Setting up to operate remote within my house

Keith Mitchell

Should be picking up my first Flex unit within 2 weeks. My current plan is to have the Flex 6400 sitting next to a window in the back of the house so that I can keep the coax run short.  I have ethernet to my wifi router in the front of the house where I would prefer to operate (the man cave)  I have an Intel i7Nuc connected to the router via ethernet and will run Smart SDR and  digital mode apsp on this cpu which will be connected to my Hi-def TV for viewing. I was planning to start without a maestro for now. My question is, how do I set up in this arrangement for CW?  I have a USB audio interface on the PC. Should I be able to use the microphone connected to that for SSB contacts?  How would a Maestro improve things? I just live 10 miles from Flex headquarters here in Austin, so looking forward to being part of the user base!

Joe N3HEE

Without a Maestro you will have to use the keyboard to send CW via the CWX app built into SmartSDR.  There are other CW keyboard apps you can use such as FRLogger.  You may find it more convenient to locate the radio in the man cave. 

Ha Gei

You don´t need a MAESTRO for CW. Instead of the maestro just use a PC / laptop close by the Radio so you can connect the Key/Paddles directly intot thé 6K4
Also, there are quite e a few possibilities to connect the paddles remotely. 

You can use any PC Headset , just select PC from the MIC selection box . 

L.Kubis

Try using an Ethernet over Powerline connection between your radio and the router Keith.
I've been using a NETGEAR POWERLINE 1200 for well over a year flawlessly. Never had much success using WiFi for live streaming within the house as there were too many things on it.

Cheers
Lloyd
VE3ERQ

Ha Gei

Powerline and no Interferences ? ..  I allways made a wide arc around these things ..  
Would be nice to hear it works without any new noise adding

Mike W9OJ

I once tried a powerline ethernet extender but returned it because it generated bad interference on 30 meters. Different units will deliver different results. There's only one way to find out if it will work for you.

Keith Mitchell

Thanks Joe, I am not a CW expert, but would like to be one and don't see that happening letting the software send and decode.  I'll do the math to see if running the coax to the front of the house is wise. All I can use in my neighborhood is wire antennas so don't want to give up anything to coax. Alternatively, I can get a Maestro and relocate to the back of the house when I am feeling like CW.   

Keith Mitchell

can you describe what you mean by remote connection of the paddles? 

Keith Mitchell

I was not clear.  I have Ethernet throughout the house including from the rig to the router.  wifi would only be for a Maestro if I should purchase one and even that could be on ethernet if needed.

bahillen

Maestro works for CW remotely. A recent bug in 2.5.1 and 3.0.27 prevent that until hopefully the next bug fix. I run shielded wire in the house to my radio that is close to the antenna.

Keith Mitchell

can you expand on what you mean by shielded wire? 

bahillen

For paddle.

bahillen

Three conductors with a shield got the paddle. To back of radio.

Keith Mitchell

interesting! 

Ha Gei

one possible way :https://iw7dmh.jimdo.com/utilities-for-remote-operations/sw-keyer-for-remote-operations/

I was reading about at least one more using winkeyer .


Another way would be to buy a cheap 2nd hand mini PC ( if there is not spare oe at hand ) , have it sitting next to the 6K4. Use the Rs232 for keying ( rts/dtr) and then use some of these Serial over ethernet solutions to just transfer the RS232 over to your remote PC.There you can use CWTYPE which allows to use Keyboard as well as remote paddles. 
That PC can then also be used as a Flex Console at the 6K4 Location. 
There is only one real reason for  a Maestro ( which in fact is a PC in the shape of  a Radio panel ) that is when you want to use real knobs instead of a PC Program with probably a lot of connected things around. 

John KB4DU

Keith;

Extending the feedline will probably not affect your operation. Depending on the type of coax(?) and the frequencies involved, a few more feet of feedline will probable incur a fraction of a dB of additional loss, which is not perceptible. 3 dB loss on transmit, which is half the power, is only one/half an S unit, barely discernible to the ear, especially with AGC on.

On receive, the difference may be much less, since any external noise picked up by the antenna is reduced the same amount as the signal. So the signal to noise ratio stays the same.

So, generally put the radio where it is convenient.

Keith Mitchell

Thanks, the coax would have to run through the attic, which I was dreading due to the nature of the architecture, but I probably could pay someone to "pull" it with some type of long reaching   rod.  Would certainly make the setup more straight forward, so will give that some serious thought.  I can spend a little extra on low loss coax. Got the grounding system for the antenna installed this morning and an end fed antenna up in the air, so getting close to being ready for the 6400!

John KB4DU

While my internet connection was down, I found the reference I was looking for. Page 20.6 of the 2019 version of the Handbook has a table of line loss. For RG-58 (the worst on the table), it takes 30 feet at 50Mhz to get an additional 1dB of loss, and it is less at lower frequencies, 122 feet for 1 dB of loss at 3.6 MHz.

RG8X is 43 feet for 1dB at 50MHz, and LMR400 is 115 feet for 1 dBat 50 MHz.

Getting the antenna up first is a really smart move. Many people wait until the radio arrives to put up an antenna, and then just throw something out the window, really handicapping radio.

Keith Mitchell

I am using LMR 400 coax. Yes, my plan is to have all the software installed, ethernet setup and tested, and having watched all the tutorials I can find before picking up the unit. I hope to have the rig on the air shortly after getting it out of the box. I have been playing with an SDRplay RSP1A  receive unit for about half a year, so going to Flex should be straight forward. and of course I have all you guys at my back. 

Steve K9ZW

At my prior house I had a lot of difficulty getting cabling in, so I hired an electrician to do the job. https://k9zw.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/repost-cable-routing/ Like you I figured that the extra length of feedline was fairly insignificant to actual operations. Just pulled the wiring last week after over ten years of great service, as we sell the house. 73 Steve K9ZW Blog: http://k9zw.wordpress.com