How to install Remoterig control for a TS-480SAT and a TS-590S Twin setup ========================================================================= I am lucky enough to have a remote QTH in a quiet environment with a free view of about 300 degrees. The previous owner had to drive to the place to work DX. I wanted a remote controlled station so I decided to install two Remoterig RRC-1258 units in parallel. I already have a Kenwood TS-480SAT and two TS-590S. Remoterig offers a solution to connect the control head of the TS-480 over the internet to the transceiver and, with another setup, two TS-590S transceivers in a remote configuration. Not all of the new transceivers are supported in the Remoterig firmware. The two transceives must of the same type, so two TS-590S or two TS-590SG must be used but not mixed types. SV1DPI has published a very good description here: https://www.qsl.net/sv1dpi/en/articles/remoterig.html I first purchased a Remoterig RRC-1258 control and radio unit pair to connect a Kenwood TS-480SAT: (https://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=1051) and another RRC-1258 pair for a TS-590S twin setup: (https://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=2456) I have purchased in 2012 a power amplifier RF-Power HVLA700AY. I have set it to about 400W output in CW to avoid too much stress on the finals. This amplifier is not in production anymore and RF-Power has closed down. Pictures and reviews are available here: https://www.cqdx.ru/ham/qro-qrp/solid-state-hf-vhf-linear-amplifier-700-watts-pep-1-5-55-mhz/ https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=10175 Inside of the amplifier I have installed an Denkovi relay board to switch on the power supply from the outside: https://denkovi.com/relay-module-5v-2-channels-for-raspberry-pi-arduino-pic-avr The power amplifier RF-Power HVLA700TY has a BCD input for the band selection intended for Yaesu transceivers. The band selection can also be controlled locally through a parallel port output of your PC. To convert the CAT (computer aided tuning) RS232 serial data from a Kenwood transceiver to a BCD code I use a Kenwood universal band decoder by RA0SMS. https://ra0sms.shop/index.php/catalog/band-decoders/universal-band-decoder-kenwood-cat-protocol/ The RA0SMS RS-232 to BCD converter is fixed to 9600 Baud so I have to use 9600 Baud for computer aided tuning (CAT) throughout the system. It needs a 5V supply and has a USB connector. I use linear power supplies in my setup to avoid generating local QRM. To select one of the two transceivers and to switch the amplifier on and off I purchased a RC-1216H amplifier switch: https://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=1010 In the Advanced settings I have selected the Function type "Expert 1.3/2 K-FA" setting. I just use this unit to switch the antenna input between the two radios and to turn the power amplifier off and on. I am using a coax relay AS-304-PL, Product no. S5053. It can be found here: https://stecker-shop.net/epages/27edac8b-bca1-4619-a0d8-f53e62f2ef2c.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectPath=%2FShops%2F27edac8b-bca1-4619-a0d8-f53e62f2ef2c%2FProducts%2FS5053 If the first icon main power is off, the antenna is connected to the TS-480SAT. When I switch on the main power, the antenna goes from the TS-480 to the TS-590S. The second icon turns the power to my HVLA-700TY amplifier on or off. The Denkovi relay board is mounted inside the power amplifier and is used for this function. The antennas are selected automatically with a Remoterig antenna switch AS-1289. You must enter the IP of the respective Radio Unit you want to use to enable the automatic exchange of the band information over the LAN. https://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=2140 The system configuration is described here: https://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=362 The manual can be found here: https://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=97 This manual is a good start but it does not cover everything I had to set up. You can find files of my screenshots of the respective menu items in the directores on this site. First, install the Setup Manager to the PC used for logging etc. at your home to set up your control unit. The firmware version I use is V. 2.95. I have not seen a newer version so far. https://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=88 1. The Control Unit (at your home) Connect the RRS-1258 control unit with the supplied micro USB cable. Do not use the COM port on the control unit to connect the PC. Windows will automatically install COM ports for CAT, FSK and CW / Winkey. If you open the device manager you will see four RRC-1258 COMx Ports. Use them for CAT (RRC-1258 COM2) and for CW or FSK keying (RRC-1258 COMExtra) with your logging program. I use N1MM+ and the F-keys work in FSK or CW / Winkey mode. Also, the frequency is displayed in the logging program, using the respective COM port. A baud rate of 4800 Baud is fast enough for CAT. Because of the 9600 Baud setting of the BCD decoder I have to use 9600 Baud. The TS-480 control head is connected with a RJ-12 6P6C cable to the TTL port. Select Program mode 5 - TS-480/TM-D710/TM-V71 and use the default settings. To connect the control unit to the TS-590S, connect a crossed male - female serial cable with pins 2 - 3, 3 - 2, 5 - 5 , 7 - 7 and 8 - 8 between the COM2 port of