Tag Archives: Android

Reviving a Kindle, hacking a Nook, and more E-Ink, please?

I remember back in 2007 when Amazon announced their first Kindle E-Ink portable reader, I honestly couldn’t imagine how it could be useful. Why in the world would I abandon print books and stare at yet another screen?

A couple years later, I sat next to a (rather talkative) passenger on a trip to Seattle. She had an Amazon Kindle–it was the first time I’d seen one in person. While I knew all about the device’s functionality, I couldn’t get over how appealing the E-Ink display appeared.

The image was greyscale, there was no backlighting and the print was incredibly crisp. It looked like great paper copy. She handed me her Kindle and I read a couple pages and was hooked.

In November, 2011, I purchased my first Kindle E-Ink reader: the Kindle III keyboard. That particular model sported Wifi and free international 3G connectivity.  It also had a cool experimental page with a functional, basic web browser that could actually cruise the internet–albeit with an interface that was never designed to do so. For a while there, I had free 3G service through that browser which came in very handy when I was off-grid two months the following summer on Prince Edward Island, Canada.

While I didn’t use the Kindle every day (I do still love paper books) it became an amazing and useful travel companion. It was great hopping on a flight with a whole library of books in tow.

Fast-forward a decade…

These days, I’m not sure if the 3G functionality still works, but my Kindle still does. Indeed, it works as well as the day I purchased it, save the battery life.

I used to charge the Kindle and it would operate for weeks on one charge. Lately, it needed charging almost daily. Not a surprise as this device celebrates it’s 10th birthday this year.

Even though consumer electronics manufacturers these days don’t want you to know, you can almost always replace batteries in devices as long as you’re willing to crack open the case and even solder battery tabs on occasion. I’ve replaced batteries in iPhones, Android phones, tablets, and numerous rechargeable devices.

I ordered a $15 replacement battery for my Kindle and installed it last week; it was a very simple, solder-free installation.

And it works like new again!

I’m such a believer in E-Ink tablets, I backed the Earl Android tablet in 2013. Earl was a rugged device that was supposed to even include a basic shortwave radio receiver.

It was a brilliant concept, but sadly failed. I believe the guys behind the crowdfunding campaign were sincere in their desire to create the product, but they lacked the experience to bring it to fruition, were poor communicators with their backers, and many lost their crowdfund contributions when the Earl project simply disappeared. A very, very sad ending to what could have been a revolutionary product.

Nook Hacking

In 2018, I presented at Hackers On Planet Earth (HOPE). My buddy, Dave Cripe (NM0S), and I split the cost of a room at the Hotel Pennsylvania where HOPE was held that year. One evening we started talking about the Earl tablet (I believe Dave was also a backer) then he showed me his uber-cool, do-it-yourself E-Ink tablet: a Hacked Nook Simple Touch.

He showed me how, through a fairly simple process, you could root the Nook and replace its operating system with a basic Android OS. This opened the Nook up to more uses like web browsing and even adding some apps from the Android market.

After returning home from HOPE 2018, I hopped on ShopGoodwill.com and purchased two Nook Simple Touch readers for a whopping $15 US.

I knew it was risky purchasing from ShopGoodwill.com because these devices had not been tested and I had no idea how old they were. Still, the bet (or winning $15 bid) paid off: both Nooks worked perfectly.

I rooted both units.

Funny thing is, I gave one of the units to my wife and it has become her favorite digital device. Once she discovered Project Gutenberg–a massive searchable repository of public domain books–and the fact that one of her favorite authors (P.G. Wodehouse) had numerous books in the archive, she was hooked. I loaded her Nook device with over 100 books she hand-picked from the archive.

My rooted Nook is loaded with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels and loads of other classics. I also have a PDF of my car’s owner’s manual, a copy of “Where There Is No Doctor,” and a number of other useful reference books (like issues of The Spectrum Monitor magazine!).

It must be the best $15 I’ve ever spent.

I also love the fact we gave these two discarded Nooks a second (upgraded!) life.

E-Ink love

E-Ink devices have improved over the years and backlighting options now are most impressive.

I’ve come so close to purchasing the Mobiscribe Origin, even though it lacks a GPS and other functionality I’d like.

Ideally, I’d still love to have an E-Ink tablet that’s somewhat weatherproof, sports a large rechargeable battery, allows for on-screen writing with a stylus, connectivity for a Bluetooth keyboard, features a GPS with topo maps, and supports full pinch-to-zoom functionality.

