Remote CW Keying over the internet of an Elecraft K3S - QRQ CW test - 80 wpm

Using an audio derived cw keying circuit to key CW on the K3S : http://qrqcwnet.ning.com/forum/topics/what-circuit-for-computer
- with the circuit attached to the K3S cw keying jack...and being key'ed remotely via a voice chat program called MUMBLE: https://sites.google.com/site/tomw4bqf/copyingcwover70wpm
using the iCW PRO MUMBLE SERVER:
https://sites.google.com/site/icwoip/

a test was recorded where a remote laptop was sending CW audio tones from FLdigi, to the iCW PRO MUMBLE SERVER located in TEXAS...the K3S has its own computer and mumble client - to receive the remote morse code audio tones from the laptop, and convert them into a cw keying signal using one of the circuits mentioned in the link above... this video was just an experiment to see how well the K3S would key qrq cw using this method of remote cw keying over the internet. THE K3S sends back to the remote user the K3S MONITOR SIDETONE audio...the sidetone behavior of the K3S, closely matches its RF OUTPUT behavior, so it is very easy to detect any possible cw keying errors coming out of the K3S, or other things possibly going awry from the setup - by just listening to how your sidetone is sounding...if the sidetone does not sound right , the K3S RF output is going to mimic whatever is going wrong with the sidetone that you might be hearing... ie packet losses, packet delays will make the K3 key "funny"

text sent from FLdigi at 80 wpm was used from W4BQF, TOM's famous COPYING CW OVER 70 WPM article :https://sites.google.com/site/tomw4bqf/copyingcwover70wpm

BASIC CONCEPT:
using morse code audio tones from the remote user, transmitted to the input of their MUMBLE voice chat voip CLIENT, then being received on RIG's local mumble client/computer, which connects to the K3S RIG via the audio derived cw keying switch circuit

NOTE: all RF OUTPUT of the K3S during this test was going to a 50 OHM DUMMY LOAD

Views: 930

Comment by Chuck aa0hw on August 19, 2017 at 10:21am

Here is a LIVE recording of an HF 40 METER QSO as an example of using the REMOTE SETUP:

This video demo's a remote laptop station CW keying an Elecraft K3S using paddles, straight key, and a cw keyboard(FLdigi)
- as an example of how it works, a LIVE CW HF QSO on 40 meters has been recorded...

An audio derived cw keying circuit is used to key the K3S remotely:
http://qrqcwnet.ning.com/forum/topics/what-circuit-for-computer

BASIC SETUP FORMAT:

the K3S has its own LINUX computer and uses MUMBLE VOICE CHAT to receive cw audio tones from the remote laptop...
on the K3S LINUX computer, the Mumble Client sends the receive from laptop's audio to the VLeveL AGC app first, then from the output of VLeveL AGC app, the audio goes to a USB SOUND CARD(with included audio amp) that has an audio cable connecting its audio output to the hardware transformer input of the audio derived cw keying circuit. The circuit rectifies the cw audio tones from the Rig's COMPUTER mumble output, and turns on a transistor that grounds the hot lead of the K3S CW KEYING JACK and thus keys the RIG like normal... the K3S at the same time, in full duplex audio, is sending the HF RECEIVE audio back to the laptop remote station over MUMBLE, using another usb sound card that only uses its LINE INPUT(so there are 2 sounds cards used, one just for transmitting and the other just for receiving...)

http://vlevel.sourceforge.net/about/
http://groundstation.sourceforge.net/grig/
https://www.realvnc.com/en/

NOTE: THE VLeveL Linux app is essential for this method to work well, it functions as an automatic volume(gain) controller so that no matter how much volume of cw audio from the laptop is going to the rig's cw keying circuit, the VLeveL app will keep the audio exactly the same, just like an AGC CIRCUIT, then you can "dial in " how much audio you want going to the circuit, which will allow you to adjust how light or heavy you want your cw keying to sound like...by adjusting the sound card's own volume control...

RealVNC , and GRIG, are used on the remote rig's computer..so you can control the frequency of the RIG and a few other of the rig's controls...

NOTE: to key CW using paddles, and st key on the remote laptop station, here is the method used on LINUX:
http://i.imgur.com/1E8ncU5.png
(a cw keyer keys a 555 chip, with a square wave audio output, that connects to the laptop's mic jack input, from there it is regenerated using TRIGGER MIDI MONO and midiCW):
http://qrqcwnet.ning.com/profiles/blogs/using-the-linux-lv2-plugin-...

