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guides › Connect a radio › VR-N76 / UV-PRO over Bluetooth

weechat-radio:$ VR-N76 / UV-PRO over Bluetooth

No cable. The radio has its own packet TNC; the app talks to it over Bluetooth. About three minutes.

What you need

  • A Vero VR-N76, BTECH UV-PRO, Radioddity GA-5WB or VR-N7500 Firmware 0.7.11+ (update in the HT app if the KISS menu is missing).
  • A computer with Bluetooth
  • WeeChat Radio 0.1.9 or newer
Radio with a built-in TNC over Bluetooth This computer talks to the radio's own KISS TNC over Bluetooth, with no cable, no sound card and no modem73. The radio makes the 1200 bd packet itself and sends it on the air to another station on the same frequency. The receipt comes back to the radio and over Bluetooth to the computer. other station same frequency on the air this computer <G4ABC> hi [ok] > _ Bluetooth no cable, no sound card the radio makes the 1200 bd packet itself VR-N76

The radio turns chat into 1200 bd packet itself. No sound card, no modem73.

On the radio (once)

  1. Enable the KISS TNC

    Menu → General Settings → KISS TNC → Enable.

  2. Turn off Digital Mode

    General Settings → Digital Mode → off. The radio’s own APRS logic otherwise fights the KISS stream.

  3. Pick a frequency

    Pick a simplex FM frequency for packet, low power. Leave the APRS frequency alone.

  4. Open pairing

    Menu → Pairing. Close the HT phone app — the radio takes one Bluetooth client at a time.

In the app

  1. Choose the radio

    Choose VR-N76 / UV-PRO (Bluetooth) in setup (toolbar → setup if you are already configured).

  2. Find the radio

    Press Find radio. The app finds a paired radio or scans for ~8 s and pairs it for you (PIN 0000 is answered automatically).

  3. Save and start

    Press Save and start. The station panel shows RADIO · VR-N76 linked in green and the radio shows its Bluetooth-data icon next to the power level.

Terminal: wcr tnc find does the same. wcr tnc scan --inquiry lists what the computer sees. wcr tnc test --tx sends one identified test frame and prints anything heard.

How you know it worked

RADIO reads VR-N76 linked. Send a line in #bulletin: the radio’s TX light comes on for about two seconds. Other packet stations see you as M7TJF>WCR UI, a plain AX.25 frame with your callsign.

Quirks of the built-in TNC

  • One frame per PTT The radio unkeys between frames, so the app paces them (frame_gap_ms). Long messages take a little longer than on a sound-card modem.
  • TXDELAY 600 ms Lower clips the start of a frame; this is the default.
  • Keep frames short Under ~200 bytes; the app fragments longer lines.
  • Linux Pair with bluetoothctl (pair + trust), then set tnc.bt_addr. If the desktop grabs the radio as a headset, add [General] Disable=Headset to /etc/bluetooth/input.conf.
  • macOS Use KISS TNC on a serial port with /dev/cu.VR-N76.

Bluetooth audio mode (VR-N76, VR-N7600)

The second way to use these radios: the app sends modem73 audio over the radio’s Bluetooth link instead of using the 1200 bd TNC. Still no cable or sound card, but you get the faster modem73 modes and the robustness ladder.

  1. On the radio

    Squelch 0 (data bursts are short; at squelch 1 the radio chops them), KISS TNC off, Digital Mode off, then Menu → Pairing. Close the HT phone app.

  2. In setup

    Choose VR-N76 / UV-PRO / GA-5WB (Bluetooth audio, modem73) or VR-N7600 (Bluetooth audio, modem73), press Find radio, then Save and start. On a Mac, pair the radio in System Settings → Bluetooth first and allow Bluetooth when macOS asks.

  3. Check RADIO

    RADIO reads VR-N76 linked in green, or lost, reconnecting… in red; the app reconnects by itself.

Presets: vhf-fm (default), hf-poor, hf-weak, hf-deep. hf-good is refused: the radio’s Bluetooth codec breaks 8PSK. This needs the modem73 that comes with WeeChat Radio 1.0.2 or newer.

Other paths: handheld + Digirig · VOX cable · HF + CAT. Frequencies: calling.

Next: put up an antenna → VHF and UHF antennas · HF antennas