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By Stan Schretter, W4MQ, Brad Wyatt, K6WR, and Keith Lamonica, W7DXX

What is a Ham Radio Public Util-ity HF Station, and why shouldyou be interested? Developingand operating this type of ham station isfun and provides a uniquely educationalexperience of combining Amateur Radio,computers and the Internet to achievesome very worthwhile objectives.

What is a Ham RadioPublic Utility HF station?

A Ham Radio Public Utility HF stationis an Internet Remote Base (IRB) HF sta-tion available for use by almost any li-censed ham worldwide. For simplicity, wewill use the term “Internet Remote Base”to describe the concept and the implemen-

A Ham Radio PublicUtility HF StationMerging Internet technology with Amateur Radio holds great promise.This article discusses the authors’ experiences in putting severalInternet Remote Base stations on the air.

tation of the actual station. The IRB is easyto install and operate and does not requireexpensive equipment or advanced com-puter skills. The IRB concept has been inuse continuously, for over two years, atW7DXX, W4MQ and KA3ODJ. Literallyscores of hams worldwide have made hun-dreds of DX and local contacts using thesethree stations. Each of these hams hasmade these contacts without the use of ra-dios, antennas or towers––at their own lo-cations. They controlled the radios,amplifiers and antennas at the IRB loca-tions noted by operating their computerwhile connected to the Internet. A coupleof examples from K6WR will give you theidea in actual QSO terms. K6WR has no

radios or antennas at his condominium, butby using these three stations he has workedmany DX stations worldwide. These in-clude VP6DI (the recent Ducie IslandDXpedition on 15 meter SSB), many SSBand CW US stations and DX stations onall bands. Also included were scores ofEuropean stations on 75 meters (quite afeat from the western United States).

Why should you be Interested?• You’ll have fun and enjoy a unique

and instructive personal educational ex-perience.

• Your operation will provide a facil-ity for those less fortunate hams world-wide who do not have radios, antennas

Figure 1—Block diagram of the W4MQ Internet remote base.

40 November 2002

or towers for HF operation. This mightbe one solution to the current and grow-ing restrictive covenant situation thatsome hams face.

• You will be able to expand the re-sources available to those blind or dis-abled amateurs who would otherwise notbe able to operate.

• You will be able to provide a facil-ity for both young and new hams to op-erate on HF. This is one of the key goalsof the ARRL Education and TechnologyProgram recently described in QST andon the ARRLWeb. The curriculum mate-rial for this program, as currently devel-oped, includes references to the use of“IRB” in the first two chapters, currentlyentitled Unit 1, Introduction to WirelessCommunications and Unit 2, Methods ofCommunications.

Before we get into a step-by-step ap-proach of how to develop, install andoperate an “Internet Remote Base,” pleaserefer to an earlier article in QST1 for fur-ther details about the IRB concept andoperation from the remote user’s point ofview. This article is available in reprintedform from the ARRL and on the 2001ARRL Periodicals on CD-ROM. It is alsoavailable on-line at www.lamonica.comand www.w4mq.com.

A word about the skill levels you willneed to be successful in this exciting ad-venture. This article is designed to en-able and encourage the amateur who iscomputer and Internet aware and alreadyhas an operating HF station to developan IRB station.

In the over two years of continuousoperation of these stations, W4MQ andK6WR have noticed that hams have usedIRB stations for many different reasons,including: operating in spite of the inabil-ity to erect suitable antennas (due to re-strictive covenants), rejoining a local 40meter net after moving away, upgradingskills before purchasing new equipmentand getting “on-air” temporarily after amove. For example, K6WR continued op-erating during a trip across country to adistant location for medical treatment. Asa volunteer operator at the SmithsonianInstitution Museum station in Washing-ton, DC (NN3SI), W4MQ often demon-strates his IRB station using a smalllaptop via a dial-up Internet connection.It was interesting to note that while theolder hams were curious (they still pre-fer to turn those knobs), younger hamswere often very enthusiastic about oper-ating a radio station via the Internet.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of theW4MQ station. W7DXX is similar, butnot identical. This article does not dis-

cuss the basic computer or Internet issuesin detail. These issues are well docu-mented in available computer literature.It is assumed that a ham planning to de-velop an IRB station will already havethese skills and that he or she has the re-sources to find the necessary referencesraised by the issues to be described. Byfollowing these guidelines, a ham with afully functional HF station and basiccomputer skills should be successful inputting such a station on the air withminimum expense and effort.

