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AllStarLink ⇔ Zello Bridge

This tool allows Zello Free or Zello Work channels to be connected to USRP, enabling bridging of amateur radio networks to the Zello network.

Tested with:

The original inspiration for this project was the work done by Rob G4ZWH to build a public Zello bridge to the FreeSTAR network using SIP softphones and the Zello Windows client. This was well received but had limitations. Matt G4IYT later rebuilt the bridge as a dedicated service using the Zello Channels API.

Current users of the bridge include:

The bridge does not require significant resources. The FreeSTAR bridge runs on a VPS with 1 VCPU and 1GB RAM, and performs well on both AMD64 and ARM platforms.

Table of Contents

Prerequisites

The bridge needs a Zello account to log into. This account represents the “user” speaking whenever traffic is sent from AllStarLink into Zello.

Recommended setup:

  1. Create a dedicated Zello account for the bridge (do not use your personal account).
  2. Ensure this account has permission to talk and listen in your Zello channel.
  3. Convert this account into a developer account by logging into the Zello Developers Console.
  4. Under Keys, click Add Key. Save both the Issuer and the Private Key.

The private key is long. Copy the entire contents and save them to a .key file (for example, /opt/asl-zello-bridge/zello.key). You will reference this file in your service configuration.

Installation

These instructions were tested with Debian 12. Adjust as needed for other systems.

There are three installation methods:

  • pip + venv (recommended): modern, isolated, avoids interfering with system packages.
  • setup.py (deprecated): used in early versions, but may break system dependencies.
  • docker: containerized deployment on Docker/Podman/Kubernetes.

The setup.py method is deprecated in favor of pip + venv. Users have reported issues on Debian 12 and Ubuntu 24. If you installed with setup.py, it will still work, but upgrading is recommended.

Dependencies

apt-get install libogg-dev libopusenc-dev libflac-dev libopusfile-dev libopus-dev libvorbis-dev libopus0 git

Install with pip + venv

Install Python dependencies:

apt-get install python3-venv python3-pip

Download code:

cd /opt
git clone https://github.com/mattmelling/asl-zello-bridge.git

Create venv:

mkdir -p /opt/asl-zello-bridge/venv
python3 -m venv /opt/asl-zello-bridge/venv

Install pyogg from source:

git clone https://github.com/TeamPyOgg/PyOgg.git
cd PyOgg
/opt/asl-zello-bridge/venv/bin/python setup.py install

Install the bridge:

cd /opt/asl-zello-bridge
/opt/asl-zello-bridge/venv/bin/pip3 install .

[DEPRECATED] Install with setup.py

Install pyogg:

git clone https://github.com/TeamPyOgg/PyOgg.git
cd PyOgg
sudo python setup.py install

Install the bridge:

git clone https://github.com/mattmelling/asl-zello-bridge.git
cd asl-zello-bridge
sudo python3 setup.py install

At this point, asl_zello_bridge should be on your $PATH.

Setup Service

If you installed with setup.py, adjust asl-zello-bridge.service to point to where the script is installed:

sudo cp asl-zello-bridge.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl edit asl-zello-bridge.service

When the editor opens, set environment variables under [Service].

Common Parameters (used in both Free and Work)

[Service]
# IP where this program listens for USRP RX audio (usually localhost)
Environment=USRP_BIND=127.0.0.1

# IP where this program sends USRP TX audio (usually localhost)
Environment=USRP_HOST=127.0.0.1

# UDP port for audio received from USRP/AllStarLink
# 34001 is ASL default (rxchannel = USRP/127.0.0.1:34001:32001)
Environment=USRP_RXPORT=34001

# UDP port for audio sent back into USRP/AllStarLink
# 32001 is ASL default
Environment=USRP_TXPORT=32001

# Zello username (case-sensitive)
Environment=ZELLO_USERNAME=myuser

# Zello password
Environment=ZELLO_PASSWORD=mypass

# Zello channel name (must match exactly, case-sensitive)
Environment=ZELLO_CHANNEL="My Test Channel"

Zello Free Example

[Service]
# USRP parameters
Environment=USRP_BIND=127.0.0.1
Environment=USRP_HOST=127.0.0.1
Environment=USRP_RXPORT=34001
Environment=USRP_TXPORT=32001

# Zello credentials
Environment=ZELLO_USERNAME=myuser
Environment=ZELLO_PASSWORD=mypass
Environment=ZELLO_CHANNEL="My Test Channel"