Comment by Chuck aa0hw on November 4, 2017 at 11:58am

Here is another video demo of a FREE REMOTE RIG setup using a RASPBERRY PI & some free software.  This setup allows for remote operations using morse code, voice, rig control and Log book:

- this video demo's a Raspberry PI 2b, setup for remote rig operations - controlled from a remote LINUX LAPTOP -

A Raspberry PI connects software and hardware to the RIG
3 audio derived RIG CW KEYING circuits are used:
http://qrqcwnet.ning.com/forum/topics/what-circuit-for-computer
- one to key the CW JACK, one to key the PTT jack and another one to key the CW JACK(for remote's paddles/st key)


software used:
1. FLdigi
2. FLrig
3. FLlog
4. TRX

TRX is an OPUS codec Linux audio streaming CLI app using ALSA
http://www.pogo.org.uk/~mark/trx/
http://www.pogo.org.uk/~mark/trx/tx.txt
http://www.pogo.org.uk/~mark/trx/rx.txt
https://github.com/eugenehp/trx/wiki/trx:-Realtime-audio-over-IP
https://github.com/schlowmo/trx

FLdigi, FLrig
http://www.w1hkj.com/flrig-help/
https://sourceforge.net/projects/fldigi/

here is a list of the TRX audio streams made by TRX for this setup:
ONTHE RASPBERRY PI:
1. using the K3S's USB SOUND CARD (playback) TRX is setup to stream the RIG's receiver audio and RIG's sidetone(optional) to the remote HAM RADIO OP's computer's soundcard
2. one TRX RX audio stream is setup to receive the VOICE AUDIO from the remote HAM RADIO OP's MICrophone
3. another TRX RX audio stream(using a different port number) is setup to receive the morse code audio tones from the remote HAM RADIO OP's paddles and straight key

ON THE REMOTE HAM RADIO OP's COMPUTER:
1. TRX is setup to receive the audio stream from the PI, which is forwarding the rig's receiver audio including sidetone(optional)
2. TRX is setup to stream the audio from the paddles and straight key and transit it to the PI(uses the different port number 1351)
3. TRX is setup to stream the audio from the MIC to the PI

NOTE: on the receive streams, you have to experiment with the JITTER BUFFER -j to find the best setting for a stable audio stream...

NOTE: on the transmit streams, if you have a good internet connection, you may be able to lower the latency by lowering the value of the buffer using the -m command(default=16ms)

Comment by Chuck aa0hw on February 22, 2018 at 5:07pm

Here is another REMOTE RIG setup using the FREE UltraGrid AUDIO OVER IP software

Brief demo of using UltraGrid for RIG's transmit and receive audio -
both VOICE and CW(afcw mode) can be used with this setup -
for a REMOTE HAM RADIO OPERATOR using a laptop OVER IP to the HOME RIG(NOTE: FLRig is also used to control many knobs on the RIG over ip...previously demo'D on other vidZ in this channel)

NOTE: since the K3S has its own USB SOUND card, this makes it very useful for a remote rig setup like this, since you can choose that soundcard inside JACKROUTER as its audio device...a USB CABLE from the back of the K3S to the rig's computer USB PORT is all that is needed...in addition, you also have the use of FLRig too..through the K3S USB PORT's serial function...so you can get both AUDIO and CONTROL many of the K3S KNOBS via FLrig

ULTRAGRID:
http://www.ultragrid.cz/

UltraGrid has versions for MAC, LINUX and WINDOWS

this video is using LINUX - Lubuntu 16.04 and the Jack Audio Connection Kit audio engine via KXstudio's JACK APPs
http://kxstudio.linuxaudio.org/

UltraGrid commands used for RIG's Linux desktop computer:
uv --audio-capture-format channels=2 --param low-latency-audio --audio-codec OPUS:samplerate=48000:bitrate=64000 -r portaudio -s portaudio [ip address of remote Client]

UltraGrid commands used for remote Linux Laptop computer:
uv --audio-capture-format channels=2 --param low-latency-audio --audio-codec OPUS:samplerate=48000:bitrate=64000 -r portaudio -s portaudio [ip address of rig's computer]

Comment by Chuck aa0hw on February 27, 2018 at 6:24am

Here is a simpler setup for REMOTE CONTROL OVER IP of an ELECRAFT K3S using a RASPBERRY Pi and the free software APPS - "FLRIG" & "GSTREAMER" - Gstreamer provides full duplex, high fidelity, low latency audio streaming using the OPUS CODEC between the rig/PI and the laptop/remote.  FLRig provides the software interface to control many of the K3S knobs(using REALvnc to see and operate the pi appps on the pi desktop)...all you need really is a RASPBERRY PI  and a USB CABLE connected from the back plate USB PORT of the K3S over to one of the USB PORTS on the RASPBERRY PI.

