/WXTracker

WXTracker for M5StickC Plus

Primary LanguageCMIT LicenseMIT

ICSMeter

basic grey fire core2 aws

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You could use the code F4HWN in order to get 5% discount on the M5Stack shop 🎁

An excellent video was released by @HamRadioDude about the installation of the IC705SMeter project. It can help you ! This is the same approach here.

Another excellent video was published by @TechMindsYT about the installation of the ICMultiMeter. It can help you too !

For Germans, take a look at this other excellent video released by @ManuelLausmann.

Many thanks to them and all my donors🙏🏻

The ICSMeter project allows to equip the IC-705, IC-7300 and IC-9700 produced by ICOM, with a needle S-Meter ! The S-Meter allows to measure the S signal, the Po power and the SWR. It also displays the current frequency, mode and filter.

ICSMeter S

ICSMeter S

ICSMeter PWR

ICSMeter SWR

ICSMeter Settings

Technical architecture

Quick overview

M5Stack is based on an ESP-32, dual core, which can be clocked up to 240 MHz. M5Stack has 16 MB of flash memory. Like all ESPs, Wi-Fi is of course integrated. The 2 inch IPS color display, based on the ILI9342C chipset, has a comfortable resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. It is very bright. The integrated battery is 110 mAh. It is possible to add an additional battery (700 or 800mAh) if needed.

In terms of size and weight, it is very compact: 54 x 54 x 18mm for 47.2g. Can be carried in the pocket without any problem ;)

Detailed technical specs

Here are the detailed technical specs, for the curious:

Resources Description
ESP32 240MHz dual core, 600 DMIPS, 520KB SRAM, Wi-Fi, dual mode Bluetooth
Flash Memory 16MB
Power Input 5V @ 500mA
Port TypeC x 1, GROVE(I2C+I/0+UART) x 1
Core Bottom Port PIN (G1，G2，G3，G16, G17, G18, G19, G21, G22, G23, G25, G26, G35, G36)
IPS Screen 2 inch, 320x240 Colorful TFT LCD, ILI9342C, max brightness 853nit
Button Custom button x 3
Speaker 1W-0928
Battery 110mAh @ 3.7V
Antenna 2.4G 3D Antenna
Operating Temperature 32°F to 104°F ( 0°C to 40°C )
Net weight 47.2g
Gross weight 93g
Product Size 54 x 54 x 18mm
Package Size 95 x 65 x 25mm
Case Material Plastic ( PC )

In addition

About the QSJ, count around 45€. You then have a complete development platform, totally autonomous, programmable in C and C++, MicroPython and UIFlow, from Linux, Windows or MacOS, all in a compact and ultra ergonomic box.

Installation

Prepare the stack

The easiest way is to install PlateformIO for VSCode on your PC (Linux or Windows) or on your Mac (Intel or M1). It is a cross-platform and multilanguage development environment that is powerful and pleasant to use.

Then, still on your PC or Mac, clone the ICSMeter project via the command :

git clone https://github.com/armel/ICSMeter.git

You can also download a zip archive of the project, if you prefer, and unzip it.

As I said, an excellent video was released by @HamRadioDude about the installation of the IC705SMeter project. It can help you !

Configuration

File src/settings.h

IC Transceiver Model

Line 5, the constant IC_MODEL set your Transceiver model. Choose between : 705, 7300 or 9700.

I don't own the IC-9700, so I haven't tested it.

IC Connect method

If you're a using an IC-7300 or IC-9700, choose USB !

Line 8, the constant IC_CONNECT set your connect method. Choose between : BT or USB

Note that BT only works with IC-705.

CI-V Address of your Transceiver

Line 11, the constant CI_V_ADDRESS set the CI-V Address of your Transceiver. I have indicated the default value. Refer to the documentation, if needed.

Note that, if you read 94h as CI_V_ADDRESS on your Transceiver, you must indicate 0x94. If it's A4h, you must indicate 0xA4. And so on.

Wifi Configuration

If you're a using an IC-7300 or IC-9700, it's necessary !

Line 14 and 15, the constants WIFI_SSID and WIFI_PASSWORD set your Wifi configuration.

In complement, you can view your ICSMeter from a simple browser. It is even possible to control it by this way, as the buttons are clickable. In order to display your ICSMeter in your browser, just go to http://ip_address_of_your_ICSMeter/. As a reminder, the IP address that your ICSMeter retrieves is sometimes displayed on the screen.

