HAM Radio - DroneBot Workshop Forums

Ham Radio : External Controller

Anoracknophobia — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 13:25:15 +0000

I began my Arduino based project about 7 years ago.

I was a relatively new Operator, with an equally shinny new radio, an Icom 7300 that I’d bought in late 2016. Unlike historic transceivers, the functionality of many of the buttons and switches normally associated with operating a Ham Radio were provided via a touch screen interface. That was fine, except that I soon found frequent pecking at the screen a little annoying.
Fortunately, most of the “controls” and their attributes are accessible via a serial communications protocol which required a small hardware interface and initially just a little software for an Arduino. I soon had a few buttons which could change Modes ( LSB, USB, AM, FM ) and later Bands ( 160, 80, 40, 20 metres ) too.

I’m happy to share more detail about progress and where it’s heading, in the mean time attached is a brief video https://youtu.be/3HAXr0ZAMkE?si=MAcbytGlmrGHprSh

Antennas

DualFuel — Sun, 20 Feb 2022 14:48:49 +0000

3996 3997 4000

These are all 2.4 GHz antennas I have been using for my projects. The first is a Ubiquiti Nanobridge M2 integrated 24vdc POE (power over Ethernet) router. It was flashed with AREDN (Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network) firmware. The firmware and router are supposed to act like a backup internet, with a network of these routers providing a decentralized mesh network. In my case, this thing is worthless because there are no other hams within the radio range of this frequency. In fact there are no detectable 2.4GHz signals around me at all.

The parabolic dish antenna can be fitted to a router with a removable antenna like a Linksys WRT54G, or a ESP32 board. An example of it's use is for a remote packet station I have. Packet radio is like a sms message service from the 1980s. It uses ax.25 to send 1200 baud packets on VHF and UHF frequencies. I put the tower, VHF radio, packet controller, Raspberry Pi A, and WRT54G up on a hill, where the antenna can reach Grand Marais, Minnesota(94mi). From the hill, the parabolic dish beams the data down to my ham shack as TCP/IP packets, I log into the pi on the hill via ssh and using "screen" I read the ax.25 packet data on my computer screen in the shack.

The third antenna is a 2.4 GHz Yagi antenna. It is similar to the parabolic dish, in that it's elements serve to focus it's radio energy in a tight beam. This antenna is a lot less ungainly then the parabolic dish, and survives the weather much better.

When using these antennas, the biggest frustration is ordering the right feed line adapter fittings.

Dual Band Mobile HAM radio question

tentoes — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 19:19:13 +0000

Hi all recently I got my Technician’s License and I would like to get a mobile radio so I can carry it in a backpack, put it in my car and use it as a home rig as well. I am most curious about the “dual band” radios that can act as a repeater (UHF to VHF or vice versa). Specifically can anyone direct me to resources where I can find out more about the actual internal circuitry of these radios?