Remote User IdentityEach potential remote end-user must

register and receive an assigned uniqueidentifier and password along with oper-ating privileges based upon his licenseclass and country. For hams not licensedin the US, operating privileges depend onthe reciprocal agreement between theircountry and the US. The details of thesereciprocal agreements and the privilegesprovided can be found on the FCC WebPage devoted to Amateur Radio,www.fcc.gov.

Registered ham remote users are con-sidered to be “control operators” underFCC Part 97 Rules, since they have fullcapabilities to set all parameters of thestation including frequency, mode and RFpower, as well as the ability to transmit.The Internet acts, essentially, as a “longmicrophone cord” (or keying line forCW) between the remote user control op-erator and the IRB.

Computer EquipmentAny 300 MHz or faster IBM compat-

ible system with a sound card, compat-ible microphone and headset, with at leasta 5 GB hard disk and Windows 95 or latershould suffice. Higher speed and greatercapacity gear will help, but the equipmentoutlined will get the job done nicely.

Internet ConnectionIdeally, the Internet connection should

be a full time, broadband (DSL, Cable orISDN) connection with a fixed InternetProtocol (IP) address (a commonly avail-able feature with these services). Thisfixed IP address, which is obtained fromyour local Internet Service Provider (ISP),is necessary so that the remote user canfind the IRB on the Internet. In reality, allInternet connective services above 28.8kbit/s will support the IRB. If the IP ad-dress is not fixed (in dial-up or most newDSL installations), then you should vir-tually map the address to a fixed Univer-sal Remote Locator address (URL) on theInternet using one of the available servicessuch as DNS2Go (www.dns2go.com).Then, the virtual URL, for example,

w4mqremotebase.dns2go.com, would beentered into the IRB setup instead of thedirect IP address.

The RadioAny radio that is controllable from a

computer is acceptable for the IRB ap-plication. Many hams already use com-puters to support contesting, logging, andsatellite operations. Most radios producedafter 1990 support computer control.While the newer radios usually have aDB-9 plug (RS-232 interface) directly onthe equipment, earlier radios may requirespecial adapters to convert their digitalsignal (usually TTL levels) to RS-232.Various circuits are available on theInternet, QST, in The Radio Amateur’sHandbook and from several QST adver-tisers.

The digital command structure foramateur transceivers should be docu-mented in the radio’s manual. It is usu-ally ASCII character-based and can easilybe verified using any standard ASCII ter-minal program such as HyperTerm, whichis included with Windows. Unfortunately,the command structure is different amongradio manufacturers and may even be dif-ferent between radios within onemanufacturer’s line. The current W4MQIRB software is written to support theKenwood TS-2000 radio but is easilyadaptable, with software modification, toearlier Kenwood radios and to othermanufacturer’s products.

The TS-2000 provides a very richcommand set, since it was designed forfull control via computer, so it is quiteeasy to program and control. Most high-end modern transceivers provide a simi-lar command set.

The authors are currently working onthe interface for other radios, includingthe Kachina 505DSP.

Auxiliary EquipmentIn addition to the radio, many hams

use multiple antennas with a switchingarrangement, power amplifiers, and ro-tatable antennas. Each of these presentsa unique challenge for remote control.Presently there is no standard interfacefor these elements, like the RS-232 pro-tocol. The two stations currently using theW4MQ Internet RemoteBase softwarehave totally different ways of dealingwith these auxiliary control issues, andstation specific software was written tohandle them.

Antenna Switching ControlsThere are several computer control-

lable boxes available for antenna control.The Internet RemoteBase software iscapable of switching up to five antennas1Notes appear on page 42.

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based on a configurable set of rules andcontrollable from the remote interface. AtW4MQ, an MFJ RCS-8 Remote Switchis controlled via a separate relay card in-terfaced to the computer through a USBport. At W7DXX, a similar MFJ RCS-8Remote Switch is controlled with aKachina 505AR controller connectedthrough an RS232 serial port.

