Reddit Reddit reviews BTECH APRS-K1 Cable (Audio Interface Cable) for BaoFeng, BTECH BF-F8HP, UV-82HP, UV-5X3 (APRSpro, APRSDroid, Compatible - Android, iOS)

We found 20 Reddit comments about BTECH APRS-K1 Cable (Audio Interface Cable) for BaoFeng, BTECH BF-F8HP, UV-82HP, UV-5X3 (APRSpro, APRSDroid, Compatible - Android, iOS). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

Portable Audio & Video
CB & Two-Way Radios
Electronics
Portable FRS Two-Way Radios
BTECH APRS-K1 Cable (Audio Interface Cable) for BaoFeng, BTECH BF-F8HP, UV-82HP, UV-5X3 (APRSpro, APRSDroid, Compatible - Android, iOS)
BTECH APRS-K1 TRRS / APRS Cable - Sold by BaoFeng Tech - ensure BaoFengTech is your selected distributor to guarantee accuracy in receiving what is describedUsing the APRS-K1 Cable - you can begin using over-the-air (internet not necessary) APRS today!Also use the APRS-K1 cable for: APRS, Audio Recording, Line-out, Line-in, and More!A must-have interface cable to provide an easy solution for connecting your radio to your applications and equipment.Includes: APRS-K1 Cable, Reverse Connector Adaptor, Quick Start Guide
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20 Reddit comments about BTECH APRS-K1 Cable (Audio Interface Cable) for BaoFeng, BTECH BF-F8HP, UV-82HP, UV-5X3 (APRSpro, APRSDroid, Compatible - Android, iOS):

u/lirakis · 7 pointsr/amateurradio

hey friend, i recently wrote a "how to" setup APRS with a HT, Direwolf, and YAAC on linux. copy paste is below ...

edit:

If audio is getting from the radio to direwolf, check the volume levels on the radio output, and check the mic gain on your computer. These are really the only two settings that will affect how direwolf can rx and decode. Direwolf logs out when it receives something, and it tells you on a scale of 0-100 the volume level. I try to shoot for 50-60 and I get very consistent decode.


Tutorial: APRS software user interface, with software based audio TNC, and RF gateway

Overview:

APRS is a tool that was designed to convey information about objects, telemetry, and reporting, as well as communicate between individuals and groups with direct, and group messaging. Many people have the experience, or mindset, that APRS is used primarily for location tracking. This is partially due to the limitations on many hardware implementations of APRS that vendors have provided. One way to learn more about APRS as a broader, and more powerful system is to utilize software to visualize, and interact with other stations, and objects. This short tutorial will discuss how to setup a software based user interface (UI) for APRS that will provide you with mapping, messaging, and object manipulation abilities, as well as how to connect that UI through a software based audio modem, or TNC, directly to a radio, so that other users within your immediate range, as well as the range of any digipeaters will be able to interact with the same local APRS data without any reliance on the internet, or internet gateways.

User interface:

There are several different user interfaces available that have been designed for APRS.

UI-View is a popular piece of software which is no longer being maintained as the original author has passed away.

YAAC is a successor/replacement to UI-View which is cross platform (Java) with a intuitive interface, and many capabilites. We will be using YAAC for this tutorial.

Xastir is primarily a Linux application built on the X windows library system. It is quite functional, but is less intuitive and is currently less activly developed than YAAC.


Audio Modem (TNC):

TNC's originally were AX.25 packet assembler/dissasemblers with the addition of a modem to convert baseband digital signals into audio tones. In the case of a software TNC, it has the same capabilites, encoding and decoding both the AX.25 layer, and data layer to and from audio so it can be transmitted or received from a radio.

Direwolf is the premier audio tnc, which is documented to run on Windows, OSX, Linux, and single board computer Linux environments such as Raspberry Pi BeagleBone Black etc.

RF Gateway:

The RF gateway is probably the simplest piece in the equation. You need only a radio that supports audio in, audio out, and VOX. There may be some complexity if you choose to make your own cables, however there are ready made cables for popular and inexpensive radios (Baofeng) which are available for under $20 from amazon, which feature isolation to protect both your computer, and your radio.

Here is a link to a high quality cable available on Amazon, which works for Boafeng radios: https://www.amazon.com/APRS-K2-Connector-BaoFeng-APRSDroid-Compatible/dp/B01LMIBAZW


Supplementary:

It can be very helpful to have a radio that is capable of broadcasting an APRS beacon to test your setup as you go.

Your laptop may have a single plug for both headphone and microphone (TRRS) or it may have two seperate plugs. If you have two seperate plugs, you will need a splitter to seperate the microphone, and headphone connections from the cable linked to in the above RF gateway section. The cable linked below will split the two should you need it.

