Welcome to Remote Ham Radio

Remote Ham Radio (RHR) puts real contest stations in your browser. Big antenna stacks, kilowatt amplifiers and quiet rural locations, operated from wherever you are. This article explains how the pieces fit together and what you need to get started.

How it works

Each RHR station is a complete amateur radio installation: a radio, amplifier, antennas and often a rotor, with a small computer that connects it to RHR. You operate it through the console, a web application that runs in your browser. The console shows you the station's panadapter and waterfall, lets you tune, change modes and filters, key the transmitter, turn the antennas and log your contacts. Audio travels both ways in real time.

Nothing needs to be installed. Everything you need to operate is on the web. If you want to connect software on your own computer, such as WSJT-X or a logging program, a small optional helper called LocalMate does that.

Membership and airtime

Using RHR has two parts:

• A PremiumDX membership, billed monthly or yearly. It opens every station on the network. See Membership and pricing.
• Airtime, billed per minute while you are connected to a station. Each station shows its rate before you connect, and the rate is fixed for the whole connection whether you are transmitting or listening. See Airtime and rates.

New memberships include a one-time airtime credit, so your first sessions are already paid for. How billing works walks through the numbers with examples.

What you need

• An amateur radio license. RHR is for licensed operators from the United States, and from CEPT countries when CEPT signups are open. You upload a copy of your license after signing up, and RHR staff verify it. See Verify your license.
• A current browser. Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari on a computer, or Safari on an iPhone or iPad. See System requirements.
• A microphone and speakers or a headset, for phone operation. You can operate CW and digital modes without a microphone.
• A good internet connection. A wired connection is best; audio and the waterfall depend on low latency.

You are the control operator

When you connect to a station, you are its control operator and the contact goes out under your callsign. You are responsible for identifying correctly, staying within your license privileges and following the rules of the country the station is in. Identifying yourself on the air covers what RHR requires, including the prefixes used from stations outside the US.

Where to go next

1. Create your account.
2. Upload your license within seven days.
3. Follow Your first QSO for a guided first session.

If you get stuck, the Help menu in the console has Contact Support, or see Contact us.