Rotator ControlThere are several options for control-

ling rotators directly from the computer.Many of today’s better rotators come withan external control interface. At W7DXX,the Kachina 505AR controller is used. AtW4MQ, the Antenna Rotator System(ARS) developed by EA4TX is connectedvia the computer’s parallel port to con-trol a Yaesu 5400 az-el rotator.

Amplifier ControlCurrently, there are few amplifiers that

are directly controllable from a computer.At both W4MQ and W7DXX amplifiercontrol is performed through relay con-trol logic built into the TS-2000. The ra-dio is commanded via the software toenable and disable the amplifier push-to-talk (PTT), depending on both amplifieravailability and the privileges of the op-erator. This function is configurable viasetup tables. At W4MQ, the amplifier acpower is also controllable from the com-puter to allow the amplifier ac power tobe shut off when it is not in use. A settablesoftware timer is used to prevent ac powercycling caused by inadvertent Internet linkdisconnects.

Server SoftwareThe basic operation of the IRB is sup-

ported entirely by installation of theW4MQ Internet Remote Base software(downloadable from www.w4mq.com)and Microsoft NetMeeting software(www.microsoft.com), which is used fortransmit and receive audio to and fromthe remote user.

Remote Base SetupThe IRB server software provides the

following capabilities:• Remote and Local Control of the

radio with SSB, AM, FM, PSK and CWmodes (CW via keyboard), from 160meters though 70 cm.

• Verification of audio via loopbackand transmission monitoring.

• Validating each user logon via aunique call sign and password.

• Controlling access (transmit fre-quency, mode, power) for up to 6 differ-ent license/user classes.

• Controlling amplifier access, in-cluding the limiting of frequency rangeand drive levels.

• Providing status to all users tryingto access (busy, available, not connected).

• Logging each operation for systemverification and traceback.

The IRB is configured via a set ofsetup screens, as illustrated in Figure 3.A default set of parameters is provided,but the host station owner is required toset up the call sign and IP address (orURL) of the station, as well as radio,amplifier and antenna parameters. A de-fault set of user constraints (frequency

limits, allowable modes), based on theFCC license classes, is provided. Theseparameters should be changed to reflectthe allowed operations for the stationenvironment.

Microsoft NetMeeting SetupNetMeeting is a free application used

to provide two way audio over theInternet connection between the remoteuser and the IRB. Through experimenta-tion, we have determined that NetMeetingaudio levels need to be set up carefullyto minimize audio feedback and distor-tion at the remote and to provide opti-mum results over low rate dial up linksin a congested Internet environment. Thissetup could the subject of an entirearticle; however, key information canbe found in both the Help File and theadditional NetMeeting notes at www.w4mq.com. Note that NetMeeting willnot function properly when it is installedbehind most hardware routers. Softwarefirewalls and the use of the MicrosoftInternet Connection Server (ICS) mayalso cause NetMeeting problems. Manyof these issues and appropriate solutionsare discussed on the Internet at www.meetingbywire.com.

Enhanced FeaturesIn addition to the basic Internet Re-

mote Base operation described above,several enhanced features are available:

• Remote control of the radio via anInternet Explorer or Netscape browser.

• A window updated by theRemoteBase control operator that can pro-

Figure 2—Operation displays used to set up, monitor and controlthe remote base server.

Figure 3—One of several menus (external amplifier setup)used to setup the remote base configuration.

42 November 2002

vide equipment and operational status orannouncements of new features to all us-ers when they log into the system.

• Semi-automatic support of user reg-istration via a browser interface.

• Individual electronic logbooks foreach user; allowing a single log, regard-less of the end-user’s location.

These additional services can be acti-vated by installation of the freeware WebServer by Xitami (www.xitami.com). Anexample of how to implement user regis-tration via the Internet can be seen at theW4MQ Web site. W4MQ has developedadditional software to process these userregistration requests, including the check-ing of call signs through various licensedatabases and the automatic generationof response e-mails.

RFIWhile RF energy getting into your

equipment is problematic with a normalstation, it can be catastrophic with an IRBstation. Both W4MQ and W7DXX ini-tially experienced many difficulties withRFI. Computer or DSL modem freezesmay not only cause operation to cease,but may prevent its resumption; thus re-quiring control operator intervention toreset the equipment. For unattended op-eration, the recommendation is to installa separate device to reset the equipment(telephone controlled). The station mustbe RFI free prior to making it remote ca-pable. All audio lines from the computerto the radio should be shielded. Highquality filters (see www.elect-spec.com/phone_w.htm#TURBO) should beplaced on the phone line for the DSLmodem. The computer case should beproperly closed and properly grounded.

