Elecraft

Remote K2

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John Huffman

Remote K2

Due to antenna restrictions, I am thinking of controlling my K2 remotely and
would be interested in any advice.

I want to run the K2 control software from my home computer and connect to the
radio over a virtual serial port via telephone or UHF link. I could use a
second phone line or UHF link to get audio back and forth.

I currently use N4PY software to control the radio via my computer.

Anyone tried this? What equipment would I need? What software for the link?
Do I need a computer at the remote site?

Thanks in advance.

73 de NA8M
John

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Richard Thorne-2

Re: Remote K2

John:

Check out http://www.trx-manager.com for rig control and
http://www.skype.com for audio.

Both work great. TRX Manager can be controlled over tcp-ip and skype
does an excellent job with audio. You really need a high speed
connection for it to work well.

I'm currently running a TS-480 via remote and its almost plug and play.
TRX will handle rotor control, cw and will give you full software
control of the K2.

You will need a computer at both ends as Skype uses the sound card to
get audio back and forth.

One of these days when I build a K2 I will remote it also.

Also check out N8LP's web site at http://www.telepostinc.com/n8lp.html
he has quite a few good ideas with diagrams along with some downloadable
software.

I don't have any connection with the above links, I'm just a happy user.
I've been running remote since the late 90's and this is the best system
by far.

73,

Rich - N5ZC

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Huffman" <[hidden email]>
To: "Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 5:12 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Remote K2

> Due to antenna restrictions, I am thinking of controlling my K2
remotely and
> would be interested in any advice.
>
> I want to run the K2 control software from my home computer and
connect to the
> radio over a virtual serial port via telephone or UHF link. I could
use a
> second phone line or UHF link to get audio back and forth.
>
> I currently use N4PY software to control the radio via my computer.
>
> Anyone tried this? What equipment would I need? What software for
the link?

> Do I need a computer at the remote site?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> 73 de NA8M
> John
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):

http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

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John Huffman

Re: Remote K2

Richard -

Thanks for the info. I'd like to avoid tcp/ip if I could because of what I
assume is the latency involved. I want to operate a remote radio and yet still
want to have QSK CW. Does your set-up allow QSK?

I don't have an internet connection faster than dial-up and doubt I could get
anything better at a remote site.

The latency may be an incorrect assumption on my part and I'd appreciate being
corrected.

Thanks again,

73 de NA8M
John

> John:
>
> Check out http://www.trx-manager.com for rig control and
> http://www.skype.com for audio.
>
> Both work great. TRX Manager can be controlled over tcp-ip and skype
> does an excellent job with audio. You really need a high speed
> connection for it to work well.
>
> I'm currently running a TS-480 via remote and its almost plug and play.
> TRX will handle rotor control, cw and will give you full software
> control of the K2.
>
> You will need a computer at both ends as Skype uses the sound card to
> get audio back and forth.
>
> One of these days when I build a K2 I will remote it also.
>
> Also check out N8LP's web site at http://www.telepostinc.com/n8lp.html
> he has quite a few good ideas with diagrams along with some downloadable
> software.
>
> I don't have any connection with the above links, I'm just a happy user.
> I've been running remote since the late 90's and this is the best system
> by far.
>
> 73,
>
> Rich - N5ZC

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N8LP

Re: Remote K2

John, the only way to do what you want and have the control software at
home is to use a serial device server. There is info on this on my
website as Richard mentioned.

Serial device servers can either be hardware devices or software run on
a remote computer. I use the hardware approach. I got the best results
with an ISDN modem, but I have tested dialup as well. Lantronix makes a
line of devices that work well. I have several models which control from
one to 8 devices. The remote site needs a modem with ethernet
connection, like the 3COM OfficeConnect LanModem that I used. The rig
plugs into the lantronix using a serial cable... the Lantronix plugs
into the 3COM using an ethernet lan cable.

The serial server translates the serail port data on the rig into tcp
port data which can be accessed remotely. At home, a program called a
com port redirector sets up a virtual com port which any program can
access as though it were a real com port. Lantronix offers a free
redirector program.

