Table of Contents
Overview
Eightolives RadioRemote is a remote control system for operating the Elecraft KX3 radio. It requires the radio to be properly connected to a "Primary" computer or smart interface to link control and audio between the radio and the software. This allows the "Primary" computer to control your radio. You can also use a remote phone, pad or other platform to connect to the radio using your local network or the internet via the "Primary" computer.
The "Primary" computer connects to the radio using the Elecraft KXUSB serial cable for control. That's all that needed to just control the radio and use CW and digital modes. For remote operation, audio connection is also required using one of the audio connection schemes described below. You can use a USB Audio Adapter or a custom audio cable / interface that connects the radio's headphone output to the computer's mic / headset input.
The interfacing "Primary" computer must run 2 programs - the RadioRemote Server software which manages the USB control interface and a RadioRemote User Interface (UI) web app running in a modern browser which also manages the audio to and from the radio. The server installation package contains an autostart script which starts both pieces of software. It can be also be used to "autostart" the system when you power on the "Primary" laptop.
The RadioRemote Server is primarily Javascript software that requires pre-installation of NodeJS, an open-source, Javascript runtime environment that installs on Windows or Linux computers. Optional GUI interfaces are provided for Python and Tk/Tcl. The server controls the USB serial link interface to the radio and communicates to the primary and remote UIs using WebSocket technology.
The User Interface web app is a web page using regular HTML5 and Javascript that runs in a modern browser. It's tested using Firefox, Chrome and Safari. It also manages the audio transfers between the radio and remote UI using Web Real Time Communications (WebRTC) technology.