AIOC: Ham Radio All-in-One-Cable | Hacker News Reader

AIOC: Ham Radio All-in-One-Cable

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275 pointszdw93 comments

I find the history of all-in-one-cables interesting. I come from ancient video production (late 80s time frame), which means I was still using equipment from even earlier. Back then some of these AIOCs were 1" round with 15-20 pins. It was all analog signals which meant each signal needed its own pin. Some AIOCs were D-style connectors with up to 15-20 pins that were not compatible with things like VGA/DB25/SCSI types of computer cables. Going digital drastically reduced the number of pins for old parallel connections and down to one as the signal became serial. My favorite was SDI which carried the video and audio down a single pin coax cable with a twist lock BNC connector. Consumer grade released DV cables and then HDMI. Both of which are inferior in my opinion specifically for their lack of locking when connected, but their extra pins do allow for interesting things consumer friendly like ARC and ethernet/data stuff.

SDI is definitely still used, and still found on professional monitors. I think locking is not worth it for consumer-grade equipment, where cable reconnexions are rare, but some push-in connectors are better than others. For example, VGA without screws is a bad idea.

Of course SDI is still used: there's nothing better! The only update was to minify it so we now have SDI on smaller gear. Smaller, but still with twist lock. When it comes to professional cameras, I don't want an HDMI cable any where near my setup.

Reminds me of the Technic 1200s. Built in the 70s, nearly perfect on first release, no major updates required. Only small tweaks with no bearing to core functionality. I feel the same way about SDI. Feature complete!

I agree there’s nothing better. What theoretical bandwidth can SDI support? A typical BNC (50 Ω) goes up to around 6 GHz while precision coax connectors (screw-on) can be up 67 GHz+. The ‘low’ performance of BNC is primarily blamed on the twist-lock.

We're up to 12G and 24G now which handles the higher resolution videos like 4k/8k.

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

Also, SDI uses 75ohm cable

SDI can give you excellent quality video over long cable runs, and it's dead simple to cut and terminate your own cable from a spool.

Did that more than once at DevOpsDays conferences here in Austin.

Very sturdy cable, too -- very resistant to damage.

And if you need to convert to/from something else (like HDMI), then BlackMagic has some awesome converter boxes.

>Very sturdy cable, too -- very resistant to damage.

depends on the cable, but yeah, it can be. for permanent installs into post facilities, there is a much smaller cable that still qualifies for the higher bandwidth signals, but much thinner cable. it is lighter, easier to pull, and requires so much less space in the racks. this is convenient when cabling patch panels, routers, etc. it does tend to not hold up as well if you have to bend past 90 degrees though.

>And if you need to convert to/from something else (like HDMI), then BlackMagic has some awesome converter boxes.

you can also go to cat6 which is even cheaper and more readily available for HDMI over long distance.

Oh, this is cool. It's like a DIY Digirig! I really like that it is MIT-licensed (open source design).

You could change the audio plugs to sockets so you can use the device with radios that have the speaker/mic plugs at a different gap (Icom HTs seem to have the plugs at 10mm apart[0] instead of the Kenwood/Baofeng/etc. spacing of 12mm[1].

[0] https://forum.digirig.net/uploads/default/original/1X/7e23c4...

[1] https://i.stack.imgur.com/BMmRJ.jpg

Yeah seems like making these 3.5mm receptacles would be the icing on the cake -- in fact, might even win some converts marketing it as an open source digirig.

Digirig is GNU GPL 3 https://github.com/softcomplex/digirig

I remember this being a decent hobby when I was growing up. I'm curious about getting into it now.

1. Is it still worth getting into? What kind of cool things can you do with it?

2. Are there any good or trustworthy guides recommended?

I'll answer you second question first, ham radio crash course is probably the most popular amateur radio you tuber.

I got licensed about a year ago and I'm still having a blast with it. There is the standard ways of communication via radio, voice and continuous wave (morse code). Most modern radios are able to be connected to a computer to communicate with other radios digitally. Digital modes are generally better for low power.

I have a lower end 20 watt radio and I can regularly talk to all of the continental united states, but depending on conditions I have reached South America and eastern Europe.

I enjoyed learning and tinkering with it for a few years but haven't been on much recently. Partly I just didn't try hard enough to learn more, but I was also a little disappointed omat how much the conversations are inevitably about antennas and contesting. Still, I met lots of fun interesting people through the local clubs.

