Once upon a time, ham radio was all about CW and voice transmissions and little else. These days, the hobby is altogether richer, with a wide range of fancy digital data modes to play with. [KM6LYW Radio] has been tinkering in this space, and whipped up a compact ham radio data rig that you can build for well under $100.
Radio-wise, the build starts with the Baofeng UV-5R handheld radio. It’s a compact VHF/UHF transceiver with 5W output and can be had for under $25 USD if you know where to look. It’s paired with a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, which is the brains of the operation. The Pi is hooked up to the All-In-One-Cable which is basically a soundcard-like interface that plugs into USB and hooks up to the mic and speaker outputs of the Baofeng handheld. The final pieces of the puzzle are a USB PD battery pack and a small OLED screen to display status information.
What does that kit get you? The capability to transmit on all sorts of digital modes with the aid of the DigiPi software package. You can send emails, jump on APRS, or even chat on the web. You can configure all of this through a web interface running on the Raspberry Pi.
We’ve looked at some interesting digital ham projects before, too. Video after the break.
[Thanks to programmer1200 for the tip!]