Long introduction.
I have never been a fan of smartphones. Probably, the main reason for indifference to these devices is their size and the lack of the ability to work in a 3G network (my company has its own corporate connection with very favorable tariffs for calls, but not for the Internet). In addition, due to the nature of my work, I need to have my phone with me all the time and in rather dirty conditions, with a high probability of dropping it or knocking it somewhere. It is inconvenient for me to put the phone in different cellophanes, silicones, cases, as I am used to carrying the phone in my pockets. For this reason, my old Sony Ericsson K750 has been with me for several years and there was no reason to replace it.
But they send me on a business trip, and after it, I immediately go to rest in a sanatorium. And here and there there were rather dubious options for accessing a computer, but free WiFi was promised in both hotels. Since I can’t leave my Internet resources for such a long time, and I didn’t want to carry a laptop with me at all, I decided to take a Google phone with me. And that's why, to the dissatisfied exclamations :), Galaxy Gio was taken away from my wife, and my old Sony Ericsson was handed in return.
To be honest, I liked the Galaxy Gio even earlier because of its adequate dimensions and low price. And it was me who initiated the replacement of my wife's old deceased clamshell with Galaxy Gio.
Before the trip, acquaintance with the Galaxy Gio was rather superficial - to set up WiFi, an account, something else on the little things ... after the sanatorium, based on some experience with the phone, I made the following conclusions for myself:
— in terms of dimensions, the phone is convenient (due to the fact that it is thinner than my sonierikson) and even less in the pocket;
- a good thing is synchronization of contacts with a Google account (I was tormented to transfer contacts via bluetooth from the old phone to the new one), the loss of the phone will no longer be so catastrophic, since the contacts (the most valuable thing in the phone) are stored in the Google account;
- networking (in Opera), in principle, is tolerable, but the functionality is rather curtailed, which creates problems, for example, if you need to do something more than answer a letter or post in a forum;
- entering text on the touchpad is undeniably more convenient than on a regular phone, but nothing can replace the usual keyboard and mouse;
- the voracity of the phone is very annoying! Daily charging is required. And since I had to ride trains and make long journeys, a steady instinct to save batteries is developed (it’s good that the player is separate, otherwise you won’t play games or listen to music on the road, because at the end of the journey you can easily be left without a connection) . You also constantly carry a charger with you and look for an outlet at every station where you can plug it in (before the smartphone, I perceived McDonald's only as a place where you can have a bite to eat in an unfamiliar city - now they have one more function :)).
In general, in the end, despite certain shortcomings, I decided to keep the Galaxy Gio for permanent use (my wife bought herself the same one, only white :))
Closer to the point.
Why such a long intro? And to nothing! It was I who finally reached my computer and I was carried away to scribble text :). And I wanted to tell in the article about applications for Android, which could be useful in the development of electronic devices.
It must be said right away that, due to the specifics of the Googlephone (it’s still a phone), you can’t count on something serious, but what we have is what we are happy about.
Having wandered around the Google Play Store, I made a small selection, which, in my opinion, may be useful to you. The selection does not claim to be complete, and if you know any interesting applications - write, I will add.
1 START FROM A MUST-HAVE APP.
The Market has both paid and free versions of the application. Much respect to the author for the fact that the free version is almost fully functional (with the exception of the absence of single sections and the presence of advertising).
2 GROUP OF ELECTRIC CIRCUITS SIMULATORS.
Ascetic, without any settings, and according to the creators, a fast (High performance native code using OpenGL ES 2.0) spectrum analyzer. The declared range is 20 - 22,000 Hz, but we understand that it will be much narrower. The scale is logarithmic. Pretty accurate in my tests.
Another spectrum analyzer, but compared to the previous one, does not just display the spectrum, but draws it in time. It's pretty obvious. In the free version, the frequency range is limited to 8 kHz and the scale is linear. The paid version removes frequency limits, adds color schemes, and allows you to select the type of scale
4 GROUP OF GENERATORS.
Close in meaning to the previous group, but, it seems to me, more in demand. Again, we can only rely on the output signal range of 20 - 22,000 Hz. The signal can be run through the speaker or through the audio jack (and amplifier if needed). There is only one application in this group so far, but it is very functional.
Pretty functional free generator. It can produce a sine wave, square wave, saw, "white" and "pink" noise. For a meander and a saw, it can change the duty cycle. In addition, it can create a signal with amplitude, frequency and phase modulation (moreover, the modulating signal can also be a sine wave, meander or saw). The program can also automatically increase / decrease the frequency in time linearly or logarithmically. Everything is convenient, simple, and most importantly, the pontoon attenuator handle, which developers love to put into such programs, is not stuck in.
5 GROUP FOR AVR DEVELOPER.
Overview of amateur radio programs for devices based on Android
Good day dear radio amateurs!
Today on the site, we will consider a rather interesting question - amateur radio programs for Android devices.