the control unit and the COM connector of the TS-590. You may have to make up the serial cable yourself. Select the Program mode 18 - Kenwood TS-590 Twin mode. 2. Radio Unit (at your remote site) The Radio units connect to the TS-480SAT and to the TS-590S with a straight female - female serial cable (2 - 2, 3 - 3, 5 - 5, 7 - 7, 8 - 8) from the respective COM2 port to the COM connector of the respective radio. In the Dynamic DNS settings, use the setting offered by "ddns.remoterig.com". This service is free of charge and a lot faster / more reliable to connect to your dynamic IP adddress than members.dyndns.org. I have tried it for over six months and the remoterig service is just better over time. When ddns.remoterig.com is selected, the own host name, user name and password are automatically gemerated. In the audio quality settings I use the Audio quality "1 - Linear 12 bits 8 kHz" to give a good audio quality with an acceptable traffic volume. If you use a mobile router to connect to the 4G or 5G mobile network, make an arrangement with your mobile provider to give you a IP adress which can be accessed from the outside. Tell them you need this for your smart home system. If you do not do that, your system cannot be accessed from the outside. The providers use a system called CGNAT to conserve IP adresses but this prevents port forwarding. On your router, install port forwarding or, if available , a Zerotier VPN client on your router. I have a Netgear Nighthawk M5 mobile router. This supports Port forwarding but it has no Zerotier client built in. With a VPN, you won't need any port forwarding or dynamic IP allocation anymore. From what I know now I would now choose a Teltonika RUTX14 or RUTX50 router. They have a built-in Zerotier VPN client. HB9BLA has developed a Setup with a Teltonika RUTX14 and a Flexradio unsig a Zerotier VPN. The Flexradio requires a special setup for the ISO Level 2 connectivity but this problem was solved. You can view the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgd5WTGdwZ8 The port forwarding must include all items on the radio side you want to access from the outside. I have enabled port forwarding for two radio units (ports 13000 (UDP), 13001 (UDP), 13002 (UDP), and a TCP for the web server), the antenna switch (TCP), the PA switch (TCP) and two Microham ARCO rotator controllers (TCP). The rotator controllers can be used with the PSTRotatorAZ software by YO3DMU. Also a NPort 5110 serial port server (TCP) has been installed to connect to a SCS PTC-II Pactor controller. The PTC-II can be used with the SCS Alpha 4.0 software and with the Winlink 2000 software. In the operating settings, port 1, the destination IP must be entered. It changes from time to time but everytime the Nighthawk router starts again. You can find the current dynamic IP in the Remoterig Radio Unit status screen on the external IP entry. Copy this entry to the destination IP address 1 window of your TCP client. Just entering the destination name .remoterig.com:port wont work. You can find all the details in the screenshots. You can configure in the control unit serial settings the COMextra serial port to act either as a Winkey output for CW or as an FSK output for RTTY but not both at the same time. Please refer to the RTTY screenshots. In the N1MM+ log program you can configure the built-in Winkey unit for CW. For RTTTY/FSK disable any CW settings in N1MM+. The FSK/PTT keying and its settings for FSK/ RTTY take place in MMTTY only. Have a look at the screenshots. FSK for the TS-480: Connect a RJ-45 cable to the I/O port of the Radio unit and do the following wiring: RJ-45 Pin 8 (brown) is Ground and goes to to the ***shield*** of the TS-480 Remote plug (Mini-DIN). RJ-45 Pin 6 (green) is the FSK Signal and goes to Pin 8 of the TS-480 Remote plug (Mini-DIN). RJ-45 Pin 5 (blue-white) is the PTT signal and can be connected to pin 3 of the TS-480 Remote plug (Mini-DIN). You can find a drawing of the FSK cable in the FSK cable/ directory. Refer to Page 77 of the TS-480 operating manual. You can find it on www.radiomanual.info With TX monitor set to on you should hear the «diddle» when sendimg in FSK. I am using my TS-480 / Remoterig setup daily in CW. In the Dynamic DNS settings of the radio unit, the ddns of remoterig.com works much better that the dyndns.com service i had to pay for at first. I have cancelled this service. Dyndns.com regularly had problems in resolving my dynamic IP address. My provider changes it from time to time at will and I get a new one on every reboot of my mobile (LTE) router at the radio site. On a recommendation from a technician of my provider I have downgraded the mobile standard from 5G to 4G/LTE because of frequent audio interruptions. The base station I connect to is near a highway and there are too few 5G frequenscies available. I operate 99% CW and a little conversational PACTOR. I use HP Compaq 8100 / 8200 / 8300 Elite series PC's. They have a parallel output and a second serial output installed on the mainboard. But there are no connectors installed on the rear side of the PC, only one COM port. You may want to install an optional HP KD061AA parallel port adapter. There is also an optional HP PA716A 2nd serial Port Adapter available. The may be found on digitec.ch, amazon, or ebay. 73 and have fun remote operating. Christian HB9BJL should you need further information, feel free to write to me: hb9bjl@bluewin.ch