2022-11-14 ARES of Delaware County Meeting Agenda, November 14, 7pm, In-Person at 911 Center and Zoom Online

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Meeting URL:

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Discussion of ICOM SDR (software defined radio) and software control available

Icom has been at the technological forefront in Amateur radio for the last 50 years delivering product innovation, cutting edge design and performance and intuitive use in their products. With the introduction of the IC-9700, we now have an even more impressive line-up which will take pride of place in any shack.

ICOM RS-BA1 Remote Control Software ($140)

RS-BA1 IP Remote Control Software - Features - Icom America

Whether users are in another room, home or state, the RSBA1 allows users to operate their ham shack with only an IP connection. Version 2 of RSBA1 adds more features to the software, making interoperability between transceivers such as the IC-7610 or the IC-9700 interface simpler. The recent additions include:

• Rx Voice recording function
• [MUTE] button
• RIT tuning knob and ΔTX functions
• SUB dial
• Dualwatch operation and dual spectrum scopes with waterfall functions * can be used on a remote PC (RS-BA1 can be used with single receiver transceivers too).

*Dualwatch and dual spectrum devices are only for the IC-7851, IC-7850 and IC-7610. The spectrum scope functions (single receive) are compatible with the IC-7300 and IC-9700.

SDR-Control for ICOM on iPad ($50)

SDR-Control for Icom on the App Store (apple.com)

Software Defined Radio Client for Icom Transceivers and your iPad

SDR-Control is a full featured iPad App to operate your Icom Transceiver at home or from around the world without additional Hard- or Software.

Important: This App requires one of the following Icom Transceivers: IC-705, IC-7610 or IC-9700

wfview (free/open source)

https://www.wfview.org/ 

Welcome to wfview! wfview is a program that allows many modern Icom ham radio transceivers (such as the IC-7300, IC-9700, IC-7610, IC-R8600, the IC-705, and many others) to be controlled via a computer. wfview shows the gorgeous spectrum display on whatever display is connected, including projectors, touch screens, and TVs. wfview allows for full radio control from a computer keyboard and basic control from a numeric keypad. wfview can run on hardware ranging from the $35 Raspberry Pi to laptops to desktops. wfview runs on recent versions of Linux, macOS, and Windows. wfview supports rig control over ethernet/wifi as well as over the traditional USB serial CIV bus. wfview also allows older radios to be accessed over the internet, for full control and low-latency audio streaming.

The project’s goals are simple: Develop a free and open-source program for ham radio and SWL users to enjoy using modern radios on modern operating systems, free of charge, and with open source code.

wfview development started in 2018, by Elliott (W6EL) as a simple way to view the waterfall on Linux, for the purpose of displaying these data on large screens. Since then, it has evolved to support a number of radios, and it has gained considerable functionality (including network connections) thanks to a growing group of enthusiastic developers. wfview is, quite simply, a program that we (the developers) all wanted to use, and as such, it has grown rapidly as we continue to pour our ideas into the roadmap.

Back at the July 2022 meeting, we saw how to get Winlink installed and using the Telnet protocol to send messages using the internet.

ARES of Delaware County In-Person Meeting Agenda, July 11, 7pm, 911 Center (delcoares.net)

Tonight, we'll send messages/forms using the radio and connecting to a Winlink RMS remote message server using radio frequency (RF).

We will also look at how to expand your connectivity with Winlink RMS servers using the Super Digipeaters in the local area.

Chester County Improvements to VARA FM Winlink Network (delcoares.net)

Chester County has made a few improvements to its VARA FM Network on 145.670 this week with the addition of two VARA FM Super Digi's. They are both in testing mode but usable across the region. 1st one is on the Charlestown tower in Chester County the 2nd is in Roxborough. 

So the current network configuration is as follows on 145.670: 

Roxborough Super Digi W3EOC-3 (Wide)
Charlestown Super Digi W3EOC-6 (Narrow)
West Chester EOC Digi W3EOC-4 (Narrow)

I'll go over the process for connecting a Signalink USB device to an ICOM 4100/5100 (and similar other radios) to your computer to use digital modes such as Winlink.

SignaLink USB Interface (tigertronics.com)

I did this remotely last month but that wasn't terribly successful, so I'll do a hands-on demonstration.