Collective SOTA wisdom: is there a VHF rig that you can use and control wireless?
So my antenna socket is in the attic, base-station is connected, and I can monitor 145.500 FM remotely from the bedroom or kitchen, and can talk and control the frequency remotely.
The only solution I had previously was a Yaesu FT-8900 with cross-banding enabled, and talking through with a handheld - but that didn’t allow me to change frequency.
The ic706/7000, possibly 7100 series were able to be remotely controlled. One of the remote rig kits was specifically for the icoms. More recent remote systems might not cater for such old gear!
As you may recall Guru EA2IF used a series 1 706 and a remote rig setup. Your needs are somewhat less demanding, no internet needed.
I remotely control my FT-857D (using RCForb software). I did the same with an IC-706MKIIG. I realize neither of these are still in production
I recall that Icom made some dual band D-star rigs that had CAT control. There was also a Kenwood H/T (maybe TH-72A) that had CAT control.
It would be interesting to DIY something. Raspberry Pi, Webcam to see the display, servo wired to GPIO to turn the VFO, soundcard + VOX to get the audio in/out.
2m is quiet around these parts and I’ve thought about setting up a remote VHF station with SDR control on my phone and the 705. With hamalerts for any 2m activity in GM/ES, I could jump on and try and give them another contact.
I agree Joe - but this is primarily so I start leaving the radio on for VHF contacts locally. I’ve noticed that the number of chasers here in the Lake District with VHF has dropped over the past year or so, and I feel a bit of a hypocrite not having the radio on when I am working, so I can provide one of the possibly vital contacts for folk who are only carrying a handheld.
I’d forgotten about wfview but that gives me exactly what I need without having to spend any money, at least initially. I probably need to invest in another duplexer however.
We’ve just upgraded to full fibre - and the wireless access points that Fibrus supply are super quick compared to the previous ones I’ve used (to be fair I never spent a lot of money). I see 100 MB/sec and more over them, which is effectively GB networking speed. Very impressive.
External connection is equally impressive: 950 MB download and 300 MB upload.
Of course the IC-705 will be limited to whatever specification the internal chipset supports.
It appears connectivity to the radio box is Bluetooth not WiFi , so you would need to position the radio in BT range of your shack (10m unrestricted). Or add Bluetootht repeater such as one of these half way between the radio box and the shack - check it does what you need first - if not this (cheapest) one, that are multimode versions for a few pounds more:
I too would like to be in chaser mode for those hardy activators who are braving this freezing weather. But I’m not going to sit in my unheated outside shack when even our long-haired cats – who sleep most of the year in the garage – are coming inside most of the day and night.
In previous winters I’ve run the coax feeder for my 80-10m OCF dipole and/or the one for my V2000 6/2/0.7m collinear (on the bungalow chimney) into the upstairs attic conversion. But it is and will be occupied by visiting guests for a month or two.
I have a FT857 and a FT817 doing nowt in the shack and have ‘remotely’ controlled both via cables to a PC 1m(!) away. I will investigate the RCForb software option. Does anyone know if the other above solutions can be used with these older rigs?
If you already have a shack PC that can control the radios then just “ssh” yourself in to that PC from another. If it’s Windows of some flavour, then Windows own RDP will move audio aswell as video and keystrokes, mouse clicks etc.