Beware: it's slow! And there is no automatic refresh. You have to click on the background of the screen image to make a new capture. And otherwise, as said, the buttons are functional.

Proxy Configuration

If you're a using an IC-7300 or IC-9700, it's necessary !

You will need to take a look at my other project, ICUSBProxy. This project allows to set up an HTTP proxy allowing to talk wirelessly, from an M5Stack (or other equipment), with an Icom transceiver like IC-7300 or IC-9700 and sending CI-V commands.

Please, take the time to read the README.md and install ICUSBProxy.

It's done ? Nice, so we can move forward.

Line 18 and 19, the constants SERIAL_DEVICE and BAUDE_RATE set the CI-V COM port settings. So COM port number (COM1, /dev/ttyUSB0, etc.) and Baude rate (115200, 19200, 9600, etc.). Line 20 and 21, the constants PROXY_URL and PROXY_PORT set the URL and port of the Proxy.

About Proxy, the idea is to use a PC or a nano computer (like a Raspberry Pi) to connect the IC-7300 or IC-9700 transceiver via the USB cable (USB type A to USB type B). The M5Stack will talk to this PC by Wifi and the PC will talk to the transceiver by the USB cable. By this way, the M5Stack keeps the big advantage of being wireless.

Transverter Configuration

If you are using a Transverter, you can configure up to 5 Local Oscillator frequencies, lines 24 ~ 28. For example, if you are on 28500000 Hz and the constant TRANSVERTER_LO_1 is set to 116000000 (default value), your M5Stack will display 144.500.000 (not 28.500.000), if you select this option in the settings menu. This can be useful. Change theses constants only if you need.

Examples of settings

First of all, here is a part of my transceiver settings, on IC-7300 :

Connectors > CI-V > CI-V USB Port       Unlink from [REMOTE]
Connectors > CI-V > CI-V USB Baud Rate  115200
Connectors > CI-V > CI-V USB Echo Back  OFF

Next, in settings.h ...

IC-705, BT
Settings Value
IC_MODEL 705
IC_CONNECT BT
CI_V_ADDRESS 0xA4
IC-705, USB
Settings Value
IC_MODEL 705
IC_CONNECT USB
CI_V_ADDRESS 0xA4
WIFI_SSID My WiFi SSID
WIFI_PASSWORD My WiFi Password
SERIAL_DEVICE "/dev/ttyACM0"
BAUDE_RATE 115200
PROXY_URL "http://192.168.1.32"
PROXY_PORT 1234
IC-7300, USB
Settings Value
IC_MODEL 7300
IC_CONNECT USB
CI_V_ADDRESS 0x94
WIFI_SSID My WiFi SSID
WIFI_PASSWORD My WiFi Password
SERIAL_DEVICE "/dev/ttyUSB0"
BAUDE_RATE 115200
PROXY_URL "http://192.168.1.32"
PROXY_PORT 1234

Compiling and flashing the M5Stack

Compile and upload the project to your M5Stack. You are done !

Usage

Once launched, if you're using Bluetooth with an IC-705, you must connect your IC-705 to your M5Stack via the menu (Set / Bluetooth Set) of your transceiver. Refer to the documentation, if needed.

If you're using USB with ICUSBProxy, plug your Transceiver via the USB cable (USB type A to USB type B) to your PC. It's time to start the Python3 script :

./ICUSBProxy.py

If you click on the middle button, you enter the settings menu. Use the right and left buttons to select a menu option and confirm with the middle button. If necessary, use the right and left buttons again to select the sub-options and the middle button to confirm.

The following options are available :

Settings Value
Measured Values Set Measured Values (PWR, S or SWR)
Transverter Mode Set Transverter Mode (OFF, LO1 ~ LO5)
Themes Set Themes (CLASSIC ~ DARK)
Brightness Set Brightness (0 ~ 100%)
Beep Set Beep (0 ~ 100%)
Screensaver Set Screensaver TimeOut (1 ~ 60 min)
IP Address Display your IP
Shutdown Shutdown your M5Stack (even if in charge)
Exit Menu Exit

Measured Values, Transverter Mode, Themes, Brightness, Beep and Screensaver are preserved at the next restart.

Using the Bin Loader (power user only...)

It's possible to store several applications on the SPI Flash File Storage of your M5Stack or on SD Card Storage. At startup, a procedure is provided to load a particular application.

Preparation

I will detail here the procedure to deploy ICSMeter and ICMultiMeter applications on the same M5Stack.