Remote End-User SoftwareAlthough the initial W4MQ user inter-

face was described in the earlier article,2

available also online at www.lamonica.com and www.w4mq.com, much haschanged since then. Both the down-loadable application and the Web browserinterfaces have been improved, mostlybased upon user feedback. The Webbrowser interface (illustrated in Figure 4)provides a fully interactive radio controlenvironment without any download to yourcomputer. However, it supports only voiceoperations and has limited tuning and S-meter update rates as compared to thestandalone version. The separate standaloneuser interface is similar to the Server Moni-tor illustrated in Figure 2 and provides fulland rapid remote control features.

ConclusionIn addition to the W4MQ and W7DXX

IRBs, another IRB is operated byKA3ODJ. This station is similar to thosediscussed, but uses a Ten-Tec Pegasustransceiver and custom software createdby N2JEU and N4PY. It is controlled viaa simple browser interface and supportsVOX-controlled SSB operation only.

There are at least two “reflectors” onthe Internet addressing issues dealing withthe IRB concept. One of those reflectorsis RemoteBase@yahoo.com. Those inter-ested are invited to join in with sugges-tions, questions and comments. Anotherreflector is TRX-Manager@yahoo.com,which deals specifically with the use of aprogram called TRX-Manager by F6DEX,in primarily a single user environment.

Internet Remote Base operations maynot be for everyone, but for many hams,it will provide a unique way to enjoy the

hobby. It could also provide an easy en-try point for new hams wishing to exploreamateur radio without investing in radioequipment and antennas. Additionally, itsupports one of the goals of the ARRLEducation and Technology Program, therecruitment of new, young amateurs intothe Amateur Service.

Notes1B. Wyatt, K6WR, “Remote-Controlled HF

Operation over the Internet,” QST, Nov2001, pp 47-48.

2See Note 1.

Figure 4—End-user browser interface. (Note separate standalone client applicationinterface is similar to monitor shown in Figure 2.)

Stan Schretter, W4MQ, lives in Reston,Virginia and has been active in amateur ra-dio since first licensed in 1957. He is a com-munications and computing systemconsultant and is a regular volunteer opera-tor at NN3SI, the Smithsonian Institution inWashington DC. Stan may be contacted atschrette@verizon.net.

Keith Lamonica, W7DXX, has been aham for almost 50 years. He prefers tink-ering more than operating, but he does geton 75 meters occasionally. When not play-ing with new technology, Keith is a collegeprofessor teaching mass media courses. Healso practices law and is involved withbroadcast communication engineering.Keith says that his next project is putting aremote base in either geosynchronous or-bit or on the moon. Keith can be contactedat keith@lamonica.com.

Brad Wyatt, K6WR (ex-W6VUW), lives inLos Gatos, California and was the ARRLPacific Division Director from 1994-2000.He is a graduate of Stanford University withBA and MBA degrees. Brad can be con-tacted at wyatt@attglobal.net.

Brad was a student at Stanford Univer-sity in the late 1940s and early ’50s duringthe start of the SSB era in Amateur Radio.The Stanford University Radio Club stationthen consisted of a 1 kW AM and a1 kW SSB rig (both described in QST of theday) that could be operated on the same fre-quency into a 20 meter rhombic antenna, 80feet high. One of his roles was to tell thestory of SSB on the air using the followingapproach: He would call CQ on SSB in themiddle of the 20 meter phone band with atremendous signal. Eventually someone’scarrier would help demodulate the SSB sig-nal and a ham at the other end would comeback, saying: “You are really loud, but some-thing is terribly wrong with your signal”.Having “hooked” the ham at the other end,he would switch on the AM rig and explain,in the terms of the day, how to listen to SSB…“Turn on your receiver’s BFO, turn downyour RF gain and tune your BFO until thesignal sounds OK”… there were no productdetectors in those days! Once this cycle wasstarted, the pileup could go on for severalhours. Brad feels that this current adventurewith remote controlled Internet stations is a“replay,” in a sense, of those early SSB daysat Stanford.