1. Remote Control & Operating for Amateur Radio
Steve Maskrey – G6FDK & M3DVA (Deva / Chester!)

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. So how does it work? Requirements ‘Host’ or Station ‘Client’ 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

6. 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.

7. 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: – 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

8. Router Setup Remote Desktop port: 3389 Ham Radio Deluxe port: 7805
for help with your router

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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
v6.0 recently released $99.95
v5.24 build 38 free
Other software products available
CAT cables from here:

12. And the Tx / Rx audio? PC Sound card Skype! PTT transmit keying
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

13. 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

14. Other Solutions
RemoteRig for remote control & audio
Downside is you need to take the proprietary unit with you
TRX-Manager software solution similar in concept to Ham Radio Deluxe
Glentek

15. 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

16. 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