1.) Absolutely, DIY aspect is still very strong (which is why I'm in in personally, I think it's pretty cool and interesting) Low Power modes (QRP) are magical. Recently increased solar activity has further enhanced these modes :)

2.) Plenty on YouTube nowadays (Ham Radio Crash Course, W2AEW, etc.), there are a few blogs here and there that you'll run into when you have specific questions. For exam prep, I loved the Gordon West books.

On a personal note:

Today actually marks my tenth year of being licensed :) 10 Years ago I took the tech and general class exams and passed, after studying some of the Gordon West books and using an Android app question generator at the time. 9 Years ago (at time of posting this in two days), I upgraded to Extra Class.

Like most new hams nowadays, I started out with a $35 Baofeng and $20 RTL-SDR dongle. It wasn't till after college and getting a full-time job that I finally invested into HF (Yaesu FT-991A, FT-818ND). For the past year, I've been building QRP rig kits, and learning CW.

Having a license definitely gave me some bonus points on job/internship interviews for electrical engineering jobs (Specifically RF/Mixed signal specialized positions).

Hamfests, especially the bigger ones like Orlando Hamcation and Dayton Hamvention, if you're very lucky like me can get some pretty good deals on test equipment and second hand rigs. I got very lucky last year in finding a Signal Hound BB60C Spectrum Analyzer for $400! (Current MSRP is pushing $3600+).

I've heard and seen a lot of negative stories about the hobby. Yes a lot of older folks (the "RF-Boomers" as I like to call them) tend to be pretty stubborn and hostile, try to avoid them. There are a lot of good folks that want to help (the True elmers of the hobby), spend a lot of time with them. I've been very fortunate to be a part of two clubs (Dayton Amateur Radio Association, and Platinum Coast Radio Society (Melbourne, FL)) that are very welcoming, friendly, and very active.

I can keep writing about all of the positive aspects of the hobby, but TL;DR I highly recommend it!

KD8TUO

The coolest thing I have seen is that people meet up on a pre shared frequency at a given time and take roll call. If that doesn’t sound exhilarating, it might not be a hobby for you.

maybe that's the most interesting on repeaters, but if you get a general license and hop on HF it gets much more interesting IMO, cross county radio is fun, contesting, even on VHF/UHF it's really cool to play with DMR and linked repeaters systems, for example in Florida we have SARNET, a statewide repeater system which is super useful for talking around the state but also for emergencies / during hurricanes.

Will note that having a license can be useful outside of ham, too. E.g. if you're a hiker it can be handy to be able to carry a "real" radio with you. The license test doesn't cost much and is super easy (the entire pool of questions/answers is posted online and there are study guides).

The questions are set to change later in 2023, so now would be a good time for anyone who wants to do so to study up and take the test…

Just for General. Technician changed last year.

Question: why is a license needed? Is it so that users don't pollute the airwaves?

Basically, yes. The test filters out at least a subset of users who are not interested in the tech side.

You can get a gmrs license without a test and those frequencies tend to have less decorum as a result.

The same is true of CB (Citizens Band) radio, except “less decorum” would be putting it mildly.

Yes but it's also to make sure you know what you're doing, both in a technical and procedural way. The point of a ham license is not to buy a $50 baofeng from AliExpress and chat. We all do that but it's more a way to talk about the actual hobby. But the point of the license is to build radios yourself, experiment with new modes, be on the bleeding edge. Obviously you need to know what you're doing in order to not cause interference.

If you just want to chat and/or have emergency comms for hiking, just buy a GMRS or InReach, PLB etc. Ham radio is really about having radio as a hobby and technical interest.

PS: I'm not one of the ham elitists and I like the availability of easily accessible licences for starters like the novice one. But it's important to realize what it's all about. If you're not into that you will find the chat on the bands very boring.

I'm a hiker and a ham and I carry both my ham radio and an InReach. Only the latter I really consider my emergency comms. The radio is more for fun. Nobody monitors the ham frequencies professionally unlike InReach which is backed by the GEOS emergency center. A PLB is arguably even better but I don't go into situations where I'd really need it and I like the way the InReach lets me message my family too. I don't consider a ham radio a tool for personal emergencies.

For major emergencies it's a different thing, when there's a disaster all the ARES guys will break out their kit and will provide what I'm sure will be an amazing network. But don't rely on someone listening when you're alone in the hills.

Partly yeah, radio spectrum is a limited resource. All users of radio spectrum have to work within agreed-upon limitations. Further, radios can be dangerous. Someone operating radio transmission equipment could harm others or themselves if the equipment is not being used properly. There are many regulations around the usage of radios and "proving" one is sufficiently aware of these regulations is also part of the reason behind requiring a license. In Canada we don't call it a license, it's merely a certificate of proficiency, to indicate your capabilities/knowledge in respect to the amateur radio regulations.

