Like other chap said, UHF version would be nice, might be able to alter software and use a ln-490 smd filter like they use on the shari 👍 Thanks for doing a video on this Matt 👍
Well, 1) I've got a dozen ESP32 modules sat around doing nothing, 2) coincidentally I wanted to knock off my bucket list this year, "create a PCB from scratch and submit to a manufacturer". Realistically I'm not going to have time to learn the call process from scratch before xmas, but having a cool _almost-ready-to-go_ project, I might be able to give it a half-tick 😊
@@TechMindsOfficial Ha not yet but "battery share" or "wireless power share" has been and is baked into the Qi standard on many new wireless phones, I charge my wireless headphones that way but even better to have a VHF transceiver that attaches magnetically to the halbach "magsafe" array built into many new phones ( or the 3rd party "mous" cases that are commonly available ) and receives its power over an induced connection....
Fantastic idea for those who are able to do this....I have an idea!! Cell phone cases have these stand clips on the back of their cases for phones. Pull out that stand clip, and this device radio chip board should be able to fit right into its place. 73s and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Hi Matt, thanks for showing us how to order the PCB's I really appreciate it. It's something I've been wanting to do but was put off by how complicated it seemed. I feel confident to give it a go now. Thanks again mate. Keep up the great work friend de 2E0TWD.
Thanks so much, brilliant work ... love the fact that you are not just reviewing ready made things, also covering every aspect you need in real life for this very creative homemade project. I just checked out the DRA818V/U modules and they are really just analog radio modules, not I/Q based, which will limit the number of possibilities significantly. I wonder if there will soon also be an I/Q transceiver version with 1W output in the same form factor, because that could be open up even more possibilities and use the full potential of our very powerful Android smartphones.
The clean spectrum is amazing, especially compared to the cheap Chinese radios! This is the first building block of - hopefully - many more which will allow us to built fully fledged, open source transceivers! (BTW, i'm not sure if Android can be considered as open source)
Did the substitution when I ordered mine. Notice also that the ESP32, etc. Are NOT deselected so it will have them try to and eventually find everything. That holds up a pcbway order unless you deselect those parts.
This was an interesting project. I used to work as a technician assembling aircraft control interface boxes in the U.S. I was just curious if there could be an emulator for digital modes such as DMR and C4FM? 73de N0SJU
It would be great to have a complete open-source VHF radio in a standard mobile form factor, like the RS918 or BS188. It should be further developed with a microphone, a power amplifier, and eventually its own user interface. Is it currently communicating with Android via Bluetooth?
not sure why the firmware isn't using Bluetooth Serial besides there is no external battery for the radio and there is no battery charger circuitry on the ESP32 ... luckily my PCB isn't limited
I guess really simple to make.. all you need is the 400-480 mhz module, and a different filter to antenna. frs should be as simple as well. only issue afaik is legal PMR asks for non-removabe antenna..but i guess we could care less :)
There is definitely a UHF variant of the RF module, but the filtering on the PCB is designed for VHF. I dont think it would be too much trouble to redesign a board with UHF filters though.
APRS is normally line of sight, or simplex, not through a repeater. However, the ISS did have an APRS digipeater at one time or another. Distance is dependent on antenna used and height.
I believe on GitHub, the latest board which is in development (not released but visible) seems to show all components are SMD, including the ESP module, excluding the radio board though.
An android/ios controlled SDR transceiver like the hackRF would be nice… With the ability to use encrypted (aes256) 2 way DMR, D-Star, NXDN, P25…etc…(encryption is for licensed business purposes)
as one who researched it a bit, the proprietary digital voice modes are a problem of licensing. long time ago dudestar was able to to so, but abandoned by the author in favor of droidstar which does it over ip. the only digital voice you can do with droidstar via direct mode rf is the open source M17
@@harveyweizman i would say don't reinvent the wheel. hardware side is just tx capable sdr. software side is another story! if u're able to code a digital modes capable smartphone app that does not require internet connection, but can tx via hackrf or something, i would say it"l be a massive success!
Looks like it's got a lot of potential for programming it. I need to look up what frequencies marine radio and AIS work on. I wonder does it have to connect to Android or if it would work with Linux?
Could definitely cover Marine and AIS! That's defo another "use case" that could be added to the list. Drop a comment on the github page as an enhancement! Cheers
It's great that this works with android, but I think there is no reason this could not also work with PCs (win/linux/mac) or either, maybe even something like M5Stack.