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-MUYHSFMM-Headset-Splitter-Adapter/dp/B0058DOWH6/


System setup:

We are going to build the APRS system from the ground up, starting with Direwolf, the audio modem/tnc and the RF gateway. If you are a Linux user, there are packages for direwolf in ubuntu/debian as well as yum based systems:

sudo apt-get install direwolf or sudo yum install direwolf

For Windows and OSX go to https://github.com/wb2osz/direwolf and follow the instructions to download the latest release and run direwolf from a command window.

direwolf does not need any configuration for our initial setup, simply run direwolf, connect the audio and microphone jacks between the computer and your radio, and tune your radio to 144.390.

Be certain that you do not have any rx-CTCSS or DCS tones setup. Set your squelch as low as it will go, and enable vox with the lowest setting possible on your radio. Now is the time when it is handy to have a HT that is capable of beaconing APRS data. If you have one, set it to beacon and you should start see data coming in on the terminal where direwolf is running. You may need to adjust the volume on the output of your radio, the output of your computer, as well as the microphone gain on your computer to get everything decoding properly.

Once you can reliably decode becons from a local HT, or from a digipeater within range, you can move on to setting up the YAAC user interface, and connecting it to direwolf.


YAAC, the APRS user interface software we are using, is a Java program and requires that your system has the Java runtime environment installed. For Linux users, be certain that you install the full JRE, and not a "headless" JRE, as the headless versions do not come with the graphical libraries that YAAC requires to run. Also as of this writing YAAC did not work with Java 9, however I experienced no problems using the OpenJDK Java 8 JRE so be sure to check the version you are installing.

After you have the Java Runtime Environment installed, download the self upacking binary for your operating system from the YAAC website at http://www.ka2ddo.org/ka2ddo/YAAC.html#install

For linux users, the file was not set as an executable, so I had to chmod +x YAAC_linux_x86.bin before running ./YAAC_linux_x86.bin

NOTE: YAAC does not extract itself into a directory - so you likely want to create a directory first, then move the self extracting file into that directory so that you dont end up with a bunch of files all over.

After the package has extracted, simply run the YACC.jar program. You can do this from the command line with: java -jar YACC.jar

YACC will ask you if you want help configuring it, select yes and walk through the steps configuring your call sign, latitude/longitude etc. When you get to the part about adding and configuring interfaces, select the option to "Add AGWPE Port". YACC will create a new window with default information populated - you MUST add your callsign, and change the transmit dropdown from "disabled" to "enabled". Click finish, and on the next screen you can decide whether you want to beacon or not (I chose yes) along with any free form comment you want, then click finish.

That is it - you have a basic APRS software station set up that can transmit, and recieve via RF link. You should see objects start to appear on the YAAC map view, and the direwolf command line output should match up with data YAAC is displaying.

Homework:

From here you can learn how to create message groups, chat directly with stations, place objects on the map so that they are only visible to other local RF stations, or so that they propegate out through the internet via a digipeater I-Gate (if one is in range) so that they show up on the APRS-IS backbone (e.g. aprs.fi).

u/gramps2726 · 5 pointsr/amateurradio

I have been using this cable from B-Tech and APRSDroid for a couple of months now with no problems. Hopefully this helps.

BTECH APRS-K2 Cable (K2 to TRRS Connector) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LMIBAZW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_WjIRTJxEtdeXI

u/ghosthacked · 4 pointsr/amateurradio

I've tried with several android phones w/ aprsdroid. I used this audio interface cable with the baofeng. Various setups in aprsdroid. I can hear aprs traffic but can never get it to decode anything.

u/bites · 4 pointsr/amateurradio

I got this one and use it with aprsdroid with a Nexus 6p.

In aprsdroid and set a 400ms preamble and turned on VOX to about 6 in my uv-82hp.

u/icanseeuseeingme · 3 pointsr/amateurradio

I recently purchased a btech cable that I can directly connect to an android using aprsdroid into a spare baofeng I have. It works but not as full featured as my D74. It sure is cost efficient, though. And I have two baofengs that are just sitting here. I was able to put one into service again.

BTECH APRS-K1 Cable (Audio Interface Cable) for BaoFeng, BTECH BF-F8HP, UV-82HP, UV-5X3 (APRSpro, APRSDroid, Compatible - Android, iOS) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LMIBAZW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qJ-KBbH87CRHS

u/kmc_v3 · 3 pointsr/amateurradio

Congrats on the new license! It sounds like you might be interested in APRS. Some links:

u/tomswartz07 · 2 pointsr/RTLSDR

This is pretty dope.

Have you had any issues with the speaker-mic connection?
I know my UV5R is a bit finicky when it comes to that kind of hookup.

I ended up going with an 'official' APRS cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LMIBAZW/
and a breakout mic/headphone splitter.

I've been able to capture a few amateur satellites, but I've never tried the NOAA sats.

Any caveats to this versus the raw digital data over the SDR?

u/Gentle_Be · 2 pointsr/preppers
u/STiFTW · 2 pointsr/Baofeng

That app looks pretty good, would it be compatible with the Baofeng cable: https://www.amazon.com/APRS-K2-Connector-BaoFeng-APRSDroid-Compatible/dp/B01LMIBAZW

u/NCommander · 1 pointr/amateurradio

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LMIBAZW

VOX to 1 on the radio.

