/bin/perl /usr/local/sbin/saytime.pl

Using command-line values:

sudo /usr/bin/perl /usr/local/sbin/saytime.pl YOUR_ZIP YOUR_NODE_NUMBER 12

or:

sudo /usr/bin/perl /usr/local/sbin/saytime.pl YOUR_ZIP YOUR_NODE_NUMBER 24

Crontab

The installer adds an editable root crontab block.

Open it with:

sudo crontab -e

Example hourly line:

0 * * * * /usr/bin/nice -19 /usr/bin/perl /usr/local/sbin/saytime.pl 74437 58176 >/dev/null 2>&1

Time format is controlled in:

/etc/asterisk/local/weatherapi.ini

Set:

TIME_FORMAT="12"

or:

TIME_FORMAT="24"

WeatherAPI.com service/timer

Weather cache updates are handled by systemd:

systemctl status asl3-weatherapi-update.timer
systemctl status asl3-weatherapi-update.service

Uninstall

• if you feel you want to uninstall this setup then download this script

sudo wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KD5FMU/Saytime-Weather-TimeFormat-ASL3/refs/heads/main/uninstall_asl3_saytime_weather_timeformat.sh

And then make it executable

sudo chmod +x uninstall_asl3_saytime_weather_timeformat.sh

And then run the file

sudo ./uninstall_asl3_saytime_weather_timeformat.sh

Notes

• If Supermon changes or overwrites sound/script locations later, rerun the installer.
• This script expects Asterisk/ASL3 local playback to be available through:

/usr/sbin/asterisk -rx "rpt localplay NODE /tmp/current-time"

73!

License

This project is licensed under the GNU 3.0 General Public License.

By submitting a contribution to this repository, you agree that your contribution is licensed under the same MIT License.