Conjuror of quality artisanal products for discerning radio amateur operators everywhere. Finally.
RadioMail - Winlink email client app for iOS
Transceive - AllStarLink client app for macOS
Both available in the Apple App Store.
B.B. Link adapter - Connect iPhone and iPad to Kenwood TH-D74 and TH-D75 radios via Bluetooth and access the built-in packet TNC.
Пікірлер
I agree Linux is better and the T4 Pro for Linux is out of stock at amazon.
You did it again to help us with remote or emergency email. One question is widows can reconfigure com ports how do you stop that from happening for this setup.
There might be a solution for this but I don't use Windows enough to have an answer. For more reliability, I would recommend setting up under Linux. This other video covers that kzread.info/dash/bejne/nYR4tqptfJaXabQ.html
I have the D75A,
Just got mine to use with my D75a. Plugged it into power, downloaded the apps, and got packet win link going in no time!
🙏💜
What ios app do i need to use this dongle with the kenwood d75 in tnc mode?
Any apps that follow the github.com/hessu/aprs-specs/blob/master/BLE-KISS-API.md specification will know how to discover and utilize the TNC over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Currently they are three available in the App Store: RadioMail for Winlink email, aprs.fi and PocketPacket for APRS position reporting and sending text messages.
@@islandmagicco Thank you. last question, can this also be used on a macbook air?
You don't need an adapter for macOS as they support the Bluetooth SPP profile, which iOS doesn't. With your Macbook, you can pair with the D75 directly via Bluetooth or via USB if you prefer.
@@islandmagicco Thank you. do you have a recommendation for macOS apps?
Depends what you want to do. There are not that many native macOS apps that deal with packet data. QTH is a great macOS app for APRS.
Mine is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Just receive the D75 about 3 days ago. Cool new things to learn.
Will the adapter fit an iPhone with a case on it?
The adapter provides about 2mm of clearance when plugged in. If your case is unusually thick, you may need to remove it for a proper fit. On the product page, you can see a picture from NU8H using it on an iPhone 15 with what looks like the bumper style case.
Ardunio 2.3.2( apple silicon version) does not recognize TinyPico. But Thonny recognizes TinyPico.. So Pls advice.
Make sure you've installed the drivers for CH9102F UART as instructed on www.tinypico.com
Thank you for your advice. On MAC Silicon, I checked the driver in /dev/. But I got stuck with an error. I changed the environment to Linux and was able to install it on TinyPICO. Done The error on Mac is as follows. Error Message: bash: /Users/akiyama/Library/Arduino15/packages/esp32/tools/esptool_py/4.5.1/esptool: Bad CPU type in executable exit status 126 Compilation error: exit status 126@@islandmagicco
Looks like perhaps the toolchain for the wrong platform got installed. Maybe try to re-install and make sure you have rosetta installed. Beyond that, that's probably something better answered by searching for Arduino IDE errors.
22:13 When I try to find a station and connect to one it won’t do the same thing for me. I can see stations but can’t select one to connect to. Any idea what I’m missing?
You need to make sure the station is added to your favorite first. Go to directory, favorite the station. Then it's available in the connect screen.
@@islandmagicco and I assume you’d have to be within range of said station or it wouldn’t let you connect?
RadioMail will let you initiate a connection regardless of where the station is, but the connection will likely timeout if you're not in RF range.
@@islandmagicco within RF range of the BB link or repeater tower?
I assume by "repeater tower" you are referring to the Winlink station you're connecting to. Visualize this as a series of links: "iPhone" <1> "B.B. Link" <2> "TH-D75" <3> "Winlink station". Connection #1 is via Bluetooth Low Energy and connection #2 is via Bluetooth Classic-both are short-range technologies that work best when devices are within a few feet of each other. Connection #3 uses your VHF or UHF radio signal, which typically requires line of sight to function effectively, within range of 5-50 miles. If any of these links are out of range or the corresponding device is not available, the session will timeout.
The most modern and most expensive handheld transceiver ever made, and it does not support the low energy BT protocol that has been around for fourteen years...
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ordered mine. website says out of stock. anyone know when the next batch arrives?
Wow, you guys really love this item! It's flown off the shelves, and we're currently out of stock. Orders placed today (May 13) will ship by end of the week. Beyond that, if you place a pre-order, you're in line to get it as soon as we build the next batch. Just a heads up though, it takes a bit of time to get everything just right. We need to procure all the parts and put them together, which means it will take a few weeks before your pre-order gets dispatched.
All pre-orders have been fulfilled and adapter is back in stock.
Does it allow iphone to act as walkitalki ?
No. It allows iOS applications to access the radio's built-in KISS TNC for packet data use. It's not suited for voice.
Just ordered mine, KM6KDZ!
I also just ordered one!