Primarily, yes. There are international treaties regarding power, frequency, and transmissions that make sure you're not stomping on people. Each of the countries involved wants to make sure the operators know and understand what is expected.

Back before widespread adoption of the internet espionage was a real concern for radio. In fact, amateur radio across the board was suspended during WWII. But this is not really the case now. These days it's more about preventing interference with aviation, maritime, and other bands.

Realistically, people buy Baofengs [1] and transmit on GMRS frequencies while paintballing or airsoft all the time and nobody gives a crap. When they do it on amateur frequencies, hams will demand their callsign complain. I swear, there's at least a half dozen people staring at their spectrum analyzers all day.

1. A popular, cheap VHF/UHF radio: https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-UV-5R-Dual-Radio-Black/dp/B00...

Same reason you need a driver's license to drive a car.

Yeah, it’s kinda wild that with a packable QRP rig for SOTA, you can pretty reliably get in touch with someone (that being the entire point of SOTA). Of course I’d try more conventional means first in an emergency situation while hiking, but I certainly like having backup comms.

The emergency preparedness aspect of Ham is highly under valued/underappreciated... or at least it goes unnoticed.

First, most modern handy talkies (what Ham's call their hand held radios) are also very solid "scanners". In so far as you can tune in to a lot of different frequencies and listen. Weather alerts, AM/FM Radio (like the kind you used to listen to in your car before spotify)... you name it. Super handy if you say, lose power and cell service.

Speaking of which, remember that cell service is heavily dependent on a number of external factors. Like the antenna's still being upright (earthquakes, tornado, hurricanes are bad). There still being power. There still being connectivity (typically fiber optic)... and most importantly - NOT being overloaded. With a Ham radio you can listen or transmit, with no other dependencies.

For more local issues, like hiking or camping. Even if you're out of cell range, your radio may very well work. A 5W handy talky can reach up to 30 miles, depending on your location (basically line of sight). If you can get to the top of a hill or mountain and get a clear view - you can get a signal out to someone. All you need to do is get on the 2-Meter Band Calling Frequency (146.520 Mhz) or the 70-Centimeter Band Calling Frequency (446.000 Mhz) and it's a safe bet someone out there is probably listening. Even better if you've looked up local repeaters in the area.

Also, the radio's are stupid cheap now. BaoFeng makes "cheap and cheerful" (nicest way to describe them) handheld units: Like a 8watt unit for $70 USD. https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-BF-F8HP-Two-Way-136-174Mhz-40... -- They even sell 2 packs of slightly weaker radios for $50 total. Are they the best? No. Should you splurge and get something better? Totally. Like a 10W radio that support DMR (Digital Mode) for $180 https://www.amazon.com/Radioddity-GD-AT10G-Handheld-Digital-... . But if you just want to get your ham and use it once-every year... get a $50 radio and toss it in your car or something similar. Just make sure to get alkaline batteries for them. Lithium rechargeable are nice but lose charge over time.

I am a hiker and a ham and I disagree with this advice. I carried a ham radio while hiking for years and they were never a useful safety device. Here in the PNW, anywhere I was prominent enough to reach a repeater or another ham on the calling frequency, I also had plenty of cell signal. Whenever I was off the ridgelines and down in valleys, I wouldn’t be able to reach anyone with either method. Both cell phones and handheld ham radios are roughly line of sight, and when you are down in an uninhabited valley without cell coverage, it also quite doubtful there is another ham listening.

I swapped carrying a ham radio for a Garmin inReach a few years ago and it has been far more useful. I pay an annual service charge, but in return I can let my partner know I’m safe a few times a day, and I can use it to arrange for rides, neither of which I could do via ham. I have never had a problem getting reception, and it’s a much smaller, lighter device, and it recharges via USB so I never worry about spare batteries.

There are some ham specific activities for carrying a radio on the trail, like summits on the air, but if you are just trying to go hiking, get an inreach.

Fair. And your iPhone can now contact satellites as well.

I concur with your assessment of handheld transceivers as a way to report emergencies. But if you end up somewhere off the trail, wouldn't it still be useful after you use your Garmin (or, in my case, a SARSAT PLB) to request assistance, to be able to communicate with SAR once they're in the area? I vaguely recall a situation like that in Oregon.

This sort of thing doesn't require a fancy set, though. Something tiny and crappy like UV-3R would do just fine and is much more compact to carry than your typical handheld.

