Tablet Controlled Dual Band Mobile w/Bluetooth

[J.W.]

Looking at mobile options, I have come across something interesting. I know a lot of people already run tablets for maps. This radio would be controled via tablet/phone as well via bluetooth. VGC VR-N7500 (The link is for a shop that actually has it in stock for $159 fairly close to me).

Here is a good overview. If they come out with apple CarPlay capability, I’ll buy it instantly. I’m still tempted without CarPlay.

 

[AutomaticBluez]

I really like this concept. I wondered if there was a phone or tablet interface available for mobile radios. Would love to see an Apple CarPlay or Android Auto UX treatment. It speaks to the developer in me.

Thanks for sharing.

Gary

 

[Dolf]

Lose your tablet and lose your comms? Not a good idea. I can just see somebody out in the sticks, has their maps and comms on their tablet, and the tablet goes down. They're lost and no comms.

 

[Prerunner1982]

Lose your tablet and lose your comms? Not a good idea. I can just see somebody out in the sticks, has their maps and comms on their tablet, and the tablet goes down. They're lost and no comms.

Fair point, however after watching a couple of youtube videos you can operate the radio without the tablet/phone interface but you are restricted to your saved memory channels.

 

[Dolf]

Fair point, however after watching a couple of youtube videos you can operate the radio without the tablet/phone interface but you are restricted to your saved memory channels.

I would like to see a radio with a screen and Bluetooth controlled.

 

[J.W.]

I would like to see a radio with a screen and Bluetooth controlled.

So would I, but it’s not going to happen for $159. Like I said, if it had apple CarPlay integration, it would be a sale for me. I’m tempted as it is but not sold yet. Still, my guess is that this is the direction Ham will be heading as it moves forward.

 

[Prerunner1982]

I have seen this radio before but never really watched any videos of it. I am going to watch a few more especially as it relates to APRS.
I kind of like this radio, and depending on how well it does APRS it could make an easy, reasonable priced APRS radio.
I also wonder if the radio allows programming by pulling repeater info from say repeaterbook via the phone app. That would make it super easy to program on the fly as long as you had cell service before you ventured off into the unknown.
I am leery of it based on the company. A buddy of mine had a VGC VR-6600pro and I think he was having issues with it.

 

[KyleGrant]

I have seen this radio before but never really watched any videos of it. I am going to watch a few more especially as it relates to APRS.
I kind of like this radio, and depending on how well it does APRS it could make an easy, reasonable priced APRS radio.
I also wonder if the radio allows programming by pulling repeater info from say repeaterbook via the phone app. That would make it super easy to program on the fly as long as you had cell service before you ventured off into the unknown.
I am leery of it based on the company. A buddy of mine had a VGC VR-6600pro and I think he was having issues with it.

Ditto here on the RepeaterBook integration. For me, this would be a neat radio to hide away in the truck and have available while traveling simply due to that aspect but if it didn't have it - I'm out on that. I still prefer good old VFO control when I want/need it.

The concept is great and BlueCAT integration with RepeaterBook is on my radar but at this time I only have my FT-817nd which supports that. I do carry a programming cable and have software on my laptop to program my FT-7900 but by the time I get all that connected and online, I could just use RepeaterBook and VFO functionality manually. Cool radio and concept nonetheless here, I'll be interested to see if this concept picks up more and surely it couldn't cost too much to add a screen? Maybe it would. At the price it's still kind of tempting to snag one and play with... I can always add another antenna to the truck :D

 

[Prerunner1982]

Appears the APRS transmit is not in APRS AX.25 format so your packets wouldn't go through. Looks like it receives and decodes APRS fine.
You can bluetooth a set of earbuds to the phone and it has a bluetooth PTT button. This would make it good for states that don't have an exception for amateur radio in the handheld device/texting & driving laws or require the device to be handsfree.
If they fix the APRS, I might consider getting one, it would free up some dash space.

 

[94Cruiser]

I have an pure Android car stereo head.... Hmmmm....

 

[Jim Biram]

It appears this radio could be a good fit to use for APRSdroid with an Android tablet, and not as a primary radio. Since APRSdroid handles all packets, the radio would essentially just be in/out for the packets. It would be interesting to play with this as it appears the radio is setup to pass data through the Bluetooth and not just audio.

 

[Prerunner1982]

Talked to someone that owns this radio and they said a firmware update fixed the aprs issue but it's digipeating and they can't figure out to get it to stop..
Really contemplating this radio, even as a home or portable digipeater.

 

[WareWolf MoonWall]

Icom has android (and maybe iPhone?) software to drive some of their radios. I have to use a data cable for my HT since it doesn't have bluetooth (needs a refresh!), but this might be interesting for someone to play with.

 

[Ubiety]

@Dolf great point about single point of failure.

 

[Prerunner1982]

@Dolf great point about single point of failure.

Agreed, the more I thought about it the more I dislike it... if the sales do not do well they could quickly decide to drop the support of the app which isn't a problem as long as the app works correctly...but once it doesn't you have a radio that works but you can't program.

 

[J.W.]

The single point of failure issue is a valid point. I do not have one but I noticed in the specs that the mic port is RJ45 so I bet it can be programmed from there. It’s fairly new so I’m waiting to see what some of the people using it come up with. I also saw on one of the reviews that it can be controlled without the app via the mic. Again, I’m waiting to see more but I think it’s a neat enough concept to continue following.

 

[Ubiety]

The single point of failure issue is a valid point. I do not have one but I noticed in the specs that the mic port is RJ45 so I bet it can be programmed from there. It’s fairly new so I’m waiting to see what some of the people using it come up with. I also saw on one of the reviews that it can be controlled without the app via the mic. Again, I’m waiting to see more but I think it’s a neat enough concept to continue following.

An added bonus would be if they have a published API so you (or others) could write your own app to talk to the radio. That kind of "hackability" would be high on my list of desires for a unit such as this.

Since this topic has the words "tablet" and "radio" in the name I'll mention that I received my mobilinkd today, connected it to a Baofeng UV5R, stumbled a bit, and got it working on the iphone and ipad with the aprs.fi app. Pretty darned cool! I was able to TX/RX and took a little drive with other APRS radios for comparison. While the setup works it did not hold a candle to the Jeep's radio (D700) or the new D74 that also arrived today. Lucky that the interface cable also works for my D7 and D74 so I can try the mobilinkd on a different HT for comparison. Only had the device since this afternoon and it did not get much attention; I'll play with it a bit more and likely create a new post. So far I am thinking that it has potential; connects to both APRSDroid (Android) and aprs.fi (iOS) and makes a cheap/old/spare radio into a viable APRS unit for around $120. YMMV will vary with choice of radio and antenna/placement.