brief demo of using the AUDIO OVER IP software called "Gstreamer" https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/
- on an ELECRAFT K3S raspberry PI computer interface in communication over ip with a remote laptop....Gstreamer provides the AUDIO OVER IP full duplex pipeline between the remote station and the HOME BASE.(pi uses ALSA only and the K3S USB sound card...all you need is a USB CABLE to connect the RIG to the PI)

the K3S own USB SOUND CARD is utilized...its USB connection to the PI also allows for serial control of many of the K3S KNOBS using software like FLrig - http://www.w1hkj.com/flrig-help/

almost all of the "work" is done at the REMOTE LAPTOP(i7 quad core) to free up the PI's CPU to concentrate just on providing 2 way full duplex Gstreamer audio ...and the ELECRAFT K3S usb serial function for using FLrig to adjust the RIG's controls OVER ip...

NOTE: the audio you are hearing is coming directly from the K3S input audio monitor circuits OVER IP using Gstreamer IN FULL DUPLEX AUDIO STREAMING from the RIG/pi to the LAPTOP/remote...Gstreamer does a GREAT JOB of preserving intact the original audio to be transmitted in high fidelity and low latency using the OPUS CODEC at 128k bit rate 48k sample rate...1 channel audio stream from the RIG/pi to the LAPTOP/remote and another 1 channel audio stream from the laptop/REMOTE to the rig/PI

REALvnc is used to visualize the PI's desktop and adjust FLRig and enter the Gstreamer commands in Terminal

NOTE: since only ALSA is used on the PI, for Gstreamer...no complicated setups with pulseaudio or JACK AUDIO CONNECTION:JACKROUTER are needed for this method...NOTE: the only ALSA sound card on this PI is the ELECRAFT K3S usb sound card, once a USB CABLE connects between the back panel of the K3S and one of the USB PORTS on the PI(the pi's own analogue sound card is blacklisted to prevent interference in choosing the default ALSA DEVICE when using Gstreamer on the PI for TRANSMIT and RECEIVE audio - OPUS CODEC)

RASPBERRY PI command line to TRANSMIT to LAPTOP REMOTE:
gst-launch-1.0 alsasrc provide-clock=true do-timestamp=true buffer-time=30000 ! audio/x-raw,channels=1 ! audiorate ! audioconvert ! opusenc bitrate=128000 frame-size=40 ! rtpopuspay max-ptime=10000000 ! udpsink host=192.168.1.101 port=5001

LAPTOP command line to TRANSMIT to RASBERRY PI
gst-launch-1.0 jackaudiosrc provide-clock=true do-timestamp=true buffer-time=30000 ! audio/x-raw,channels=1 ! audiorate ! audioconvert ! opusenc bitrate=128000 frame-size=40 ! rtpopuspay max-ptime=10000000 ! udpsink host=192.168.1.130 port=5002

RECEIVE COMMAND line for RASPBERRY PI:
gst-launch-1.0 -v udpsrc port=5002 caps="application/x-rtp" ! queue ! rtpopusdepay ! opusdec ! audioconvert ! alsasink buffer-time=60000

RECEIVE COMMAND line for LAPTOP REMOTE:
gst-launch-1.0 -v udpsrc port=5001 caps="application/x-rtp" ! queue ! rtpopusdepay ! opusdec ! audioconvert ! jackaudiosink buffer-time=60000

NOTE: the subtone shown in the video is for triggering the RIG's VOICE VOX activation circuit ahead of the arriving "TRANSMIT AUDIO"...The SUB TONE turns on the RIG's PTT CIRCUIT and allows any audio the K3S TRANSMIT input audio circuit "hears" on its USB SOUND CARD LINE INPUT to be transmitted fully - no chopping off of the first bits of VOICE or CW AUDIO TONEs(afcw mode)

NOTE: the LINEAR DELAY LINE...due to some delay over ip...and also the inherit delay in most every rig using VOICE VOX technique...is used to prevent the first part of a word or CW NOTE from being chopped off......first the 33 hertz SUBTONE goes out at -21 db volume to trigger the rigs VOICE VOX CIRCUIT...TURN ON PTT etc(NOTE: 33 hertz is too low in freq and power to actually get transmitted...it is rejected/filtered OUT - by the RIG's transmit circuits...and this 33 hertz then..is only used to activate the PTT circuit ahead of the arriving voice or cw that will be transmitted

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