Flex Radio Group Access Control Features

atticus

Are there existing solutions for automated management of group access to a Flex radio?
The desired scenario is this:
Park Cities Amateur Radio Club (www.parkcitiesarc.com) purchases multiple Flex radios and installs them remotely located from the urban community in an electrically quiet QTH. Club provides access to the radios as a club perk - perhaps for a fee to cover costs. Ideally the club could add approved users, assign time limits, allow emergency lockouts, enable pay-to-play club donations to extend access times, etc.
Does anything like this exist already?
Thanks in advance!
73
ki5kmq

Stan VA7NF

The Surrey B.C. ARC is also interested in remote operating and have been interested for several years.

A new glitch, and one you should be aware, is the Canadian regulations require an "advanced" license and, without that ruling, have different regulations for different license classifications such a mode and power limitations.

A rule-of-thumb in software programming is "You cant make a software solution for a management problem". With that in mind the remote operator is responsible for his/her activity but is the club ultimately responsible for permitting that usage of their station.

Any person may operate locally or remotely providing there is a "Control Operator". That may mean your station operation may require a control and on-site monitor/operator. Check your local regulations.

KD0RC

The short answer is "no". SmartLink has one user and one password tied to whatever radios are registered to that SmartLink account. Not great for club operation where it would be desirable to hand out and control individual member logons.

I don't know if using a VPN with its member control facility is any help, but that might be a place to look for a solution (perhaps by controlling who can power the radio on and off).

John KB4DU

This is the reason the local club (Wiregrass ARC) doesn’t have a flex in the club station.

Mike-VA3MW

There are a few solutions.

Some clubs have SoftEther VPN connections running that allow them to control the radio power. Each login is unique to that user. This works well. That got them access to the remote power switch. This is a very simple and effective way to control user access. If the radio is off, SmartLink to the radio will not connect.

If you think of it an other way, if a club had a remote station and members had the key to the building then you had to trust them to do the right thing. This is no different as we are all professionals. It really depends on how much micro management you want to apply.