Remote

[Toonces Cat]

Hello Group,

  I heard someone mention that the HL2 can be run remotely?

 If so, can it be run over the internet and can you see the spectrum/ waterfall and what is the software/ setup?

Thankyou.

73's

Mike WA3O

[Pez]

Hi Mike,

Sort of! Here is the summary as I have found:

• You can use SparkSDR over the internet with basic UDP port forwarding. (You must be mindful of the bandwidth - keep the sample rate low-sih and see how you go, however I found 192k worked well over my very average internet connection.)
• You can use SDR++Brown for remote RX (not TX) across the internet (using their SDR++ Server) -  this is really great - I use it on my Android phone and Windows PC's. 
• You can use QUISK remotely, but it is a old school interface (not my favorite).
• SDRConsole will not support the HL2 remote, despite having a remote option for other radios. 
• The other thing you can do is a remote desktop session to a local PC running the software of your choice - this is not a "proper" or native remote solution that we really want, but it might get you going (I use Splashtop Business remote desktop with Thetis (which IMO is the best software for the HL2) and get "good" results remotely).
• Some people have been able to setup a VPN to allow the HL2 to work over the internet with software such as Thetis, but this is very complex (UDP packet discovery over VPN) and only works for some people, to some degree. There is a thread covering most of this, and it's a bit of a nightmare to be honest! I am hopeful that Thetis will one day include the directed UDP option, just like SparkSDR has. Then we could do some native remoting in Thetis over the internet. If any devs are reading this - can you please add the ability to direct the UDP Discovery packet to a known IP? In SparkSDR, this works well with basic port forwarding of UDP port 1024. If we can have this option in Thetis the community would be very grateful! :) 

I have played with all of the options above. There may be some more, so hopefully others can chime in with their thoughts and experiences. 

73 and good luck.

[Karl Heinz Kremer]

Here is a quick overview of my current setup: 

The key is to be able to access your network that the HL2 is connected to from outside. The router I am using supports OpenVPN, so that I can log in from my iPhone, iPad or laptop from anywhere I have an internet connection. If your router does not offer this feature, it gets a bit more complicated. You can use a service like NoMachine or JumpDesktop to access your computer directly, without the need for VPN. 

Right now, the computer connected to the HL2 is a Windows machine (but I’ve used macOS and Linux in the past) running SparkSDR. I use virtual audio cables to connect the SparkSDR audio input and output to Mumble, which I also run on my remote device (e.g. my iPhone). 

I then use a Remote Desktop connection to the computer (thus could also be VNC if the necessary software is installed) to control SparkSDR. I can also use WSJTX and connect to the same virtual audio cables and do some FT8 remotely. 

I set up some CW macros in SparkSDR so that I can chase POTA parks remotely. This was the key to being able to chase at least one POTA park every day of 2022: http://www.khk.net/wordpress/2023/02/17/the-bailey-sprott-challenge/

Let me know if you have any questions. 

Karl Heinz - K5KHK 

On Jul 15, 2023, at 6:05 AM, Toonces Cat <toonces...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Group,

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Hermes-Lite" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hermes-lite...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hermes-lite/89745444-5b6a-452b-8dd9-0ea488e480d0n%40googlegroups.com.

[G4ZAL]

I've tried a couple different 'remote' solutions and the biggest hurdle is the bandwidth requirements and latency - these network operated radios are somewhat bandwidth hungry.

If you haven't tried Quisk, then it's well worth a shot.

Quisk may not have the 'sex appeal' of Thetis/PowerSDR etc, but for remote operation it has a 'lite touch' as it doesn't need much bandwidth - typically ~55Kb/s.

I made a short 'how-to' here

https://g4zal.blogspot.com/2023/01/quisk-remote-operation.html

Personally, I'm only interested in remote SSB and for me, Quisk works absolutely fine.  Using a laptop plus a bluetooth headset and VOX with the laptop tethered to my smart phone for internet access, the receiving station has no idea I'm operating remotely.

Quisk isn't confined to HL2 either and I have tested it remotely with an RS-HFIQ and a Flex1000 clone, in fact it should work remotely with any of the Quisk supported radio types.

I would love to see a remote version of piHPSDR in a similar vein to Quisk remote ;-)

Nigel
G4ZAL

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

I've tried remotely connecting to my HL2 three difference ways: (1) direct UDP, (2) via VNC or RDP to a desktop SDR app running on a co-located Raspberry Pi, and (3) via my UDP-to-TCP transcoder running on the Raspberry Pi.  (1) requires a fast, low latency, low jitter network, but provides low latency operation. (2) is slow and has a ton of operation latency, but allows using standard SDR software (WSJT-X and etc.).  (3) is my experimental effort, using modifications to my SDR app to receive 8-bit IQ data using the RTL-SDR rtl_tcp protocol, and transmit CW by sending key closure timing messages.  But (2) and (3) will work over moderately bad and high latency connections (WAN plus WiFi).  73, Ron, n6ywu

[Steve Haynal]

Hi,

I run two stations remotely. One in my house and one at my sister's house across town. I only do digital modes so don't worry about audio. I use the VNC method to see a remote desktop. All my remote servers run Linux. All software, including waterfalls, graphs, etc., work without issue. I typically use Quisk with WSJTX for QSOs or SparkSDR to skim 10 bands when not transmitting. I have an Amazon virtual machine and my servers are setup to send the current IP to that system. This allows me to access my radio remotely from anywhere I want to as the required VNC ports are open on my home router to those systems.  Attached is a picture of my home setup, under the eaves of my roof. This setup runs an Odroid-N2 which connects via wifi to my home network. I use a AH-4 tuner for a stealth long wire that goes up into a large tree, and the gutters as the counterpoise. I can also run an ethernet cable to this install if I want to use a desktop in my office directly. This setup is also entirely on solar, which also charges a battery to keep the HL2 and computer up 24/7.