Yeah I agree with you on this one, a radio as a safety device on a hike is secondary at best unless mayyyyybe if you're carrying a QRP HF rig like an IC705 that can actually reach quite a ways or you leave a portable repeater at camp. In my original comment I actually meant just for talking to people, especially if you are hiking with other hams and can do stuff like GPS beaconing to each other. IMO an HT is still a better experience than a phone for communicating back and forth short-ish range on the move. Getting weather beacons from APRS and NOAA is also nice though of course there are other ways to do that.

Indeed, I have found mine handy for things like contacting the logging company whose sign indicated a closed hiking trail. I think I startled the gent by popping up on the radio, but was able to confirm that they were done for the day, and we could continue safely.

You can rag chew, or control drones from afar. You can beacon your position and see your friends via aprs. You can check your winlink email or send some (yeah not the most exciting) and of course lots of digital modes for keyboard-to-keyboard over radio.

It's definitely still worth getting into, and in many ways it's more accessible than ever. Equipment prices are lower than ever, and there is so much information available on nearly any subject within the hobby.

A few hot things right now: * FT8 and other weak-signal digital modes are so good at long-distance communication that it almost feels like magic. * Software-defined radio (SDR) opens up a new world of cheap signal processing. This is why a $300 radio today can outperform a $3000 radio from a decade ago, or why you can buy a NanoVNA vector network analyzer for $65 and it fits in your hand, rather than paying $5000 for a used HP VNA that barely fits on your desk. * Near-field communications, like RFID and keyfob hacking. The Flipper Zero is a fun little widget for this.

Personally, I enjoy FT8, CW/Morse code with a straight key or bug, antenna design (wire antennas are cheap and endlessly tweakable), and portable operation. I'm interested in amp design as well, but that's mostly confined to reading circuits and daydreaming. :)

Hope you find something you enjoy in here.

-Pete K1QG

Just a comment, genuine NanoVNA V2 costs a good bit more than $65, but still extremely accessible for what it offers. Cheap clones have measurably dubious performance.

https://nanorfe.com/images/clone_comparison_new2.png https://nanorfe.com/nanovna-v2.html#buying

Oh boy... I have no idea what I own, then. Only that it cost around $65 and is very, very much like a NanoVNA v1. High-frequency performance is not important to me (I use this to analyze HF antennas, generally 1.5-30 MHz) so what I have is likely fine, but I hate buying a clone without knowing it.

It is 2xx https://www.tindie.com/products/hcxqsgroup/4-nanovna-v2-plus...

Frankly it is not the price but for starter what is involved is not sure. So far seems at least 3 things:

1. exam especially local radio, 2. some equipment for radio and control 3. some interface with software

But is that all and which is the starting point. That equipment seemed to be only part of the game.

Totally! I got my tech back in the '10s and just got my general a few months ago. The coolest tinkering part is the antenna. So much cool physics and mental imaging of emission patterns based on the length and frequency you want to broadcast on. The digital modes are so neat too by allowing contacts without needing to speak/helps people with some anxiety about sounding silly on the radio : )

You can talk to satellites on 20 and 70cm, which I haven't gotten into yet but seems really cool. I have just started playing with 10/20/40m with a little time spent listening on 80/160m. Just scanning through the EM spectrum with a waterfall showing a section of bandwidth is so interesting.

I'm pretty deep into radio and never in a million years would have thought I would be. I even remember giving a co-worker a hard time for getting his ham radio license. Now, I'm a full-fledged GMRS and ham nerd.

1) It's worth getting into for 3 reasons: emergency communications, learning about some very interesting technical things like how antennas work, networked repeater systems, and there's a social aspect to talking with others on simplex and repeaters. Radio is far more technical than I ever realized and it's a very deep topic.

2) There are some good YouTube channels that can give you a quick overview of what's possible (Ham Radio Crash Course, Ham Radio 2.0) I also have a podcast where I talk about GMRS (similar to ham but very limited) at gmrs.fm

You might be surprised at how interesting radio can be. I was.

I got my license a few months ago. There are active repeater nets in my area, and several clubs. There's a whole variety of activities to do: DXing (trying to achieve long distance contacts), building and testing radio kits, contesting, and just generally talking to people.

As far as guides, we'd need to know what you're interested in. The ARRL handbook is a huge technical reference, but it's actually quite sparse in terms of setting up a station and making contacts. Although that's understandable, the process is different for many radios and you're better off reading the transceiver's manual

1. Yes. YouTube has made it much more accessible in recent decades. I talk with my friend who lives a few miles away. We love it.