Awesome! Great drum track too!
We need this in Europe too!
I'd like that too. Right now with USPS the shipping cost to Europe, plus duties, taxes, and other import fees comes up to more than the price for the device.
Ordered!
Mahalo. Appreciate the support.
Just received and works better than expected!
I see this and I want it for the vrn7500
AFAIK that radio does not have a KISS TNC
That looks fantastic!
It is! 😜
Brilliant!!!
How much would you charge for this devise? Would you make and sell one?
I just released a new model that's plug-and-play. Check out getbblink.com
Ok, we need a ❤ button instead of the like button. Thanks for your hard work!!!
want about yaesu ftm500? It does have the Bluetooth connection as well
Does it expose a KISS TNC on Bluetooth? I could not find any indication that it does.
This app is so clean. Works every time I use it with no issues. Nice work.
So I’m guessing being that this all works off of the ESP32-Pico, the QTPY ESP32 Pico development board (which uses the ESP32-Pico-V3-02 chip, specifically) would also work? It’s a bit smaller from what I see of the TinyPico, and I just so happen to have a couple laying around. I’ve successfully flashed everything, but run into trouble with HARDWARE_BOARD in adapter.h You’ll have to forgive my ignorance, as I’m very new to arduino (started about a month ago, was previously programming in micropython!). I was wondering is there any easy way to define the board, and define it as having that chip? Or would this not be possible because it’s a different variant of ESP32 Pico? Thank you so much! 🙏
Super cute board 😃. In Arduino IDE, try selecting ESP32 PICO-D4 as the board type and see if that works.
@@islandmagicco I just recompiled for that chip, and sure enough... It works! Thank you so much, this is so incredibly useful!
I wish I could believe KZread reviews but most are paid shills.
Is there not some way to do HF with Radio Mail using a Mac computer?
Somewhat. VARA HF is a Windows only program, so it needs some form of emulation to run on other platforms.
Thanks for the video. I have wanted to use my TH-D74 with Radio Mail for awhile but the Bluetooth issue was holding me back. I will have to try this solution. Thanks ! -KE6EX
Could you do old school bbs packet radio with this app? If not would it be hard for you to add?
From a tech standpoint, yes, RadioMail has a AX.25 stack that allows it to do connection oriented sessions. From an application stand point however, the question is what features and functionality make sense? A keyboard interface on an iPhone is not very useful, and from what I understand, nodes commands have not been standardized, so it would be challenging to automate. There is a good write up on this: www.zeroretries.org/p/zero-retries-0147#§why-its-so-hard-to-get-people-excited-about-using-connected-packet-systems . What is the main use case you would want to see?
Basically there is no terminal type app for os out there to operate on a bbs. I have a Mobilinkd TNC 3. My club is operating an old school packet network. Basically it would be nice to just send typed commands through the TNC and be able to retrieve messages from a bbs. I realize it’s dated tech but some of the older guys like this stuff. I don’t know if there is much demand for this if any I’ll tell you it’s been a learning experience for me.
This is awesome 👏 Thanks for developing such a great tool. 73 de KN6ZEO
Glad you like it!
Very nice presentation. DE WA1KLI
Quick question, is there a way to prevent the TinyPICO from sleeping? I took a different approach where I just power the board from the USB-C, but the issue is, if I keep the board idle, it sleeps. The only way to get around this is unplug and plug the power supply. Thank you
That should not be the case. When USB power is detected, the adapter should not go to sleep. If this is happening, please open an issue github.com/islandmagic/bb-link/issues
trying to connect,switch on touch battery and cable on pin4, orange led, nearby adapters B.B. Link RSSI: -32 in the app, connect OK, TH-D74 in BT pairing mode, click paired radio, blue led on B.B. Link, ...often Lost BLE Connection. I kept trying and eventally succeeded in connecting. Now on exploration in RadioMail.☺
Notting goes automatic for the moment. No connection to the radio TH-D74 possible.
After a few attempts, woohoo! it works! Keep in mind that you need the D75 set to the B band or it will not work ! Excellent work! Now I have to 3D print the case and get the battery :-) Thank you for all the help !
B.B. Link actually queries the radio to determine which VFO is to be used for KISS TNC. It will work with either A or B band.
@@islandmagicco really? interesting, my TH-D75 is brand new, maybe I need to set something up to allow that? I did several tests, and when the radio is turned on and is on VFO Band A, the BB Link board will not communicate via BT to the radio. If I have the radio on the B band, then all works, the BT connection is done without any hiccups and the correct frequency is set, KISS12 mode automatically engaged and RadioMail checks my email (if I can hit the repeater, hehe)
There are two things at play here. You can configure which VFO is used for TNC KISS, via the Data Band setting, menu 506. Then there is what VFO is radio is using, single A or B or dual A/B. If the Data Band is set to VFO B, but the radio is in single band on VFO A, then yes, the connection will not go thru. If Data Band is set for VFO B, put the radio in dual band and you'll be able to use VFO A for voice and VFO B will automatically be used for Data.
