Station Compliance›Equipment›Burk

Change both, in AutoLoad Plus

Burk's October 2026 guidance defines a strong password the same way the FCC does: 15 characters or more, and no dictionary words. Use one for each.

1. The user passwords. In AutoLoad Plus, sign in with the existing administrator credentials, open Edit → Settings → Users, select admin (and then every other user), click Set Password, enter and confirm the new one, then File → Save to write the configuration to the unit.
2. The network password. In AutoLoad Plus, Tools → Set Network Password. AutoLoad Plus changes it on every connected unit at once. A unit you add to the network later needs it set before it will join.

On an ARC Solo, the user password is set in the unit's own web interface: System → Users → Set Password, then Save.

If you run several sites as one ARC Plus network, they must share the same username and password as well as the same network password, so change them together. Burk publishes a technical bulletin, "Managing Passwords for Multi-Site ARC Plus Networks", on the ARC Plus Touch and ARC Plus SL support pages at burk.com/downloads. Read it before you start.

Before you change anything, two warnings

• AutoPilot will lose the connection. The same usernames and passwords serve AutoLoad Plus, AutoPilot and the web page, and Burk notes that a change takes effect immediately. Update every AutoPilot installation with the new password, or monitoring and data logging stop.
• Archive the configuration first. If the new password is lost, the only way back in is a factory reset, which clears the configuration and restores admin / password. Burk strongly recommends periodic archiving. Save the archive somewhere the station controls, then record the new passwords the same way.

Look at who has which level

An ARC Plus Touch holds up to 128 users at three levels: System (full access, needed to change the configuration), Operators (can issue commands, run macros and clear alarms) and Observers (read only).

An Operator can raise and lower your transmitter. That is a program chain credential, and the same password standard applies to it as to admin. Remove any account that belongs to someone who no longer works with you, and give the contract engineer their own login rather than a shared one, so ending their access does not mean changing everyone's.

Confirm the connection is encrypted

ARC Plus units on firmware 5.1.0.4 or later support encrypted connections to AutoLoad Plus and AutoPilot (AutoLoad Plus 3.2.3 and AutoPilot 4.3.39 or later are needed on the PC side). From firmware 5.1.1.0, a connection can be set to unencrypted. Burk highly recommends encrypting, and warns that unencrypted connections can be read on open networks. Check that Encrypt the connection is ticked on every saved site in AutoLoad Plus and AutoPilot.

The current firmware for ARC Plus Touch and ARC Plus SL is 5.1.5.16, posted by Burk on June 6, 2026. Check your running version on the front panel: press INFO.

What the signature does not cover

The encrypted signature protects commands in transit. It does not decide who can reach the unit. Burk's manual says installation behind a router or firewall is required, to keep the unit away from excessive network traffic, and 47 CFR § 11.35(d) has its own segmentation requirement on top of that.

• Check the transmitter site's router for port-forwarding rules and DMZ assignments pointing at the ARC Plus. Remote sites collect these for good reasons, usually someone needing in at 2am. Replace them with a VPN rather than simply removing them and leaving your engineer locked out.
• Turn off the embedded web server if nobody uses it. It is a checkbox in the unit's settings, and its port can be moved off 80 if your firewall blocks that port.
• Then check from outside, from a phone on cellular data rather than station Wi-Fi, that nothing on the ARC Plus answers.

The FCC's FAQ is clear that a firewall or VPN in front of a device is not enough on its own. The device itself must use a strong password or an alternative authentication measure. Record what you checked, and when, in your own file.

The other ways in

• The front panel passcode (firmware 5.0.1.1 and later) is up to 8 digits and locks the touchscreen. It is a control at the unit itself, not remote access. Set one, and record that it is a local passcode that cannot reach 15 characters.
• SNMP, where the optional SNMP Plus feature is enabled, sends traps using a community string you set. Make it something other than a common default and record it with the rest.
• AutoPilot installations and any Burk cloud service you use hold credentials that reach your transmitter from wherever they run. When someone leaves, that is one of the places their access has to end.

We have not verified which of these share a credential store on every firmware version, so do not assume. For each management path your unit offers, log in through it, confirm the new credential works, and confirm the old one does not.