I recently got a Samsung tablet that I’m using for POTA with POLO. I also use FT8CN during breaks to catch some more contacts. FT8CN supports CAT control for many rigs and supports USB, Bluetooth and WiFi depending on the rig. This software is under the MIT license so the code is available for use. It would be cool to have auto VFO tracking in POLO and VFO setting when clicking on someone in the spot page.
Joe - KK7PZE
And you can actually get FT8CN to work? I tried 3 different radios and it did not for me
Yes. I have an IC-705 and have used it several times with both my Samsung Galaxy S10 phone and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10 FE. I’ve used it with Bluetooth and USB. I haven’t messed with WiFi and it. This weekend I got 49 logged contacts on it while having lunch during a POTA. I both chased folks calling CQ but I also called CQ POTA.
Sorry you haven’t gotten it to work for you. With my rig and using USB, once I plug in the cable between the Samsung and 705 it pops up and asks if I want to use the connection with FT8CN or a couple ICOM apps. I select FT8CN and then it pops up and asks which com port I want to use. On my 705 the first COM port is for CAT control and the second one is used to send the GPS clock info from the 705 to a computer. So, I select the first COM port in the list and my rig connection in the app will say successful and the VFO changes to whatever band was previously selected in the app. It also changes my mode from USB to USB-D. I go into settings and make sure my grid is correct and adjust my CQ modifier as needed. I also select Sync Time. I also like to make sure that No Track CQ and No Call Tracked are both off. I go to the spectrum view in the app and look for a quiet area of the scope and tap on it to be my transmit frequency. I then set my 705 to the display to show my ALC and transmit and adjust the volume slider in the app to get to no ALC. At that point I go to either Decode or Calling and start making contacts. Once done with making contacts I go to the QSO log and hit the share icon to save my log off to Dropbox. I then hit the down arrow in a box to connect to the log web page so I can clear the log. While the app is running I just switch to Firefox and connect to the web page it told me to use. When you hit Export log there is an option to delete it. I like to clear the log for each POTA day. I then rename the file from .txt to .adi and then I import that into POLO so all my contacts for an activation are in there in a single log. In POLO I then tell it to Lookup all QSOs so the callsigns get updated with names, location, etc.
Oh, I also upgraded the USB board in my IC-705 from MicroUSB to USB-C. That made is super easy to just run a USB-C to USB-C cable between them. The 705 is also very susceptible to RF and even with my toroid wrapped USB cable from my Windows Laptop I would occasionally have a failure. But I’ve had zero issues with an un-choked cable from my tablet to 705.
What rig are you using? I’m asking to see if I can possibly help you out if it’s an Icom.
73
Joe - KK7PZE
I don’t have an ICOM nor do I use android tablet anymore but thanks for the offer. As for cat control It is being worked on in another direction.
Oh, that’s great that CAT control is being looked at.
Joe
Yeah, the source code you mentioned is Java and not directly compatible with React Native, the framework we use to build PoLo, and we also need to cover support for iOS devices.
The basics of CAT control are not complicated by themselves, is doing it in a way that works well across platforms and over lots of different devices that makes it hard.
But like @wc9b said, we’re working on it.
Thank you! It will be a great addition to an awesome program
Joe - KK7PZE