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LP-Remote
Remote control hardware and software combination.

LP-Remote is a limited run product. I keep PCBs and many of the parts on hand, but order things like the LCD and relays as I get orders. Contact me for pricing information at larry@telepostinc.com. The LP-Remote board is available as a kit or assembled. Expect about 2 weeks for delivery.

The current versions of LP-Remote firmware and software are 1.01. These provide dramatically faster response time, lower system resource utilization and more accurate frequency counter.

LP-Remote is a new program I have written to modernize and consolidate the features of the old LP-Monitor program with new custom hardware. Instead of existing commercial hardware, I have decided to make my own based on the MicroChip 16F877 PIC microprocessor... see below. The cost is similar to commercial industrial control boards, and available as a kit or assembled. Unlike commercial boards though, my new board is aimed directly at ham remote station use, and provides I/O conditioning instead of the usual unbuffered CMOS I/O signals.

The board provides screw terminals for all I/O connections, allowing easy custom installation to meet the users needs. All critical parts are socketed. I tried to isolate the board from the shack as much as possible, using dry relay contacts, opamps and opto-isolators. The analog ports are all opamp buffered as well to protect the PIC from dangerous signal levels, and provide hi-Z inputs. The large LCD screen, in addition to the Home screen shown above,  is used for setting up and monitoring the board. The six screens below show analog inputs, digital inputs, analog outputs, relay status for relays 1-16 and 49-64... and frequency counter calibration screen.

         

The board will be expandable as far as relays are concerned. It provides the following connections...

Both software panels allow for full customization of meters, buttons etc. The windows can be collapsed to eliminate the meters and sliders if desired, or expanded to show serial comm data for troubleshooting. The relay buttons light to show the actual remote relay driver status... I don't assume commands were received at the remote site! A/D update rates are adjustable from .1 to 2 sec. All 8 meters are sampled at the same time, as well as the digital status inputs. There is a flashing "Connect" indicator to verify the remote connection and speed. 

There well be a "patch panel" on the commercial version that allows you to tie relay activation to frequency changes if desired... for instance, your tribander could be selected whenever the rig is on 20, 15 or 10m. This would allow multiple relays per band to allow for switching loading coils for 160 and 80 meter antennas. There is also a built-in frequency counter in the hardware, as in several of my other projects, to make this function available without the need for TRX. The counter displays actual frequency when transmitting, and most recent frequency in receive. The counter doesw not require a connection to the rig... a small wire pickup antenna is all that is needed.

The program will work with desktop remote control programs like pcAnywhere, winVNC and XP Remote Desktop of course. And, as always, will be able to be used with serial device servers as documented in the Remote Control of Networked Station Equipment section of my website.

For the advanced version, I will use macros to control the relays instead of 1:1 relay buttons. The setup page allows the input of two strings of relay positions for "on" and "off". I provide the ability to name each macro, to allow automatic selection based on a frequency range, and the ability to designate each macro as a momentary pulse as opposed to steady-state. Here is an example of the setup page...

The macros "LinearOn", "LinearOff",  "Acc On" and "Acc Off" would operate as normal on/off commands. The macro "MstrRst" would send a momentary closure to a computer, serial server or router to reset or reboot.

The macro, "160A", in this case turns on the 160m relay 07, which controls antenna switching. The macro also selects a tap on an L-Network to tune a vertical to the low end of the band using relays 08 & 09 select the taps. "160B" selects mostly the same relays, but uses relays 08 & 10 to select the L-network taps. For both, all the other antenna related relays are turned off.  When selecting the "80" macro, the 160m relays are deactivated, and the 80m rely is activated.

With this design, the relays can be controlled in any combination to handle a variety of tasks, including antenna tuning, direction switching for antennas like the 4-square or beverage, routing of transverters, etc. In this example linear amplifier bandswitching is handled by band data hardwired from the rig, but relays could be used as well.