FT8 On iPAD

mikeatthebeach .

Photo below 73 Mike

Reggie

How are you seeing the FT8 application on your the iPad?  Are you using a remote access program?

Ted VE3TRQ

That’s a Mac screen you are seeing :-)

John WA7UAR

But we see the Windows Start icon... so guessing you are running the Remote Desktop Connection app on your iPad?

Ted VE3TRQ

Aargh - dang Win and Mac windows are starting to look more and more alike :-( Guess I shoulda just said “remote access”.

DL8MRE

Maybe this looks a bit better - hi?

Bill N3HQB

How it should be done.

Santiago Mejia HI8O

What program is that? 

KY6LA_Howard

SSDR for IOS now has FT8

KY6LA_Howard

SSDR for iOS V3.4 is with FT8 in the App Store 

Santiago Mejia HI8O

Thanks! Didn’t know there was an update! Nice feature.

KY6LA_Howard

it was released by the Apple App Store last nite

Santiago Mejia HI8O

Thanks Howard, just updated it. As soon as I solve why I’m not able to connect to Smart Link I’ll try it.

Rick Hadley - W0FG

Got it updated, but it’s not pulling up the preset frequencies when I tap the frequency box. What am I missing?

George KF2T

Oh boy, I may never put my iPad down, now.

K3SF

Nice Job Marcus



works nicely here..
with ipad pro ipadOS12 and 6600M v 3.1.7

only noticed the log did not capture the GRID of the received station
and
as a result could not export as part of adif file

overall..... nice JoB..

i just did my first FT8 QSO  ..... couch potato Style   ..
then
my wife took back her ipad ;-(
 
cant wait till you do it for the iphone
cause then it will be fun making some FT8 contacts while walking the dog


SO COOL  . . . .

Paul K3SF

DL8MRE

Hi Rick,

this is probably because the latest Data Update has not been downloaded for some reason. Normally you should get a message which says that there is a new Data update available for this App version but maybe for some reason you did not get this message. However, this is easy to fix.

Just go to Settings of the App, scroll down to the very end and tap the "Check for Data Update" button. This should fix the empty frequency selection issue because the frequency list is included in that Data update.

I use this method to be able to update the Frequency list (and Call Prefix Database, Band Plan etc.) at any time without the need to wait for Apple to release an App which nowadays can take even weeks until a new Update is available.

Thanks all here for your kind comments!!!

73,
Marcus, DL8MRE

DL8MRE

Hi Paul,

thanks for your feedback.

And thanks for the note regarding the GRID in the log. For some reason it is indeed missing. I have just fixed it in another version which will be released after the version which is currently under Review at Apple.

However, I am wondering why this is preventing you from exporting the log via ADIF? Export should work even without the Grid. Maybe you can let me know so I can fix this possible bug as well.

But regardless (and not meant as workaround, just for your information), you can always add missing fields like Operator Name, Country/DXCC, CQ/ITU-Zone and the Grid Locator using the HamQTH and/or QRZ.com Lookup buttons inside the Logbook tool. This will lookup the call and add all available missing fields to the log entry. Maybe you were not aware about this possibility.

However, as mentioned before, it should always be possible to export the adif file without these fields. That's what I usually do at the end of a week.

Oh, and regarding an iPhone Version. Theretically it's already there but just disabled. I found there is no way to display all the necessary information on the small iPhone screen. I though about leaving out the first part of the time, the DT value and Country and cut the message if it's too long but I found that not to be usable anymore so I just made FT8 invisible on iPhones. However, any suggestions and thoughts about this are welcomed.

Thanks again,

73,
Marcus, DL8MRE

G4IUA

Thanks Marcus.  Just downloaded it to my iPad and it seems to be working nicely.  Just a couple of questions:

 ·       How do I lock the TX frequency?

·       What exactly does the Auto button do?  Incidentally, as the background changes from dark blue to black it is difficult to tell if it has been pressed or not.

·       Most DT report around 1, so is there a means of adjusting the iPad’s time reference?

 Great app, and I can see FT8 QSOs taking place in all sorts of places!

   

DL8MRE

Hi Jeff,

thank You!

You can unlock the TX Frequency by using the ... Button next to the entry fields. Unchecking TX=RX will allow to enter a different TX Frequency which will never change.

The Auto Button will enable auto sequence mode (default). If enabled, you never have to select the appropriate message because it will be selected and Advanced automatically depending on the received message. 

(This and More is also explained in the manual which can be found under Settings. Please note, there are two Manuals, one for the App in general and another for the Tools which also explains how to use the FT8 Tool. Maybe have a look and you may also find some additional bells and whistles which are not immediately obvious)

Regarding, the DT Value, this is because encoding and decoding takes some time on the iPad. That was the biggest challenge for the implementation. However, there is a new update waiting for being released by Apple which includes FT4. For FT4 timing is even more critical so I had to re-thing and re-write the whole receiving/decoding/analyzing/sending sequence in order to allow FT4 and FT8 will then also benefit from these improvements. So you should see way lower DT values with the next version. 

