Remote monitor update

Jon_KF2E

I had posted a while back about my plans to build a remote monitor for my station in this post.

https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/remote_station_monitor

Well, I've been working for a while and here is a little update.

I decided before I built the monitor that I needed a cabinet to house my radio, power supply, monitoring equipment etc. so I first built this.



The top section is 8U worth of rack space for the radio, power supply and monitoring box. The next section will hold the power supply for my Quadra amp. The bottom section is for my computer. Notice the sides are made with perforated screen to provide max ventilation. It's also on casters so I can get to the back easily.

Next, I built my Ardurino based monitor. It is inclosed in a 2U case and so far I have it monitoring voltage and load from the power supply to radio and providing contact closures to turn on the radio and my amp. I also have two additional sets of closures that are as yet unused. Here are a couple pictures of the monitor box.



You can see it showing a load of .3 amps on the left and 13.8 volts on the right.



Here are the guts of the monitor box with the arduino top center, shunt and voltage sensor left and 4X relay module right.



This is the back on the monitor with power supply input on the right, powerpole outputs next left, ethernet and USB(for programing) and finally two RCA connectors for contcat closures.

The ethernet connection allows the info to be read from my iphone and here is a screen capture of the iphone showing the monitor status.



I also have it configured to report the temperature and humidity in the shack but don't have the sensor installed yet. . I'm planning to also have it remotely report my antenna heading. I'm having some problems with the heading as the compass module I planed to put in one of the EHUs of my SteppIR antenna just isn't reliable enough. I'm working now trying to tap the heading info from my Yaesu controller to send to my iphone app.

Oh well, still lots to do but I thought I would post this update and see if anyone had any suggestions for improvement.

When I'm finished I will post comprehensive details of the project including my sources for everything I used.

73,

Jon...kf2e

Joe WD5Y

Really looks great Jon. It shows you put a lot of thought and work in the project. I did something similar with a floor server rack that I installed casters on. I installed amplifier, wavenode power monitor, antenna switch, auto tuner, and power supplies in my unit but honestly not to the extent of the monitor unit you have built. I did install a self made relay unit that works off of my wavenode unit to provide some control circuitry. Again, great unit from a lot of thought and work. 73's Joe WD5Y

DrTeeth

That looks like a really nice project. Just one thing I cannot see...where is the **** cooler? That is the only thing missing, hi hi.

KY6LA_Howard

Needs an argon wine chiller and a couple of dancing girls

Jon_KF2E

You guys are missing the point. This is so I can be in a pub, or out with the dancing girls and still operate safely when I get that spotting txt saying a P5 station just came on the air.

KY6LA_Howard

Jon Greetings from Paris That what I have been doing for the past 2 years from18 different countries without the need for all that carpentry. Nothing blows up. Everything is remotely , totally safely controlled with redundancy and remote reboots when needed. BTW I can't stress how important it is to have remote reboot capabilities on every piece of machinery

Dale KB5VE

Really sharp set up like the name says "flex" and everybody can do what they want. I have attaced photos of my set up. When my bank closed my location I was lucky enought to get anything I wanted so I took my setup and installed in my home office. Note the hutch with all my radios , power supplies and internet modems which I keep closed. All my cables are run inside the framework and the covering panels can p Be popped off to access any cables. You can see my alpha 8410 amp and pal star 4t tuner below it housed in a cabinet I made and has now been replaced by the rack in the second picture. I was able to give three other local hams this same set up and let me tell you those were some happy hams! We can make our stations anything we want.

DrTeeth

Kudos in spades.