The remote edge...

Foundations of Amateur Radio

The landscape of remotely operated amateur radio is changing by the day. Once the territory of home brew DTMF decoders and remote controlled radio links, now more often than not it's a Raspberry Pi with an internet connection, or some variation on that.

Before I continue, I must point out that amateur regulations vary widely around the globe, especially in this area. It appears mostly due to the rapidly changing nature of remotely operated radios.

For example, most, if not all software defined radios are technically remotely operated. You run software on your computer, the radio is connected to a network, you twiddle a setting on your computer and the radio responds. The computer is not part of the radio, but without it there's not much radio to be had. There's no need for both to be in the same room, let alone the same building.

Similarly, a Kenwood TS-480 and a Yaesu FT-857d are both radios that have a removable face with knobs and a display. The main body of the radio is a nondescript box with sockets for power and antenna, connected to the face essentially via a serial cable that can be a few centimetres long, or a few meters. There's solutions like RemoteRig that replace this serial cable with a virtual cable, allowing you to put the face in one location and the body in a different one, connected to each other across the internet.

With the introduction of Starlink internet, a low earth orbit satellite based network, a connection to the internet can be made anywhere on earth, making it possible to have your station sitting somewhere far away from interference, powered by batteries and solar panels and connected to the internet. You might not even need to go to satellite based internet, the mobile phone network in many places is often more than sufficient for making such a station viable.

If you're a member of a radio club, you might consider your club station. Often this station is the work of many volunteer years effort with multiple radios, antennas, filters and the like and often it sits idle most of the time, only getting fired up during club meetings or the weekend. What if you connected that station to the internet and offered it as a service to your members?

Depending on license requirements, you might consider amateurs who have limited ability to build a shack but would love to be on air making noise. A remote club shack might be just the ticket for getting them on air. It could even become an income stream for your club.

You might be able to offer access to trainees, or let them monitor the station without transmit ability whilst they're preparing for their license, or you might operate a 48 hour contest in shifts, all using the same transmitter, but from the comfort of your home.

The landscape is full of different solutions, like RemoteRig, which I've already mentioned, RigPi Remote Station Server is a tiny computer that controls your radio and allows you access via a web browser or remote desktop connection. There's Remote Hams, a ready made solution for putting your shack on air with access control and remote management. You can connect specific radios, like the Elecraft K3 Remote System, or a Flex Radio Maestro, there's even web browser remote control projects like Universal Ham Radio Remote by Oliver F4HTB, each making it possible to get on air and make noise using a radio in a different location across the internet.

All of the solutions I've named make it possible to fully use your radio, that means CW, SSB, FM, antenna control and the like. You can use it for FT8 or RTTY, the choice is yours.

The interface might be the face of your radio, a special console, computer, phone or a tablet and you can operate it wherever and whenever the mood takes you.

No longer do you need to have a shack in your home with coax snaking through the walls to an antenna whilst dodging the local authorities, or fighting the engine noise from your car. You can make the ultimate shack anywhere without taking up space in your home or car.

One final comment. This is a moving feast. The level of functionality is increasing by the day. For me this journey started with a steel toolbox in my garage with a radio inside it and coax running from the box to my antenna. I have operated my radio and hosted my weekly net like this. The radio in the garage, me in my office connected via Wi-Fi over a virtual serial cable. You don't need to start this in the middle of nowhere, six hours drive over the back roads to fix a problem, you can start this project today at home.

Where on this journey are you and what issues have you come up against? Let me know. My address as always is cq@vk6flab.com

I'm Onno VK6FLAB