Ribbit - Text Message over Ham Radio with a Baofeng

[@W6IWN_Radio]

I sent you that link... Very cool you did a video on it, great job!! 👍 👍 How many characters can you send per TX? I gotta dig into this more! That would be awesome with repeater capability on VHF/UHF.

[@ModernHam]

Yeah I had forgotten who it was that sent it. I pinned your comment to the top. I think 84? But I could be wrong. The information is still kind of vague on its current capabilities.

[@W6IWN_Radio]

@@ModernHam it has a ton of potential, I see why ARES/RACES would want to use it.

[@AlphaFan90]

Still not settled on the character limit. The algorithm is flexible, we handle Emoji. Higher character count make for a longer transmission time. A sweet spot is 140 to 170 characters but could do longer

[@nelsong4254]

@@AlphaFan90 can you use a cable with baofeng on vox? for transmiting on the app?

[@AlphaFan90]

@@nelsong4254 yes any audio cable would work.

[@palehorse7377]

FYI -all dmr radios send texts and private calls -any radio that has APRS built in sends texts to radios and phones. -radioddity GD-AT10G -Radioddity G-88 -anytone 878 -btech 6x2 dmr -any radio with GPS can send coordinate data; abbree 869, radtel RT-490, etc -BTECH GMRS pro has gps and texting -mobilink'd is a device that sends GPS and APRS from a baofeng just in case someone didnt know all this. I didnt.

[@rodo19724]

Hi !! Greetings from Argentina !!!!!!! How can I use two Baofeng BF-999 and two arduinos to transmit and receive data over-the-air ?? Thanks !!!!!

[@chadadventure]

Had the app open when watching this video. Kept getting your messages. So I know that part works.

[@Inkling777]

Many thanks for showing how it works. I once worked in emergency communication between hospitals. Sending reliable text is important in those situations. At first I wondered about why transmissions start with static. Then I realized it was to trigger the VOX at one end and the squelch at the other.

[@CurrentElectrical]

I downloaded the app on my tablet and played your transmission and it worked! Hello from Canada. I am currently studying for my basic.

[@ModernHam]

With the poor mic quality at the time I'm surprised it worked! I guess that proves it survives the KZbin compression.

[@LonSeidman]

@@ModernHam Did the same here - phone picked up all of your packets demonstrated in the video perfectly.

[@chrisreynolds6331]

I tried this and it always displayed your callsign, with most messages saying "decoding failed". Except KZbin test 2, that one got decoded. I was watching on an Amazon echo show 8.

[@mostlybikes]

All got through here, except for when I was making noise. thanks for the test!

[@9999plato]

What would be really cool is if this app could grab your location from another app like Gaia a gps/ trails mapping app that off road enthusiasts use to plan trips through the great outdoors and contains maps of trails, state and federal parks and automatically transmit the data for the receiver to manually or better yet somehow load the data back to another phone running Gaia or similar app. It's the next evolution of this project. Partnering with the folks that developed Gaia would benefit both especially on search and rescue operations.

[@AlphaFan90]

Ribbit will have geolocation built in. Will look into Gaia app...

[@palehorse7377]

you realize any radio with GPS already does this? you can get ones as cheap as $40 like an abbree AR-869 up to $300 like the anytone 878. DMR radios almost always do this along with private calling, texting to other radios, texting to phones, and high level encryption. btech even has a GMRS radio that can do this called the GMRS pro.

[@waprile2506]

@@palehorse7377 you can't use GMRS in Europe

[@GodswillBDone4WeThePeople]

Piss of a state trooper and use on X hunt they’ll have it all running together, I flew to South Africa from fort Cambell 4 times in 9 hours couple years ago, I must sleep steel sub sonic jets or something idk what I was doing out on coast but went many times same path in only 6-9 hours

[@ModernHam]

Let me know if any of you see a digital mode you would like me to cover!

[@QuigleysBees]

thanks for the demo. Really interesting possiblilities.

