Remoting the TS-480S

[W3WN]

Thanks to the generous time of NB3C (was KQ3DX) a couple of weekends ago, I've got my TS-480S set up, succesfully for the moment, for remote access & control.

Right now, it's just "within the shack" (let alone within the home LAN), as I've got some issues getting my FiOS router's firewall to pass the right ports through. (I may just give in and put the control PC in the DMZ, as there's nothing critical per se on the machine, but I really hate to do that on general principles. Kinda like leaving the car in the driveway with the keys in the ignition... you can get away with it in most neighborhoods, but why would you if you didn't have to?) But I'll get that figured out.

I can control the rig via either HamRadio Deluxe or via Kenwood's own proprietary software. So far, so good. But...

What I'm curious about is, for those others who have remoted their rigs in the recent past, was how they transferred the radio's audio stream (speaker & mike) from point "A" to point "B" if the controlling software didn't already cover that? Rube Goldberg might be proud of the way this is configured right now, but I feel there has to be a better way.

At the moment, the radio's auxilliary speaker out is plugged directly into the computer's sound card. (I have the sound card-to-mike cable on order, should be here any day). But neither HRD or Kenwood's software moves that from the host PC to the remote.

So, the kludge is this: Access the host PC via a remote connection (pcAnywhere until I have a chance to configure Windows Remote Desktop). Dial the remote PC from the host PC via Skype. Drop the remote connection but leave Skype running. (This presumes we already have the control program working from remote to host, of course)

Surely there has to be a better way!

Thoughts?

73, ron w3wn

[W9PDS]

What I'm curious about is, for those others who have remoted their rigs in the recent past, was how they transferred the radio's audio stream (speaker & mike) from point "A" to point "B" if the controlling software didn't already cover that?

Operate digital modes :)


Seriously, I remote pretty much exclusively, and quite often from my office, but I stick with waterfall/keyboard modes.

I think the next piece you would need if you want to do ssb voice would be the ip-sound project. I've used it before for one-way audio but have never tried it bi-directionally yet.

It's main advantage is low latency, because any delay or buffering in the audio stream will obviously not be good for either rx or tx.

This thread might be a good start for info:

http://forums.ham-radio.ch/showthread.php?t=2789

[N9FE]

N9JMX bob does the remote thing. He uses skype audio. The rest i do not know. But i do know he can run his complete station from anywhere.

[kd6nig]

I've heard of guys doing "shoutcast" for the out part. The in part would be a bit different though.

[W9PDS]

I have a shoutcast/Icecast feed off of my PCR-1000.

It's OK for listening, but not good for tuning or transmitting, I can't get much less than a 5-10 second buffer out of it.

It's a great protocol for streaming, but not so good for realtime stuff.

[W3WN]

Operate digital modes :)

Gee, thanks.

I don't plan on using this capability remotely very often, but it would be nice to have. And my boss and several co-workers have expressed interest in seeing it done, but installing Skype on a work machine (even for the purposes of a demo) is not in the cards.

[kd6nig]

I have a shoutcast/Icecast feed off of my PCR-1000.

It's OK for listening, but not good for tuning or transmitting, I can't get much less than a 5-10 second buffer out of it.

It's a great protocol for streaming, but not so good for realtime stuff.

I would think that unless you're doing it LAN, there will be some delays and drops in audio just about....always, no matter how you do it.

One guy I saw doing it would go a few steps, stop, wait for it to catch up, and so on. He may not have had the best setup.

[W9PDS]

Give IP-Voice a try. It seems to pretty much be the 'standard' that hams are using now.

I do know it's all UDP based, so there are not retries when packets drop. When I last played with it, it certainly was pretty much realtime.. IE, I could 'spin' the virtual tuning knob & be able to hear exactly what was happening.

Most of the streaming protocols (icecast/shoutcast/real/wmv) have buffering so they are going to be tough to get realtime sound.

If your xvr has VOX, that is probably all you really need.

[W3WN]

Almost forgot about this old post...

Almost a year later, well, I spoke too soon.

I could remote access the rig... but not the audio coming & going. That is to say, I got the audio feed from the radio working into the computer (via LINE-IN) but could never get the audio feed the other way (ie remote mike) working.

Greg's solution via Skype worked OK if you had the audio working each way. But without a way to transmit audio back...

On top of that, my boss is very security conscious. No way was/is he going to open all the ports that Skype (or Kenwood's control program for that matter) required. Windows Remote Desktop would do the trick, but I can't get it to feed the LINE-IN audio over the LAN. I can run audio programs (.WAV, .MP3, etc) remotely and hear them well, but LINE-IN? Forget it.

Greg also had us using PC-Anywhere. It worked, but also created it's own problems... and it makes some changes to some of the OS that I really didn't care for. Another product I definitely liked better before Symantec got their hands on it, but never mind that.

Now I know there are people using their 480's remotely. So I know I must be missing the obvious. I just can't figure out exactly what, yet. But what?

And to be honest, after using it for a year... well, the 480 is an OK rig, but it should tell you something that the old reliable -- a 25 year old Ten Tec Corsair II -- runs rings around it in turns of receive sensitivity and transmit audio. If I'd had my druthers, I'd be doing this with an Omni VII; but the shekels aren't there right now, and I can't find anyone willing to do a trade...

[N4VGB]

And to be honest, after using it for a year... well, the 480 is an OK rig, but it should tell you something that the old reliable -- a 25 year old Ten Tec Corsair II -- runs rings around it in turns of receive sensitivity and transmit audio.

Oh yeah, now I remember why I still own that Corsair II, it's a good radio.