Remote Control Your Ham Radio Station Through Raspberry Pi

This post is about how to remote control your amateur ham radio station through a Raspberry Pi with Simple Ham radio remote web app.

*Raspberry Pi (RPi)

A versatile single-board computers made by the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

*Simple Ham Radio Remote (SimpleHRR)

Remote control Amateur (Ham) radio transceiver using a Raspberry Pi (RPi)

The image above illustrates how easy it is to remote control an amateur ham radio HF transceiver with Simple Ham Radio Remote 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.

Simple Ham Radio Remote IC 7300 - IC 7610 User Interface (UI).

System requirements

Ham Radio Callsign
Chrome or Firefox web browser
Admin access to your router
Active Internet connection

Hardware required

Icom IC-7300, IC-7610
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-f
  Sorry for the inconvenience, you might have to close the Dropbox tab when the download has finished.
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 Radio for Remote Operation

IC 7300 Click to select radio

IC-7300 Firmware version should be at least 1.2 or higher.

Menu -> Set -> Connectors ->

ACC/USB Output Select: AF
ACC/USB Output Level: 50%
USB MOD Level: 50%
DATA OFF MOD: USB
USB Serial Function: CI-V
USB Send/Keying -> USB SEND: OFF
USB Send/Keying -> USB Keying (CW): OFF
USB Send/Keying -> USB Keying (RTTY): OFF
CI-V -> CI-V Baud Rate: Auto
CI-V -> CI-V Address: 94h
CI-V -> CI-V Transceive: ON
CI-V -> CI-V Output (for ANT): OFF
CI-V -> CI-V USB Port: Unlink from [REMOTE]
CI-V -> CI-V USB Baud Rate: Auto
CI-V -> CI-V USB Echo Back: ON

Menu -> SET -> Function ->

Time-Out Timer (CI-V): 3min

IC 7610 Click to select radio

IC-7610 Firmware version should be at least 1.3 or higher.

Menu -> Set -> Connectors ->

ACC AF/IF Output -> Output Select: AF
ACC AF/IF Output -> AF Output Level: 50%
ACC AF/IF Output -> AF SQL: OFF (OPEN)
USB AF/IF Output -> Output Select: AF
USB AF/IF Output -> AF Output Level: 50%
USB AF/IF Output -> AF SQL: OFF (OPEN)
MOD Input -> USB MOD Level: 50%
MOD Input -> DATA OFF MOD: USB
CI-V -> CI-V Baud Rate: Auto
CI-V -> CI-V Address: 98h
CI-V -> CI-V Transceive: ON
CI-V -> CI-V Output (for ANT): OFF
CI-V -> CI-V USB Port: Unlink from [REMOTE]
CI-V -> CI-V USB Baud Rate: Auto
CI-V -> CI-V USB Echo Back: ON
USB SEND KEYING -> USB SEND: OFF
USB SEND KEYING -> USB Keying(CW): OFF
USB SEND KEYING -> USB Keying(RTTY): OFF
USB SEND KEYING -> Inhibit Timer at USB Connection: ON

Menu -> SET -> Function ->

Time-Out Timer (CI-V): ON - 3min

Connect the Raspberry Pi to the Radio

Plug the USB cable into the Raspberry Pi the other end into the Radio.

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-7300, 7610).
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-7300 or 7610)
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.
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.