This post showcases some of the interesting photos and videos CTR2 users have sent me. I hope you’ll find some inspiration here and maybe share your configurations with me.
NOTE: Installations in vehicles should only be used when parked.
Hans, DJ6ZM, uses his iPhone, CTR2-MIDI, and Palm paddle as a mobile CW station in his car. Mobile doesn’t get any easier than this! He also added a magnet to the bottom of the MIDI so it sticks to a metal base plate and he replaced the large aluminum knob with a small knob to make the MIDI truly a shirt pocket controller.
Mike, WB6DJI, uses his CTR2-Micro for remote operating his Flex radio. Here’s a couple of video’s he’s posted.
CTR2-Micro in this video is connected directly to his Flex radio over his home WiFi network and he’s running both SmartSDR for iOS and the CTR2-Micro web browser in split screen on his iPad.
In this video, Mike installed CTR2-MIDI firmware on his CTR2-Micro and is controlling and keying SmartSDR for iOS on his iPad using Bluetooth-LE MIDI. This configuration works great for remote operating. It even works with cell phone hotspots.
OK, I can’t resist… here’s my current project: a mobile cup holder mount for my phone, CTR2-MIDI, my Palm paddle, and the OTG adapter.
I used this cup holder mount from Amazon and cut the three “peddles” off the cup holder. That gave me a flat surface to mount CTR2-MIDI with double-sided Velcro.
Next, I mounted my Palm paddle to the lower arm. In my configuration this arm lays horizontally. Then I mounted the OTG adapter with double-sided Velcro. The MIDI plugs into the OTG adapter with a short USB-A to USB-C cable and the OTG adapter plugs into the Lightning connector on the phone.
The right-side view gives you a better look at the configuration. The cup holder mount is not shown.
I still have more work to do. It’s a little wobbly because of the weight of the phone on the arm and I didn’t really tighten up the cup holder mount, but overall, it makes for a pretty clean install. The nice thing about it is that I can quickly reconfigure the mount to fit an any of the cars I own.
Two observations so far:
- The latency when trying to use the car’s radio for a Bluetooth speaker is a couple of seconds. Way too long. I’m going to try a direct connection to see if that helps. If all else fails, Bluetooth Ear Buds work great.
- The cell service where I live is spotty at best. Usually two bars or less so there’s a lot of dropouts. This make remote mobile operation difficult. I don’t plan on using this configuration while driving so I think it will be fine when parked. I just have to find the best signal.
Thanks to Hans and Mike for giving me permission to post their setups. I hope this page inspires you to try something fun with your Micro or MIDI unit. If you have a photo or video you’d like me to add to this post send them to me. My email address is good on QRZ.com. It’s fun to see how others are using the amazing technology we have access to today.
73, Lynn, KU7Q