Good job Don!
Working remote control is not new as several have/are doing it.
I was doing it for a few years using a Kachina 505dsp. I was able to
control the rig, get audio back and forth, turn my antenna, change the
antenna switch and turn my Acom 2000a amp on and off and monitor the amp.
This was all done using a second phone line in my home and at my office.
Matter of fact I made over 1700q's in the 1999 10m contest (mixed mode).
This was all done with my station located over 5 miles from my home. You
can check out my web site http://www.tcac.net/~rthorne/html.index for some
pictures and diagrams.
Wayne wrote a nice interface so I could interface WL to my Kachina 505dsp.
I used a laptop and my main pc to get the job done. I told WL that the rig
file was located on my laptop harddrive. I brought up the Kachina control
software on my lap top and ran WL on my main pc. That way I was able to
tune the rig constantly while also having the cursor on my main pc in the
call sign entry field. If it was all done on one pc I would have been mouse
clicking all over the place. For example, click on the rig, tune the rig,
find a station to work, click on WL, enter the call sign enter the qso,
click on the rig window , tune the rig, you get the idea, lots of mouse
clicks/movements.
However, Kachina is out of the HF business and I have moved on to other
equipment. I'm hoping Doug Smith, the Kachina designer, who is now at Ten
Tec comes out with a package for remote control. It would be real nice if
they made it to work with all rigs, not just Ten Tec.
Another nice software package out there for controlling the rig is TRX
manager. Laurent is currently working on the remote control portion of the
software. You can control your rig one of two ways, via an IP address (ala
internet) or with a pair of packet TNC's. I like the TNC idea as you would
be depending on the speed of your internet connection.
Anyways all the equipment is out there to handle rig control. The issue is
getting audio back and forth. Even with the Kachina solution, using ISDN
phone lines, I would still get poor audio reports. I also tried to run
PSK31/RTTY but there wasn't enough bandwidth in the phone line and my
transmitted signal would be a bunch of garbage.
When/if I do the remote thing again I would use a pair of 220mhz or above
rigs to pass the audio back and forth and use TRX manager
(http://www.trx-manager.com) for rig control. You can download a demo copy
to check it out. Rotor control could be handled with a device from Idom
Press (http://www.idompress.com). An antenna switch could be handled with a
Top Ten device (http://www.qth.com/topten/) using the band data from the
back of the rig.
I think PCanywhere and WinVNC are great for local networks, but as soon as
you try to use the phone line or internet (ip address) things will slow
down dramatically, trust me I know. A direct link is the best way to go,
I.E. UHF/VHF rigs.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hill AA5AU" <aa5au@bellsouth.net>
To: "WriteLog Reflector" <Writelog@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 12:33 AM
Subject: [WriteLog] IT WORKS!!![WriteLog]Anyone using WinVNC or PC Anywhere
with WriteLog?
> IT WORKS!!! FIRST QSO MADE WITH RTTY OVER THE
> INTERNET USING WRITELOG!!!
>
> The WinRTTY tuning indicator works over WinVNC. From my
> girlfriend's computer in the next room, I was able to access my PC
> and run WriteLog on the shack computer through the Internet.
>
> I decided to call CQ. JA1BHK answered me and we had a nice
> QSO. It was hard to contain my excitement. I tried to explain to
> Maza how I was making the contact but I don't think he understood.
>
> Now my thoughts are going crazy. Add rotor control (I had to run
> into the shack to turn the antenna to JA when Maza answered me).
> An audio link through the phone line to monitor the audio.
>
> I'll have to test a scroll wheel mouse next. If I can't properly tune the
> radio, it will be difficult. I have radio control, so I know I can change
> frequency manually, but that will be difficult on RTTY to tune in the
> signal.
>
> 30+ years in this hobby and I'm as excited as the day I got my first
ticket!
>
> 73, Don AA5AU
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Don Hill AA5AU" <aa5au@bellsouth.net>
> To: "WriteLog Reflector" <Writelog@contesting.com>
> Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2002 11:38 PM
> Subject: [WriteLog] Anyone using WinVNC or PC Anywhere with WriteLog?
>
>
> > I can imagine myself working RTTY on my home station from
> > my PC at work using WriteLog.
> >
> > I installed WinVNC this evening and it appears to work very well
> > for allowing my PC to be accessed and ran over the Internet through
> > my router (using ADSL) from another PC connected to the Internet.
> >
> > I was able to run WriteLog and key my radio from the remote PC
> > connected to the Internet.
> >
> > All this is very interesting to me. I just can't figure out how I'm
going
> > to tune the radio and what indicator to use for RTTY. The MMTTY
> > indicator does not update but the green signal bar works. I haven't
tried
> > the WinRTTY indicator yet. I don't use my a scroll mouse and not sure
> > it will work either. Before I put a lot of time into this project, is
anyone
> > out there doing this yet?
> >
> > Or am I blazing a new frontier?
> >
> > 73, Don AA5AU
> > http://www.aa5au.com
> > http://www.geocities.com/writelog
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > WriteLog mailing list
> > WriteLog@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/writelog
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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