Please, if a device like this ever surfaces, let me know.

Any other fans of E-Ink devices in the SWLing Post community? Please comment!

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External FM antenna for Android phones/tablets

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Adid, who writes:

Check this little gadget for android phones or tablets

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32976847250.html

If they have the FM app installed than this will come handy.

One needs to select speaker and not earphone as expected.

It works fine here. (I don’t know if Apple phones have an FM module)

Thank you, Adid! Very cool! This little antenna costs $0.90 USD–an insanely low price.

If you have an old set of earphones lying around the house (I probably have two dozen that ship with various radios) you could also snip off the earpieces and use the pigtail as a wire FM antenna.

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Shortwave Radio Schedules adds Premium upgrade

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor and app developer, Stephen Cooper, who shares this press release:

7th August 2017 – Shortwave Radio Schedules adds Premium upgrade

Popular Android app Shortwave Radio Schedules has this week been updated to add two of
the most requested features as a premium upgrade to the app.

“Now” and “Favourites” options have been added to the app which currently is free in the
Android Play Store.

Current free features which will always remain free include the ability to search EiBi and
AOKI shortwave schedules by station, time or frequency. Search results are shown in a list
and can then be displayed on a map showing beam directions and broadcast power. The log
feature also allows a log to be kept of stations heard including SINPO rating with the ability
to export logs or share individual loggings via social media.

The new Now tab shows what stations are currently broadcasting using an innovative “radio
dial” style interface to browse through each shortwave band in the same way as a radio
would be used to tune up and down the bands.

The Favourites option allows stations to be “starred” and added to a favourites list making it
easy to quickly lookup the frequencies of stations regularly listened to. These favourite
stations can also be shown on a map.

All options including maps and logs are available offline (once the initial schedule download has taken place) making the app perfect for taking on DXpeditions where internet connectivity is not available.

The App is free in the Google Play Store with the Premium upgrade (adding Now / Favourites tab) available for GBP£1.49 / USD$1.49 / EUR€1.69.

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Interval Signal Ringtones for Android

This morning, while browsing for an Android app, I noticed that SWLing Post contributor, Stephen Cooper, has published a simple app for adding interval signal ringtones to your Android device.

Interval Signal Ringtones appears to have a very simple interface and over 40 interval signals included. The price is very modest at $1.98.

Click here to view in the Google Play store.

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Video: SDR Touch demo on Android device using SDRplay RSP

Fullscreen capture 4242016 10946 PM

(Source: SDRplay via YouTube)

Click here to view on YouTube.

This demonstrates turning an Android Tablet (or Android Phone) into a highly portable comms receiver or spectrum analyzer operating from Long Wave to Microwave (10kHz to 2GHz) – using SDR Touch and the SDRplay RSP www.sdrplay.com

To be a beta tester simply go to https://play.google.com/apps/testing/ and follow the instructions – the SDR Touch author welcomes feedback on https://www.facebook.com/SdrTouch/ – your chance to influence the way this amazing software can get better and better.

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Android tablet SDRs?

Image: screen grab from SDRtouch video

SWLing Post reader, Philip, writes with the following question:

“I want to know if you are aware of any good shortwave receivers that can be used on an Android tablet.”

I am aware of the Android SDR application, SDR Touch (see image above), but have never used it so I can’t comment on compatibility with the various SDRs on the market. I know that SDR Touch is compatible with devices that support USB host mode–but you may need to do research to see if your Android device and potential receiver are compatible. I believe most SDR Touch users connect their device to RTL-SDR dongles.

Readers: Please comment if you have any suggestions for Philip. I’m also curious if anyone has had success pairing an Android tablet to an HF-capable SDR.

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1 Radio News equivalent for iPhone

HourlyNewsscreen568x568Regarding the new 1 Radio News App for Android devices, SWLing Post reader, Erica comments:

“I too wish 1 Radio News were available for iPhone. The nearest thing I know of however is an app called Hourly News. It allows you to listen to latest news bulletins from various news outlets.

Most news sources included are American broadcasters, but it does have Deutsche Welle, RTHK and VOA. You can also add podcast feeds to expand what you can hear. I hope this is useful to you all.

Many thanks, Erica. I use an iPhone when I’m on the move, so I’ll give this app a try!

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