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Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

I get a certificate/security error in web browser when navigating to WRC web address

It is necessary to install a custom TLS certificate for every new web browser and/or device that you use Web Radio Control with to make the web browser trust the secure, encrypted connection to Web Radio Control.

See the instructions for installing TLS certificate.

Control of a radio transceiver or another device is not working and there is a red cross or a yellow exclamation mark next to the device name

A red cross or a yellow exclamation mark next to the device name indicate a problem in device control. In some cases communication with a device may get stuck because of a power failure, so you can simply attempt to restart device control background services by clicking Fix device control and audio issues in Settings > System tab. You may have to wait up to 30 seconds for device control to be established.

If this does not solve the issue, you can try to follow the instructions below:

  • A yellow exclamation mark indicates that the background service controlling the device is working, but that the service is not able to communicate with the device.

    1. In some cases communication with a device may get stuck because of a power failure, so restarting device control background services by clicking Fix device control and audio issues in Settings > System tab should fix the issue.

    2. An error on radio or rotator configuration may also cause this issue, so you can try to verify that the device serial port and/or model number settings are defined correctly in Web Radio Control configuration.

  • A red cross indicates that the background service (e.g. Hamlib) controlling the service is not working at all

    1. Check that the control cables, e.g. for CAT control, for the radio or rotator are connected to the Web Radio Control server computer (Raspberry Pi) and that the device is powered on

    2. Check that the CAT control settings are defined correctly

    3. An error on radio or rotator configuration may also cause this issue, so you can try to verify that the device serial port and/or model number settings are defined correctly in Web Radio Control configuration.

Audio streaming is enabled for a radio, but I can not hear the received audio

There are several reasons that may results in missing audio reception. You can try the following operations to attempt to fix the issue:

  • Try to restart audio streaming by stopping and restarting it using the "play" button

  • Try to restart Web Radio Control audio streaming background services by clicking Fix device control and audio issues in Settings > System tab and restart audio streaming using the "play" button

  • Check the audio volume for received audio in list Audio input (from radio) in Settings > Audio devices tab

  • Check that the radio SQUELCH setting is not muting audio

  • Check all connections between the radio and the Web Radio Control server computer (Raspberr Pi)

  • Check the volume of audio output in the radio itself if there is a separate physical knob for adjusting it

Radio transmits only silence even though PTT control is working

You can monitor the level of transmitted audio using three indicators:

  1. The Scope tab in the radio control view visualizes the transmitted audio using a waterfall display. You can enable the waterfall display by clicking both Show audio and TX audio. This waterfall display monitors transmitted audio in the web browser of the computer or other client device you are using.

  2. The light blue meter named RMS audio output level to radio in the radio control view indicates the volume of transmitted audio at the Web Radio Control server. This audio level should follow the loudness of your speech in SSB mode, for example, although there is a small delay in the meter display because of network latency.

  3. If the radio model you use supports monitoring the output power of the transceiver, there is a yellow meter named RF output power indicating the total RF power transmitted by the radio. The level of RF power output should follow the loudness of your speech when using SSB mode.

While simultaneously monitoring the above indicators, you can try the following options to attempt to fix the issue:

  • Try to restart audio streaming by stopping and restarting it using the "play" button

  • Check that the client device (computer/phone/tablet) microphone selection is correct, the microphone is not muted and that the microphone input gain in the operating system settings (Windows/Mac OS/Linux/Android/iOS) is not set to a value that is too low.

  • Try to restart Web Radio Control audio streaming background services by clicking Fix device control and audio issues in Settings > System tab and restart audio streaming using the "play" button

  • Check the audio volume for transmitted audio in list Audio output (to radio) in Settings > Audio devices tab

  • Check that the radio MIC GAIN setting is not set to a value that is too low

  • Check all connections between the radio and the Web Radio Control server computer (Raspberry Pi)

  • Check the microphone gain setting in the radio itself if there is a separate physical knob for adjusting it

Volume of received audio is too low/high

  • Check the audio volume in the client device (computer/phone/tablet)

  • Check the audio volume for received audio in list Audio input (from radio) in Settings > Audio devices tab

  • Check the volume of audio output in the radio itself if there is a separate physical knob for adjusting it

Volume of transmitted audio is too low/high

You can monitor the level of transmitted audio using three indicators:

  1. The Scope tab in the radio control view visualizes the transmitted audio using a waterfall display. You can enable the waterfall display by clicking both Show audio and TX audio. This waterfall display monitors transmitted audio in the web browser of the computer or other client device you are using.

