Raspberry Pi Powered Portable Ham Radio Station

Hello Operators.
Todays video is about ham radio off grid, deploying a raspberry pi powered portable ham radio station, and gaining more experience deploying solar power for ham radio in the field.-Todays topic is off grid communications and the development of a raspberry pi field computer. in this video we'll take the Portable Ham Radio Station, a Raspberry Pi 3B+, a 10ah LiFePO4 battery, and PowerFilm Solar panel all out to the field for some proper testing. An off grid raspberry pi is an excellent basis for off grid ham radio communications.

During May 18-21, I spent some days near the Arctic Circle, trying to answer a few important questions. Some of those questions were:
- Can the Raspberry Pi power a digital Field Station running wsjt-x and fldigi?
- Can we fit an entire HF station in an ammo can?
- It possible to carry that QRO station along with our hiking gear to the backcountry?

You must remember, we're not talking about casual ham radio (although it very well could be). one of the goals is to find out how practical it truly is to deploy a QRO field station, based on the Yaesu ft-891, and Raspberry Pi 3B+.

This trip certainly wasn't easy, but it was easier than I thought it would be. The trip also validated the concept of a man portable, Rapud a Deployment, QRO Field Station from a utilitarian perspective.

Finally, before some of you start ripping me a new one, if I'm going on a casual thru-hike, carrying all my gear for days or weeks at a time, I'm certainly not going to carry an ammo can based rig. Whatever rig I do carry, it will certainly be powered by Raspberry Pi.

73
Julian oh8stn

Episode notes:
The episode notes are a bit different this time. this time there's actually several different articles going along with this video.
Enjoy the read and images.

Mentioned in the video:

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[justinreimers]

I have been using my Pi3 as a general RF transmitter for quite some time, well in controlled environments anyway. I'm not a licensed ham yet and I want no trouble from the FCC. The RPi has loads of potential for RF applications

[rkaag]

I can't help but look forward to when the RPi team drops this level processor onto the pi-zero(w) platform... you could put a 'cluster' in your pocket! 1-fldigi, 1-FT8, 1-w/TNC-Pi. (sorry if I'm getting ahead of myself here)
-Rob

[johnkershaw]

Have been missing your videos.  Was happy to see a new one.  Have a great weekend.  JJK

[chrishbw]

Hi. I am glad you found the Raspberry Pi and Bluetooth keyboard and mouse useful. I have now installed a RTC clock to be able to use the Pi' s clock when internet is not available. I have also ordered the Pi 3b +. But have not tried it out yet. I am working on my go box built into a 3 tier tool box on wheels. It is not ideal for hiking but here in 9h1 land distances are not a problem. Looking forward to the next instalment. I always enjoy them and I learn a lot from them.
Chris de 9H1BW

[JohnTarbox]

Another great video Julian! keep up the good work.

[TheSmokinApe]

Great video. You may want to check out Maxpedition or Vanquest packs, Condor gear is poorly constructed in comparison. Imagine how impactful a split seem or broken zipper would have been.

[FactualTruth]

Great work Julian. Breaking boundaries as usual. 73 ZS2WP

[maxprepper]

I use the short case from PiJuiceSupply, holds a RPi and pijuice hat with all ports. They also make a tall case for more stuff stacked on the RPi. The RPi 7 inch touch is to small to run/view all parts of the programs, I cannot see the waterfall and data screen on the same page. Will try your set up on a 10 inch screen. Great stuff!

[michaelsharp]

Yes, I’ve run WJST on an RPi3, and it was able to keep and decode just fine. You’re right about the performance. Windows is a bit bogged down with extra processes running in the background. RPi3 doesn’t do this, and gives you a good performance in return.

[zsradioham]

Very nice video. Not sure how you setup your audio. Did not see the audio codex in your setup.
Thanks for an interesting aspect of setting up Raspberry Pi as one of my ideal experiments.

[winterburan]

Thanks for the great video, nice location!

[vkjrc]

Thanks for the great video Julian :-). Considering FT-8 requires an accurate clock to operate, is there a method of using a GPS for the clock when out of range of the Internet and/or cell phone range?
73, Jack VK4JRC

[tincanblower]

Another great video Julian.
Out of interest, does the WolphiLink work with the Pi?
I'd be really grateful to hear whether it does or not.
73

Matt
M0PTO

[thenewscaster]

Julian, great video. Question: What sound card are you using with the Pi, and WSJT-x? I am
having a problem getting WSJT-x working with Signalink and linux on the Raspberry Pi.

[TheElpoja]

Why you don't try without a tablet and with a 7inch touchscreen for raspberry pi??

[GateKommand]

Hi Julian and thank you for the video again. Can you recommend a book for people new to the Raspberry Pi operating system or any decent book about Linux in general please?

GateKommand AKA Neil 2E0EJS/M3SGC

[spldrong]

So you have used the Mobilinkd, the Wolfilink and the miniproSC. Could any one of these do the job of all 3?

[PGE]

Will the software support the FT-857? or the old FT-100D

[spldrong]

Do you have a link to some sort of tutorial on how to setup your android and pi that way? Everything I have found does it over a network.

[ddr]

I've been thinking of trying a LattePanda to see if it will run SkyWave Linux!!