Help with Raspberry pi

W7NIK

Node red  Control panel. or any panel that  has all the control on one panel.
I have following system ,
flex 6500 networked, 
SPE 1k-FA amp , 
ERC usb rotor control ,
Wavenode sensors, USB  for amp input and out put.
Kmtronic Udp relay. for remote antenna switch and FLex, amp remote start .
Steppir sda100 controller FTDI USB 
Windows 10 computer 
Software ,  PSTRotator AZ Wavenode,  N1MM,  FRS stacks . 

I am looking for a Raspberry Pi board that  i can connect to my network.  I am not sure what to buy?
 First question , can I view the wave node sensors without running the software .
Second question, Easy Rotor  Control boards  can be controlled? USB  connection.
Third,  What type of operating system do I install on the Raspberry PI ?  Can i just locally remote into and control the station via  Raspberry PI board . 
If the out puts are USB on a windows 10 computer how does the NODE red  raspberry pi  connect to the devices? 
Am I just wasting my time  if everything is not LAN based connections. 
Do I connect all my USB FTDI stuff to the raspberry PI ?
Right now i have click on many programs to work everything FRS stacks has missing things like the  HOME  button  when i am on 80m /160 m
Frs stack has  no relay controls, i would have to  enter IP address and UDP command . 
please  send me some ideas, .

nickw7nik@gmail.com

JohnK2CIB

What are you trying to do?  Replace the Windows computer with the pi?

Alan

Nick, I can respond to some of your questions:

"What type of operating system do I install on the Raspberry PI ?"  ------- I use the normal, Raspian, operating system.   Available on the Raspberry Pi web page.   Next, go to the "node-red" web page and they have simple instructions on how to load Node-Red.  There are many You Tube videos on how to do this.

"Can i just locally remote into and control the station via  Raspberry PI board?" --- You access the Node-Red flows using any Web Browser on any computer or smart phone.  

"If the out puts are USB on a windows 10 computer how does the NODE red  raspberry pi  connect to the devices" ---- Only the Web Browser runs on the Windows computer.  Any hardware-based inputs or outputs are performed on the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins (general purpose input output).  In the case of web controlled switches, such as your kmtronics, you send UDP or HTTP or TCP commands out from the Raspbery Pi's LAN connection to the device.

"Am I just wasting my time  if everything is not LAN based connections"----no, but it gets complicated.  Many use serial to IP converters to get the various devices, like your Stepp IR controller inputs into the Raspberry Pi via your LAN.

"Do I connect all my USB FTDI stuff to the raspberry PI" ---  I have a combination.  I have one Flex USB cable inputted into my Raspberry Pi to get band and PTT information.  I use another Flex USB cable to directly input frequency data into my Stepp iR controller.

General Comment.

What you describe is a "tall order".   Yes, it can be done, but many of the devices you describe would need some custom Node-Red work to be completed.

In my case, I have found it hard to do better than third-party apps, such as FRStack.   Mark is a genius when it comes to extracting utility from the Flex Client Radio.

I use Node-Red to fill in some of the missing gaps and more extensively to control the DC power distribution, antenna control, and various sensors such as temperature, current, and voltage.

Alan
WA9WUD