- KN6LLA

I want to share a different experience.

1. I got my license in college, since my advisor was a big radio guy. I never really could get into it because it’s inherently social (you have to talk to people over the radio). That’s not to say people were unfriendly- everyone really was welcoming. I just never built a “sticky” social connection to it. I was young and didn’t really need more socializing while in school, and didn’t try to make it work...

2. The best trustworthy guide is a person IRL. But others have listed great online resources too.

The technical stuff is super fun and you could spend a lifetime playing with the cool equipment and fiddling with your setup. BUT if you don’t make a social connection and interact with others, it gets old. I keep my radio for emergency purposes (probably good enough reason alone to get into it), and because I see the appeal of it as a hobby, but I almost never use it.

There is a ton of events and things people do “in the community”. There are competitions of all sorts, and meetups, and radio-related things. I haven’t done any, but I also didn’t see much in other comments so I’m hoping people with more knowledge can share.

There’s also related tech like packet radio which is kinda like “dial up over radio”. That’s what the original article linked would most likely be used for. There are emergency prep groups, including completely digital tech that doesn’t use traditional radios like SFWEM and AREDN (basically an emergency mesh WiFi network using special frequencies and commercial equipment).

The test was easy to anyone with a technical background (electrical, not software). To everyone else it’s still pretty doable with studying and prep. I was in school studying electronics, but I think I studied for like 3 total hours for the test. It’s a mixture of topics ranging from regulation to antenna information. IMO the test gives you a good insight into part of the hobby. If you enjoy studying for it you’ll enjoy the technical stuff.

I haven’t picked up my radio in years. Every time I move, I think “surely the Bay Area has a lot of hams, this is a good time to try it out again” and then never get around it it.

YMMV and I don’t want to disparage or discourage anyone from trying it out. There’s a ton of cool things to do. It’s just a reminder that it’s social.

RE "it's social", at least over on HF there are a lot of activities where the expectation is just a signal report and a thank you. In particular POTA/SOTA, DX'ing, contesting, and special event stations. And then there's FT8/FT4 where there's no way to have a conversation. But they're fun because it takes some skill, there's an element of chance, and there's usually some kind of goal (work 100 countries, all states, 500 parks, contact the battleship Iowa, etc)

My logbook has about 4500 QSOs and I'd be surprised if 25 of them got past the weather. But by the same token I've had some really interesting random encounters.

For me, getting my General (and then Extra) really made the hobby for me. I probably wouldn't be that into it if I was limited to talking with local people on the repeater.

There are endless things to do, depending on your interests. Whether you enjoy ham radio or not probably depends more on what sub-community that you get involved with, rather than "ham radio" generically. I have been licensed for 50 years now -- what keeps me interested is a mix of: 1. I belong to an active contest-oriented club, and participate in several HF radiosport competitions each year. 2. Building HF antennas from stacks of raw aluminum tube, 3. I am in the process of building an FM repeater for the 1200 MHz band. 4. I am studying-up on software-defined radios, and hope to scratch-build some kind (any kind, really) of SDR transceiver that works acceptably. 5. In the past I have done weak-signal VHF/UHF DX'ing, and might cycle back to that activity again.

Anyway.... there are an infinite number of other things that you can get into, depending on what mood strikes you. Satellites? Check. Digital television? Check. Remote control stations? Check. I tend to switch around. My guiding philosophy: "It's a hobby -- if you aren't having fun, you are doing it wrong."

As I mentioned above, the communities that you participate in, be they meat-space or on-the-air, will shape your enjoyment. Visit some clubs. You might get lucky on the first probe, but if that crowd doesn't resonate with you, try another. As I mentioned above, I belong to a contest club because the dominant personality type is a little competitive and a lot inquisitive, always looking for ways to improve station and operator performance. In contrast, there are public-service/emergency-communication oriented clubs, so if providing comms for a bicycle rally or participating in a severe-weather observation network is more your style, look for a group that does that. There are home-brew clubs where everyone is into scratch-building radios, if you are more the experimenter type.

The ARRL web site has license study material and other training material. Most places in the USA have local volunteer clubs that run license exam sessions.

The US exams involve a lot of memorization; for the Technician and General exams, I highly recommend running through the questions in the $3.99 HamStudy app/completely free hamstudy.org website. For the Amateur Extra, I crammed using "Pass Your Amateur Radio Extra Class Test - The Easy Way!" by Craig Buck, and the title is completely correct: it isn't "Deeply Understand the Material on the Extra Class Test," and is useless for anything other than passing the current US Amateur Extra Class exam. "Amateur Radio Extra Class Licensing" by Stephen Horan did a bit more education and has been worth looking at since passing the exam.

