๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ’ปProgramming Your Radio

Configuring your computer

When at an official FIRST event, the Vivid-Hosting Radio Kiosk will be available for teams to easily program their radios with a GUI interface.

If the configuring computer has it's network interface configured to obtain an IP address via DHCP, the computer will be able to reach the VH-109 device at 10.XX.YY.1 (Client/STA mode) or 10.XX.YY.4 (AP mode). VH-109's programmed at the factory are configured to team #1 in Client/STA mode, setting the IP address to 10.0.1.1. The VH-109 device is also pre-programmed with a failsafe/management IP address in the 192.168.69.0/24 subnet to reach the management IP of the VH-109 radio. For example, the network interface on your driver station laptop can be temporarily configured to:

IP Address: 192.168.69.2

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Gateway: Leave Blank

DNS: 192.168.69.1 or Leave Blank

Programming your Radio

Navigate to http://192.168.69.1/

Firmware releases after 1.1.0 (released on 02/04/2024) include a mDNS responder. The radio can also be reached at http://radio.local/

Radios shipped before the 2024 FIRST Championship will have the firmware version 1.0.0 preloaded.

Team Client/STA Mode

This is the default configuration for the VH-109 radio to act as a ROBOT RADIO for FRC competitions while at home. This procedure is not required when at a competition.

  1. Select "Robot Radio Mode"

  2. Enter the team number

  3. Enter the suffix, if desired

  4. Enter the 6 GHz WPA/SAE key

  5. Enter the 2.4 GHz WPA/SAE key (See note below)

When DIP switch #3 is in the ON position AND a valid connection to an 6GHz 802.11ax Wi-Fi access point is not present, the radio will simultaneously broadcast as a 2.4GHz 802.11ax Wi-Fi access point with the SSID of "FRC-XXYY" where XXYY is the programmed team number. If a suffix is provided, the SSID will be "FRC-XXYY-SUFFIX" where SUFFIX is the programmed suffix identifier.

Once the radio successfully connects to a 6GHz 802.11ax Wi-Fi access point, the 2.4Ghz 802.11ax Wi-Fi access point will shut down until the device is power cycled.

Please keep in mind that when using the Access Point feature enabled by DIP switch #3, radio performance can be severely affected in highly congested 2.4 GHz wireless environments. It is recommended that teams use a SECOND radio and configure it in "Team Access Point Mode".

Once completed, this configured VH-109 radio will attempt to connect to an access point with the corresponding team number, suffix and WPA-SAE key

Team Access Point Mode

When configured as a WIRELESS ACCESS POINT, due to regulatory requirements, the VH-109 radio cannot be powered using a battery source and is for Indoor Use Only. The device is regulated by the FCC LPI (Low Power Indoor) requirements when in this mode. Only when the VH-109 radio is configured as an INDOOR CLIENT DEVICE (STA) may it be powered using a battery.

You can also configure your radio to act as a wireless access point, similar to what's used on a competition FIRST field with FMS.

  1. Select "Access Point Mode"

  2. Enter the team number

  3. Enter a suffix, if you desire

  4. Enter the 6 GHz WPA-SAE key

  5. Select a wireless channel

In this case, the VH-109 will be configured to act as a 6 GHz access point with the SSID of "1538-coolbot" with a SAE key of "vividhosting".

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