Honesly these little radio modules will be the future of ham radio, you will never get a hot blonde to walk around and send messages with a yeasu radio to you but she might consider it if she could easily use her smart phone to do so like she already does with text messages, society will only adopt ham radio in mass when they can do it on thier smartphone, ill repeat it again smartphone smartphone smartphone Every stupid radio manufacture is always behind the curve building hand held radios instead of smartphone modules...... this is the way.... i want the younger generation to get into ham radio but old people keep making it complicated and boring for the younger generation, think android or apple smartphone using teenagers , make radios easier for your kids to use so your not as reliant on celltowers. Its a SHTF prepper idea sort of.
Many of the newer cheap Chinese radios now also support modem modes (APRS). You can bluetooth to them from your phone too. This device would have been awesome years ago. These days It's a "hey look what this can do!" and then throw it in a drawer to never be used again, item.
Biggest problem with this thing is that it’s useless VHF UHF, LoraWAN, HF would be 20 times better. Wireless power people suggest is garbage don’t do it, too inefficient. Make an app for iPhone.
Thanks for covering this great open source project, Matt.. Glad to have more open source projects in the Ham world. Good on you, sir.
Absolutely! Thanks for watching.
Like other chap said, UHF version would be nice, might be able to alter software and use a ln-490 smd filter like they use on the shari 👍
Thanks for doing a video on this Matt 👍
That's not a bad idea and I am sure it would not be too hard to create. Cheers
Well, 1) I've got a dozen ESP32 modules sat around doing nothing, 2) coincidentally I wanted to knock off my bucket list this year, "create a PCB from scratch and submit to a manufacturer".
Realistically I'm not going to have time to learn the call process from scratch before xmas, but having a cool _almost-ready-to-go_ project, I might be able to give it a half-tick 😊
Go for it dude! I have a few spare boards, so if you want one let me know. You will just need the ESP32 and the RF module etc.
Cheers for the update, I just built one of these today and I'm really impressed by the whole KV4P HT project
It's pretty cool isn't it! Thanks
Can't wait to see where this goes
A UHF version would be good to see.
Yes and bluetooth because tha cable between looks like shit
@Ghost_Swe I'm pretty sure that "power over bluetooth" hasn't been invented yet. :-)
Its called “portable rf “ 😂
@@TechMindsOfficial have you heard of something called battery?
@@TechMindsOfficial Ha not yet but "battery share" or "wireless power share" has been and is baked into the Qi standard on many new wireless phones, I charge my wireless headphones that way but even better to have a VHF transceiver that attaches magnetically to the halbach "magsafe" array built into many new phones ( or the 3rd party "mous" cases that are commonly available ) and receives its power over an induced connection....
Great video Matt... as usual!
Thanks again!
Fantastic idea for those who are able to do this....I have an idea!!
Cell phone cases have these stand clips on the back of their cases for phones. Pull out that stand clip, and this device radio chip board should be able to fit right into its place.
73s and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
That's pretty cool!
This might be a good addition to my android tablet!
Hi Matt, thanks for showing us how to order the PCB's I really appreciate it. It's something I've been wanting to do but was put off by how complicated it seemed. I feel confident to give it a go now. Thanks again mate. Keep up the great work friend de 2E0TWD.
Glad I could help! If you get stuck drop a comment and I'll try to help. Cheers! Matt
@TechMindsOfficial Awesome thanks
A dual VHF/UHF would be ideal. (And if the firmware & App included APRS & Meshtastic together....that would be fantastic!)
Those RF modules are all single band unfortunately
@@nine7295 well, i guess its quite easy to extend the pcb for another module..
Thanks so much, brilliant work ... love the fact that you are not just reviewing ready made things, also covering every aspect you need in real life for this very creative homemade project.
I just checked out the DRA818V/U modules and they are really just analog radio modules, not I/Q based, which will limit the number of possibilities significantly. I wonder if there will soon also be an I/Q transceiver version with 1W output in the same form factor, because that could be open up even more possibilities and use the full potential of our very powerful Android smartphones.
Thanks so much! I can't take credit for the device, but I do love these projects, it's what makes Ham Radio imo.
The clean spectrum is amazing, especially compared to the cheap Chinese radios! This is the first building block of - hopefully - many more which will allow us to built fully fledged, open source transceivers! (BTW, i'm not sure if Android can be considered as open source)
Amazing neat kit
Did the substitution when I ordered mine. Notice also that the ESP32, etc. Are NOT deselected so it will have them try to and eventually find everything. That holds up a pcbway order unless you deselect those parts.
