IC 756 Remote Control Software
This post is about how to remote control the IC 756 PRO, PROII, PROII with Simple Ham Radio Remote (SimpleHRR) Software and a Raspberry Pi.
Simple Ham Radio Remote is a free web app, it comes preinstalled on a Raspbian Lite Image which is flashed onto an 8GB or larger microSD card using your favorite software to flash microSD cards. There is No additional software to install.
System requirements
- Ham Radio Callsign
- Chrome or Firefox web browser
- Admin access to your router
- Active Internet connection
Hardware required
- Icom IC-756 PRO, PROII, PRO III
- micro SD card adapter
- micro SD card (8GB class 10 or larger)
- Raspberry Pi (3B - 3B+ or 4B armv7l)
- Raspberry Pi Power Supply 2.5A - (3A - 3.5A better)
- Cat5 Ethernet cable
- USB Type A Male to B Male Cable
- USB - Bluetooth - 2.4GHz Wireless mouse with a scroll wheel (optional)
- Computer with an SD slot (or an appropriate SD card adapter)
Download, Install the Image onto your microSD card
- This image contains everything you need to get up and running quickly.
-
Download: SimpleHRR v0.2.1-T
Simple ham Radio Remote simplehrr-icom-yaesu Current release...
Windows: Install the Image onto your microSD card
-
Download: SimpleHRR v0.2.1-T
- Extract the image double-click the .zip file then click Extract All.
- Insert the microSD card into the computer's SD card slot use the SD card adapter if needed.
- Next, flash the image to the microSD card with your favorite image writer. There are various image writer you can use, example Etcher - Raspberry Pi Imager works for Linux, macOS or Windows.
- Now remove the flashed microSD from the computer, keep it in a save place will insert it into the Raspberry Pi later.
Prepare the IC 756 for Remote Operation
-
Menu -> Set -> Miscellaneous (others) set mode ->
- CI-V -> CI-V Baud Rate: 9600
- CI-V -> CI-V Address: 53h
- CI-V -> CI-V Transceive: ON
-
Additional Hardware:
- USB Serial adapter Here ✓
- Serial to CI-V adapter Here ✓
- USB Audio adapter Here ✓
- Audio interface Here ✓
- Power On-OFF Relay module to GPIO 23 Here ✓
-
Radio Controls ->
- AF Volume Control -> pre-set 15 adjustable in web app
- Radio Interface between Radio / Raspberry Pi Required -> Here ✓
Connect the Radio to the Raspberry Pi
- Plug the USB serial adapter into the Raspberry Pi, then plug the CI-V adapter into the serial port, and then plug the CI-V cable into the CI-V port on the radio.
Click to show Diagram
Click image to enlarge
Connect the Raspberry Pi to Network
- Plug the Cat5 cable into the Raspberry Pi Ethernet port the other end to the LAN.
Booting the Raspberry Pi for the First Time
- Insert the flashed microSD card into the Raspberry Pi microSD slot.
- Power ON the Radio (e.g IC-756).
- Power ON the Raspberry Pi.
- Wait for the Pi to boot up - the green LED should stop flashing when it's finished!.
Get the Raspberry Pi IP Address
- Open a browser and Log in to your router as admin. The router IP address is usually something like 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.1.254 or 10.0.0.1
- Find Attached Devices -> Device Name (Raspberry Pi simplehrr) - IP Address
(something like 192.168.x.x or 10.x.x.x). - Write down or copy the corresponds IP Address you will need that to set up Simple Ham Radio Remote.
Set up Simple Ham Radio Remote on your Raspberry Pi
- Turn the radio ON
- Open a Chrome or Firefox web browser enter the URL:
https://your-Pi's-IP-address:50000/remote - Enter Username: Ham Radio Callsign (confirmed on QRZ.com)
- Enter Email address: Optional: Just leave noemail@noemail.com
- Enter Password: (greater then 8 char)
- Select Radio: (IC-756)
- Select Dev USB: (/dev/ttyUSB0)
- Click [ Activate ]
- Verify the information is correct Click [ OK ]
- Wait 1 minute for Raspberry Pi to reboot.
- Click [ OK ]
- Enter Username (your Callsign)
- Enter Password (your Password)
- Click [ Sign in ]
- Click [ Call Radio ] when it turns green.
Be patient it takes a little longer to turn green on a first time install.
Logout:
- Click [ Hang Up ]
That's it.
Read me:
- The first boot takes about 2+ minutes because all SimpleHRR prerequisites are installed during the first boot. Wait 2 minutes, then start checking https://your-Pi's-IP-address:50000/remote.
- If you don't have the selected radio connected to the USB-Serial port, when you click [ Call Radio ], you will get an error message "Unable to Connect to Radio!".
- This installation is for LAN access only. See user manual for Internet access.
- Access the user manual using your username and password the day after setting up SimpleHRR.
- Simple Ham Radio Remote supports most Icom CI-V, Yaesu CAT controlled HF transceivers.
- Always review the FCC rules - regulation before operating any two-way radio remotely
Simple ham radio remote web app is fully functional, but still in the process of refining some aspects of the web app.
Check back periodically to download the most recent release.