Step 1 - Compile

Start by compiling your applications, as you used to do. Nothing changes here. For example, start by compiling the ICSMeter application. Then do the same with the ICMultiMeter application.

Step 2 - Collecting the binary files

That's it, you have compiled the ICSMeter and ICMultiMeter application? It's perfect.

Each compilation has produced a binary. It is this binary that is sent / flashed to your M5Stack, via the USB connection.

Go to the root of the ICSMeter folder, which contains the whole project. And go to the directory .pio/build/m5stack.

You will find a firmware.bin file there. Now, there are 2 solutions...

Step 2.1 - SD Card Storage (simple)

Format an SD Card as FAT32.

Copy the firmware.bin at the root of the SD Card. And take the opportunity to rename it, for example, ICSMeter.bin.

Do the same with the ICMultiMeter application. Of course rename it with a different name, for example, ICMultiMeter.bin.

At this point, you should have 2 clearly identified binaries in the root of your SD Card : ICSMeter.bin and ICMultiMeter.bin.

Step 2.2 - SPI Flash File Storage (more difficult)

Copy firmware.bin in the data directory at the root of the ICSMeter folder. And take the opportunity to rename it, for example, ICSMeter.bin.

If the data folder does not exist, create it.

Do the same with the ICMultiMeter application. Go to the root of the ICMultiMeter folder, which contains the whole project. And go to the directory .pio/build/m5stack.

You will also find a firmware.bin file. Copy it, too, in the data directory at the root of the ICSMeter folder. And take the opportunity to rename it to, for example, ICMultiMeter.bin.

Important, the idea is to copy these 2 binaries in the same directory data** (located at the root of the ICSMeter folder).

At this point, you should have 2 clearly identified binaries: ICSMeter.bin and ICMultiMeter.bin in the data directory at the root of the ICSMeter folder.

So let's move on to what is probably the most complicated step. Open the ICSMeter project from Visual Studio Code, as you would compile it.

Capture

Step 1, click on the Platformio icon (the icon with an ant's head...). Step 2, unroll the section m5stack.

Capture

Finally, step 3, go to the Platform sub-section. And click on Upload Filesystem Image.

Wait ! It's coffee time (or beer) :) The contents of the data directory will be written to the SPI Flash File Storage of your M5Stack. Are you done? You're there !!!!

Usage

Start your M5Stack. You should see a black screen with a QR code, followed by 1, 2 and 3 small dots at the top of the screen. This is the famous Bin Loader ;)

As soon as the first little dot appears, you can :

  • either press the left or right button, to launch the default application.
  • or press the central button. In this case, the Bin Loader menu appears and offers you the list of available binaries in SPI Flash File Storage or SD Card.

If you have followed the procedure perfectly, you should have a choice between ICSMeter.bin and ICMultiMeter.bin.

The left and right buttons allow you to switch from one binary to another. And the middle button validates the selected binary. In this case, the selected application will be loaded ;)

The loading takes about 20 seconds...

Limitation

I think it is possible to have 3 or 4 applications cohabit in SPI Flash File Storage. If need more, use SD Card Storage.

Credits

Many thanks to...

Project Author Link
M5Stack M5Stack https://github.com/m5stack/M5Stack
M5Stack-SD-Updater Tobozo https://github.com/tobozo/M5Stack-SD-Updater
FastLED FastLED https://github.com/FastLED/FastLED

Icom and the Icom logo are registered trademarks of Icom Incorporated (Japan) in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and/or other countries.

Donations

Special thanks to Rolf Schroeder DL8BAG, Brian Garber WB8AM, Matt B-Wilkinson M6VWM, Robert Agnew KD0TVP, Meinhard Frank Günther DL0CN, Johan Hansson SM0TSC, Tadeusz Pater VA7CPM, Frederic Ulmer F4ESO, Joshua Murray M0JMO, Mark Hammond N8MH, Angel Mateu Muzzio EA4GIG, Hiroshi Sasaki JL7KGW, Robert John Williams VK3IE, Mark Bumstead M0IAX, Félix Symann F1VEO, Patrick Ruhl DG2YRP, Michael Beck DH5DAX, Philippe Nicolas F4IQP, Timothy Nustad KD9KHZ and Martin Blanz DL9SAD for their donations. That’s so kind of them. Thanks so much 🙏🏻

If you find this project fun and useful then offer me a beer :)

You could use the code F4HWN in order to get 5% discount on the M5Stack shop 🎁

By the way, you can follow me on Twitter and post pictures of your installation with your M5Stack. It always makes me happy ;)