|
One of the possibilities I have been mulling over is controlling an FT-950/450 Yaesu rig and routing the audio bidirectionally. Both rigs use legacy RS-232 interfaces. They can be converted easily enough to an ethernet interface. The command and control interface at the desk can easily be routed. I planned on routing using a different set of ip addresses at each end point. Thus the HF rig end would have an interface for Command & Control using an IP address for example of 172.10.20.10 while the distant end audio would be routed via an interface with a second address of 172.10.20.20. At the desktop end the Command & Control as well as the audio link would have separate IP addresses. Since I am a newby I wanted to check the braintrust and see if they could elaborate on potential landmines with this scheme.
The audio is another beast with which to deal. The good news is it is half duplex. I have looked for hardware solutions that convert audio to data vice versa and have noted that most hardware solutions are oriented towards the Broadcast end of business. New off the shelf low end stuff is priced around the $350.00 range minimum which for someone with the middle name of Tightus-Wadus is a little hard to justify. I examined the possibility of using VOIP but ran head-on into the SIP server. If the SIP server was a simple thing such as launching an app which required no admin efforts I would not be particularly adverse to adding the overhead. However the ones I looked at had more user settable features than Carter has Little Liver Pills. While I enjoy twiddling knobs, flipping switches and making LEDs blink the last thing I want to do is to engage software-hardware that comes with a 50,000 page user manual were each setting will ripple through and affect the way other settings HAVE to be set to obtain proper operation. (LAZY?) Besides having to run a SIP server seems like a lot of overhead for a simple function. One software solution that looks like a possibility is Broadwave Streaming Audio. The price is tolerable ($49.00) but it will mean having to place a computer at the distant end as opposed to a simple unit like the LANTRONIX RS-232 to Ethernet Converter for handling the command and control. Has anyone actually routed audio via ip on a WRT54 mesh setup to date? What kind of latency, dropout problems, spurious pops, whistles, and other annoyances were noted if any? Where am I planning on going with this? My station at home is able to run on emergency power. I want to be able to operate the basic rig remotely. Additionally I would like to add the ability to remotely control the antenna tuner, and if gravy permits the antenna rotor. This would all be done three to four blocks away from the residence and if the infrastructure permitted even further. I anticipate that power will not be readily available at the distant site unless I provide it. It would be easier to run a laptop and WRT54 on battery than it would to drag around the generator and a dipole. Suggestions? Thanks
Chuck WD4HXG
|