  2. The light blue meter named RMS audio output level to radio in the radio control view indicates the volume of transmitted audio at the Web Radio Control server. This audio level should follow the loudness of your speech in SSB mode, for example, although there is a small delay in the meter display because of network latency.

  3. If the radio model you use supports monitoring the output power of the transceiver, there is a yellow meter named RF output power indicating the total RF power transmitted by the radio. The level of RF power output should follow the loudness of your speech when using SSB mode.

While simultaneously monitoring the above indicators, you can try the following options to attempt to fix the issue:

  • Check the microphone gain in the client device (computer/phone/tablet)

  • Check that the radio MIC GAIN setting is not set to a value that is too low

  • Check the audio volume for transmitted audio in list Audio output (to radio) in Settings > Audio devices tab

  • Check the microphone gain setting in the radio itself if there is a separate physical knob for adjusting it

Starting audio streaming for a radio results in "ICE failed" error

The "ICE failed" error indicates that the network connectivity for transferring audio is not working properly. In more technical terms, this usually indicates that the UDP network packets used for transferring audio do not arrive correctly either at the client device or at the Web Radio Control server computer.

You can try the following options to fix the issue:

  • Try to restart the web browser first. In some cases, the web browser may have outdated information about the network, e.g. if the IP address of the Web Radio Control server has changed recently and restarting the web browser usually fixes this issue.

  • Try to restart Web Radio Control audio streaming background services by clicking Fix device control and audio issues in Settings > System tab and restart audio streaming using the "play" button. The audio streaming background services may occasionally be left in a state, where audio playback and/or capture is not working correctly.

  • Try to restart the Web Radio Control server software by clicking Restart WRC server in Settings > System tab.

  • Check that the port forwarding settings in your router/modem are defined correctly. More specifically, port forwarding settings for items titled "WebRTC ICE connection service" and "WebRTC audio transfer" on page /getting-started/installation/network-setup/[network setup] are related to audio transfer over network.

I am able to connect to Web Radio Control via public Internet, but not in the local network

Some routers/modems (e.g. many models manufactured by Huawei) do not support routing network traffic originating from the local network back to the local network when using the public IP address of the router/modem in web browser.

You can try the following options to fix the issue:

  • Try to connect to Web Radio Control using either the private LAN IP address of the Web Radio Control server (Raspberry Pi) or the automatically assigned mDNS address https://webradiocontrol.local:8012/. This should work in most cases.

  • If possible, you can try to use a different router/modem, which does not have the limitation regarding routing network traffic and is able to use the public IP address of the router/modem to router traffic back to the local network. Routers and modems from m anufacturers such as Asus, Mikrotik and Teltonika supported this functionality.

The red power LED of Raspberry Pi is not lit or it is blinking

The red power LED in the latest Raspberry Pi models 3B and 4B will either blink or turn off if the voltage provided by the power supply connected to it is too low. A low voltage may lead to instability (locking up) of the Raspberry Pi and corruption of data on the SD card.

It is recommended to use the official Raspberry Pi power supply. Raspberry Pi requires a stable voltage level of at least 5V and a level of 5.1V is preferable. Many ordinary USB chargers provide voltage levels that are either too low or the voltage will drop to an level that is too low when the current consumption gets higher. When the voltage drops enough, Raspberry Pi will become unstable or stop working entirely.

See more details about power requirements of different Raspberry Pi models.

There is additional information about the power supplies also on the hardware requirements page.

The data on the SD card used in Raspberry Pi gets corrupted

Corruption of data on the SD card may be caused by a power supply providing voltage level that is too low for a Raspberry Pi (see more details above regarding "The red power LED of Raspberry Pi is not lit or it is blinking") or by a bad or low-quality SD card.

The MicroSD card has to be rated at least Class 10 or UHS-I and its size has to be at least 8 GB. 16 GB or 32 GB cards have longer life because of larger number of supported write operations. It is recommended to use microSD cards from a well-known manufacturer, such as SanDisk, Kingston, Lexar or Samsung, because low-quality SD cards are known to be unreliable.

You can find more details about suitable MicroSD cards on the hardware requirements page.

Web Radio Control or Raspberry Pi "locks up" or is unstable

Instability of the Raspberry Pi is usually caused by hardware issues:

  • The power supply provides a voltage level that is too low for Raspberry Pi to function reliable, see more details above regarding "The red power LED of Raspberry Pi is not lit or it is blinking"

  • The SD card used in the Raspberry Pi is bad or the data on the SD card is corrupted because of some other reason, see more details above regarding "The data on the SD card used in Raspberry Pi gets corrupted"

You can find more details on about recommended hardware on the hardware requirements page.