The RemoteTx® cloud service acts as a central connection point on the Internet that allows radio stations to be controlled by their owners remotely with minimal configuration. The service handles radio control signaling and manages audio call setup and monitoring. All control and audio network traffic is secured and encrypted. Remote operating is accomplished using compatible Internet browsers (Google Chrome, Apple Safari) on a variety of device platforms without installing plugins or additional software. In general, no special network or firewall configuration is necessary at either the station or the remote operator network location.
- There is no need to install and manage additional audio software such as Mumble etc. Both 2 way audio and radio control are achieved from within the browser of the device being used to control the radio.
- No ports need to be exposed to the internet with port forwarding and a dedicated ip address is not needed. RemoteTx will adjust without user intervention if the station ip address changes. No dynamic DNS needs to be configured.
The solution has 3 fundamental parts:
- The Raspberry Pi (RPi) at the radio station location.
- The RemoteTx® cloud service servers.
- An Internet connected laptop or mobile device running a compatible Internet browser.
Raspberry Pi
The RPi runs a custom software image that is a free download from RemoteTx. The operator is issued a unique callsign key from RemoteTx that is installed on the custom image. This allows the RPi to establish a secure encrypted connection to the RemoteTx Internet cloud servers when it boots. This connection is unique to the station call sign and remains established as long as the Rpi is powered on and the Internet connection is functioning. If there is an Internet disruption it will re-connect automatically once the disruption is resolved. This connection is used by RemoteTx to control radios and sound cards connected to the Rpi.
RemoteTx® Global Cloud Service
The RemoteTx® cloud service is provisioned nearest to the global location of the operator’s radio station. This ensures minimum latency and optimum network performance regardless of which world region the station is in.
Internet Remote Device (laptop, tablet, phone)
Remote operation of the station is initiated by opening an Internet browser on a laptop or mobile device and going to https://your-call-sign.remotetx.net . This initiates a secure ssl connection and the user will be prompted for a username and password and then be granted access to the radio control interface which is delivered from the RemoteTx cloud servers. The first time the user connects to RemoteTx, the browser will prompt the user to allow access to use the microphone of the device. This allows bi-directional audio to be managed within the browser without installing plugins or extra software.
Audio
The operator has full control of the audio settings at both ends of the connection. To initiate an audio connection in the Audio tab, the operator starts the audio process on the RPi choosing the usb sound card that is connected to the desired radio. Within about 5 seconds the ‘Call Radio’ button will appear. Clicking on the ‘Call Radio’ button will establish a full duplex audio connection between the operator’s browser device and the remote radio. During call setup, the RemoteTx system will evaluate the network between the station and the browser device and automatically choose the most direct network connection. If the underlying networks are reliable, the audio will stay connected indefinitely until the operator hangs up the connection. If there is network disruption, RemoteTx will attempt to automatically reconnect the audio. In cases where the disruption is severe, the operator may need to hang up and re-initiate the call.