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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