Make sure phone volumes are all set to zip, make sure APRSdroid is set to use AFSK, VOX delay to 800ms-1s (some trial and error required), and it's using Call for the media source. Hit Start Tracking, then adjust handset volume (it should show as "In Call" on the volume screen).

A few phones sometimes won't work properly like this, and have to be set to use Ringtone mode, but the Galaxy S6 was happy as a clam in this configuration.

u/Giric · 1 pointr/Baofeng

There's this cable. You set your VOX level so the audio triggers it. I haven't gotten it to work with APRS on my phone yet, but I've only tried once or twice.

u/92se-r · 1 pointr/amateurradio
u/caltrops_ · 1 pointr/HamRadio

>I’m gonna assume you forgot to pad the $4.95 price tag to that for APRSDroid. After all, everyone loves to support developers.

$18 dollars for the cable and $5 for the app. You can donate more if you find it useful, but I wouldn't ask anyone to do that right out or the gate. It would be great if you did though, especially if you get use out of it.

>Wait, what? HT to HT?

Maybe I worded that poorly. That podcast was great that you linked. But I guess I still have a question. You can still go directly from one radio to another with APRS, can't you? It doesn't actually need digipeated, does it? It was pretty clear in the podcast that APRS doesn't have close to the range if FM voice, so maybe the small range makes it a moot point, even if it is possible. I didn't mean to suggest APRS would be digipeating at all if you're going "HT to HT". Maybe I should have said if my APRS packet from my HT is heard directly by your HT.

>Apparently the Kenwood TH-D72A has built in digipeating capabilities. What the hell. That’s somewhat scary.

This little guys looks great for APRS, and I would love it for that. To OP's question though, the price tag might be prohibitive

u/stressHCLB · 1 pointr/Baofeng


"Multimode" by Black Cat Systems

BTECH APRS-K2 Cable

Edit: Sorry, I have SSTV on the brain and could have sworn that's what you asked. Not sure if Multimode does APRS.

u/getpoked · 1 pointr/amateurradio

Agreed BUT the whole reason I purchased the thing was to monitor APRS. This kind of goes to what original is saying, its a nice feature but its not done well for the price you pay.

If I have GPS off, beacon off, and APRS on. What does that use 3-4 times the battery of just listening to 144.390 on audio? Its absurd that the radio's power usage shoots up reading the few bytes of the aprs packet compared to driving a .75w speaker.

Throw that aside, just money wise.

TH-D74A was recently on sale for 479.99. Compare it to a kit to make the baofung comparable functionally. TriBand, wide recieve, aprs even assuming you have no phone.

Triband uv-5 https://www.amazon.com/Mirkit-Baofeng-Battery-Tri-Band-Operator/dp/B07MWCT2J1/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=baofeng+uv-5rx3&qid=1565973762&s=gateway&sr=8-4 $35

Audio Cable https://www.amazon.com/BTECH-APRS-K1-Interface-APRSDroid-Compatible/dp/B01LMIBAZW/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?keywords=baofeng+pc+audio+cable&qid=1565973835&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmr1 $19 complete rip off but whatever

Amazing SSB/AirBand/AM/FM wide reciever to compliment it https://www.amazon.com/SSB-Shortwave-Scannable-Aviation-Operated/dp/B07HXKR479/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=ssb+shortwave+receiver&qid=1565973865&s=gateway&sr=8-3 $170

Cheap android https://www.amazon.com/Total-Wireless-Rebel-Prepaid-Smartphone/dp/B07GBRB3SB/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=prepaid%2Bandroid%2Bphone&qid=1565973981&s=gateway&sr=8-3&th=1 $40

APRS Droid, Repeaterbook Proximity Search - Free

260 bucks gets you the same functionality, granted in pieces. Is 200 bucks really worth DStar it being bundled into one piece. You would arguably get better AM/FM/SSB reception with this setup and could load a dozen books onto the android phone to use as reference on the go.

u/slickfddi · 0 pointsr/RTLSDR

Just buy this: https://www.amazon.com/BTECH-APRS-K1-Interface-APRSDroid-Compatible/dp/B01LMIBAZW

Then you can pipe audio out to your PC and also do APRS on your phone (aprsdroid).

Also be aware that you need an audio in on your PC that is either the single jack for mic/headset or an adapter. Google a bit on the differences in audio jacks of that sort, you'll understand what I mean.

For the less than $20 it costs, it beats fkn around with half-assed cables that wear out really quick and might damage your radio / pc.

You could kind of use it like a SDR, in that you might be able to use it as bandscope, I don't really know, I use an RTL-SDR (same cost or less then what you paid for your radio and I recommend getting one because..) for things that require unfiltered audio (what would be called an IF Tap if you were using a hardware radio).

And people will jump on this and say you can tap your Baofeng too, which you can, but for as cheap as this stuff goes for, it makes more sense to buy it instead of tearing up your radio and making janky Frankenstein cables.

And the cable with the USB is just a serial to USB converter, it's only good for programming. There's no DAC/ADC for audio.

Keep it simple.