I passed my exams, and while I paid close attention to all of the safety/legal things (and looked them up for Germany, where I live and later converted my license), I left fully understanding the technical parts for after I got licensed and was able to start doing. For example, I memorized a bunch of stuff about antennas to get the questions right on the exams; over the past few months, I've been modifying and scavenging the ones I bought early on and making my own.

+1 for HamStudy.org which is an excellent resource. They include "explainer" cards for each question which often contain links to other material which are a great jumping off point for going as deep as you care to go on any individual topic.

I used the hamstudy website almost exclusively for getting my license and was able to pass all three tests (General, Tech, Amateur Extra) in one sitting. I had to set for a physical test at a local club's monthly meeting, but now organizations like GLAARG are proctoring remote tests via zoomso you can gest more or less 'on demand' from home.

For the curious - I followed the "How to Fab" instructions to get pricing. Came out to $57.72 + tax/shipping for QTY 5 from JLCPCB.com . That includes making the PCB and assembly of the components besides the TRS connectors. Cheaper than I thought!!

I’m unfamiliar with this. What are the kinds of things one could do with this? Why is it useful?

This interfaces with four parts of a handheld radio transceiver:

* Audio In (mic)

* Audio Out (speaker)

* Push To Talk button

* Serial UART reprogramming interface.

It's useful because you can hook your computer up to a radio with a single device and use the cable both to reconfigure the radio but also for APRS (Automated Packet Reporting System), which is a really cool system by which standard digital packets containing arbitrary information are repeated through a network of ground stations worldwide. Think an "IOT mesh network" from before buzzword technology (and unfortunately with a much higher power requirement than the modern LoRa based systems).

This has always been possible using a sound card and some method to manipulate the PTT interface, and a separate UART cable swapped in for reprogramming, but having everything together on one cable is a nice convenience.

The other element of this is CAT control, which is a serial protocol for tuning the radio (among other capabilities); CAT control for tuning + transmission control for turning on/off transmit + audio abilities (to send and receive) basically makes a radio 100% digitally controllable, which can be helpful for everything from voice traffic to data mesh to scanning/monitoring/etc.

The radios that this is meant to work with don't have a real CAT control interface. Some can do PTT through this interface but some don't, my Baofeng requires you to do VOX mode when using an APRS cable. CAT allows for way more control than just PTT. You can't change frequency over the serial port unless you are reprogramming the VFO presets every time which takes a relatively long time because you have to reprogram the entire memory. Most HTs don't support CAT because HTs usually are meant to be used in the field where they are programmed ahead of time. Even my super fancy FT2DR (and the newer versions) doesn't have control over serial.

Where's the 'buy' button? For an ok price, I'd totally buy this, and then forget about it until it arrives, then be playing with it for a day, and then forgetting it in some drawer.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0137523/ would like to have a word with you (being silly, I’m the same way)

My father is an avid ham operator and unfortunately at his age, his health is declining. Soon he will have to move from a remote location where he has all the antennas for various bands etc and I wonder if there’s some Internet to radio bridge so he could still use his equipment remotely?

Yes this is a thing. Modern rigs can be controlled over the internet pretty well. Sometimes you can even take the control head with you!

It really depends on which radios he has. A lot of modern ones will allow direct control via an Ethernet port

One of my favorite projects is the KiwiSDR network, which is essentially making radios available online for public use:

http://kiwisdr.com/

http://rx.kiwisdr.com

Your father could be anywhere and enjoy listening from... anywhere? :-)

Checkout RCForb by remote hams.

My dad is a ham radio operator and uses this to use his equipment remotely. Your can run your own server and connect to it or use ones that other people make public (though some of them you need to be part of a radio club for)

http://www.remotehams.com/help.html .

Some modern radios have remote control software available. For example, Icom has software specifically for their radios: https://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/hf/rsba1/def...

For radios that don't have a network interface, RemoteRig sells a box that will network-enable most radios, either via PC control or using a detached control panel: https://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=362

There's also no lack of ways to homebrew this using a RaspberryPi and the right cables: https://rigpi.net/

(FlexRadio also makes some very impressive programmable SDR radios that are entirely network controlled, if you were buying new equipment. Amazing gear, not cheap though.)

