‰  NOW 35 WPM  ‰  TEXT IS FROM OCTOBER 2018  QST  PAGE 35 ‰

A RECONFIGURABLE STATION COMPONENT SWITCHING UNIT  MARK C. NOE, KE1IU
AMATEUR RADIO STATIONS GENERALLY START OUT SIMPLE PERHAPS ONE ANTENNA, A
TRANSCEIVER, A STRAIGHT KEY, AND A MICROPHONE.  THEN YOU BRING HOME AN
ELECTRONIC KEYER AND PADDLE FROM A SWAP MEET.  ITS NOT A PROBLEM TO UNPLUG
THE STRAIGHT KEY AND PLUG IN THE NEW SET.  EVEN THE ADDITION OF A NEW
ANTENNA IS EASILY HANDLED WITH A DOUBLE THROW KNIFE SWITCH, BUT AS THE
STATION GROWS WITH THE ACCUMULATION OF LINEAR AMPLIFIERS, QRP LOW POWER
KITS, A SPECIAL RIG FOR SATELLITE WORK, NEW ANTENNAS, ETC., CHANGING THE
STATION CONFIGURATION BECOMES A RE CABLING NIGHTMARE THAT IS NOT ONLY TIME
CONSUMING, BUT PRONE TO ERROR.  MY WAY OUT OF THE STATION RECONFIGURATION
CONUNDRUM WAS TO DESIGN A RELAY SWITCHING MATRIX CONTROLLED BY AN ARDUINO
MICROCONTROLLER AND THE OPENHAB APPLICATION THAT WOULD BE EASY TO CONFIGURE
AND ALLOW FOR CONTINUED STATION EXPANSION.  SYSTEM DESIGN  I USE OPENHAB
VERSION 2R0, WHICH IS AN OPEN SOURCE SERVER APPLICATION THAT IS CAPABLE OF
INTEGRATING HUNDREDS OF INTERNET OF THINGS IOT DEVICES INTO A CUSTOMIZABLE
GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE GUI FOR MONITORING AND CONTROL.  OPENHAB INTERFACES
TO THESE DEVICES THROUGH DRIVERS CALLED BINDINGS.  THERE ARE UNIQUE
BINDINGS THAT CAN BE DOWNLOADED INTO THE SYSTEM FOR EACH IOT DEVICE THAT
ONE WISHES TO ENABLE.  OPENHAB IS CAPABLE OF RUNNING ON A WINDOWS, MAC, OR
‰  END OF 35 WPM TEXT  ‰  QST DE W1AW  ƒ