# Zello Free variables
Environment=ZELLO_PRIVATE_KEY=/opt/asl-zello-bridge/zello.key
Environment=ZELLO_ISSUER=my-issuer-id
Environment=ZELLO_WS_ENDPOINT=wss://zello.io/ws

Zello Work Example

[Service]
# USRP parameters
Environment=USRP_BIND=127.0.0.1
Environment=USRP_HOST=127.0.0.1
Environment=USRP_RXPORT=34001
Environment=USRP_TXPORT=32001

# Zello credentials
Environment=ZELLO_USERNAME=myuser
Environment=ZELLO_PASSWORD=mypass
Environment=ZELLO_CHANNEL="My Test Channel"

# Zello Work variables
Environment=ZELLO_API_ENDPOINT=https://mynetwork.zellowork.com
Environment=ZELLO_WS_ENDPOINT=wss://zellowork.io/ws/mynetwork

Optional Parameters

# Log format (see Python logging docs)
Environment=LOG_FORMAT="%(levelname)s:%(name)s:%(message)s"

# RX audio gain in dB
Environment=USRP_GAIN_RX_DB=0

# TX audio gain in dB
Environment=USRP_GAIN_TX_DB=0

Enable and Start Service

sudo systemctl enable asl-zello-bridge.service
sudo systemctl start asl-zello-bridge.service

AllStarLink Setup

Configure rpt.conf

Set up a node with a USRP channel in ASL (asl-menu can add a new node number). Example rpt.conf:

[1001](node-main)
rxchannel = USRP/127.0.0.1:34001:32001
duplex = 0       ; Half duplex, no telemetry or hang time
linktolink = yes ; Force full-duplex even with duplex=0

This creates node 1001 on your server connected to Zello. You can then link node 1001 to other nodes as desired.

privatenodes.txt (Supermon/AllScan)

To make node 1001 display nicely in Supermon/AllScan, add an entry to /etc/asterisk/privatenodes.txt:

Node | Callsign | Description   | Location
1001 | MyCall   | Zello Channel | QTH

Append the entry:

echo "1001|MyCall|Zello Channel|QTH" | sudo tee -a /etc/asterisk/privatenodes.txt

Install support for privatenodes:

sudo apt install asl3-update-nodelist

Allmon3 Overrides (web.ini)

privatenodes.txt is not used by Allmon3. To override labels in Allmon3, add the line to the [node-overrides] section of /etc/allmon3/web.ini.

Append if the section already exists:

sudo sed -i '/^\[node-overrides\]/a 1001 = MyCall Zello Channel QTH' /etc/allmon3/web.ini

Restart Allmon3:

sudo systemctl restart allmon3

If [node-overrides] does not exist, create it and add the line:

sudo sh -c 'grep -q "^\[node-overrides\]" /etc/allmon3/web.ini || echo "[node-overrides]" >> /etc/allmon3/web.ini'
echo "1001 = MyCall Zello Channel QTH" | sudo tee -a /etc/allmon3/web.ini
sudo systemctl restart allmon3

Resulting section:

[node-overrides]
1001 = MyCall Zello Channel QTH

Docker

A Dockerfile is included:

docker build -t asl-zello-bridge .

Run with required environment variables (Zello Free example):

docker run --rm -it \
  -e USRP_BIND=0.0.0.0 \
  -e USRP_HOST=allstar.node \
  -e USRP_RXPORT=34001 \
  -e USRP_TXPORT=32001 \
  -e ZELLO_WS_ENDPOINT=wss://zello.io/ws \
  -e ZELLO_CHANNEL="My Test Channel" \
  -e ZELLO_PRIVATE_KEY=/test.key \
  -e ZELLO_USERNAME=myuser \
  -e ZELLO_PASSWORD=mypass \
  -e ZELLO_ISSUER=my-issuer-id \
  -v /src/asl-zello-bridge/test.key:/test.key \
  asl-zello-bridge

This also works with docker-compose, Kubernetes, or any container runtime.

Credits

asl-zello-bridge is built and maintained by Matt G4IYT

Special thanks to:

  • Rob G4ZWH for inspiration and FreeSTAR bridge hosting
  • Shane M0VUB for support on behalf of FreeSTAR
  • Lee M0LLC for early adoption and CumbriaCQ testing
  • Piotr G0TWP for SvxLink testing and bug discovery

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