I want to use my iPhone to do FT8 on POTA activations. I have a lightning to usb-c cable. Does anyone know if I can connect my lightning cable to my digirig? Is it compatible with iOS through a lightning cable? I’ve searched and I cannot find a solution. Any help would be appreciated. Anyone try this?
I do not own an iPhone, but I do not want your question to go too long without a response.
I have purchased Lightning to TRRS adapter cables for family members, and they work well for audio listening. I can’t comment on USB.
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73 Constrainted
I’m looking to connect my iPhone to my FT-891to do FT8 during POTA.
Just tried APRS.fi on iPhone using Lightning to USB-C cable (plugged into Digirig) with my FT-817. No packets decoded and none sent. And this is a good Anker cable I was using. I tried bypassing the Digirig altogether and plugged the FT-8xx data cable directly into my Apple brand Lightning to TRRS adapter. Still no audio getting into the iPhone. That adapter works great with earbuds and an in-line mic for calls, so I’m wondering what the issue is.
The pinout of TRRS end of Digirig cables (RIG_AFOUT, RIG_AFIN, RIG_PTT, GND) is different from the CTIA pinout (LEFT, RIGHT, GND, MIC) commonly used for the headphone jacks in the smartphones. For that reason plugging Digirig cable directly into the phone socket will not bring about the expected result.
Connecting through Digirig should work for audio if the system detects the external sound card. Good indication of that is when the audio stops playing on the internal speaker when you plug in Digirig. The PTT is a separate issue: with Digirig Mobile, the app should be specifically designed to use RTS signal of the serial port for that. With Digirig Lite no specific support is required because the interface supports VOX PTT.
Yet another option is VOX PTT cable: VOX PTT Cable for Smartphones – digirig
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Denis, thank you for the reply. The two Lightning to USB-C cables I’ve tried with DigiRig must not be passing audio.
I’m no Lightning port expert, but this YouTube video may be the answer. Apple/MFI dongle seems necessary to connect Lightning to USB-C properly.
See if Jason’s answer above is any help. There is no audio going through USB, that is handled later on in the codec which talks to the computing device (phone in your case) digitally.
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Using APRS.fi iOS app, I tried the Apple Lightning to USB-A adapter with DigiRig on both my iPhone and iPad. Neither iDevice could hear packets. In fact, when DigiRig was connected to the iPhone, a USB device voltage error message popped up on the phone. iPad did not display any error message, but audio clearly was not making it into the APRS.fi software sound modem.
Wondering if DigiRig lite might work instead.
I’m still searching for a wired option to do digital modes with my iPhone/iPad. Have not had luck using Mobilinkd TNC.