[@LordGryllwotth]

I am not an developer. But getting this to work unattended will be great.

[@Finnegane]

Great video as always Billy! I would love to see a range and noise interference test video.

[@ModernHam]

Yeah this is next on the list!

[@patthesoundguy]

Amazing!!! I wanted something like this and I was looking for an app or software to do this about a month ago with no success. Thank you so much for sharing this 👍

[@ModernHam]

Glad I could help!

[@x81reaper]

Another app called audio modem is available in the play store :)

[@patthesoundguy]

@@x81reaper amazing! Thank you! Going to check that out now.

[@indridcold8433]

This is an extremely interesting topic. The information was very concise. The demonstration was very straight forward and simple. Also, you have a beautiful girlfriend, wife, or friend. Everything works! The best part was, budget minded equipment was used instead of some $490 Yaesu handheld transceiver that produces less power, has less battery life, and it is terrifying if you drop it. If you drop the budget minded radio, there is little worry. It will likely survive, just like the Yaesu. But if it does break, just buy another one and use the broken one for a project. If you drop the Yaesu and it breaks, the sky darkens, lightning streaks across the sky, and the horsemen of the apocalypse come riding down. Woe to those that break a Yeasu!

[@sld7262]

I just tried the app. This is very cool! Thanks for letting us know about this.

[@RLPnKY]

Another informative and interesting topic; thank you. Well done.

[@mikesmith-po8nd]

ModernHam, you might enjoy SSTV. It works the same way - app on your phone and acoustically coupled. You can use a repeater for increased range, since anything that will go through the passband of the radio will also go through the repeater. (of course get the owner's permission). SSTV can be used at a disaster/accident scene to get pictures back to the EOC when you have no cell service. Btw, it's good to see young guys experimenting. Most people today either get their ticket and never use it or maybe just check into the local net once a week. They are missing so much and don't even realize it.

[@ModernHam]

I've used SSTV some. It's a pretty cool mode. I never thought of it actually used for a disaster/accident scene.

[@understandthetimes5721]

Thank you for bringing this information forward. 73

[@rory_odonnell]

This is amazing and just the tech I was looking for, the ability to send voice on vhf and then data (mainly GPS) without needing to deal with cables to another handset for SAR activity. Would need option when you press on a msg to be able to copy to clipboard.

[@AlphaFan90]

We are working on copy/paste text to other apps on the phone as well as message forward (re-send) features

[@peterrock2838]

Nice demonstration - thanks for the video!

[@ModernHam]

Glad you liked it!

Very good idea. It would be useful to develop encryption support. This could be a simple password that both sides know, or encryption with an asymmetric key and with a "phone book" (call sign - public key).

[@calidafeuersichel1515]

In my country, we are not allowed to send encripted messages. At least not for us hams. For emergency services this could be very usefull though.

[@palehorse7377]

@@calidafeuersichel1515 be ungovernable

[@Galactipod]

@@crispusattucks6094 Encryption is against the spirit of ham radio and there’s no reason to spend lots of time implementing it just to please a few preppers

[@arnljotbringedal1504]

Ukraine needs capabilities more than Hams. Also; who says that this is a Ham product?

[@Galactipod]

@@arnljotbringedal1504 The people who made Ribbit.

[@caddyzig]

Pretty clever! It’d be cool if they make an iOS or browser-based version.

[@ModernHam]

Yeah hopefully we'll see an IOS app in the future.

[@AlphaFan90]

iOS version is in the works

[@ModernHam]

@@AlphaFan90 Awesome

[@ducktapepilot]

Very cool, hadn't heard about this yet. Thanks for doing a video on this!

[@ModernHam]

Glad you liked it

[@Kd4stt.]

Thanks for your video.

[@ModernHam]

Glad you liked it!

[@n3xus175]

Outstanding video and concept. Saving this video to try out later in the Shack. 73, Gene N3XUS.

