Tech
Will we soon be operating DXpeditions remotely?
This is a guest post from Bill, WC3B, one of my fellow “presenters” on the ICQPodcast……Dan
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I posted this on Twitter the other day:
ok, I’m going to call it “first” – @RemoteHamRadio
+ @SpaceXStarlink
+ Solar Power with cold wx batteries + some custom @stepp_ir
verticals + Mars Rover drone like frame = remote droppable portable DXpediation to the most hostile
places… Dan @kb6nu
– Feels like a blog post.
Two things brought this on:
1.
Remote Ham Radio is a “thing” now via Internet connected Flex Radios with a custom web
interface. I’ve been watching a few live stream videos of the folks over at Remote Ham Radio, which
offers a subscription service to rent airtime on a HF station. It is very impressive, and a real
possibility for folks who can’t build their own HF stations due to HOA issues or folks in retirement
homes that don’t allow antennas.
2.
Someone I know on twitter is starting to post SpeedTest stats from SpaceX’s Starlink service
that they are beta testing. Bandwidth seems sufficient for today’s needs and the latency is way lower
than I expected. Low enough that it has been reported by multiple folks they can do WebEx/Zoom
like video conference calls over their StarLink connections.
Which leads me to my “not so original” idea—remote DXpediations using a Mars Rover like device. I
say “not so original” idea” because a few folks on Twitter pointed out that other folks are already
discussing this idea, including some seasoned DXpeditioners.
OK, now that you’re finished getting a chuckle, follow me on this one. A very small team delivers the
rover to a really wanted DX entity. I say rover, because it could be a remote control (think drone)
vehicle that could be driven to the proper location. Once it’s on location, a remote operator would
press a button to activate the station.
Within seconds, the rover would auto level itself, deploy a StarLink antenna, local WiFi antenna for
local team, GPS antenna (for time and ‘proof’ the radio is at a specific location), solar panels, and an
HF vertical antenna. I envision the antenna to be something like a custom SteppIR vertical antenna.
There may even be more than one of them. It seems logical that the DXpedition would want tuned
antennas, and that thing will definitely be resonant as you remotely tune it.
Once the antenna is deployed, the onboard computer checks in with whoever will be controlling it via
the Internet. Once checks are good, it starts to power up the radios and HF amps. At this point,
radios are remotely configured to pick the proper amplifier, and pick the proper band pass filters,
and the station is on the air! The startup time dould be a matter of minutes!
The remote operators could be located anywhere in the world and the station operated 24 x 7.
Operators change as the sun changes, and band changes and choices are coordinated remotely via a
web platform built specifically for this DXpedition. The DXpedition might want a small local team
that might be on a boat, or a safe location to remotely operate from. QSOs start flowing in.
The team will monitor power usage to achieve the proper balance between charging the batteries
and draining them. Because this device is self contained, it could be left on site for a much longer
than most DXpeditions are on site. A local team could make sure the station is working OK for a few
days, leave, and then return 12 months later, or at other times when travel is safer.
Imagine a DXpedition lasting a whole year! Imagine running FT8 in fox/hound mode for months on
end, making hundreds of thousands QSOs. Imagine hundreds of remote operators making hundreds
of thousands of CW contacts, and because these operators are operating from the comfort of their
own homes, they’ll avoid DXpedition fatigue. Imagine hundreds of thousands of SSB contacts made
by hundreds of different remote operators, catching the best band openings over a few months.
This does sound kind of crazy, but all the pieces exist today. And, it would cost a lot less than
transporting equipment, supplies, and fuel, plus a dozen or more people, to a remote location. That
being the case, I don’t think this is as far fetched as it might have been a few years ago.
Makes me wonder, and makes me ponder what other possibilities exist with ubiquitous high speed /
low latency Internet access world wide and the newer radios that allow remote operation over the
Internet.
I will find it interesting to see if any DXpedition picks up on this and attempts it at some point as the
solar cycle improves. I also wonder how such a remote DXpedition will be received by the general
ham community.
73, de Bill, WC3B
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