Short Wave Radio Communications System for Remote Areas via Raspberry Pi 5

Short Wave Radio Communications System for Remote Areas via Raspberry Pi 5

ISSUE: Areas with patchy or no cell access.
SOLUTION: Use of Short Wave Radio and Raspberry Pi 5

Mobile Raspberry Pi with a shortwave radio into a computer system to both send and receive data.
Let me break it down so you can see the engineering path:

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1. Core Concept​

• The Raspberry Pi acts as the controller/computer.
• The shortwave radio (HF transceiver or SDR) acts as the communications medium.
• You create a digital link by converting data (text, packets, JSON, etc.) into audio tones or digital modes that can travel over shortwave frequencies.
• On the receiving end, the process is reversed—decode tones/digital packets back into data.

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2. Hardware Setup​

• Raspberry Pi 5 or Pi 4: Portable computer for encoding/decoding.
• Shortwave Radio Transceiver: e.g., Yaesu, Icom, or a smaller SDR-based unit.
• Interface Cable: Audio + PTT (push-to-talk) interface to link Pi → Radio (USB sound card or PiHat like AURSINC SHARI, Signalink, or DIY interface).
• Antenna: Tuned shortwave antenna (dipole, loop, whip).
• Optional UPS/Battery: To make it mobile and field-ready.

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3. Software Options​

You need software to encode and decode digital data for shortwave.
Popular approaches:

• FLDIGI – Digital modem software (supports modes like PSK31, RTTY, Olivia, etc.).
• JS8Call – Messaging over HF (optimized for weak signals).
• Direwolf – TNC for packet radio (AX.25 protocol).
• Pat Winlink – Email/data over HF using Winlink system.
• Custom Python scripts – Encode data into audio tones (with libraries like sounddevice or pyaudio), then send/receive via radio.

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4. Data Flow (Patch Into Computer System)​

1. Computer System (could be a server, cloud, or local app) generates a message (JSON, text, or command).
2. Raspberry Pi:
   
   • Encodes message into digital tones.
   • Keys the radio (PTT) and transmits.
3. Shortwave Radio sends data over HF.
4. Receiving Station:
   
   • Radio receives tones.
   • Raspberry Pi (or PC) decodes tones back to digital data.
   • Data is passed to the system (e.g., REST API, database, dashboard).

This creates a low-bandwidth, long-range data link that works even without the internet.

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5. Real-World Use Cases​

• Emergency Communications (EMCOMM) – Send status packets, GPS, or text without the internet.
• Remote Nodes – Your Empire Node could check in daily with status logs.
• Mesh/Relay Systems – Multiple Pi + radio stations can form a distributed HF data net.
• IoT Over HF – Sensors (weather, soil, etc.) in remote areas send updates back via Pi + radio.

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6. Limitations​

• Slow data rate – Think 50–300 baud typical, much slower than Wi-Fi or LTE.
• Legal Requirements – Depending on power/frequency, may need an amateur radio license.
• Error Handling – HF is noisy, so you’ll want error correction protocols (JS8Call, Olivia, or custom checksum).

 

[Flynn]

Flynn's Thoughts on the Use Cases for Shortwave and Raspberry Pi communications for say deep country trucks out of cell range.

• Use of touch screens for driver feed back.
• Use of LED screens that might scroll for easy heads up display.
• Design communication protocol and training video.
• Use of Python and MSSQL connected to enterprise systems.
• Use of Speakers and tones so the drivers can clearly understand transitions points or "canned" audio alerts.