If any of his gear has CAT interfaces, a simple solution would be to use a PC with a CAT cable and the audio running to a soundcard. Flrig allows for remote control over the network and voice can be passed to the remote PC. He can do digital, voice, and CW all from the comfort of his bed with a laptop and headset. If he only has really old fully analog gear, this won't work and he'd be better off using KiwiSDR or buying him a "shack-in-a-box" type unit that would let him do anything from HF to UHF with his existing antenna and coax lines.

http://www.w1hkj.com/W3YJ/Remote_Article.pdf

But you can use whatever old PC you can dig up rather than a raspberry pi.

Still amazed that most radio manufacturers haven't even come close to providing something like this

It boggles my mind. Many of the newer hand held radios are sdr based but they instead insist on providing only proprietary interfaces that only work with their shitty proprietary digital modes so if you actually want to use a radio to do interesting things in the digital space, you need to go antenna to ADC to DAC to ADC to your CPU to DAC to ADC to DAC to antenna with a gain control step at every translation using all these little ADC+DAC modems that are popping up.

This whole state of affairs is painfully stupid and holding ham radio back several decades. We need open source SDR handheld radios like the M17/OpenRTX folks are working on.

>We need open source SDR handheld radios like the M17/OpenRTX folks are working on.

Much thanks for the pointer.

More than that, literally all of this is trivial to do over Bluetooth. Which also provides galvanic isolation. Every rig should just have this built in.

The fact that the industry hasn't figured this out, absolutely boggles me.

Mobilinkd[1] has filled that use case to a degree but it is really frustrating that the industry seems so "stuck".

[1] http://www.mobilinkd.com/

> Maybe integrate a TNC Modem with KISS interface? (I am not sure if that is worth the effort)

This makes me sad.

Several years ago, I ran a packet radio / AX.25 server, and used it to hop around Southern California, Mexico, Oregon, Nevada. It was super fun, but there were very few peers to actually chat with.

I used the KISS interface on my KPC-3 to also run a Zork server from a Raspberry Pi -- anyone could login and play Zork, and the state was persisted, so you could logoff and continue later. So much fun, so few visitors.

I’m working on this currently myself. Seems as good a thing to do with a packet node as any. I’m following in the footsteps here:

https://www.richardosgood.com/posts/how-to-setup-a-raspberry...

https://www.kevinhooke.com/2021/04/12/running-an-ax25-netrom...

I’ll be surprised if anyone ever hits my node but me. Fun anyway!

Here's where I left my WIP in 2015.

https://github.com/jacobmarble/pytnc

Link 404s for me.

I believe this repo is private. GitHub uses a 404 for that instead of a 401 or other options.

This is mine:

https://github.com/pe1rrr/packet-scriptlets/tree/main/games

Yeah I miss packet also. We used to have long chats on the local BBS and in the monitor window sometimes. And I'd hop all over the country and sometimes even via satellites.

But APRS totally killed packet :'( Now it's just a dumb positioning service that nobody interacts with, they just leave it on auto mode.

I wonder if APRS hadn't happened, would faster packet modes have continued to be developed? The problem was that 9600 was fast enough for APRS so nobody cared about making a faster mode.

I recall it differently. I ran a packet radio bbs when that was very active. What really killed it was the availability of internet for everyone. Usage just faded. As a result of this fading, efforts to build high speed uhf backbones faded away.

True that had a lot to do with it too. But I remember all the buzz around APRS when it came around.. I never really understood it, if all you're doing is putting a little flag on a map you're not really communicating. And as a privacy advocate I really try to prevent this very thing :P

But some people really loved it and in my area in Europe it absorbed all the buzz around packet. At that point the internet had already been around for a while but packet was still being used. I guess it depends on the region too.

These days there is actually a movement to provide a high-speed backbone microwave net independent of the internet with emergencies in mind. The idea is for it to replace all the internet-based repeater links for DNR, Brandmeister etc It's called hamnet and it's pretty active in the Netherlands and Germany.

https://hamnetdb.net/map.cgi

I love APRS. The big deal for me is being able to not just hit a repeater, but 2 or 3. Now my 5 watt hand held can reach out of the back county when I'm hiking and actually get somewhere. Bonus that there is a gateway between APRS and SMS.

Yeah, you can drive around and show the world where you are, but using it to write SMS messages when cell reception doesn't exist is awesome.

I don't know about everyone, but if I'm driving around with it on it is so I can see where I get coverage and where I don't. I have to use and test so I know it works when I want to communicate, but overall I'm not a ham to be social.

Early in my packet days, I recall there being packet nodes that would forward you through the internet to other places around the world. That didn't make sense to me, as part of the fun was to require very little infrastructure.

