Using the Cybiko for APRS

Using the Cybiko for APRS

The Cybiko is a small handheld computer that's just a little bit larger than a PDA. It was designed for teenagers to play video games and "chat" with others who have Cybikos. It has 160x100 LCD screen, comes with a stylus, a serial cable, a charger for the two 700mAH NiMH batteries it runs on, and it has a 900MHz digital transceiver. The operating system, CyOS, is pre-emptive multitasking. A Software Development Kit is available on the Cybiko website ( Cybiko's Developers Area ) that allows you to write your own software in C. The Cybiko looks like a toy and it works like a toy, so it's perfect for hamradio!

There are two versions available of the Cybiko, the Classic and the Xtreme. The difference, besides the obvious difference in looks, is that the Xtreme version has a USB port, while the Classic has a serial port. In order to connect a serial device you'll need the Classic version. Unfortunately, the Cybiko Classic is not available in stores anymore, but you can still find them for cheap on the internet on sites like Ebay. I've seen them there for $10 a piece.

I have used the SDK to develop software for APRS purposes. The software consists of a UI/KISS driver and two applications, UI Messenger and UI Gate, which enable you to use the Cybiko for APRS. UI Messenger allows you to exchange messages, monitor traffic, and to view the position of your station and that of others on a map. It also has auto answer and logging capabilities. UI Gate serves as a gateway between the serial port and the internal 900MHz transceiver. UI frames received on the serial port will be sent to the 900MHz transceiver and vice versa.



A basic setup requires one Cybiko, a TNC that can be put in KISS mode, and a transceiver. You may need a gender changer and/or a DB9 to DB25 converter to hook the Cybiko up to the TNC. Install the UI Messenger software on the Cybiko and you're all set to go. When a message arrives, the Cybiko will beep and vibrate just like a pager and a window will pop up showing the current message and all messages that you have received previously from that station.



If you have two or more Cybikos available you can set up your own wireless network with the UI Gate software.



Run the UI Gate software on the Cybiko that is connected to the TNC, and run UI Messenger on the other Cybiko(s). Now you can roam around with the other Cybiko(s) and stay in touch with your local APRS network. Up to 100 UI Messenger stations can utilize one UI Gate station. The UI Gate software lets you specify which UI Messenger stations have access to the APRS network through the TNC.



The software can also be used to enhance your existing station. If your current APRS station is capable of relaying frames it receives from a (soundcard) TNC to an available serial port as KISS frames, then you can connect a Cybiko running UI Gate to that serial port. Everything your station receives will now be relayed to a second (or more) Cybiko(s) running UI Messenger. This gives you basic APRS capabilities without actually having to be at your station.

You can also use the UI Messenger/UI Gate setup to communicate through the APRS satellite, PCSAT. Put a Cybiko running UI Gate, a TNC and an HT outside or in the car, and talk through PCSAT with a second Cybiko running UI Messenger in the convenience of your own home. No need to wait in the cold (or heat&#33 outside for the satellite to arrive!

The software with documentation in PDF format is available free of charge on my website at: http://www.kr1st.com.

73,
Alex (KR1ST)

 

That is the neatest thing I have seen in a long long time . I'll have to look for one of these on ebay and get set up some time.

 

Wow that is brilliant! An excellent use for those little devices. When they came out I had a feeling people would start hacking them for good uses, this sure is one of them.

i just purchased a Zaurus and was planning on doing something similar.

73s,

- derek

 

Wow, after reading this news item I bought a Cybiko for a little over $10.00 on E-Bay! Finaly someone has found a way to make APRS affordable! Kudos KR1ST!

 

Wow, I Was Considering Getting These Now That They Are Cheaper Over Here. I Now Have A Reason Mwhahaha....

 

I wonder if this could be used to form a cheap low power terminal for psk31? Something smaller and cheaper than my $1300 laptop. It needs to have something like the waterfall display. Perhaps the sound interface could be homebrew.

 

I do not know too much about APRS, but I am going to try this out.  Cant be that hard.  Just one question, what about the GPS unit?  Dont you need one?  And where does it plug into?

Rob

 

Heh, i remember first seeing these at one of the local office supply stores, thought they were pretty neat. Just purchased one one ebay to toy with the APRS info you provided. Would sure beat dragging one of my laptops around when mobile and costs less than a palm computer that would be only used for APRS.

 

Now that looks like a fun toy! With an amateur license, you could add an RF power amp to it, and have a very nice programmable widget.... I guess it's off to the (children's) toy store...

Thanks for the info.

73 de KB1GYQ

 

Hi there,

First of all, thank you very much for the kind words I received. In this message I will try to answer the questions that have been asked and the issues that have been raised.

I have just ordered a PSK31 Beacon Kit to experiment with. I am hoping that this kit will allow me to do something for the Beaconet project ( http://www.beaconet.org ) and perhaps I can use it in combination with the Cybiko. I would love to have a device that I could carry with me around the house that will alert me if the band I'm interested opens up in a certain direction. So I am definitely thinking of PSK31 support, but I need to find a cheap(!) programmable external DSP board.

