I’ve often thought that a killer app for amateur radio would be a way to send text messages on the ham bands. Well, I’ve just found out that another ham, Dale Thomas, KN4UAH, shares my enthusiasm. He’s the guy behind HamMessenger, which is:
a portable, battery powered device that runs on a microcontroller and interfaces with an inexpensive ham radio to send and receive text messages and provide position updates using the APRS protocol. Messages and position updates sent via HamMessenger can be viewed on sites such as aprs.fi. HamMessenger messages are NOT encrypted!
It’s still being developed, but you can get the gist of it by looking at the figure below. It uses a low-cost HT to send and receive text messages with some Arduino-based hardware.
The github page also notes:
At the core of the the project is the MicroAPRS modem created by markqvist. The primary controller is an Arduino Mega 2560 with the MicroAPRS Modem running on an Arduino Pro Mini. HamMessenger includes GPS functionality supplied by a Neo-6M GPS radio. For peripherals, an M5Stack CardKB keyboard is used for input and an SSD1106 OLED display for output.
I think this is a cool project. I’ve just emailed Dale to get more info on it and ask how I might be able to help him, perhaps with documentation or by just publicizing it.