3 ms·

Seriously! I keep feeling the same lack. I want something in the form factor of an early Blackberry or something. I'd love it to have three radio decks: One ha

Seriously! I keep feeling the same lack. I want something in the form factor of an early Blackberry or something. I'd love it to have three radio decks: One ham transceiver, so I can use direct APRS-or-whatever with other nearby nodes or digipeaters, though I know the antenna will suck. One Bluetooth, so it can act as the QWERTY UI for a more powerful radio that lacks a decent keyboard (or as a generic peripheral for other projects). And one Part-15, perhaps LoRa or something, so it can also operate in an unlicensed mode with Meshtastic or something as the protocol over longer range than Bluetooth. I'm pretty sure I could design the hardware, both the electronics and the enclosure, but I can't code my way out of a wet paper bag, so that's sort of a non-starter. The bigger question question is, why doesn't this exist yet? Are there HTs with native Bluetooth so the texting UI could be implemented as a phone app? I know there are some with Bluetooth for other functions but I'm not clear on whether they can act as a KISS TNC over SPP. If so, that would be a great interface to standardize on, implement the phone app for testing, then turn it into a physical gizmo to enjoy longer battery life and cheaper/rugged hardware. Then as a next step, bring the Part-97 hardware into the gizmo.

vvanders 6y ago
Check out the M17 project, they seem to be making inroads in that area. https://m17project.org/ https://m17project.org/ Mobilink tncs are really nice but you're still limited by APRS.
- ac29 6y ago
  M17 sounds cool, but as near as I can tell you cant just buy some hardware for it. Its still a plug your PC into a generic radio technology (which is fine, but some people just want to spend the money to get a working all in one solution).
sobriquet9 6y ago
I played with Meshtastic and was disappointed with range. I did not really expect miracles given LoRa's limited power, but 50 yards with direct line of sight was underwhelming.
- myself248 6y ago
  That's hardly the protocol's fault though. When I discovered Meshtastic, I already had some of the Heltec modules around, which are reputed to have the worst RF performance. I tried anyway, and indeed, I had to equip some truly silly antennas to get even a mile of range. (18dBi yagi in my living room, pointed at a parking structure downtown, was able to talk to another node on top of the structure with a 6dBi omni. Just barely.) I've been pursuing other projects since then, but a quick skim of the meshtastic forum suggests that there are some much better-performing RF modules now. I'll play with those soon enough... And anyway, there are encodings other than the patent-encumbered LoRa worth considering, too. (The LoRa folks just did a stellar job capturing mindshare lately.) Really, a feature-set identical to the original IM-ME, but with an option to use ham radios to extend the range, is what I want.
  - sobriquet9 6y ago
    I used TTGO modules with omnidirectional antennas. By now we have very efficient modulation like FT8 and LDPC error-correcting codes, so I think it should be possible to do much better, even within Part 15 limitations.
    - myself248 6y ago
      Agreed, but I'm not aware of anyone trying to build those into handheld communicators.

vvanders 6y ago

Check out the M17 project, they seem to be making inroads in that area. https://m17project.org/ https://m17project.org/ Mobilink tncs are really nice but you're still limited by APRS.

ac29 6y ago
M17 sounds cool, but as near as I can tell you cant just buy some hardware for it. Its still a plug your PC into a generic radio technology (which is fine, but some people just want to spend the money to get a working all in one solution).

sobriquet9 6y ago

I played with Meshtastic and was disappointed with range. I did not really expect miracles given LoRa's limited power, but 50 yards with direct line of sight was underwhelming.

myself248 6y ago
That's hardly the protocol's fault though. When I discovered Meshtastic, I already had some of the Heltec modules around, which are reputed to have the worst RF performance. I tried anyway, and indeed, I had to equip some truly silly antennas to get even a mile of range. (18dBi yagi in my living room, pointed at a parking structure downtown, was able to talk to another node on top of the structure with a 6dBi omni. Just barely.) I've been pursuing other projects since then, but a quick skim of the meshtastic forum suggests that there are some much better-performing RF modules now. I'll play with those soon enough... And anyway, there are encodings other than the patent-encumbered LoRa worth considering, too. (The LoRa folks just did a stellar job capturing mindshare lately.) Really, a feature-set identical to the original IM-ME, but with an option to use ham radios to extend the range, is what I want.
- sobriquet9 6y ago
  I used TTGO modules with omnidirectional antennas. By now we have very efficient modulation like FT8 and LDPC error-correcting codes, so I think it should be possible to do much better, even within Part 15 limitations.
  - myself248 6y ago
    Agreed, but I'm not aware of anyone trying to build those into handheld communicators.