How To Set Up Your Own Remote Station

 

I’m going to share with you an inexpensive way you can control your station from a web browser on your home network.  This is the first step in setting up a remote station for yourself.  Once you have the radio  working locally, you can explore more advanced access solutions like Tailscale or Zerotier VPNs for operation outside of your home network.

I found a great free program to remote control radios from F4HTB called “Universal_HamRadio_Remote_HTML5”.  Here is a link to his Github with more information - https://github.com/F4HTB/Universal_HamRadio_Remote_HTML5.

Since there are a lot of steps to setting it up manually, I have put together a script that will do a large portion of the work for you.  I have tested the script with an Icom IC-705 and Yaesu FTDX10 utilizing both radio soundcards so there is no need to construct the hardware interface for these radios that he mentions. 

The difference between the two radios is which version of Hamlib is used to control them. When you run the setup script it will prompt you for which version of Hamlib you’d like to run with a list of tested recommendations.  If you’d like to experiment with other radios, you can try any of the Hamlib version options listed to see what works best for your radio.

Here's what you are going to need beyond your transceiver:

Raspberry Pi – I tested everything on a Pi5 but you can try other models

MicroSD Memory Card – I used a 16GB one with no issues

USB cable with correct connectors – USB A for your Raspberry Pi and either USB B or Micro USB (depending on your radio)

Putty for your PC to login to the Raspberry Pi – download is available at https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html

Updated Instructions Based On Olivier’s (F4HTB) Wiki 

1.Preparing the Raspberry Pi SD card

a. Put your SD card in your reader and plug this into your computer’s usb port.

b. Download and install Raspberry Pi card management software.

Go to https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/ and download and install Raspberry Pi Imager.

Follow the illustrations below to install the base lite image on your SD card:

Pick your computer model.

Name your system, the default instructions below reference the computer being named as “raspberrypi” with a user of “pi” and a password of “raspberry”. So it is easiest to use that name and password, and then enter your wifi network name and password.

Then scroll down and select your time zone. Then continue on like the pictures below.

2. Connect the hardware and SD card.

Insert the SD card into your Raspberry Pi, connect your CAT interface (USB cable) and (optional) connect your ethernet cable. Wifi is not recommended because it can introduce issues but we have it set up with your network on the previous step if you’d like to try it.

3. Connect via SSH to your Raspberry Pi

Wait a minute or two for the Raspberry Pi to boot up and then connect to it with the steps below in Putty.

If you have a "Putty Security Alert" window click "yes".

A black window will open. On the line "login as:" put "pi" On the line "pi@raspberrypi.local's password:" put "raspberry" (Warning, it is normal that nothing is displayed on the password line, in fact your password is hidden for discretion).

You should then see this: 

4. Software Installation

At the pi@raspberry prompt enter (type this command as one line – it is best if you copy/paste it).

curl -fsSLO https://github.com/n3bkv/Universal_HamRadio_Remote_HTML5_Installer/blob/Installer/UHRR_setup_versioned.sh

Then at the next prompt type (to make it executable):

chmod +x Hamradio_setup_versioned.sh

Then type (to run the script):

./Hamradio_setup_versioned.sh

Choose the version of Hamlib best for your radio and follow the other instructions below:

Ham Radio Remote Setup Script

==================================

Available Hamlib versions:

  4.0  - Default - Use for IC-705 (CAT Control/Soundcard Support)

  4.1  - 

  4.2  - 

  4.3  - 

  4.4  - Use for Yaesu FTDX10 (CAT Control/Soundcard Support)

  4.5  -

Confirm your selection:

Proceed with installation of Hamlib 4.0? [Y/n]:Y

After completing all the software package installs (this will take about 15-30 minutes), your Raspberry Pi will ask you if you want to reboot (say yes). 

Reboot system now to complete installation? [Y/n]: Y

You’ll have to reconnect in Putty for the next step.

5. Run the code 

Important – at this point, make sure your radio is ON and the USB cable is plugged in to it and the Raspberry Pi.

In Putty, after you reconnect at the pi@raspberry prompt type:

cd ~/Universal_HamRadio_Remote_HTML5

PYTHONPATH=/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages:$PYTHONPATH ./UHRR

This will start the program that generates the web interface.

If you see an error when you run the program, don’t worry since you haven’t configured the radio for it yet.

Run this in your web browser on your computer - https://raspberrypi.local:8888/

If you get an error like below – this is ok, just hit the “Advanced” button then “Proceed” to override it.  

This is normal since your SSL security certificate is local – just hit “Proceed” or “Accept the Risk and Continue” and you will not get the error again. 

You are safe to do this override since it's your own self-signed certificate on your local network. Your browser is just trying to warn you if someone else sent you an unknown certificate.

Your connection is not private

Attackers might be trying to steal your information from raspberrypi.local (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards). Learn more about this warning

NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID

Proceed to raspberrypi.local (unsafe)

6. Set Up Your Radio 

On config webpage, go to the audio section and make sure to select the options that say “codec” somewhere in their description lines for both audio input and output.

Next select your rig model and your rig’s USB port – most likely it will be ACM0 or ACM1 or possibly USB1 or USB2.

Then press “Save & Restart server”

You’ll next be asked your callsign and then you will see this screen where you’ll select the power button. 

Important note – For many radios – the power button will not turn the radio on/off, it will only start the program controlling the radio.

You should now be able to control your radio, hear audio and pass mic audio from your computer.

To disconnect the program from the radio, press the power button in the UI.

7. Stopping The Program 

In Putty, if you press the Control and C buttons at the same time it will stop the program from running. To restart it on Putty, at the pi@raspberry prompt type:

cd ~/Universal_HamRadio_Remote_HTML5

PYTHONPATH=/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages:$PYTHONPATH ./UHRR

To turn off the Raspberry Pi type:

sudo shutdown now

8. Starting The Program After a Shutdown/Reboot

In Putty, reconnect with the instructions in Step 3 and at the pi@raspberry prompt type:

cd ~/Universal_HamRadio_Remote_HTML5

PYTHONPATH=/usr/local/lib/python3.11/site-packages:$PYTHONPATH ./UHRR

This will start the program that generates the web interface.

Then run this in your web browser - https://raspberrypi.local:8888/ and the radio UI should appear.

9. Making The Program a Service

If everything is working well and you’d like the program to start when you boot up your Raspberry Pi automatically, you can the script below:

At the pi@raspberry prompt enter (type this command as one line – it is best if you copy/paste):

curl -fsSLO 

https://github.com/n3bkv/Universal_HamRadio_Remote_HTML5_Installer/blob/Installer/uhrr_service_setup.sh

Then at the next prompt type:

chmod +x uhrr_service_setup.sh

Then type:

./uhrr_service_setup.sh

Now you should have remote control of your station from anywhere in your house.  So you can monitor or use your radio without having to be in your shack! Play around with it and email me if you’d like a follow up article on how to set up a secure VPN to access your radio on the go.