This post is actually a combination of different “Tips & Tricks” I previously wrote in the knowledge base. I’m not going to explain all settings again. Just hit the tags in the sidebar most of the subjects discussed here are filled under “Button Mapper” and “Zello“
Since a few weeks I’ve got this new found love for the first Network Radio I bought: the Inrico T320. As you all know, i’m a huge fan of Telo, I love the build, the audio quality, the design … and especially the big touchscreen. So for a while I was very happy with my TE-590 and I still am. But preferences changes over time. Ever since I started using Walkie Fleet at home and at work, I struggled with the dual app that needs to be configered: Zello for Hobby and Walkie Fleet for Work and Home use.
And now the thing that first led me away from the T320 is actually the thing that I most love about it: Its keyboard. I’ve found out that with most big touchscreens I often accidentally hit the screen and disable or enable stuff! The smaller screen on the T320 is less sensitive and in combination with Button Mapper I’m super fast in changing Apps, settings, channels, …. So here’s a short description on how I set up my Inrico T320:
Apparently there are a lot of new kids in town! (see previous post) The T-526 from Inrico is from my point of view the only true successor for the T199/192 models. Thanks to HF Electronics I was able to have a go with this compact 4G screenless device.
There’s a new kid in town and it’s a slim one. The Inrico T-620 is a 4G dual sim Network Radio with an extra SD slot and a small display. It has a battery capacity of 3600 mh. Al this features made it look like hell of competition for the bigger en blind T199 and T192. It’s slim, elegant, compact and the small display allows you to see if your connection to data or wifi is established.
In a random chat on one of our favorite channels, we were talking about PD0KHN, Martin’s newest addition to his Radio Park: an Inrico T320. We were discussing that adjusting the sound is not a subtile matter, it goes with button clicks and it’s lowest volume is sometimes just a little bit too loud. Same goes for the TM-7 (plus)… we all experienced the same issue. We got interrupted by Jeerke77 who told us that if you disable the Sound Enhancement in Android Sound Settings, the volume is far more softer and subtile in its lower volumes.
I recently saw some postings on the Network Radios and Inrico T320 facebook pages where people complained that the display of their T320 suddenly inverted the colors/contrast. I had the same issue on my T320 and this is how to solve the issue:
Our good friend and Zello Radio Benelux user Martin – PD0KHN has engineered a small 12V battery station for his Inrico TM-7. He uses it to take with him around the house and when he goes camping. Very easy to use and recharge! Genius!
Most T199’s have the issue that when they have been idle for a while (depends from device to device, some 20 min, some 4 hours) the PTT gives an error when pressing it.
It seems that the device gets out of its selected channel and goes back to the channel overview window (which you can’t see obviously). So when you press the PPT button Zello doesn’t know on what channel it should broadcast on, hence the error sound.
We found a solution for that by disabling every type of screen security on the T199. Configuration can be found in the link below.
If you have this issue and it’s not solved with the configuration described, please let us know. Please make sure that your device is configured exactly like in the manual, this way we can exclude other errors. Thnx!
Today we finally implemented the TM-7 plus in the interior roof console of my pick-up truck. There were a few things that I was worried about: First thing was if the roofconsole fitted the interior of my car, that sorted itself out after a quick fit. Next to that I was happy to see that the format of the TM-7 plus is DIN standard and just slides in the radio compartment as if it was made for it. That was already one thing less to worry about.
Also I was a bit worried for letting my car in the city with the Radio in plain sight. The radio is firmly fixed in the slide but can easily pulled out. We connected a special connector in the wiring that I could disconnect with 1 click en take it all out. Also I can use this to do updates or maintenance behind my computer
The last thing I worried about was something we discussed on the Zello Radio Benelux Channel, and that was how to wire the radio: before or after the ignition. Before meant that it would be always on because the TM-7 plus has no power of button (it just reboots.) Behind the ignition contact would mean that every time you turn the contact of it has to boot when you turn the ignition key on again and the TM-7 plus takes a while to boot! This is no problem if your trips last 900 miles and you don’t plan to stop for the first 450 miles. But if you’re going for groceries, it’s a whole different story!
Luckily our good friend Martin – PD0KHN, member on Zello Radio Benelux, came up with a logical solution. He suggested to wire the radio directly to the car battery and put a switch in between. The radio use will not be interfered by the state of the ignition being “on” or “of”. I discussed that idea with NR001 and some other folks on ZRB and we all agreed that this was the best solution. This is how we implemented it:
We all know that the TM-7 plus and ButtonMapper don’t have a perfect marriage. Being able to adjust the volume in the car in a safe way is very important. You can optimise the volume functionality in two ways:
2. You can map the up and down arrows to volume up and down in ButtonMapper. Important is that you map all three options (single, double & long press) to the specific function of that button. (If some one needs help with that let me know, I’ll write a short tutorial.)
Anyway. Happy me! It feels a lot better handeling this mic in the car. The speaker is next to my head so the volume doesn’t have to be loud. I don’t have to take all gear in and out every time I leave at home (I have aT320 in the bag but that is switched on when necessary when i’m out of the car.)
If you have any questions or improvements feel free to share in the comments.
We encounterd a small issue with the Inrico T199 (and probably other screenless devices)
When your screenless device is powered on but idle it might happen that when you push the PTT button nothing happens or if you configured it like below you will hear 3 beeps (meaning error). That’s because Zello changed from specific channel to a default mode. The only thing you have to do is turn your channel knob back and forward to your chosen channel and it wil work again. We are looking for a permanent solution but this is a nice quick fix.
I’ve update this in the manual section “How to configure a screenless device”.
On mobile devices you can map the P1/2/3/4 buttons to go to a channel/contact in Zello with Button Mapper. In theory you can map any hardware button to a channel or contact except for buttons that are preoccupied by the Zello app: SOS-button, PPT , … If you still use your dialer, make sure you map the long press key and not the single press key.
Rename the channels you want to add to 01, 02 and so on …
Add the buttons in Button Mapper and for every button add the Action: “Broadcast Intent” to single tap (for CH 05 to 08 use long press)
In the field “action” add “com.dfl.knob” (without the brackets)
in the field “key:value” add “frequencyNum:XX” where XX is the number of the channel(01, 02…)
save and try
Warning: This only works in the donation version!!!
This also works with other numbers, so if you have allready setup different numbering on your account you can also map “03 ZRB to P2” or “16 Mom to P4” If you want to use the “single press” on the P1, you should config the “long press” on P1 identical to the “short press.” Otherwise it will not work with “short press” We don’t know why but that’s the work around we found 😉