BlueDV AMBE and DVstick 30 on Android Phone
I had also heard from a subscriber (thank you, Terry!) that the DVstick 30 can be used with an adapter on an Android phone and the BlueDV app. I installed the BlueDV app from the Google Play Store but couldn’t get it to recognize my DVstick 30 that was attached to the phone with an OTG cable.
Google says:
An OTG (On-The-Go) cable for Android allows a smartphone or tablet to act as a host, enabling direct connection to USB peripherals like flash drives, keyboards, mice, or game controllers.
Then I watched a video by Andreas M0FXB and noticed the interface of his BlueDV app didn’t look exactly like mine.
A little bit of sleuthing revealed I had installed the wrong app! Once I downloaded and configured BlueDV AMBE from the Play Store, the system worked very well.
Here’s how to get it working…but I leave the configuration steps to Andreas who does a fine job in his video. Naturally, you do have to enter your call sign, your DMR and NXDN ID numbers, etc. When you’ve entered the important bits, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the SETUP screen and hit SUBMIT. Again, Andreas’ video hits these points well.
After plugging in the DVstick 30 and OTG cable, then starting BlueDV AMBE, you hit the CON (for CONNECT) button in the lower left corner of the screen. That initiates a popup prompting you to allow the app access to the DVstick 30:
Press OK. Then you should see the “USB device ready” message:
After that, I selected YSF as the mode (upper left corner of the screen) and the US-KCWide reflector (next to the mode selector). Finally, select the green phone handset button. My device immediately connected to America’s Kansas City Wide network where a QSO was underway.
When a transmission is being received, the screen turns green. Note, too, the RX on the right-hand side of the display:
To transmit, you tap the main part of the screen (it should be blue, indicating no transmissions are being received). When the screen turns red, you are transmitting (and note the TX on the right side of the screen). Tap it again to stop transmitting. An example red screen is shown in the screenshot below, but I also wanted you to know of the DE-Parrot for YSF!
I tried two different OTG cables. One is a two-in-one USB-A to USB-C cable that allows for charging the phone while simultaneously using the DVstick 30. The other is a simpler USB-A to USB-C cable. I tested these and both approaches worked on my Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G phone.
Here are Amazon affiliate links to the two OTG cables I used:
and
I’m glad the 2-in-1 cable worked, because it means I can charge/power my phone while using the DVstick 30. That will work very well while I’m driving.
There you go. AMBE3000 digital audio in multiple modes available with your Android phone.
How does it sound? Fine, to my ears.
Tom Salzer is an amateur radio operator in the Pacific Northwest, USA. He publishes a newsletter at https://www.randomwire.us/ and a radio and technology blog at https://etherham.com.
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