Thought I would weigh in after a mention by Mike VA3MW.
As mentioned Len VA3LM and myself have been building remote access to his
environment (for fun and contesting) and we have a few recommendations or
preferences.
1. We use a Steppir beam, making DDutil an invaluable tool. It inhibits TX
when the antenna is tuning - a must have.
2. The steppir Monstir scraps a big piece of sky. We have a heavy duty
rotor and tower, but to make sure we are not fighting any high winds, we
have a weather station connected by USB to give real time weather conditions
- something we consider a must have.
3. DDutil will control timeout and can set power levels, based on band,
mode and if amplifier is turned. This may sound like an advertisement for
DDutil.
4. Remote sound for ssb, Mike states that I like or prefer Ipsound over
over Skype, actually I use both. I have with Ipsound routed the audio over
the Internet channel and done the encoding / decoding at the far end using
HRD or Digipan. The communication is direct, and not through a centralized
Skype server.
5. I prefer accessing all the tools (read toys) using a Virtual Private
Network. More encryption options, and no multiple holes (port forwarding)
in the firewall for applications - just plain less exposure.
6. I use Remote Desktop Protocol (windows) and it is good, but a person at
the radio end cannot shadow what you are doing in case there is a problem.
7. I prefer Teamviewer, it has a LAN access only mode (dovetails nicely
with the VPN) negating the centralized server that keeps track of all
systems and exposing you to hackers. It has a bandwidth adaptive feature,
but can be also controlled. There are many other great features, including
concurrent session viewing for training of your operators.
8. Mike is right on wireless, just plain bad news. This may stir a debate,
but I am looking for reliability in the communications channel.
9. Mike is right on testing, give it a very good road test, before truly
"going remote"
10. Antenna and rig switching - we are testing and initially recommend an
eightpak from Array Solutions. You can ground the radios to deal with the
lightning that Mike talks about.
11. Backup power - recommend the use of UPS, can be a lifesaver for the PC
and Flex.
12. If it really hits the fan, you need an out of band solution for killing
or resetting the power on your hardware / applications. Someone previously
in the reflector mentioned use of a ethernet / web ac power controller from
Digital Loggers, well so do we.
13. Remote watt - SWR meter is a must have - ours is a LP-100 connected to
DDutil, limits or kills power in high swr situations. It is remotely
controllable.
14. Before you let new people on the system, take them through a few
training sessions.
15. With a remote setup, it is highly likely that you will be running
multiple programs at the same time and you need to be careful of sequencing,
a good batch gui launch utility is recommended - we are having very good
initial success with btrun43. It is also great for sequentially stopping
all your running apps.
16. With multiple apps, you will think to run multiple screens - logical.
Make sure you remote access apps can see both.
17. In case it all hits the fan again, keep all your configurations
documented. With a small amount of remote intervention, I can re-build most
everything remotely.
As Mike states, willing to travel - I am retired.
Keith VA3YC
On 5/9/11 3:39 PM, "Jim Jannuzzo" <jsqu...@msn.com> wrote:
> DDUtil has a TOT and it works well. I know- I set it at three minutes (Who
> talks longer than three minutes, right?) in preparation for remoting. In
> the middle of a long-winded QSO, everything shut down and I had no idea what
> went wrong. After I closed a lot of windows, I found the notice from DDUtil
> about the imposition of a Time Out for my long-winded discourse on something
> or other. ARM (Another Rookie Mistake).
> Jim KJ2P
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Luke Rainville (WebMail)
> A transmission time out timer can prevent potential disaster. Think of what
> might happen if you click the tune mode in CW, the link dies, and your Flex
> is happily buzzing away at 100 watts. Currently Flex does not implement a
> TOT in PSDR but I have seen it on the want list. Currently I monitor my
> power supply current and if it is continuous for more than 90 seconds, the
> DC supply to the Flex is interrupted. This is far from elegant, but neither
> is a smoking radio.
>
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>
> _______________________________________________
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>
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--
Keith Goobie
ke...@goobie.org
Richmond Hill, Ontario
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