Paul:

As with all electronic devices “if something can go wrong it will”.    Unless you have some way to remotely shut down everything from the remote location , it’s probably not a good idea to run a remote.  For example,  if you rig at home locks up in transmit and you have no way of shutting it down, what do you do ?  If you have a good neighbor to call who has a key for your house, you’re out of luck.  You are in violation of FCC rules by transmitting a continuous carrier with an ID. 

Back in the days of telephone lines when they were connected to alarm systems there was a problem called “runaway alarm”  which meant that the alarm would call the monitoring service continuously until the alarm was shut down manually.  So, if the person was on vacation for a week or two, they would get a HUGE telephone bill !  Not good.  Because of this happening many police department outlawed tape dialers (a continuous tape running wild which would tie up phone lines for hours or days).  This is all old technology which is pretty much gone now, but it did happen on many occasions.

Back to remote operation.  There needs to be a back up plan to shut everything down in case of problems. As a responsible Amateur Radio Operator one needs to have a plan B.   Even in Summer and other seasons lightning could be a problem.  If you take a “hit” it will probably knock out most everything in the station.  Worse case scenario, the house could burn down… happy homecoming.  One needs to consider worst case scenarios and try to prepare as best as possible for them.  Like the BSA motto, “Be Prepared” !

Just some thoughts on remote operation…

Jerry   N9AVY 

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