When I started reading radio control hobbyist magazines in the late '50s
an amateur radio license was required to fly the planes or control the
boats. We now live in a more digital age. RC transmitters and
receivers have been commoditized and there are many wireless protocols.
Hobbyists still want to tinker and control things. Why not link the
amateur radio world with the modern digital world? Create a single
board system with a 2m, 6m, or 10m transceiver on it. Add a medium
horsepower microcontroller and a number of busses.
Control and I/O busses:
- Direct pin control with (replaceable) buffers.
- WiFi access with plug in unit (license issue avoided)
- Bluetooth access with plug in unit (licensing issue avoided)
- other busses I don't recall (SPI, SCI, TWI, ?)
10 meters requires a longer antenna but simpler RF circuitry. 2m uses a
shorter antenna but the RF unit is more complex and probably more
expensive. 6m fits somewhere in between.
So what you have is a single board amateur radio interface to direct,
WiFi, and Bluetooth controller board. Use it as a single unit or create
a web or mesh of them for data collection or broadcast. Being able to
send text via amateur radio to WiFi is a bonus. But being able to
control remote devices is cool too.
If you design this as an open ended single board solution you can allow
the community to define how to use it.
Lots of add on units could be imagined. Many snippets of code could be
accrued and filed for future reference.
Kevin. KD5ONS
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