Recently, the electronic equipment market has been filled at a good pace with inexpensive (mostly Chinese, but with decent workmanship) devices that use the Android operating system in their work. Already now you can buy a good tablet from 5000 rubles. Therefore, I was interested in the question - are there any amateur radio programs for such devices? It turns out there is, and not a little. Below I will give you an overview of several such programs, and we will consider one of them in more detail.
So the first program is OscilPrime Oscilloscope Legacy
This program allows you to turn your tablet computer into a two-channel low frequency oscilloscope:
The studied signal can be fed to the audio connector and via the USB port. In addition, the program has a built-in sinusoidal signal generator. The sweep can be triggered both by the decline of the signal under study and by its front. The program is easy to use and has limited settings.
The next program is EveryCircuit(paid - 300 rubles) or EveryCircuit Free(free).
This program allows you to collect simple radio circuits on the tablet screen and simulate their work:
The program is simple and not difficult to understand. As a disadvantage, one can note the lack of a “Russian language”, a small base of elements and the high cost of the full version. But despite the shortcomings, the program will allow you to think through some aspects of circuitry when building simple devices.
As you can see, dear radio amateurs, progress does not stand still, programmers take care of us and release new programs. Even if they are not yet as developed as for "big" computers, but I think that soon "small" computers will catch up with their "big brothers" in amateur radio software.
You can download all these programs (and not only them) through the “Play Market” on your gadget.
And finally, I want to introduce you to another amateur radio program that deserves close attention, and not only by beginner radio amateurs.
The program is called ElectroDroid.
There are both paid and free versions of this program. The difference between the paid version is that additional features have been introduced and there is no annoying advertising.
ElectroDroid is a powerful set of tools and a reference for the electronics designer:
The program consists of several sections:
– calculation
– pinout
– directory
– plugins
Let's start from the end - plugins. This function allows you to expand the capabilities of the program by adding new functions. All new plugins are installed inside the program.
Calculation– this section is intended for various amateur radio calculations. In the top picture you can see almost all the features of the program in this mode (part hidden at the bottom). As you can see, there is a fairly large variety of small subroutines for carrying out simple, but at the same time useful amateur radio calculations.
Tsokolevka. This section of the program presents the pinout of the most popular and commonly used connectors, wires and devices in amateur radio practice:
Directory. This section presents various reference data on radio elements, as well as tables of various data needed in amateur radio practice. This section will especially please lovers of PIC microcontrollers - reference data is collected here for almost all PIC microcontrollers (it's a pity, of course, that there is no such reference book for AVR microcontrollers):
You can also download this program on the “Play Market”, or (using the services of our hackers) download the full version of this program below:
(1.9 MiB, 10,325 hits)
At the moment, there are a large number of programs for radio amateurs on the Internet. But, unfortunately, some of them do not work with modern operating systems. This is of course a big drawback. After all, basically no one uses the old software anymore.
Below is a selection of programs for radio amateurs. This collection contains only those programs that work almost without problems on modern computers and laptops running modern operating systems.
Click on the image to view the image in full size.
Download free program for radio amateurs Sprint-Layout 4.0 Rus. The program is used to design printed circuit boards as well as view files in LAY4 format. File size - 2Mb
Download free program for radio amateurs Sprint-Layout 6.0 Rus. Portable The program is used to design printed circuit boards as well as view files in the LAY6 format. File size - 16.7Mb.
Free download "Ham Radio Workshop" - a reference manual for radio amateurs, made in the form of a program. It systematized provides background information on the repair and tuning of various television receivers. File size - 123Mb.
Download free program for radio amateurs sPlan 4.0 in Russian. The program is designed to develop (draw) various schemes. It is possible to save and print the project being developed. File size - 1Mb.
Download free program for radio amateurs sPlan 7.0 in Russian. The program is intended for the development and drawing of electronic circuits. File size - 2.3Mb
Download free program for radio amateurs AudioTestV1.3. The program is designed to test the sound cards of computers, laptops and netbooks. File size - 1.2Mb.
Download free program for radio amateurs virtual oscilloscope for PC. Soundcard scope 1.41 is an oscilloscope for Windows. It uses the sound card as an analog-to-digital converter, providing a fully functional two-channel oscilloscope and audio frequency generator in a Windows environment. A very good program, it will become an indispensable assistant in the repair and tuning of electronics. Read more about the program. File size - 28Mb.
Download the Audio Frequency Generator program for PC for free. The program generates an audio frequency signal from several Hz to several tens of kHz (depending on the PC sound card) with an amplitude of up to 100mV and five types - sine, rectangular, triangular, sawtooth and white noise. Used by radio amateurs in the repair and tuning of various consumer electronics File size - 216Kb
Download free program for radio amateurs Coil32 Rus. The program is used by radio amateurs to calculate inductors. File size - 11.5Mb
Download a free program for calculating contours. File size - 258Kb.
Download free calculator for amateur radio calculations. In the presented calculator, it is possible to perform calculations of oscillatory circuits, calculate filters and inductances, network transformers, active and reactive resistances, as well as color coding of resistors, chokes and smd transistors. File size - 330Kb.