Once I used a HL2 in Ukraine via openvpn. That worked well too, and allowed the software to run on my local machine, which enables audio. See these posts:

https://groups.google.com/g/hermes-lite/c/iWQw-ZdM3n4/m/Oue-91PoAAAJ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Network_Computing

73,

Steve

kf7o

[Mike Lewis]

You can also run one, or several HL2s (along with other SDRs) in Rx mode using OpenWebRx.  I use a CaribouLite along with RTL dongle, HL2 on HF with built in digital modes, another HL2 driving a transverter.  Works FB 5,000miles away, UI is a bit challenging on a smartphone form factor.

Mike

K7MDL

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
Get Outlook for Android

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Pez <perrin...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2023 3:40:56 AM
To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: Remote

 

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Hermes-Lite" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hermes-lite...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hermes-lite/cfb21f2a-74d1-49c9-9ab0-98cc2e755116n%40googlegroups.com.

[Jiri Culak]

Hi

sorry been / I am still on vacations. 

I run 99% remote and I do like the feel of "sitting like next to my station".

I currently run IC7300/wfview together with HermesLite2 connected to 6:2 antenna switch).

One thing to note - when running remote, always have a one relay in power cycle mode so you can power off and on HL2 together with necessary network equipment when running DHCP.

So, I have a FTTH connection with VDSL to choose and WiFi 5GHz backup - I found that running the WiFi , I can run 48kHz bandwith just fine. (Set up the TX Hold, latency/buffers so no TX/RX relay chatter is observed). As for setup, I use two methods. I have public IPs and DNS resocrds and poer 1024 UDP forwardedon the WAN-NAT as well as I use WireGuard VPN (simple Layer 3 IPSec type). I tried running L2TP / PseudoWire which works, and IS REQUIRED to run anything PowerSDR based as this software solely depends on Broadcasts for discovery...god knows why. Quisk works, SparkSDR works, even SDR Console works(SDR Console need first disovery and saving the profile, then you can modify entry and put public IP).

As for performance - please be adviced to setup TOT etc. in case you got into situation where you start TX and you go offline, if you intend to run VNC Based setup like most. When running port FWD, once you go offline, HL2 just disconnects the session.

I also found out that when using SSB / Voice modes Spark/SDR Console are sounding way different. SDR Console gives you TX Bandiwth option with compressor, equalizer, symetric waveform etc.while SparkSDR seems to have much more "punch" to it....your choice. Quisk is very simple interface and requires single channel Audio input and for me worked only with internal soundcard (doesnt like stereo microphones etc.). Once setup you can run Quisk Remote, which works very well over slow connections actually! When someone messed up my remote connection and  i was left with barely a megabit, Quisk and Remote Controller was the only setup which worked.  

I hope this helps.

73 Jiri OK2IT

Dne neděle 16. července 2023 v 7:17:21 UTC+2 uživatel K7MDL napsal:

[Pez]

Hi Jiri, 

In all my testing, my results mirror yours almost exactly. That PowerSDR (Thetis) UDP broadcast discovery is such a pain... "god knows why" indeed!  I can't easily do "Pseudowire" with my Fortinet equipment, so it's not an option here (and I don't want to be tied to network hardware to make it work anyway). 

That is GREAT information about running SDR Console remotely, I will give that configuration a try on my remote... FYI, I also run ethernet DC Relay switches to enable separate power cycling of my HL2, network equipment and even the amplifier. It's very handy indeed :) 

Thanks for the info. 

73

[Pez]

@Jiri - I now have my HL2 connected over the internet to SDR Console running on my remote laptop, using my mobile phone (4G cellular connection) as a wifi hotspot. Thank you again for the information sir - this is fantastic :) 

FYI, I forwarded UDP port 1024 for this to work. 

73

[Reid Campbell]

I had a look at the Thetis source and if the static IP address has been specified, it will try a discovery once with that address. If it gets no response, it will try with a broadcast address.

Sounds like it a matter of timing and maybe more retries need to be attempted with the static IP address.

Cheers 

Reid
Gi8TME/Mi0BOT

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/hermes-lite/272aefc6-03c3-408f-a2c1-c5ac778f50fdn%40googlegroups.com.

[Pez]

Hello Reid,

Thank you for having a look at this. Just as you said, my assumption is that timing and more retries could be the answer. I guess Thetis moves on to broadcast too fast, before it can get a reply over the internet. I was very surprised to find that it doesn't work, because the UI has everything needed in place already (static IP selection, etc). 

73