So it’s not the iPad Time. I personally never had a situation where the iPad time didn’t match (different to my PC), however it might happen. So it’s probably no bad idea to open the website time.is on Safari to double check.

73,
Marcus, DL8MRE 

George KF2T

Marcus - beautiful!

A few suggestions/questions...

1) can we have a small waterfall display somehow? It’s good to see the “band” activity. Maybe just the last 15 sec?
2) the active vs inactive Auto and Tx button colors are really hard to see
3) I also see G4IUA’s DT issue, although HamSpots shows my TX DT around -0.5
4) Auto seems to have trouble with RR73 - looks like it continues to send Tx4
5) Data file mentioned FT4, but do not see how to switch modes
6) Is there a way to allow more lines in the RX window? Or filter CQ and “mycall” so that busy band activity doesn’t scroll out of sight?
7) any chance for a jt-alert style beep when “mycall” is decoded?

DL8MRE

Thanks George,

regarding 1, just use the Panadapter tab at the bottom and you will get the waterfall. You will even see the DX Calls on the Panadapter, if enabled.

2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 are solved or will come with the next version which has been sent to Apple some time ago and sits there to get released by Apple. They are quite busy at the moment due to the security issues and many bugs in iOS 13 so it may take some time until it’s available but my work is done already.

Regarding 6, I have a filter function in mind that I wanted to add in one of the next versions. I also thought about removing duplicate entries in the RX list which may also reduce the amount of lines. If that will not help, I may also think about an option to enlarge the RX list.

73,
Marcus, DL8MRE 

Micha / DO3MKA

Hi Markus ,
my iPad 2018 OS 13.1.1 Gen6 works not on TX DAX .
DAX is enabled  and the Level was displayed and i can  hear the Output on the Pad (MON).

The Flex switch to TX , but the NF Signal failed and i have no Output .

Thanks

Micha

DL8MRE

Micha, for support please use the "Contact Developer" button inside the App.

However, DAX needs to be switched off in case you want to use the App with on SSB etc. mist an internal or external mike or Headset and you need to select iPad as audio source in the right menu,

DAX is only needed for FT8 from inside my App or if you want to use the App along with any additional Software on a PC or Mac, which is also possible.

There are some more troubleshooting tips in the Manual, last chapter "common issues".

But again, feel free to contact me from inside the App.

Thanks,
73,
Marcus

łukasz Żelechowski

Welcome
First I would like to apologise for partially private message for Marcus I just downloaded the update of SMARTSDR for iOS and i have noticed that the smartControl support was added. With my visually empaired perspective using with VoiceOver i could not find the place where this support is possible to enable. I have got the usb camera for iPad adapter and the lightning with power supply socked second one. 
I tried to write directly to your e-Mail  but servicee is temporary unavailable. 
Kind regards for everyBody from Poland
Lukas SQ9BZ

Santiago Mejia HI8O

I was finally able to update and try fT8, nice feature. But when I logged the 5 qso’s to the app log, I noticed that it didn’t capture the time of the qso’s, thus when exporting them to my Log4Om they didn’t had the time. What did I missed or what do I need to verify? 73, Santiago

George KF2T

Marcus - possible sequencer/display bug? Auto was on.

K3SF

hi Marcus

About missing grid info, no big deal.  i was able to export the adif file.
 
after the export adif, i then emailed it to myself and  imported into mldx log and just had mldx update any missing data fields  ...

so there are work arounds ....


yep....i saw how the calls appear in the panafall display...nice idea...
of course on iphone version they would be way tooooooo small ;-)

i truly appreciate all the hard work that went into this update
and
how it has made using my 6600m so much more fun...

cant say enough about your efforts...
best i can do is say "thanks"


Paul K3SF

Justin W4JTD

Marcus’ truly elegant FT8 implementation in SSDR for iOS is exactly what digital on a tablet should be. 
I saw this thread, and went through and updated everything to the latest version. I had purchased SSDR V3 when it came out, but rolled back to 2.4.9 because I didn’t like the profile  auto-save implementation. It is worth it to use V2.5/V3 and above just to use the FT8 feature in SSDR iOS, which when combined with the new SSDR control of Antenna Genius, gives me an actual tablet-only operation. 

I love SSB too, but if you just want to do a bit of radio unobtrusively, this is a really fun way to do it. 
Thank you Marcus for a fine bit of software!!!!

73

Justin

KL2D

Andy M5ZAP

Hi Marcus

Fantastic that you have implemented FT8 and continue to refine and improve the software.

Have you considered expanding your logging software (nothing too complicated) to work seamlessly across all platforms. Something like Log4om but with added functionality specifically for flex like writing spots to panafall in windows etc.

I find all the current software lacking or overly complicated and taking up too much screen real estate.

Thanks again.

Andy M5ZAP

Justin W4JTD

Marcus and George -

I’ve had this happen regularly too. the next round cycles properly, but the auto sequence tends to miss the first response. I know Marcus said that he rewrote the decode sequence to eliminate latency, maybe this is related to that issue?

it is still awesome software... ;-)

Justin
KL2D