Audio for Remote Station Ops

I have been trying several approaches to the audio interface for remote station operation. I have settled on TeamViewer for the remote session server/client. I tried using the VOIP integrated into TeamViewer with mixed results. I am able to reliably establish the session, but I have some problems with audio quality. So for mow, I am going back to Skype for the audio connection.

Skype seems to work well for remote audio, and it is free. I can set it to automatically answer incoming calls at the Host station, and I can limit callers to a list of “Contacts.” The one thing I notices is that I have to Mute my mic on the Client, when I am just listening. Skype tries to “help” with connection management, and if you leave your mic open on the Client, there are dropouts on the Receive link when their is a noise on your mic input.

So far, so good with Skype, although all of these audio services seem to try to manage the link and detect when there is “excessive noise.” When I am listening to CW stations, Skype will often complain about the amount of noise present, but it does not seem to effect the connection.