I finally got the Transmit audio interface together and connected and started assembling the "dead man" timer. The timer is required on a remote Ham station to stop a runaway transmitter after it is on the air for 3 minutes. Skype seems to work fine for the audio interface in both directions. I got good... Continue Reading →
Remote Audio for Ham Station
I have been using Skype for remote receive audio. That seems to work fine except I have to mute the microphone at the remote location to hear the audio from the rig clearly. So that is what I have been doing. But now I want to setup the transmit audio link from the operating position... Continue Reading →
ARRL CW Sweepstakes 2011 – The Contest
I worked CWSS again, one of the few contests I try to work every year. It's complicated exchange makes it a real challenge and the activity level is amazing. Band conditions were good this year, with 10 and 15 meters having long openings. I worked SO2R this year with an Elecraft K2 as my primary... Continue Reading →
ARRL CW Sweepstakes 2011 Diary – Preparation
Preparing for CWSS this year mainly consisted of antenna work and integration of the SO2R (Single Operator Two Radio) setup in the Shack. I use mostly wire antennas (no Yagis) but one, a "Fan Dipole" (one design example found here) for 80/40 meters had been hanging for several years. I took it down to check... Continue Reading →
Remote Rig Timeout Controller
To run a Ham Rig remotely, the FCC requires the ability to shutdown a "runaway" transmitter after no more than 3 minutes of activity. There are several ways to do this. My plan is to use a small Arduino computer board to handle the timeout control function. Here is a basic diagram of the timeout... Continue Reading →
Tips for Remote Ham Rig Operation
Finally getting back to this project after a month of inactivity. I had one setback - the computer I was using for the remote rig host, a laptop, had some problems. I set it up and was able to access remotely using TeamViewer but after a day or two the laptop would die. It went... Continue Reading →
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... Continue Reading →
Remote Rig Operation with TeamViewer
I have been experimenting with remote operation of my K2 using the Internet for control and audio. So far I tried using VNC and WINDOWS Remote Desktop for connecting from my client computer to the remote station. Both basically worked, but have had reliability issues. Today I tried a new approach - a program called... Continue Reading →
Second Test of Remote Ham Station
Last weekend I set up all the pieces and got the station working remotely for receive only. I used it for several hours, but when I tried to connect a few days later, I could not access it. So it appears that one of my programs, probably VNC, is hanging the machine. So all the... Continue Reading →
First Remote Ops Experience
I had the radio all set up for remote control and receive audio. No transmit yet - gotta "walk" first. I also have to setup the runaway-transmitter shutoff before I try remote transmit. Here is the setup I am using: Elecraft K2 Transceiver Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) rig-control software RealVNC and WINDOWS Remote Desktop for... Continue Reading →
Kg3v Ham Radio Blog 