|
July 4th, 2010 Updates: Much has changed since I set up this web site…. The house and property shown has been sold…..I leave the pictures up since I miss the great property and ability to put up antennas at will with no worries about what my neighbors will say. I owned a business in Fortuna and after selling the business we decided to move back to Eureka……so I lost my great radio location. I have also sold the Hawaii property…..but for the same reasons…..I leave the pictures up……… Regarding remote operations: The Hilo remote is gone ….since I no longer own the property. I really learned a great deal about remotes by trying to maintain a station 2,400 miles from home. I have, over the past six years, set up and assisted others in setting up about a dozen remotes; all basically using a remote desk top software ( I use VNC) and Skype. This requires a computer at the remote end. I have had great success with these systems and after much fiddling with the audio controls I have been able to achieve very good quality transmitted audio. (Getting great sounding transmit audio is the true test) “Murphy lives at your remote site” Everything that can go wrong ….will. That is why when you really look at all of the details of the Hilo remote you will see multiple back up systems to reset and power cycle everything. I now have a new remote station located a few miles from my home QTH. I set up this station because at my home, in the city of Eureka, I have severe QRM on 40M and I really don’t have a spot to put up a beam of any kind. At my remote location …..which is on top of a vacant old, three screen, theater building located between population centers….I have been able to get a beam up about 42ft and have room for wire antennas. Fortunately I have high speed Cable internet at both ends. Additionally I now have a totally new remote system that does not require a computer at the remote (radio end). I found a new product in QST …..from Sweden ….RemoteRig http://www.remoterig.com/ . To date this is the best remote system I have ever used. With the Remote Rig “boxes” “RRC” I now get fantastic transmit audio with no fiddling….. and it is simple. (After you get past the computer networking issues). The RRC boxes will work with any radio….but they are the best when used with the Kenwood TS 480. This radio is built in two parts; the control head and the larger “radio box”. The radio is mostly used for mobile operation; the control head goes up front and the bulk of the radio goes in the trunk….…but this ability to separate the control head from the radio is the key to great remote operation. Using the RRC boxes…..the control cable (RJ 11, six wire telephone cable) is cut between the control head and the radio box……the internet (with the two RRC boxes) is inserted in series and is now remotable to anywhere in the world. The control head and one RRC box sits on your desk and only requires an internet connection …………and the balance of the radio and the other RRC box sits at the remote location and only needs an internet connection….plus an antenna of course. You sit at your desk and control the radio with the actual control head…..not from a computer screen….real knobs and dials. Your microphone plugs into the local RRC box. For a quick and very simple remote system this is great. The RRC boxes cost about $450. US. When you look at Remote Rig web site you will see that the “boxes” also have a serial port connector DB9 at each end. This is available to run a linear (or other serial device e.g. rotor) such as the SPE 1K at the remote end without the need for a computer at the remote end. I had hum problems on my transmitted audio when using the serial port to control my SPE 1K amplifier. http://www.steppir.com/SteppirSPE.html elected to interface the amplifier to a computer at the remote end instead …..hum problem solved. This hum issue is probably solvable. Others are using the same equipment and I assume do not have hum issues…..but I want a computer at the remote end for other reasons which I will cover later….so I am not presently using the serial port function on the RRC boxes. Lantronix makes a serial device server which will accomplish the same result and give you multiple serial ports at a remote site with out a computer…this is called a Serial Device Server and only requires an internet connection. SPE 1K amplifier does work well as a remote amp and has included software to be controlled from a computer and also includes an antenna tuner. To have a computer at the remote site ….or not? I have a computer at my remote site because: I can access and operate my remote station in two ways Using the RRC box and control head connected to any internet portal Or Using my laptop that is running VNC and Skype…..connected to any internet portal. I run my linear CAT and rotor program on the computer at the remote site to minimize the amount of data that must be sent back and forth. The more “load” you put on the internet connection …the more issues with the received and transmitted audio. Potential problems with remotes: Remember “Murphy’s Law of remote stations….. the farther away and the harder to get to …..the more likely Murphy will strike. The most difficult to fix (remotely) is if your cable or DSL modem or router hangs. With no internet access to do a reset; someone needs to go unplug the device and do a power cycle. What if you are too far away or just can’t go to the remote site? “We have our ways”….. I have used a device that is accessible by standard telephone This is an Aube controller by Honeywell CT241-01/U Universal Low voltage device. This device is available with four SPDT relays that can be controlled over a standard POTS line with touch tones. With this you can set up relays to control the AC power to the cable modem, router, computer etc. Another idea…… Digital Loggers power strip. http://www.digital-loggers.com/lpc.html This is a new product that I am now using…. If I still have internet access to the site and through the router I can control eight 110 VAC outlets ….to turn on and off devices….reset etc. …..and if there is no internet access through the modem and router….. The new version of this power strip has an Auto Ping feature. With this enabled the power strip is constantly testing for an internet connection. If the connection goes down this causes the power strip to cycle all (or some) outlets. This results in a re-boot of the cable modem, router, computer etc. The power strip has it’s own IP address and can be directly accessed by any computer. There are other potential problems too ….such as a changed IP address at the remote site…..DynDns seems to be the solution to this. Murphy is alive and well at remote sites. All for this update….feel free to email me with any questions ron@ky6n.com 73 |
|