I haven't tried N4PY's software with this, but it works fine with
TRX-Manager.

The only way QSK is going to work is if you key an audio oscillator at
home and send the audio to the remote site to key the rig. I did this
with ISDN for cw, phone and PSK with good results. A standard pots phone
line can't be used for cw... but you could probably condition it at the
remote site to clean it up with filtering... or make a tone actuated
fast relay circuit with a simple detector or better still a PLL... even
then, you will get some latency since a phone line has up to 50ms or so
of latency due to a number of factors depending on the distance.

73,
Larry N8LP

John Huffman wrote:

> Richard -
>
> Thanks for the info. I'd like to avoid tcp/ip if I could because of
> what I assume is the latency involved. I want to operate a remote
> radio and yet still want to have QSK CW. Does your set-up allow QSK?
>
> I don't have an internet connection faster than dial-up and doubt I
> could get anything better at a remote site.
>
> The latency may be an incorrect assumption on my part and I'd
> appreciate being corrected.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> 73 de NA8M
> John
>
>

Jack Brindle

Re: Remote K2

In reply to this post by John Huffman

The only way to avoid TCP/IP would be to set up a dedicated twisted
pair between your place and the remote location. This is a very
expensive solution, and I'd bet you really don't want to spring for it.
The reason that you really need to use TCP/IP is that it is the only
protocol suite that is commonly passed among the internet. Pretty much
all other protocols are blocked.

The only alternative realistically would be to set up at least one
phone line at the radio site to carry the control and data information
to and from the radio. The device would have to answer the phone,
connect to the radio and start controlling things. There would need to
be a separate path for the voice or CW data so that rig controls data
would not interfere with it - thus you would really need two lines. Of
course, this could also be a phone line which carries DSL. One function
of the box would be to make sure that only you can operate the rig, and
that the rig does NOT transmit when you are not controlling it live.

Somehow I suspect that the other TCP/IP networked solutions might
actually provide what you need. There are some pretty cool ones as you
are now learning...

On Oct 11, 2004, at 5:56 AM, John Huffman wrote:

- Jack Brindle, WA4FIB
------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------

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Jack Brindle

Re: Remote K2

In reply to this post by N8LP

Larry;

Even this uses TCP/IP, something John thinks he should do without.

On Oct 11, 2004, at 6:54 AM, Larry Phipps wrote:

> John, the only way to do what you want and have the control software
> at home is to use a serial device server. There is info on this on my
> website as Richard mentioned.
>
> Serial device servers can either be hardware devices or software run
> on a remote computer. I use the hardware approach. I got the best
> results with an ISDN modem, but I have tested dialup as well.
> Lantronix makes a line of devices that work well. I have several
> models which control from one to 8 devices. The remote site needs a
> modem with ethernet connection, like the 3COM OfficeConnect LanModem
> that I used. The rig plugs into the lantronix using a serial cable...
> the Lantronix plugs into the 3COM using an ethernet lan cable.
>
> The serial server translates the serail port data on the rig into tcp
> port data which can be accessed remotely. At home, a program called a
> com port redirector sets up a virtual com port which any program can
> access as though it were a real com port. Lantronix offers a free
> redirector program.
>
> I haven't tried N4PY's software with this, but it works fine with
> TRX-Manager.
>
> The only way QSK is going to work is if you key an audio oscillator at
> home and send the audio to the remote site to key the rig. I did this
> with ISDN for cw, phone and PSK with good results. A standard pots
> phone line can't be used for cw... but you could probably condition it
> at the remote site to clean it up with filtering... or make a tone
> actuated fast relay circuit with a simple detector or better still a
> PLL... even then, you will get some latency since a phone line has up
> to 50ms or so of latency due to a number of factors depending on the
> distance.