@@islandmagicco Perfect explanation ! Thank you ! 73'
Dope! Worked excellent! Thanks a lot!
Fantastic !
Thanks for this excellent programs and information, I will be demonstrating Radiomail at our AREC roadshow this Sunday, Thanks
dang. UM wants $23 shipping on the tinypico. That's more than the cost of the tinypico itself!!!
Try other channels. Looks like Tindie has some in stock.
Thanks Georges for Varanny and the tutorials! I've followed your tutorials and have configured the Beelink t4 computer as you have described. I only have an IC-705 at the moment and have the T4 configured for HF & FM. The T4 start every time as expected. Most of the connection with the IC-705 works but I have some random strange behavior with hamelib have issue setting properly the IC-705 : - First, Hambilb set improper frequency and mode, like it mix settings from previous connection, - Then I have this, in loop, untiI I cancel the connection: read_string_generic called, rxmax=200, direct=1, expected_lens=1 read_string_generic(): Timed out 1.904 seconds after 0 chars, direct=1 - So I stop the connection. If I have another try with the same station and frequency, most of the time I have the same problem. - To make it work again, I have to make a connection with a different stations or frequency, repeat it a couple of times until it works again. Maybe a serial port conflict issue? Any thought about it? Thanks! 73, Claude, F4LFJ
Claude, glad to hear you're up and running. I've experienced similar flakiness with hamlib as it seemingly loose synchronization with the radio from time to time. It seemed to occur mostly due to killing the hamlib daemon. I swapped my USB cable and it improved but never went away completely. I found the best remedy when it's in a bad state is to re-plug the USB connector. I have to do more testing on Linux to see if this is a Windows problem. I see that there has been some fixes on Windows to perform a more graceful shutdown. I've been running 4.5.5, will try to run the latest dev version and see if that improves.
@@islandmagicco Ok, I'll try different cable to see if it improve it. Bye the way, on my T4, the MyPublicWiFi software take a long time before being minimize, I had to add a delay of 45s in the json config file.
@@islandmagicco OK, I'll try with another USB cable. I wonder if it would solve the issue withj wWindows 11. kzread.info/dash/bejne/fYx7vJqKYNXOlNY.html
Thank you for the Radiomail app and all of these tutorials! I'm a new ham, your work and video will help me to build similar setups your are demonstating. I've got a Beelink T4 (it's incredibly small for a PC), just left to configure it. I like to use an iPad, it's a very practical, lightweight and powerful device and it has a long battery life. Too bad there is only few ham apps on it. I'd like to see VARA implementated. Thanks again! 73, Claude, F4LFJ
Newbie @ Arduino. When I com to the connection part, I can see USB-Enhanced-serial CH9102 on COM7. I can't see the wchb1.. as you say? On the board type I have UM TinyPICO, the reel one, and next COM7 Serial Port (USB)
Things probably look different on Windows. Try selecting COM7 and see how it goes.
Succes in programming, first test with paper clip OK. Now assembly time.
Great Job! Varanny makes this setup viable for plug-n-play field operations. Thank you.
Excellent/73
Crazy that Apple has such a bad, crappy design that you need to result to this. Louis Rossmann would love this.
No, it's very much by design.
So I downloaded the most recent Arduino IDE (2.3.0) for windows and when I try to install , when I go to perform the step of installing the additional board manager URLs, there is no window in the Preferences-> Settings labeled “Additional board Manager URLs”. I uninstalled 2.3.0 and found 2.2.1 which appears to be the same version you are using and same issue. Is there some other setting that makes this option available or? I just got my device today so am anxious to try it. Thanks.
Should be right there, last line in Preferences > Settings. There is a little blue icon that opens the windows where you can paste multiple urls.
@@islandmagicco ok that’s weird, the window is now there, I swear it was not after I first installed it…
@@islandmagiccoI got everything working, tested with radiomail and my Kenwood TH-D75 works as advertised. Thanks.
Congrats!
bravo
Excellent work. Truly.
Really great project!!! I am confused on what board to order on the UM website, can you reply what board to order? thanks
The TinyPICO unexpectedmaker.com/shop.html#!/TinyPICO/p/577111313/category=154494282
I’ve been using this solution for a while now on my d74. I would have bought a d75 but the lack of BLE was a dealbreaker.
Nice solution Georges. Thanks for sharing.
Simply genius! 👏
One question… how can the battery be recharged if it’s soldered to the TinyPico? 🤔
The TinyPICO has a charge circuit, simply plug the board in a USB power source and it will charge the battery.