Pirrot: Turn Your Raspberry Pi Into a Full-Featured Ham Radio Repeater

If you’ve ever wanted to set up a ham radio repeater without spending hundreds on commercial gear, you’re going to love Pirrot — an open-source radio repeater controller that transforms a humble Raspberry Pi into a powerful, configurable simplex or duplex repeater system.

Whether you’re experimenting from your home shack, setting up a mobile go-box, or building a community repeater on a budget, Pirrot is a flexible and surprisingly capable solution.

What Is Pirrot?

Pirrot is a full-featured, open-source radio repeater controller designed for the Raspberry Pi. It supports both simplex and duplex repeater setups, with VOX and COR triggering, audio recording, web control interface, and even weather reports or GPS integration — features you won’t find on many commercial repeater boards.

It’s like AllStar or SVXLink — but simpler to set up and easier on your wallet.

Top Features of Pirrot

Here’s why Pirrot is worth a look:

• 📡 Simplex and Duplex repeater support
• 🔊 VOX or COR activation options
• 🎧 Record and playback received transmissions
• 🌦️ Speak live weather reports via OpenWeatherMap API
• 🛰️ Optional GPS integration for mobile/time sync
• 📁 Automatic audio backups and cleanup
• 🛠️ Clean web interface for monitoring and control
• 🧠 Text-to-speech and custom IDs (with PL tone support)
• 🔁 Optional message delay and custom courtesy tones
• 🔗 Dispatch webhooks when triggered — great for automation
• 🔐 Easy remote access, including support for RDP or SSH

Pirrot is a true plug-and-play repeater core, perfect for field deployment, remote locations, or as a base for custom projects.

What You’ll Need

Pirrot works on almost any Raspberry Pi (Zero, 3, 4) and requires:

• A Raspberry Pi running Raspberry Pi OS (Bookworm recommended)
• A USB sound card for audio I/O
• A radio transceiver, ideally with access to audio, PTT, and squelch/COR lines

Optional add-ons:

• A PTT relay wired to GPIO (defaults to GPIO #23)
• A COR signal line to GPIO (defaults to GPIO #18)
• A GPS module (USB or HAT)
• A custom PCB for easy plug-and-play (schematic provided!)

No VOX? No problem — Pirrot is fully GPIO-controllable and easily integrated with most radios (Baofeng, Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom, etc.).

How to Install Pirrot

Installing Pirrot is easy with Git:

sudo apt-get install -y git
sudo git clone --single-branch --branch latest-stable https://github.com/allebb/pirrot /opt/pirrot
cd /opt/pirrot
sudo make install

Or use the .tar.gz release version from GitHub. Once installed, Pirrot runs automatically at boot. Audio levels can be tuned with alsamixer, and settings live in /etc/pirrot.conf.

Need to adjust GPIO pin mappings, tones, delays, or enable the web interface? It’s all right there in the config file.

Optional Web Interface

From version 2.0 onward, Pirrot includes a lightweight web admin panel you can access remotely:

• View system health (CPU, RAM, temp)
• Change repeater settings
• Listen to or download audio recordings

Just set web_interface_enabled=true in /etc/pirrot.conf, restart the daemon, and access your Pi at http://your-ip:8440. Default login:

• Username: admin
• Password: pirrot (change it ASAP!)

Make It Mobile: Hotspot, GPS, and RTC Support

Pirrot was built for remote operation:

• 🛰️ Sync time with GPS (no internet needed)
• 🔋 Run off batteries or solar
• 📶 Auto-switch between known Wi-Fi and Hotspot mode for access in the field

Whether you’re operating a repeater on a mountain, inside a go-box, or off-grid at Field Day, Pirrot keeps your setup lean and smart.

Need a PCB? We’ve Got That Too

A Simplex PCB interface is available via EasyEDA, designed by the community. It breaks out all the GPIO connections and makes wiring neat and simple.

🔗 Get the PCB here on EasyEDA

A Duplex-compatible board is under development.

Used Around the World

From Baofeng repeaters to custom weather bots and mobile field repeaters — Pirrot is powering dozens of DIY amateur radio projects. Check out Margirine Man’s compact repeater build based on a Pi Zero and BF-888S radios.

Have your own project? Submit it and it may be featured in the official gallery!

Why Choose Pirrot?

If you’re looking for an open-source repeater controller that’s:

• Lightweight
• Easy to configure
• Well-documented
• Versatile
• Community-supported

Then Pirrot is worth a serious look. Whether you’re a seasoned operator or just getting into the hobby, it’s a great platform to learn, tinker, and expand.

Get Started Today

🛠️ GitHub repo: https://github.com/allebb/pirrot
📖 Full setup guide and configuration tips included
🌍 Website: pirrot.hallinet.com

Build your own repeater. Learn radio and GPIO. Automate with Python or webhooks. Pirrot is open, hackable, and powerful — just the way ham radio should be.