The lockup problem mentioned on here is being worked on. There is no shortage of memory (even though program + data can not exceed 64kb) nor does there seem to be a memory leak. Even though there was only a minor revision number difference between the last two versions (0.3.4 -> 0.3.5), the software has been almost completely rewritten in order to support a dynamic memory model. This way I have much better control over memory usage. Maps are very small; they are simple bitmaps that take up only 4008 bytes.

You do not need a GPS to use the software. In fact, it doesn't even support a GPS (yet) because the Cybiko only has one serial port. I have experimented using the wireless setup in the car using two Cybikos to make sure that the 900MHz link would function ok in that environment. Since that worked fine I have been contemplating on making more permanent setup in the trunk of the car (perhaps with its own gel cell and one of those $30 car battery solar chargers). The second Cybiko could then be hooked up to a GPS so that the whole setup acts as a tracker. When you arrive at your destination you just take the Cybiko with you and stay in touch with your local APRS network.

The Cybiko is actually a very nice platform for hams to experiment with. Especially since there is a documented SDK available and the 900MHz transceiver gives you the opportunity to experiment with wireless networking. You get a lot of neat hardware for the money which can be used for all kinds of projects. I've read that people use them for robots, as teaching aids in colleges, as wearable computing devices, etc. Oh, and you can also play games on them (which btw. can now also be downloaded on the new generation of Sprint cell phones I heard).

Ideas are plentiful. I wish I could say the same about time.

73,
--Alex (KR1ST)

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (kr1st @ Sep. 11 2002,10:51)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Hi there,

First of all, thank you very much for the kind words I received. In this message I will try to answer the questions that have been asked and the issues that have been raised.

I have just ordered a PSK31 Beacon Kit to experiment with. I am hoping that this kit will allow me to do something for the Beaconet project ( http://www.beaconet.org ) and perhaps I can use it in combination with the Cybiko. I would love to have a device that I could carry with me around the house that will alert me if the band I'm interested opens up in a certain direction. So I am definitely thinking of PSK31 support, but I need to find a cheap(&#33 programmable external DSP board.

The lockup problem mentioned on here is being worked on. There is no shortage of memory (even though program + data can not exceed 64kb) nor does there seem to be a memory leak. Even though there was only a minor revision number difference between the last two versions (0.3.4 -> 0.3.5), the software has been almost completely rewritten in order to support a dynamic memory model. This way I have much better control over memory usage. Maps are very small; they are simple bitmaps that take up only 4008 bytes.

You do not need a GPS to use the software. In fact, it doesn't even support a GPS (yet) because the Cybiko only has one serial port. I have experimented using the wireless setup in the car using two Cybikos to make sure that the 900MHz link would function ok in that environment. Since that worked fine I have been contemplating on making more permanent setup in the trunk of the car (perhaps with its own gel cell and one of those $30 car battery solar chargers). The second Cybiko could then be hooked up to a GPS so that the whole setup acts as a tracker. When you arrive at your destination you just take the Cybiko with you and stay in touch with your local APRS network.

The Cybiko is actually a very nice platform for hams to experiment with. Especially since there is a documented SDK available and the 900MHz transceiver gives you the opportunity to experiment with wireless networking. You get a lot of neat hardware for the money which can be used for all kinds of projects. I've read that people use them for robots, as teaching aids in colleges, as wearable computing devices, etc. Oh, and you can also play games on them (which btw. can now also be downloaded on the new generation of Sprint cell phones I heard).

Ideas are plentiful. I wish I could say the same about time.

73,
--Alex (KR1ST)[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
I'm not sure if this is what you're getting at, but could you do this? Use one Cybiko connected to TNC, etc... as the base station, and use another with the UI connected to a GPS... as you move with the second one, it sends GPS data to the first! This is really awesome, but be warned, Cybiko has HORRIBLE support in the U.S. They haven't done anything for their users in about 3 months, including new apps/games.

AWESOME!!!!!

See ya,

Tom

 

cool. I am doing something similar with a dr135tp and a phillips velo

 

Indeed it seems that Cybiko is focussing more more on other activities than developing software and providing support for their hardware products. Fortunately, I do not depend on their support for any of my projects. Although, I've been waiting for months now to purchase the native code compiler.

Yes, that's indeed what I intent to do, Tom. The GPS connects to one Cybiko while the other Cybiko acts as a gateway station with a TNC.

The Phillips Velo project sounds very interesting, Andrew. Keep us posted!

73,
--Alex (KR1ST)

 

Thanks for the information, I was getting ready to buy a board with that processor in it to experiment with for some radio projects, it's cost was $79.99 + shipping. Instead I bought 5 brand new Cybiko units on EBay for $59.99 and it has considerably more memory, input/output capability and networking capability. I'm one happy camper, I even found a site with schematics of the units, again thanks, my mind is working overtime thinking of little projects I can come up with for these so called toys.

Computers and Ham radio, what a great combination.

Cecil Bayona
KD5NWA

 

Alex,


HI'm just reading your post for the first time. VERY interesting! Keep up the good work and thanks for your article.

Here are a few questions for you. Has anybody sent info about upping the power of these units? Sounds like the range is about 300 feet max. Maybe a 900 MHz brick amp? How about external antennas? Those extended range cordless phone guys are doing it, why not with these Cybiko units also?

73

Lyndel, N7LT