Raspberry Pi Remote Radio

In 2019 I purchased the Yaesu FT-991A radio. It’s a radio with a single cable for control and the built in sound card. My previous Yaesu FT-897D needed separate and many cables.

After running on my Windows 10 laptop and with TeamViewer for a while, I decided I wanted a Raspberry Pi to run radio stuff, instead of my laptop being left on all the time.

I purchased the following items

  • Raspberry Pi 4 4Gb (ebay)
  • Large Heat Sink (The Pi Hut)
  • Stacking Case with Fan (The Pi Hut)
  • PoE Ethernet to Ethernet & USB C

I already had a SD card. The Raspberry Pi arrived before some of the other items, so I started building it. Next to arrive was the PoE adapter.

I loaded the image with Etcher to the SD card and started setting up Raspbian. One early issue was not being able to VNC in, but solved in Raspi-config by setting screen size. So far this has been setup and run headless.

I installed WSJT-X, ADIFPush (for Cloudlog) and GridTracker. I can use a VNC viewer to remotely access the Raspberry Pi 4 and load the software as if using a desktop PC. The Radio is also remotely powered on with a SmartPlug.

This setup is working well. In March 2020 I’ve as of posting this worked 115 QSOs and heading towards my best year on the air.

My Logbook is filling up nicely. m.0tzo.me 

[This is a blog post, not a setup guide]

February 2020 update

So, my logbook is filling nicely. ( m.0tzo.me )

  • Jan 2020 35 QSOs
  • Feb 2020 51 QSOs

May not be the most active Radio Amateur on the air, but I’m back enjoying it.

I’ve also recently purchased an Arrow II handheld antenna. Specifically an ARROW II 146/437-10WBP and roll up bag.

Last night I tried listening to SO-50 (Saudi-OSCAR 50). I heard the end of a callsign possibly SQL (2M0SQL?) but was unable to hear more or be heard. I’m using ISS Detector app (Android), and have limited to higher elevation passes in hope of more success.

Over the weekend I did some more FT8, but mostly on 20m and 30m instead of the usual 40m.

CloudLog Patreon #001

I’ve know Peter 2M0SQL / MM3PHP for around 15 years. He’s now produces a self hosted logging application built on PHP and SQL that you run on own Web server space, or even on local network. Yes even a Raspberry Pi.

On a rare recent Skype call, I suggested he might try Patreon to support his making CloudLog. I have one he said, but never launched it.

I encouraged him and signed up quickly to support him. Currently only £5 a month, but with another 12 people (last time I checked) he’s earning a bit to support CloudLog.

Now that CloudLog supports multiple logbooks at some point I will move the logbooks back to thi site.

3D Printer

In 2018 I got a small inheritance from a relative. One of the items I was going to invest in was a 3D printer to tinker with. I had a budget in mind of £300 – £400.

A few weeks ago a friend offered to a chat group I’m in his old printer to anyone who would pay £75 (available online for between £170-£230 at time of posting). I said was keen and we settled on £70, and a roll of filament was thrown in too.

Anet A6 Printer

I am now the owner of an Anet A6 3D printer. I went on Amazon and also purchased a new UltraBase heatbed and 2x Mosfets (for the Print head and Heat bed of the printer). I was advised the heatbed I’d either need a sheet of glass or something better, so went for the UltraBase option.

Also I have a Raspberry Pi 3 with 7″ touchscreen and installed OctoPrint ( https://octoprint.org ) to control the printing & whilst I was at it, I upgraded the Pi 3 from an 8Gb SD card to 64Gb.

I hope to be able to show some of my 3D Prints soon, but as of posting I’ve not actually printed anything.

I’ve a list of things I will 3D Print soon –
https://www.thingiverse.com/M0TZO/collections/things-to-make

I will make a collection on Thingiverse of things I’ve actually printed.

Caching

At request of long term friend, I’ve re-enabled site caching with CloudFlare. Hopefully site should be faster loading for most users.