N8LP

Re: Remote K2

In reply to this post by Jack Brindle

Yes Jack, you're right... obviously some kind of encoding is required. I
guess you could invent you own, maybe using fsk, but tcp/ip is there and
it works. I think he may be saying he wants to avoid an internet
connection. I had excellent results using ISDN... high quality audio,
low latency, two isolated channels, one for data and one for audio...
total security with passwords for connection on both channels, etc. It's
widely available in my area, and not too expensive (cheaper than DSL or
cable at both ends).

Technically you could use a modem without tcp/ip, but then you only have
control of one serial port... whereas the serial servers allow control
of virtually an unlimited number of serial ports.

TRX-Manager also offers an excellent way of running remote control using
a built-in telnet server, but it requires TRX-Manager to be running on
computers at both ends which complicates things a lot. It has a number
of nice features though.

Larry N8LP

Jack Brindle wrote:

> The only way to avoid TCP/IP would be to set up a dedicated twisted
> pair between your place and the remote location. This is a very
> expensive solution, and I'd bet you really don't want to spring for
> it. The reason that you really need to use TCP/IP is that it is the
> only protocol suite that is commonly passed among the internet.
> Pretty much all other protocols are blocked.
>
> The only alternative realistically would be to set up at least one
> phone line at the radio site to carry the control and data
> information to and from the radio. The device would have to answer
> the phone, connect to the radio and start controlling things. There
> would need to be a separate path for the voice or CW data so that rig
> controls data would not interfere with it - thus you would really
> need two lines. Of course, this could also be a phone line which
> carries DSL. One function of the box would be to make sure that only
> you can operate the rig, and that the rig does NOT transmit when you
> are not controlling it live.
>
> Somehow I suspect that the other TCP/IP networked solutions might
> actually provide what you need. There are some pretty cool ones as
> you are now learning...
>
> On Oct 11, 2004, at 5:56 AM, John Huffman wrote:
>
>

Richard Thorne-2

Re: Remote K2

In reply to this post by John Huffman

Hi John:

I understand your concerncs.

I don't think qsk is going to be possible with any method due to the
latency.

I used to run a Kachina via the phone lines and there was a bit of
latency. I also an ISDN line for the Kachina and there still was some
latency.

I'm using cable modems at both locations with the same ISP. I ping my
system occaisionally and for the most part I get an average return time
of 15 to 25 milliseconds. Even at that speed QSK would not be
practical.

Rich - N5ZC

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Huffman" <[hidden email]>
To: "Richard Thorne" <[hidden email]>; "Elecraft"
<[hidden email]>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2004 7:56 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Remote K2

> Richard -
>
> Thanks for the info. I'd like to avoid tcp/ip if I could because of
what I
> assume is the latency involved. I want to operate a remote radio and
yet still
> want to have QSK CW. Does your set-up allow QSK?
>
> I don't have an internet connection faster than dial-up and doubt I
could get
> anything better at a remote site.
>
> The latency may be an incorrect assumption on my part and I'd
appreciate being

> corrected.
>
> Thanks again,
>
> 73 de NA8M
> John
>
> > John:
> >
> > Check out http://www.trx-manager.com for rig control and
> > http://www.skype.com for audio.
> >
> > Both work great. TRX Manager can be controlled over tcp-ip and

skype
> > does an excellent job with audio. You really need a high speed
> > connection for it to work well.
> >
> > I'm currently running a TS-480 via remote and its almost plug and
play.
> > TRX will handle rotor control, cw and will give you full software
> > control of the K2.
> >
> > You will need a computer at both ends as Skype uses the sound card
to
> > get audio back and forth.
> >
> > One of these days when I build a K2 I will remote it also.
> >
> > Also check out N8LP's web site at
http://www.telepostinc.com/n8lp.html
> > he has quite a few good ideas with diagrams along with some
downloadable
> > software.
> >
> > I don't have any connection with the above links, I'm just a happy
user.
> > I've been running remote since the late 90's and this is the best
system
> > by far.
> >
> > 73,
> >
> > Rich - N5ZC
>

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You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
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