I wasn't involved in packet before the internet, but I was involved in amateur radio back then. From my view, the internet and mobile phones displaced a lot of general interest in this hobby.

> From my view, the internet and mobile phones displaced a lot of general interest in this hobby.

Absolutely. The whole "You can talk to people all over the world with this" lost a lot of shine when the internet happened :)

This discussion brings back fond memories of watching the “slow scan TV” over packet radio ever so slowly rendering low res images of a family we used to talk to in the US from Australia on my dads rig with his 60ft antenna out the back. This was the early 1990s before the Internet was a thing. We ended up travelling to meet that family in Texas in 1994.

I recall in Texas there was some ham repeaters that patched you into the local phone network using DTMF, but can’t recall exactly what it was called. Phone calls in Australia at the time were costly so it was really a novelty.

SSTV was not packet actually. It was more of a semi-analog fax mode. It was used by news agencies at the time to send press photos and weather images across HF.

Packet was really multipoint packet switched like the internet using AX25 which was an adaptation of the X.25 protocol. Pretty similar to TCP/IP. You could even run TCP/IP over AX25 using various "NOS" programs. I used JNOS but most of the time I just used plain AX25 with SP.

They’ve explicitly made it illegal for anything to go faster or wider, which is the core of the problem.

The ARRL is so incompetent, overly concerned with their own elections and never interested in pursuing changes that would actually allow for the hobby to grow into the 21st century. Proud non-member.

Oh we don't have this issue in Europe where I'm based. Faster is possible, it was just that 9600 was so sufficient for APRS and the remaining traditional packet community so small that the interest waned.

Though like I said in another post something started up that is not really for end users but more a backbone high speed network: https://hamnetdb.net/map.cgi

And yeah I also tend to not join the national radio associations. I often don't agree with their decisions and they're often more about old guys infighting and resisting change. I'll join the local radio clubs wherever I live for fun meetups but I leave the politics out of it.

This is not true. The ARRL is constantly fighting for the benefit of radio amateurs, and has been doing so for a century.

The FCC recently considered an over-reach, naming removing the limits on signalling rate, which would be a technically incompetent move.

The ARRL is working with Congress to require the FCC to replace the signalling rate limit to one which would use a 2.8 kHz bandwidth, same as SSB.

This was discussed here a short time ago, "Rep. Lesko Introduces Bill to Replace Symbol Rate Limit with Bandwidth Limit"[0].

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34117073

I really adored the TNCs with built-in BBSs. Could leave it on all day, and occasionally check my email. Back when internet at home wasn't really a thing yet (only at university).

It's slightly sad that there isn't a similar ESP32 or Arduino-based stand-alone TNC out there with BBS capability. I know I could dedicate a rPi and direwolf for that purpose, but those feel much more heavy handed than a simple appliance - have to patch the OS, know more about the whole machine etc.

I know that there are KISS-TNCs out there that are pretty good (for APRS), but that's not quite enough for BBSs.

I've been meaning to play with D-Star DD mode on 23cm (1.2 GHz). Supposedly supports native TCP/IP, with Ethernet out from the back of compatible radios.

Not many radios have it, but the IC-9700 does have support.

TIDRadio make something similar to this with a Bluetooth interface instead of the cable. It's a decent piece of hardware, but the app is pretty bad and limited.

There's a market in ham radio for a Bluetooth interface to replace the ancient programming cables and software we all use for both HT's and mobile transceivers.

One radio does this (the VGC VR-N7500), the interface for the entire radio is an app, but the app again is horribly designed. If it were some kind of open protocol, app developers could do some truly interesting things with it.

Are there any radios with a good app experience you could recommend?

Unfortunately that's the only one I know of with an app interface. I did reverse engineer the app and tried to get some cooperation with the manufacturer of the radio to create an app of my own, but they weren't interested.

Last time I checked, APRSdroid reccomended not to connect your (handy) radio to your cellphone [0] via audio cable, among other reasons, due to lack of shielding that could stop any excesive voltage/current signal from reaching your phone. Does this design take this into account?

[0] https://github.com/ge0rg/aprsdroid/wiki/Projects

It should be slightly better than connecting it directly to sound card, as in "the chip might fry first", but doesn't look like there is any optoisolation in it

This is awesome.

Now add something like the AT1846 “walkie talkie” transceiver chip and some RF switching and filtering, and we’d have a self contained “USB VHF adapter” sort of thing…

> AIOC

Was expecting a fine tuned version of ChatGPT that specializes in sounding like Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.

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