In 2004, Klaus, DL7AIR contacted me with an idea of providing wireless control for CTR817 and the FT-817. An Infrared interface was soon developed but unfortunately proved to be too limited in range and prone to lockup the radio when operating on the fringe.

Klaus suggested the possibility of utilizing Bluetooth technology as a method of wireless control. I soon discovered that Microsoft's eMbedded Visual Basic didn't support advanced communication devices like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, so I decided to completely rewrite CTR817 in Visual Studio .NET using Compact Framework. The project was started with design goals of supporting advanced connections and of being able to support as many radios as possible. The result was CTR-Remote.

Klaus designed a Bluetooth dongle using a module from Germany and CTR-BlueAir was born. CTR-BlueAir proved to be popular but it was too labor intensive to build and module costs were going up instead of down.

Klaus' "real job" became more time consuming so he left the project. I continued on and developed CTR-BlueLync, based on the BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module from Spark Fun Electronics. This interface provides a universal Bluetooth platform that can easily be adapted to multiple radio interfaces and other accessories such as CTR-BlueLync Keyer, the worlds first (I think) Bluetooth enabled Morse keyer.

I'm always open to new ideas and try my best to implement them, so feel free to contact me about features you'd like to see.

Thanks for all your support,

Lynn Hansen, KU7Q