Remote Control & Operating for Amateur Radio

Steve Maskrey – G6FDK & M3DVA (Deva / Chester!)

Objective

• To show how, with your existing mainly commercial radio equipment, it can be remotely controlled - thus adding another interesting dimension and further enjoyment of our hobby

• To learn a little about Internet Protocol networking

Introduction

• Early radio remote control– Boot-mounted Pye Cambridge & Westminster– 2-wire controlled remote base stations

• Broadcast Monitoring & Control Telemetry– Unmanned transmitters, microwave & satellite downlinks, RBRs– All equipment parameters, video & audio, CCTV & site access

• Lights-out data centres– Full server & network systems remote control

• Internet & Computing Ubiquity– Music, TV, social apps, smart-phones & tablets, energy M&C

etc. The Internet is becoming everywhere• Amateur radio adoption of the Internet

– EchoLink, remote repeater & node-to-node communication

The Case for (Internet) Remote Control

• Operating anywhere in your home• Avoiding the cold garden shack• Taking access to your favourite (but very heavy &

expensive!) radio on holiday• Domestic planning restrictions• Making use of your quiet (QRN / QRM) caravan or

holiday home (I wish!) radio location all year around• Making use of a ‘supervised’ ham friend’s radio &

antenna system*• Thanks to the Internet we now have the opportunity to

operate our station from almost anywhere we desire.

So how does it work?

• Requirements– ‘Host’ or Station

• Radio transceiver with computer interface• Desktop or laptop PC with RS232 / V24 serial interface• Host software• Internet connection – assumes ADSL/2/2+, VDSL (BT

Infinity) or cable

– ‘Client’ Station• A PC or even a smart-phone or tablet• Mic & Headphones• Internet connection

Ofcom Licence Conditions

• 10 Unattended and remote control operation– 10(1) The Licensee may conduct Unattended

Operation of Radio Equipment provided that any such operation is consistent with the terms of this Licence.

• Must have a Full licence which can mean reciprocal, temporary reciprocal or club licenses

• Foundation & Intermediate licensees can operate remotely controlled stations using 500mW amateur band radio links

• I’m not sure about the validity of remote contacts made for contests etc.

Internet Connectivity

• Assumption that you have a broadband Internet connection at the ‘host’ station– We need a fixed public IP address for our Internet

router– Most of us have a public IP address that changes

periodically when our connection is reset by either the ISP or ourselves when we power off

– Solution: www.dyndns.com – free to register & use– So your home Internet router address becomes:

‘yourname’.dyndns.org:[port]– Your router updates dyndns each time you have a

new public IP address

Router Setup

• Remote Desktop port: 3389

• Ham Radio Deluxe port: 7805

• www.portforward.com for help with your router

PC Requirements

• Minimum 1Gb RAM, 10Gb HDD & RS232 / V24 serial port or possibly a quality USB serial com port adapter

• Recommend Windows XP, 7 or 8 Pro– You must set a password for RDP to work

PC Setup

• Setup a password• Fix your LAN IP; e.g.

192.168.1.120

• Open up port 7805 for Ham Radio Deluxe remote control

Host Control Software

• Ham Radio Deluxe – developed by Peter PH1PH and Simon HB9DRV in 2003 then sold to Rick W4PC, Randy KØCBH, and Mike WA9PIE in 2011– www.hrdsoftwarellc.com– v6.0 recently released $99.95– v5.24 build 38 free

• Other software products available• CAT cables from here: www.xggcomms.com/

And the Tx / Rx audio?

• PC Sound card

• Skype!– Free and reliable– Setup Skype host account to auto-answer

from your contact list – which should be just you & possibly ham friends

• PTT transmit keying

Recap

• Broadband Internet connectivity• Host PC / laptop with minimum Win XP/7/8 Pro,

1GHz, 1Gb RAM, serial port(s), password, fixed LAN IP & open Windows firewall port 7805

• Client PC / laptop• Ham Radio Deluxe v5.24, v6.x• Skype; set for auto answer client at host• Register & setup dynamic DNS• Router Port Forward ports HRD 7805 & RDP

3389• Open port 7805 in Windows firewall

Other Solutions

• RemoteRig for remote control & audio www.remoterig.com/wp/

– Downside is you need to take the proprietary unit with you

• TRX-Manager software solution similar in concept to Ham Radio Deluxe

• Glentek www.glentekcorp.com

Further Reading & Links

• Remote Operating for Amateur Radio– Ham Radio, the Internet and Remote Station

Control– Steve Ford, WB8IMY

• Many remote project demos & ‘instructionals’ on YouTube as well as many example setups & photos

My other technology interests

• Computer networking for home & office

• Home & office real-time energy monitoring, management reporting & control; LED lighting

• IP CCTV for home and office security

• Raspberry Pi & Arduino computing

• Multi-media including Internet radio