Installing and Configuring Mumble for Amateur Radio Remote Contesting

What is Mumble?

Mumble is a free, open-source, high-performance, low-latency audio conferencing server. It’s high quality and low latency, combined with it’s ability to conference, is GREAT for single snd multi-op ham radio use.

There are Mumble clients for Windows, Mac (OSX), Ipad (IOS), Android and Linux.  Mumble users communicate on channels. A Mumble client on each end connects to a common "channel", and volia: you have audio. So, as a ham, you’ll need a client at the radio, and a client where your remote operation is taking place from.

This guide will talk about how to configure under Windows. The same concepts can be used to configure for other operating systems.

Getting Mumble...

To download Mumble, go to www.mumble.com and select the version of Mumble appropriate for your operating system. For most, this is 64-bit Windows, and the download link is:

https://download.mumble.com/en/mumble_client-1.4.230.x64.msi

After you install the client, run it.

When you first start Mumble, it automatically runs a bunch of Wizards. You should cancel out of ALL of them. Why? One reason is because it will fill your server list with 1000 servers you will never use! The other is it is much waste to configure Audio until later in the process. Once you have Mumble up, go to the Server->Connect menu or press the World icon.

Click the Server->Connect menu, or click the World Icon 

Now you will see a list of servers -- which should be empty if you have done what I said above. 

This is the Connect dialog.   You probably won’t have any in your list. 

(Note the ping times to servers.  If a server is down you won’t see a ping time, and 

Will not be able to connect.) 

This document does not discuss setting up your own Mumble Server – that’s 

a task for another day. 

About Mumble Servers 

You can host a private Mumble server in your own shack.  However, that will require a publicly available IPV4 address and port forwarding.   With an external Mumble server, you can connect from any Internet topology (Cellular, NAT, Double NAT, CGNAT, ipv6 – all will work).  Additionally, if you have more than one operator connecting, their will still be only ONE connection to your radio shack internet connection (per radio). 

There are TONS of public Mumble servers, however, because we are a licensed service, you would not want to connect your rig to a public Mumble server.  Anyone could connect, and You could allow non-hams to transmit. 

For testing and experimentation purposes, I have quite a few ham radio Mumble Servers. See my post about them.  You are fee to use them as long as you need.   They are geographically diverse, so you should pick one close to you.  

 If you are interested in your own server, I’m happy to set you up with a local, private server close to you, for $10/year.  Email me at gerry[at]w1ve.com if interested. 

Let’s get connected to a server.   

Click the "Add New..," button in the server diaog.  You will see this:

The DNS name or IP Address goes in the Address box.   You can choose from my server list above or enter the address of a server you know.    

Port 64738 is the default Mumble port (it’s TCP).   You may have been given info for a different port on your server.  If you have, enter that. 

For the username, I typically have this convention: 

    - If on the radio side, enter “Radio”, or something descriptive, like “TS-590”.

    - For the Remote, operate side, enter the callsign, like “W1VE”

he Label is just a label.  Often, I make it the same as the DNS name. 

Click OK. 

Connecting to a Mumble Server for the first time: 

Bring up the Server dialog: (remember, click Server->Connect, or click the Globe icon) Double-click a server, or highlight one and click “Connect”. 

NOTE:  These next steps ONLY happen the first time you connect to a new server! 

You will be presented with an Accept Certificate dialog that looks like this: 

IT IS MOST IMPORTANT THAT YOU SELECT 'YES'!

Mumble uses TLS encryption (yes, all audio is encrypted).  In order to do that, it needs certificates.  These are self-signed certificates.  

The next dialog will be: 

You will ONLY see this if you have never been in a server before, or, if the server password changes after you have successfully logged in.   For my demo servers, the password is Demo! 

Once you have entered the password, you should see the main Mumble display: 

AUDIO SETTINGS: 

To set up audio, once you've connected to a server, go to the Configure->Settings menu, and this Dialog will be shown: 

Working with Mumble 

Here’s a connected session:

This is me connected to the ZF9CW station, the TS-590s radio.  Since the radio audio is set up to send continuously, you note the Radio icon is Blue, because it is sending audio.   

If I talk into my Mic, my icon turns blue as well.   Mumble has “Soft” vox – you set the thresholds.   Of course, you must use Vox on your radio as well.   For CW operation, you’ll be sending over your Anydesk or TeamViewer connection  and logging software. 

Questions to gerry[at]w1ve.com

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