[@ModernHam]

Glad I could help!

[@414RadioTech]

Good now we can do it on Murs

[@domlecompte2415]

You got a like and subscribe 👍

[@ModernHam]

Thank you.

[@breadm8101]

I had mine running and it worked great 🤣

[@ModernHam]

Will probably do an update video soon.

[@breadm8101]

@@ModernHam amazing I'm playing with it now and it works surprisingly well

[@papazola2247]

What's the difference between ribbit and rattlegram?

[@RKingis]

The name.

[@ntvtexan5015]

Nice ! Great video, thanks !!!

[@vk2dy]

Can you build it into echolink? Then radio users wouldn't be deprived of the text box.

[@ModernHam]

That's a really cool suggestion. Maybe the devs will see this.

[@davidburgoon8089]

Very impressive

[@AnthonyChopra]

ive seen some info about radios that can send a text using cb radio tho ive only heard about it yesterday and now im super into finding out about it. this one seems basic but i can imagine with a real record&decode setup and a normal Baofeng use it could be one of the best basic uses. tho it would be epic if u could message a friend using it tho withot a middle network like att

[@tomperone9338]

Intriguing! First I've heard of this. I'm curious to see where it goes.

[@toddbaker8159]

I tried it threw our yaesu Repeater. It worked fine

[@NIGHTOWL-jf9zt]

Seriously? at 6:28 you're trying to Rick Roll us? HAHAHAHAHA.

[@wisteela]

This would be great on PMR446.

[@AlphaFan90]

It works on PMR446

[@paaao]

Now they just need to get it going on the iPhone!

[@heathlawson3059]

Oh yeah, It's been around for years

[@ScottyD]

Is there an iOS version or comparable app that does the same?

[@SolgerLemp]

That's an interesting app concept, is there also a way i can decode DMR signals that way through my phone ? or perhaps connect my baofeng to the pc and decode DMR signals ?

[@ModernHam]

Not that I know of yet.

[@rodo19724]

Hi !! Greetings from Argentina !!!!!!! How can I use two Baofeng BF-999 and two arduinos to transmit and receive data over-the-air ?? Thanks !!!!!

[@user-kb5cb8cz2i]

класна штука. ріл працює!))

[@trayces8006]

Having slight difficulties setting this up. Possible you could do a troubleshoot video?

[@matthews2585]

Would this work if i wanted to use a kway cable plugged into the phones 3.5mm socket? Also if dcs is programmed on the channel will it still work?

[@SammyGill]

Which frequency to use on radio? When u tx from app - do we have to press PTT on radio ?

[@BlackVelvet446]

The Rattlegram app would be great if it didn't have the huge drawback, which is that it doesn't work with the lock screen.

[@InVinoVeritas.]

Thanks for doing this research!! Potentially dumb question, what frequency does baufong need to be on?

[@Gintokikreuz1]

Reminds of Motorola talkabout T800 chat app

[@Chuck1855]

I take it that this line of site communications. Like using packet radio unless you use a digipeater.

[@ModernHam]

Yeah more than likely.

[@AlphaFan90]

The LRS Local Ribbit Server has a digipeater functionality with message received acknowledgement and storage/archival with 1 year memory. Designed to peer 2 peer mesh messages when Internet is on and becomes an independent local node when the Internet connection is lost during emergency

[@fortwoods]

@@AlphaFan90 I assume it could also be used with a simplex repeater as well since it's just audio.

[@AlphaFan90]

@@fortwoods yes. Works over a simplex repeater. There is a parrot mode in the app doing just that.

[@matthewbennett]

For the first half of this video i was wondering... How does this compare to Rattlegram?

[@BlessingChinonso-ce1pi]

The best and most private program is a decentralized ecosystem Utopia p2p, as well there are many different functions.

[@mcgrath16511]

Wonder if you could use a easydigi,digilink type interface with your phone and set this up

[@ModernHam]

Probably, it would make it more reliable for sure.

