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Zello in Germany – a great community

On the Kanal Zello Funk we are a great radio community.

Here, hobby radio operators, former and active radio amateurs, managers, housewives, taxi drivers and truck drivers, security and students meet. Everyone can join and be welcome on the canal.

The free app zello works on any PC, Android, BlackBerry or IOS.

Zello converts the mobile phone into a walkie-talkie. That is, the voice messages are reproduced directly in real-time at the call partners. All you have to do is press the push-to-talk button and you will be heard by the friends.

At Zellofunk, we talk about everyday things and have fun with each other. We are joking, laughing and enjoying the opportunity to reach zello radio friends all over the world. We also talk about serious issues and above all we help each other when necessary.

by Nicu from zello.info

Radio Tone RT4 – 4G WiFi Zello Transceiver

Sure F25 – 4G Wifi Zello Transceiver

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Zello while driving

Zello radio in the car

In order to facilitate cell use during driving and to make it safer, a Bluetooth PTT button can be used when using a mobile phone.

In the illustrated example, a Samsung Galaxy S7 was used with a “Auto Bluetooth Media Button” from XCSource.
Both devices can be easily coupled and work flawlessly.
The play / pause key has been defined as a send key and operates (depending on the setting) in PTT as well as in toggle mode.
Also, the volume buttons are in function and allow the adjustment of the mobile volume.

The included accessories allow direct attachment (by clip) to the steering wheel. The hand does not have to leave the steering wheel while pressing the PTT button.

Alternatively, the Mediabutton can also be glued at a suitable location (using adhesive tape supplied).

After the first tests, the combination of mobile phone with Mediabutton and integration into the vehicle media center (to increase the receiver volume) is a useful solution for mobile cell operation!

Author: Nicu from http://zello.info

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Hamradio during holiday

I just got married and we were about to head to a distant island in the Maldives. I still looked at my Yaesu FT-857D and the ATAS-120 but I din’t think the wife would aprove them on the luggage. No problem, I took my Sure F22 that would do the trick.
Hanimaadhoo is a small island, in the north of Maldives, with two 4G/LTE cell antennas, each one belonging to the two available carriers. The hotel has wifi, so I would be good with this radio.
At this time of the year, the wet monsoon takes place so the weather is very unstable. You can have a wonderful morning doing some snorkeling and constant sunshine and one hour after you will face a heavy, but warm tropical shower.
During the rainy part of the day, I could play with my Sure F22. I was concerned at first that I could have had trouble with customs. It’s a mobile phone anyways, but with its typical shape of a handheld radio there could have been trouble. No questions were asked, so you are ok to bring such radio to Maldives.
I know that some “old” Hams claim that using network radios is not hamradio. I have a very different opinion. I can only guess that during the CW era, many Hams back then would consider voice communications as non-hamradio when they first started. Voice is no fun, nothing “amateur” would they think.
For me, amateur radio is what you want it to be. Amateur radio is something in your soul. You just like to speak with other Hams, mostly about ham topics. Going to a ham radio club and meet fellow hams, for me, is doing hamradio. You share knowledge, you share experiences and you learn.
I was never the type of guy who loves ham contests. Some Hams consider contests as the “only” hamradio thing. Honestly, what I do like, besides all the rig experimental part, is the real QSO with other Hams, with different cultures. I like to know their name, what they do for a living, what type of station they are using. Very far from the “You are 5 and 9, good bye”. I am glad the hamradio world is so vast that there are flavors for all tastes.
Coming back to the subject, is network radio a form of hamradio?
Talking to my common hamradio community over a network radio like the Sure F22 (over 3G) or a Sure F25 (over 4G/LTE) is hamradio. Just use the IRN and they are all there! No matter where I am in the globe, I am in touch with them. It’s not CW, it’s not a communication full of static noise, fading like in HF, but it’s still a round of tens of Hams talking and discussing about hamradio. Isn’t that hamradio for you? At the end, it’s all about the joy! And that, I can assure you I get from this little new net transceiver.
73