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Implement wake on lan - F6k and PGXL

G8ZPX
G8ZPX Member
edited June 2020 in New Ideas

At the moment external trickery is required to do remote power-up/down of remote Flex 6k radio and soon the PGXL amp.

A much cleaner and smarter method, not needing any 3rd party external **** would be to implement the wake-on-lan feature (WOL/WWOL). Almost all I.T. kit connected via Ethernet has this capability and every decent server is shipped that way as standard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN

I support hundreds of remote access sites and my life would be hellish and very wasteful without WOL.  Not a complicated bit of software, no hardware or cable spaghetti needed....a SMART solution.

Please vote if your setup would benefit from this.

«1

Comments

  • Ben Laws
    Ben Laws Member
    edited June 2017
    Well put! Definitely a good idea.
  • Jim Gilliam
    Jim Gilliam Member ✭✭
    edited July 2018

    I don't think this WOL is possible with the 6300, 500, 700. Had I been head of the engineering department, this would have been an obvious addition to the 400, 600 series.


    Jim, k6QE

  • G8ZPX
    G8ZPX Member
    edited June 2017
    Actually, its normally part of the Ethernet/WIFI NIC chipset. Only requiring the software to act upon the hardware triggers.
  • Mike va3mw
    Mike va3mw Member ✭✭
    edited February 2018
    I have no issue turning on or off my 6300 remotely with my web relay. Since you may need these for additional remote functions, dedicating a relay was a non-issue.
  • Jim Gilliam
    Jim Gilliam Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017

    Yes, you are correct, but that is not the only way to "skin a cat."


    Jim, K6QE

  • Jim Gilliam
    Jim Gilliam Member ✭✭
    edited February 2018

    I think you are missing the point.

     That is the same argument as why have WAN capabilities when I can easily use my VPN.
  • Mike va3mw
    Mike va3mw Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    Not at all. Rather than wait for it, I just worked around it so that it wasn't a showstopper for me. Yes, it would be a nice to have for some. Personally, I have had limited success with WOL, but I suspect that is just my lack of experience with it.
  • Jay -- N0FB
    Jay -- N0FB Member ✭✭
    edited December 2019
    My post from 2 years ago: https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/shut-down-via-ip Welcome to the party.
  • Pat N6PAT
    Pat N6PAT Member ✭✭
    edited September 2018
    Put me down as a "Yes". Sounds like a great option to include in V2
  • Ken Hansen
    Ken Hansen Member ✭✭
    edited June 2018
    An elegant solution, but one that requires a hardware change as well as a software change I suspect - even if the chosen etbternet chipset supports WOL, there is 'glue logic' needed to implement the feature to control the power feed to the rest of the radio.
  • Kirk
    Kirk Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    Great idea and one that should be implimented. 
  • G8ZPX
    G8ZPX Member
    edited July 2018
    kind of goes hand-in-glove with the core principle of it being a remote "radio server" ?
  • Bob G   W1GLV
    Bob G W1GLV Member ✭✭
    edited June 2020
    How do you **** the transmitter remotely with WOL. This is an FCC requirement. I'm not that savvy with the depths of TCP/IP.
  • Toby Payne
    Toby Payne Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    I could really implement it.  
  • Ria
    Ria Member ✭✭✭
    edited November 2019
    I like the idea of WOL. Shaves a few cents off the power bill and adds longevity to the fans. Makes me feel nice and green too even though this household is pretty darned energy efficient. I upvoted this. 
  • Ken Hansen
    Ken Hansen Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    WOL would not '**** the transmitter', it is only a power on function.
  • Pat N6PAT
    Pat N6PAT Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    You could use an IP outlet like Wemo to **** the AC power going to your DC PS which in turn will **** the power to your Flex
  • John Cooper
    John Cooper Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    Killing the AC power is a rough way to shut the radio down.  My Astron power supply slowly lingers as the output voltage wanders it's way down to zero.  A software shut down is much better. Locally, the front panel power switch is a momentary toggle switch to start the power down (and also the power up) sequences.  Remotely, the radio should use the Remote Power Down sequence available at the RCA jack on the rear of the radio.  This allows the software to orderly exit the software routines it's running.   
  • Tim - W4TME
    Tim - W4TME Administrator, FlexRadio Employee admin
    edited June 2017
    A best practice would be to use cascading power up devices.  One on the DC power supply and another on the REM ON connector.  In general, you would always use the REM ON to power up and down the radio.  The one on the DC power supply would be used as an emergency "**** switch" of if you want to power off everything immediately or shut down for an extended period of time.

