[CQ-Contest] Solution for controlling Aux Antennas from N1MM

[Gerry Hull]

In a number of recent talks I've given on remote operating, many have asked
about desktop solutions for auxiliary antenna control.

Aux antennas are those not switched via band decoders or other means, such
as different antennas for the same band, stack matches, triplexer
switching, etc.

A pal asked me again the other day if there was a solution.  He showed me a
picture of a relay board he has.

His board is 16 dpdt 5A relays controlled over IP.  The relays are
controlled by a simple web server on board.

There are quite a few of these IP controlled relay boards on the market,
from China, EU countries, and the US.

So, how to control these relays from N1MM? I have written an application to
do just that!

The second attachment is the main UI.

 It listens to the N1MM Radio Information UDP Broadcast on all IP Addresses
on the LAN, on port 12060, the N1MM default.

If you have a multiop station with every station on the same LAN subnet,
you can use this application to centrally control all the aux antennas for
each op position, as the RadioInfo message contains the radio it is from.

Essentially, you set up Aux Antenna macros in N1MM:
 {AUXANTSEL 01}
 {AUXANTSEL 02}
 {AUXANTSEL 01}| {AUXANTSEL 02}   - A toggle on the same button.

Then, you set up the antenna definitions in the Antenna Configurator of
N1MM.

In my app, you create "Maps* between the Radio and Aux antenna numbers and
the URL of the Relays to control.

You can create an endless number of maps, and can control as many IP Relay
boards as you wish, only limited by your imagination.

Some of the relay boards require  basic authentication. This is supported
in the app; you enter the url as: user:password at ipOrDnsOfBoard.

The third attachment is the editor for configuring the Maps.  It should be
easy to use.

The app is a stand-alone exe, requiring no other files.  It is compatible
with Win 10 and above and is an x64 executable.

It is not code-signed, so you might have to go to the Properties of the exe
and check "Unblock" (The file is safe; code is written in C# Net Core 7.0)

You can download it from
http://files.w1ve.com/RelayControl4N1MM.exe

Your feedback here or gerry at w1ve.com appreciated.

No guarantees for fitness of purpose, YMMV, and you assume all risks, etc...

Enjoy!

73,

Gerry W1VE