This is a question better suited for the RadioMail user forum, but I want to know from the Digirig Lite community if anyone has an answer first.
Per the Digirig Lite Setup Page, I have my iPhone, Digirig Lite, adapter cable, and h/t (Yaesu VX-7R).
When I attempt to connect to a VARA FM gateway with RadioMail, I get the “No device configured” message as shown in my first attachment.
The VARA FM documentation — if I read it correctly — indicates that I need to create an external connection to my nearby laptop or some other external modem device.
I understood (wrongly?) that I had everything I needed with my iPhone, DigiRig Lite, H/T and cable adapter setup to send a RadioMail message to a VARA FM gateway through my H/T via my Digirig Lite.
Is there (hopefully) some way to manually configure my phone to see a default modem device that already exists within my iPhone?
there is no way to ‘do VARA’ with just an android/ios device + interface + radio.
you can connect to a packet gateway though. both platforms have 1200 baud software modems in their respective winlink clients.
VARA FM, VARA HF and VARA SAT are software modems that run on computers capable of running a Windows binary/program.
so what that means is, any smartphone app that mentions using VARA, does so by connecting to a computer running the windows binary which in turn is connected to a radio.
there is no built-in/internal VARA modem for any android/ios device.
Brian, unfortunately you’ve run into a frustrating reality. I would love nothing more than to offer a built-in VARA FM modem in RadioMail — and there’s no technical reason why it couldn’t be done. The issue is entirely due to VARA being a closed-source, proprietary protocol, with the author only interested in supporting Windows.
Many Winlink stations have adopted VARA because of its strong performance, but often without considering the trade-offs. This choice effectively excludes all mobile platforms — phones, tablets, etc. — even though mobile devices now outnumber computers by more than 2 to 1, and account for over 60% of all web traffic.
If you’re looking for the least painful way to use VARA with RadioMail, check out this video:
I walk through how to set up a VARA FM hotspot on a low-cost, headless mini computer, and how to control it remotely using RadioMail.
i’d be stoked if ARDOP, which is open source, would be included into RadioMail and WoAD.
(while not in the same performance class, there is still widespread support of ardop in winlink gateways)
yes, i’m a silly android user so WoAD is my jam but do appreciate the work of RadioMail