    You can shut down the radio by abruptly removing the DC power, as the file system is very robust and to the best of my knowledge a file system failure due to this has never occurred, but it isn't a best practice.
  • k3Tim
    k3Tim Member ✭✭✭
    edited May 2020
    I recall a reply some time back concerning remote on/off not being possible because there is no power available once the radio shuts down. For W0L (or other methods) would require a sub-system in the 6x00 be powered continuously and act on the event.

    The 6400 $$ question: does the new 6k series support remote on/off.

    Interestingly (?) a good smartphone has 32 or more power domains that can be powered up/down as needed. 

    _..-- 
    k3Tim /6

  • Tim - W4TME
    Tim - W4TME Administrator, FlexRadio Employee admin
    edited June 2017
    The 6400 $$ question: does the new 6k series support remote on/off.

    Yes
  • Norm - W7CK
    Norm - W7CK Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    I wish you would give a few details Tim.

    I'm assuming it requires external hardware to accomplish the on/off function such as an external relay wired into the jack on the back of the rig and operated by yet another external device.   It would be nice if it supported on/off via TCP/IP - across the network.
  • Ken Hansen
    Ken Hansen Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    As I read the documentation, something as simple as a Raspberry Pi with a relay driven by one of the I/O pins on the Raspberry Pi and a simple web page to toggle the relay should suffice. A project like that would be fairly trivial, IMHO. For example: Web control of power outlets - http://www.instructables.com/id/Web-Controlled-8-Channel-Powerstrip/ Web control of LEDs - http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-and-intuitive-web-interface-for-your-Raspbe/
  • WV9L
    WV9L Member ✭✭
    edited February 2019
    For what its worth.....a cheap remote power solution sold at Walmart. Try an ecoplug. For under $20 and a free app. You can control several of them. I have one on my 6500 and one on a cabinet fan on a DMR repeater i maintain about 100mi away. You can do simple on/off, set times schedules, etc. imageimageimageimage
  • WV9L
    WV9L Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    I simply have an RCA plug on the remote power on plug on the back of the 6500 and control the AC to the Astron supply.
  • WV9L
    WV9L Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    For a more elaborate or multifunction option i know Remoterig offers an ip relay interface for contolling power, rotors, etc. they also offer ip controlled antenna switches.
  • KY6LA_Howard
    KY6LA_Howard Member ✭✭✭
    edited June 2017
    I useacouple of Digital Logger Web Switches image
  • Ken Hansen
    Ken Hansen Member ✭✭
    edited November 2019
    Nice, just ordered one off eBay, looks like a nice, simple option. So you simply control the radio power supply, and the radio powers on because you've jumpered the Remote On jack, or do you have a 120v relay that jumpers the remote on jack? Thanks Howard
  • Norm - W7CK
    Norm - W7CK Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    I'm not sure what you mean by "I simply have an RCA plug on the remote power on plug on the back of the 6500 and control the AC to the Astron supply".   Maybe I don't understand what your doing but I don't think it is a good practace to just turn off the 12v dc power to the rig when you want to turn it off.  The Flex radio is a computer and I believe it should go through a normal shut down procdure.

    Can you describe what your doing a little bit better for me? 

    I have 2 ways to control the rig.  1: A remote controlled relay to the RCA plug on the back of the rig which triggers the NORMAL start up / shut down procedures.   2: A remote controlled switch to cut 12v power to the rig in the event the Flex is unresponsive to step 1.


  • WV9L
    WV9L Member ✭✭
    edited June 2017
    Thats what i do with the eco switch i posted above. Jumper remote on jack and cycle the eco switch, which cycles the supply, thus the 12v to rig.

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