Remote Operation of a Portable Station - Part 3: Putting It All Together

N.B. The current status of the project is that wfview does not provide a reliable link, because it is intolerant of delayed or out-of-sequence UDP packets. Although the remainder of the project is described using wfview, this may not be the ideal solution.

Fixed Location

Ensure that Wireguard is running, the iptables rules are in place, and the router port forwarding is configured, as described in Part 2.

Portable Station

Portable Station Configuration

The Raspberry Pi at the Portable Station requires a copy of Wireguard, and wfview.

For Wireguard:

sudo apt install wireguard

Then take the .conf file provided by the Fixed Location (generated in Part 2), and place it in /etc/wireguard. The command will be something like:

sudo mv /Downloads/G0XXX.conf /etc/wireguard/G0XXX.conf

For wfview:

Follow the download instructions at https://wfview.org/, using the Raspberry Pi build script included on the downloads page.

Connect the Pi to the rig using USB. Some trial-and-error might be needed with the USB settings. I found that device /dev/ttyACM0 and Baud 115200 works for me. See the wfview documentation for further help.

Now press the "Server Setup" button, and create username/password accounts for each of the Remote Operators.

Portable Station Operation

With the Pi connected to the 3G Router, initiate a VPN connection to the Fixed Location:

sudo wg-quick up G0XXX

Now start wfview (you will probably find it as a menu entry under "Internet") and ensure that it is running correctly with a waterfall view visible.

Remote Operator

Remote Operator Configuration

The Remote Operator needs a PC (Windows, MacOS or Linux) running wfview, which is a free download from https://wfview.org/

Once wfview is up-and-running, the following settings are required:

  • Radio IP address is the Dynamic DNS name of the Fixed Station, e.g. mydomain.no-ip.biz
  • Username and Password are the credentials that have been set on the Portable Station's wfview Server Setup
  • Experiment with RX and TX latency, but I find that these need to be at their maximum (500ms)
  • Sample rate 2400, Codecs Opus 1ch recommended (but again, you can experiment)


Save Settings and Exit Program. Note that some settings seem to require a restart of the program, so always Save, Exit and restart if making changes.

Remote Operator Operation

Fire up wfview, press the "Connect" button, and away you go...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building a basic codeplug for DMR (DMR Part 2)

Image
What is a "codeplug"?  Confusingly, a codeplug is neither code, nor a plug! The term originates from a time when a physical plug was used to configure a radio's parameters. Nowadays it refers to a configuration file, which is typically prepared on an external PC and then uploaded to the radio. Overview This blog post continues from  Part 1 , and it assumes that you already have: A callsign A DMR ID A DMR rig - I will be using a Retevis RT3S for this example The programming software and cable for your rig. For the RT3S, the Windows software can be found here:  RT3S Software The example described below assumes that you are within reach of a DMR repeater on the Phoenix network, and that you know the details of that repeater (transmit and receive frequencies, color code). For now will configure the rig to access the DMR+ (Phoenix) network via a repeater. Subsequent posts will explain how to add analogue repeaters and simplex channels, hotspots, other networks, etc. The steps
Read more

Adding Brandmeister to the Hotspot (DMR Part 4)

Image
So far in this series of articles we have: Built a codeplug for the Retevis RT3S, enabling it to operate on the Phoenix (DMR+) network via a local repeater. Built a Hotspot and added a new zone to the codeplug, so that the RT3S can access the Phoenix (DMR+) network using the Hotspot. I chose Phoenix initially, because that is the network that my nearest repeater uses. Whilst this gives worldwide coverage, it is not the only DMR network. Confusingly, there are quite a few networks out there - including Brandmeister, TGIF, FreeDMR and probably others. Each has its own layout of talkgroups and timeslots. Sometimes these are similar, and there are links between networks so that some talkgroups are accessible on more than one network, but each has its own quirks and so they are different and mainly incompatible. With a Hotspot, it is possible to join more than one DMR network simultaneously - up to four networks - using functionality known as DMR Master. In this blog we will look at buildin
Read more

D-STAR, Pi-Star and IC-705

Image
Having got D-Star working via a local repeater, how about using a hotspot? It is pretty straightforward to activate. Firstly, turn on D-STAR in the MMDVM Host Configuration: Next, set your callsign and registered D-STAR password in the D-Star Configuration section. "B" is the suffix for a 70cm hotspot, and "G" because you are an internet gateway. You can set a default reflector, although I find this is of limited value (discussed later). I have left Time Announcements, Callsign Routing and D-Plus turned off mainly because I don't really understand them! Something for future experimentation. On the IC-705, now is the time to program in your hotspot as a digital repeater. Got to Menu / DV Memory / Repeater List - and choose an empty Repeater Group. Name this "Pi-Star" (or "hotspot", or whatever you prefer), and within the Group create a single entry as follows: Type: DV Repeater Name: Pi-Star (or whatever you prefer) Sub Name: Pi-Star (or whate
Read more