The WB2 “REMote” Link
With this system going for you, you need never be out of reach of your radio station.
By James Millner, WB2REM
7 Winnipeg La
Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
“CQ 20 meters...this is WB2REM bicycle mobile remote.” In response to this call last summer, a VU2 came back to
me via long path from India. He asked “What type of mobile did you say?” When he paused to listen, I knew he could hear
my huffing and puffing into the microphone. Between pedaling my bike up a steep hilland working my farthest
bicycle-mobile contact everI had difficulty talking! I replied, “Bike mobile...and I’m on my way to work!” He couldn’t
believe what he’d heard...
Who’s This Project For?
Certainly, it’s not for bicyclists only. Do you like to have ready access to your radio in case there’s an emergency in
your community or your part of the world? Do you live in a community that has severe antenna restrictions? Are you like
me in that it’s difficult for you to be away from your radio because you’re afraid to miss that rare DX station? If you’ve
answered “yes” to one or more of these questions, then this project’s for you!
General Description
Figure 1 is a block diagram of the system that I’ve used successfully over a 15-year period. With it, I’ve made over
3000 contacts in over 200 countries. Basically, this system allows you to remotely control your HF station through a UHF
uplink and a VHF downlink in half-duplex mode, or on 222 or 440-MHz simplex. You can use the link to turn your HF rig (or
rigs) on and off, change operating frequencies and maintain access to your home station from as far away as your
UHF/VHF system will reachall by remote control.
There are a few things about this system that may surprise you. For one, it doesn’t require a computer or repeater.
It’s powered solely by a 5-V dc supply. Most of the parts are available at Radio Shack and the system costs less than
$150 to build. Sound interesting?
What Gear Do I Need?
You need a UHF receiver and a VHF transmitter to operate half duplex at your home station. For the remote station,
you need a duplex UHF/VHF radio which should employ diode (fast) TR switching. The link has an on-board simplex
sampler (explained later) that’s needed if you’re operating simplex. A time-out timer and beepers are included. These
circuits are crucial in the event of signal fades, or if you get out of range of your home station. After a preset time, your HF
rig is turned off completely. Once reactivated by DTMF commands, the link returns to operational readiness.
The HF End
For the remotely controlled HF transceiver, you’ll need a Kenwood TS-440S or similar rig. With the TS-440S, all HF
station control is handled via the microphone jack. Voice-synthesized frequency readout is accomplished by using a
negative-going signal to trigger the transceiver’s voice synthesizer. (If your radio doesn’t have a voice synthesizer, you’ll
have to develop another approach to verifying the radio’s operating frequency.) The TS-440S has 100 frequency
memories that can be selected via the microphone. If your radio doesn’t have this capability, you may be limited to
single-frequency operation.
Construction
During the following discussion, refer to Figure 2. The easiest way to construct this project is on a PC board
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January 1995 QST Volume 79, Number 1
Page 1 - Copyright © 1996 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All rights reserved
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