Hi.
Am i right in thinking the cheap Bluetooth adapters you can get for the ft-817 off eBay cannot be used with droidpsk and only to control the rig via the companion app?
DroidPSK looks at the audio jack for input and output. I have discussed bluetooth with Wolfgang (who wrote DroidPSK and several other apps for Android phones) and he said he “might” look at it in the future if it wasn’t too difficult to add. Up until now, I don’t believe he has added it.
There is an Android remote control program (Pocket RxTx I think) for the FT-817 that I managed to get working with a cheapo eBay bluetooth adapter for the 817 but this was remote control not data modes in any case.
Ed.
My understanding is that the 817 can only deal with commands relating to the function of the radio (mode, frequency, etc) over a Bluetooth link running via the ACC socket. I think the audio in and out is through the other socket (DATA).
I haven’t got the handbook with me to confirm that, though.
John
G4YTJ
It’s just, on the droidpsk website it says it has Bluetooth capability built-in but it’s experimental.
Ah that’s good News Anthony - I’ll have to try it out, but the Bluetooth dongle cable plugs into the ACC socket as it is intended to send CAT commands, so we would need a different Bluetooth dongle I guess for Digital comms that plugs into the DATA socket as does the Interface that Wolphi sells for the DroidPSK to go between the Android phone and the FT817.
In fact, by the time you’ve plugged the dongle into the FT817, you might as well have plugged the Wolphi-Link in! It would be different if the rig had bluetooth built in (like some ICOM mobile rigs I believe).
73 Ed.
Yeah but I’ve got a family history based in Yorkshire and the wolphi interface is on the wrong side of cheap/expensive fence for me.
The DroidPSK Bluetooth setting is for audio. I don’t think it has any facility for rig control. For this you would need a bidirectional Bluetooth audio link to the rig. I think PW had a construction article on such a thing a few years back. The modules seem a bit rare when I look for them.
As Ed says pRxTx will communicate through the simple Bluetooth data modules for rig control.
Hi Anthony - a Hull Lad Miself - so I knows wat yer means!
But… Wolphi publishes the circuit of the interface in the manual for anyone to build themselves.
Here’s another, very similar one from the VK3HJQ APRS site:
NOTE: you’ll need to probably check the pin connections on the round plug on the right as this interface is for an FT-270R not an FT-817.
Think I’ll have to try to make an interface I think at our new radio club.