I ordered from JLCPCB so not sure how other sites operate, but great you got the boards! :-)
This was an interesting project. I used to work as a technician assembling aircraft control interface boxes in the U.S. I was just curious if there could be an emulator for digital modes such as DMR and C4FM? 73de N0SJU
I think this could be possible for sure, especially M17 and FreeDV which are open source.
It would be great to have a complete open-source VHF radio in a standard mobile form factor, like the RS918 or BS188. It should be further developed with a microphone, a power amplifier, and eventually its own user interface. Is it currently communicating with Android via Bluetooth?
I really would love this, but I have no patience with putting stuff like this together.
Could you use the app and somehow plug a cable into a handheld radio or base station ?
Not with this app, but take a look at the VGC radios, they have their own closed source products for this.
What is the power output
Very interesting. Thank you.
Very welcome
not sure why the firmware isn't using Bluetooth Serial besides there is no external battery for the radio and there is no battery charger circuitry on the ESP32 ... luckily my PCB isn't limited
Hello. Will UHF PMR 446 MHz be in the future? Thank you very much for your work!
I guess really simple to make.. all you need is the 400-480 mhz module, and a different filter to antenna. frs should be as simple as well. only issue afaik is legal PMR asks for non-removabe antenna..but i guess we could care less :)
@@EvgeniX. Hi. In the situation that has developed in my country (Ukraine), no one will look at a fixed antenna. I think so..
@@KRAPA the situation in my country (Israel) is not very different.
Thanks again for the great video, is there also a UHF variant of this device? Thank you
There is definitely a UHF variant of the RF module, but the filtering on the PCB is designed for VHF. I dont think it would be too much trouble to redesign a board with UHF filters though.
@TechMindsOfficial thank you
How far does APRS travel? Is it bound by local repeaters? The country which one resides? The world?
APRS is normally line of sight, or simplex, not through a repeater. However, the ISS did have an APRS digipeater at one time or another. Distance is dependent on antenna used and height.
would be nice to have a pcb version with smd esp32 module like the xiao esp32 or dfrobot firebeetle2
I believe on GitHub, the latest board which is in development (not released but visible) seems to show all components are SMD, including the ESP module, excluding the radio board though.
An android/ios controlled SDR transceiver like the hackRF would be nice…
With the ability to use encrypted (aes256) 2 way DMR, D-Star, NXDN, P25…etc…(encryption is for licensed business purposes)
as one who researched it a bit, the proprietary digital voice modes are a problem of licensing. long time ago dudestar was able to to so, but abandoned by the author in favor of droidstar which does it over ip. the only digital voice you can do with droidstar via direct mode rf is the open source M17
@@EvgeniX. I have been thinking of using a Chinese ODM to develop a custom radio….
@@harveyweizman i would say don't reinvent the wheel. hardware side is just tx capable sdr. software side is another story! if u're able to code a digital modes capable smartphone app that does not require internet connection, but can tx via hackrf or something, i would say it"l be a massive success!
Looks like it's got a lot of potential for programming it. I need to look up what frequencies marine radio and AIS work on.
I wonder does it have to connect to Android or if it would work with Linux?
Could definitely cover Marine and AIS! That's defo another "use case" that could be added to the list. Drop a comment on the github page as an enhancement! Cheers
It's great that this works with android, but I think there is no reason this could not also work with PCs (win/linux/mac) or either, maybe even something like M5Stack.
I didn't realize the rf bit was so tiny
Since the lowest frequency is 134 MHz it is not going to work for the airband. To my disappointment. Otherwise I would definitely get one!
Honesly these little radio modules will be the future of ham radio, you will never get a hot blonde to walk around and send messages with a yeasu radio to you but she might consider it if she could easily use her smart phone to do so like she already does with text messages, society will only adopt ham radio in mass when they can do it on thier smartphone, ill repeat it again smartphone smartphone smartphone Every stupid radio manufacture is always behind the curve building hand held radios instead of smartphone modules...... this is the way.... i want the younger generation to get into ham radio but old people keep making it complicated and boring for the younger generation, think android or apple smartphone using teenagers , make radios easier for your kids to use so your not as reliant on celltowers. Its a SHTF prepper idea sort of.
Many of the newer cheap Chinese radios now also support modem modes (APRS). You can bluetooth to them from your phone too. This device would have been awesome years ago. These days It's a "hey look what this can do!" and then throw it in a drawer to never be used again, item.
Yeh yeh, but they are open source!
@TechMindsOfficial cool. I have a lot of stuff in my junk drawer that is open source.
Biggest problem with this thing is that it’s useless VHF
UHF, LoraWAN, HF would be 20 times better.
Wireless power people suggest is garbage don’t do it, too inefficient.
Make an app for iPhone.