[@verdexj160]

It would be cool if this could also decode cw.

[@ryanmigliori660]

You might have to try this with a c type adaptor to an auxulery cable and a ground loop isolator I did this with zello from my android phone to my baofeng. . If you want I can show you the ground loop isolator . They sell them on Amazon. Iamnin california now and all my stuff I'd back in kingman . I shouldnbe home in a week or 2

[@hudsonbear5038]

does anyone know what progress this has made... Am in UK mountain Rescue and this could be a very useful tool indeed

[@adlucem9845]

I'm in a metro area if 3 million people. I hear maybe 3-4 people a month using ham radio for speech. Now we're supposed to do texts too.

[@ModernHam]

Might have a solution for you in my next video.

[@AlphaFan90]

This is where the Ribbit Server kicks in: with message storage and retrieve capabilities.

[@stag143]

it exists

[@thuff3207]

Thank you for sharing. What modulation does this use? APRS is AX25 packet, basically FSK. I did not understand the cable statement on APRS since you can buy an APRS radio.

[@DeanLin]

OFDM

[@ai4px]

The weak link in APRS is the underlying packet does not include Forward error correction. If a packet doesn’t match it’s CRC 32 error check the packet is rejected. I’m curious if this mode will allow digipeating. Or if we can use a Bluetoothaudio connector on the speaker mic plug.

[@AlphaFan90]

@@ai4px Ribbit has a very strong Forward Error correction. We are considering having Digipeater functionality on the server

[@ai4px]

@@AlphaFan90 Although APRS uses the UI datagrams, it names all digipeaters in the system as the same name with a number on the end representing the number of hops the packet is permitted to propogate outward. aprs digipeaters also store the CRC checksum of any packet it has digipeated in the past 30-60 seconds to packets don't just ping pong back and forth between two nearby didpeaters until the hop count it used up.

[@bigmouthstrikesagain4056]

I wonder whether ribbit could be made to work with old Nokia 3310 phones?

[@bigmouthstrikesagain4056]

I've got friends who have a ton of 3310s and another who has quite a lot of these baofeng radios

[@W4TRI]

I'm in! I trust that if you have a proper interface it will work same a APRSDroid works correct? I hope that someone is also working on a version for Linux and Windows.

[@ModernHam]

Yeah I would assume so. I hope as well

[@W4TRI]

@@ModernHam Ok this is to packet/APRS what Discord is to IRC chat! I thought I was having trouble decoding at first from the YT test but then I found that "Backing off" the mic gave a perfect decode! I was overdriving my phones mic! I need to get a couple of burner phones and set up a couple of extra test stations around my area.

[@vetham100]

@@W4TRI would an android tablet and fongo work the same way?

[@W4TRI]

@@vetham100 no idea what Fongo is.

[@tmba001]

Cool App. Is there also an App available for iOS?

[@johnrauch-tj9di]

did I just get Rick-Rolled!!?? :)

[@AlphaFan90]

Yes you did!

[@donniebrugge8117]

What were the frequency and vox settings you used?

[@davidkostreva1179]

Can u record sound and text or email it to another with rattlegram to have more secure messages?

[@PeterGeher]

Sounds awesome. I definitely want to test that in the future. 73 de do8pgg

[@danford7532]

Where can it be downloaded

[@Falconguygaming]

Is there the possibility of using a cable connection instead of the audio?

[@wwalker327]

Someone else said they use this: BTECH APRS-K1 Cable. According to the Amazon page for that cable it should work.

[@HardcoreFourSix]

is there a easy/cheap way to run a cable between the HT and the android device?

[@ModernHam]

You just need a TRRS plug between the two. You can use the Baofeng APRS Cable for this use case as well.

[@TianarTruegard]

@@ModernHam How does this handle typical system notifications on a cellphone though? If you're using VOX, those will get transmitted if you're just using a simple cable to connect your phone to your radio.

