[Elecraft] K3 Meets Android Over Bluetooth

[Chuck-NO5W]

Is anyone out there using the Android IOIO board from Sparkfun?

I do a lot of mobile operation with the K3 installed in the rear of my 
Pathfinder. Some of the operation is in state QSO parties using a laptop 
but I also enjoy taking the K3 on cross-country trips where it is not 
convenient to drag out the laptop. I've always thought that for those 
cross-country trips it would be great to have a small hand held remote 
(preferably wireless) that I could hook on the window or sun visor to 
use for controlling the K3.

Of course its not difficult to find a small hand held computer nowadays 
with all of the smart phones that are available -- my DroidX fits that 
requirement nicely. A few weeks ago I found the other ingredient I 
needed for the remote in the form of a small board called the Android 
IOIO. It has many general purpose I/O pins and several UARTs. In 
addition it supports both USB and Bluetooth communication with Android 
phones. So, for about $50 for the IOIO board plus a few dollars for 
ancillary parts all the hardware ingredients were in hand. All that 
remained was to develop some software to install on the phone to control 
the K3.

A nice thing about the Android IOIO board is the availability of an API, 
a support group led by the developer, and some excellent documentation 
to ease the software development. Currently my little project is a work 
in progress but so far it is possible to do the following from the 
DroidX over Bluetooth: Turn the radio on and off, mimic most of the 
front panel buttons, use a slider to control AFG and RFG.

I'd be interested in hearing (off list) from anyone else that is working 
with the Android IOIO board as well as from anyone having questions 
about the project I'm working on. I should have additional info on my 
website no5w dot com in the next week or so.

73/Chuck/NO5W