Part of our Getting On The Air guide.
I’ve tried a handful of remote rig control setups, and most of them made me want to throw my laptop across the shack. Port forwarding, VPN tunnels, software that only half works with your radio’s CAT protocol. So when I heard about PotaCat and its phone companion EchoCat, I was skeptical. Turns out this is the simplest remote station setup I’ve ever put together.
What Is PotaCat?
PotaCat is a free, open source desktop app for Windows, Mac, and Linux. At its core, it pulls in live POTA, SOTA, and DX spots and lets you one-click tune your radio to any of them over CAT control. That alone is a nice quality of life upgrade if you chase activators, but the part that got my attention is what it does beyond spot hunting. PotaCat also turns your shack computer into a remote control hub for your station, audio, PTT, VFO, and logging included.
It talks to your radio through Hamlib, which covers Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, FlexRadio, and well over 200 other rigs, so getting it connected to whatever you’re running shouldn’t be a fight.
What Is EchoCat?
EchoCat is the mobile app that pairs with PotaCat, available for iPhone and Android. Once it’s linked to your desktop app, EchoCat gives you a full remote control surface for your station on your phone. You can change VFO, switch modes, key up PTT, watch live spots roll in, and dig through your logbook, all from wherever you happen to be standing.
The part that makes this worth writing about is the optional PotaCat Cloud subscription. It adds a feature called Cloud Tunnel, which is what lets EchoCat reach your home station from anywhere on the internet, not just your home WiFi. No VPN client to configure, no forwarding ports on your router, none of the usual headaches that come with exposing a radio to the outside world.
How It Works
The setup is genuinely straightforward. PotaCat runs on your shack PC and holds the CAT connection to your radio. EchoCat on your phone talks to PotaCat, either directly on your home network or through the Cloud Tunnel when you’re away. PotaCat handles the actual radio control, so EchoCat is really just a remote window into what your desktop app is already doing. Because the tunnel connection is outbound from your shack computer, there’s nothing to open up on your router and nothing exposed to the internet the way a manual port forward would be.
Setting It Up On My FTX-1
I installed PotaCat on my hamshack PC and pointed it at my Yaesu FTX-1. Since the FTX-1 has a built-in digital interface, there was no Digirig or extra USB interface box to fuss with, I just picked the right Hamlib profile, set the port, and hit Test Connection. It found the radio immediately and reported frequency and mode back correctly.
From there I installed EchoCat on my phone and paired it to the desktop app. Within a couple of minutes I was looking at my FTX-1’s live frequency on my phone screen, sitting on the other side of the house.
Connecting Over the Internet
This is the part I wanted to test. I subscribed to PotaCat Cloud, enabled the Cloud Tunnel, and left the house. No VPN app running on my phone, no port forwarding rule sitting on my router, nothing extra to remember. I opened EchoCat on cellular data, and it connected straight to my FTX-1 back in the shack. I could change frequency, switch modes, and key PTT exactly like I was standing in front of the radio.
Why This Matters
I’ve put together remote setups before with software that required a dedicated VPN box or a router configuration I didn’t fully trust leaving open. PotaCat and EchoCat strip all of that out. You install two apps, log into the same account on both, and you have a working remote station. If you’ve been putting off remote access to your shack because the setup sounded like a networking project, this is worth a look. If you’re also looking at linking into the wider network rather than just controlling your own radio remotely, see EchoLink vs AllStarLink: Which VoIP Linking System Is Right for You?