[@charlesmathews3554]

Does this work on Android tablets?

[@g-whiz286]

It works on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 just fine.

[@sircampbell1249]

Block the data so no one can read it?

[@KA9DSL]

Not on Google play

[@levigardner5971]

Would a aux to kenwood cable work with this?

[@AlphaFan90]

Yes

[@tlcgolden]

Using vox without a cable is okay in a no war zone. However I suggest if you are in a war zone best transfer audio with cables or Bluetooth. Need to keep things quiet if you got military prowlers looking for a 🎯 target. War is gaining momentum around the 🌎 sad to say. Good channel great radio fun.

[@ModernHam]

Agreed. The creator of this targeted emergency response ease of use. But in a more critical situation with an enemy, you would want to use a cable.

[@johnwest7993]

Amazing! What will they think of next, voice?

[@RESISTAGE]

B-TECH GMRS Pro do that way easily. can text ht to ht even without the phone.

[@williamcharon9862]

Is there a set frequency for this or can you use any frequency as long as you use it through this app?

[@ModernHam]

No set one yet as far as I can tell.

[@williamcharon9862]

@ModernHam ok..thanx

[@TianarTruegard]

I would think as long as you don't use a repeater's frequencies or a commonly used frequency like the APRS frequencies you'd be ok. It is always annoying to hear digital modes on analog repeater frequencies. VHF and UHF do not have a digital portion of the band like the HF bands do. It would be nice if they did.

[@williamcharon9862]

@@TianarTruegard that's what I was thinking or hopping..thanx

[@vetham100]

Good info. Too bad i don't have a cell phone.

[@mikesradiorepair]

You don't need a cell phone, you just need a android device. Even a old cell phone that does not have service anymore works just fine.

[@buzzsah]

I'm sorry, but what was the app?

[@ModernHam]

Rattlegram

[@buzzsah]

@@ModernHam Thanks.

[@brianardito6721]

As much as some people might not like that... whatever 😄

[@toddbaker8159]

Is there a way to delete messages after use ?

[@mikesradiorepair]

No, it automatically starts to delete messages after it reaches a certain number (which I don't remember). Remember, this app is designed for emergency communications operations where there needs to be a "paper trail". It is specifically designed that way so you can not accidently delete messages.

[@mackperry9923]

Is it available on iOS yet?

[@ModernHam]

Not that I know of yet.

[@xdsopl]

​@@ModernHam Available on both app stores since November

[@BillBroadley]

Hrmpf, another project that claims to be open source ... but somehow doesn't post source.

[@ModernHam]

Had a hard time finding it, but the links are in the app itself under about?

[@nativetexan9776]

Just keep on taking it farther and farther away from radio. HR will be totally obsolete in a few short years.

[@k.u7643]

👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎

[@kimdavis5194]

LOL your message went across my rattlegram it was on while you was doing the video it says KN4MKB TEST FROM BAOFENG LOL

[@dionisiospin]

Thanks a lot from Athens Greece de SY1DHN...HNY..73

[@javierpolendok5mhc]

What about iOS operating system??

[@theirishoutdoorcook1207]

I’m curious to know that too.

[@AlphaFan90]

It's in development

[@preacherjohngroves9647]

Is there a way to delete messages after use ?

[@mikesradiorepair]

No, it automatically starts to delete messages after it reaches a certain number (which I don't remember). Remember, this app is designed for emergency communications operations where there needs to be a "paper trail". It is specifically designed that way so you can not accidently delete messages.

[@preacherjohngroves9647]

@@mikesradiorepair ok thank you sir! Have a blessed day 73 de KE8LUC

[@AlphaFan90]

@@mikesradiorepair you are correct that's exactly why we didn't implement a message delete. In the Ribbit app, we will have a 'archive' where messages can be minimized to 1 line and grayed out for unimportant messages. We are brainstorming of triage feature where messages can be assigned to a cue.