Frequently Asked Questions

Can I receive incoming EchoLink or AllStarLink calls?

Unfortunately, no. iOS does not provide a background mode for UDP connections. This prevents RepeaterPhone from listening for incoming calls any time it is not the foreground application.

Why do I get a timeout when connecting to an AllStarLink node?

A timeout generally means that RepeaterPhone has attempted to contact the remote node but did not receive a reply. Unfortunately, just being listed in the AllStarLink directory does not guarantee that the node is actually online or reachable. One potentially helpful indicator is to look up the node on the allstarlink.org Node List and check the “Last Seen” column. If it has been a significant amount of time, then the node may not be online anymore.

The app crashes when I have a Bluetooth device connected!

Go into the Settings and disable Voice Processing and try connecting again. For whatever reason, it appears that sometimes iOS reports the wrong sampling rate for Bluetooth connections when Voice Processing is turned on and causes RepeaterPhone to crash. I’ve experienced this particularly when testing with the Bluetooth system in our vehicles. It should work once that is turned off. Even weirder, it also seems that iOS “figures it out” after the first time connecting with Voice Processing disabled and then, quite often, the setting can be re-enabled, if desired.

What external Bluetooth PTT devices are known to work?

See the list of known working PTT devices

Why can’t I use the chat tab with AllStar?

While RepeaterPhone supports the informal protocol to send text messages to the ASL server, app_rpt will currently not distribute those messages to other connected nodes. If this changes some day, the tab will be enabled.

Why is the DTMF dialpad disabled when connected to AllStarLink nodes with ‘public’ AKA ‘Account’ authentication?

As a courtesy to node owners, it’s better that “guests” on the node NOT have the ability to link and unlink nodes. If you connect with node credentials, the DTMF pad will be enabled.

Can I put AllStar URLs on my website?

Why, yes, I’m glad you asked about that hard-to-discover feature! :) See the details about how to construct URLs. If you click on an asl:// link on your iPhone, it will launch RepeaterPhone and attempt to connect.

Why are DTMF commands only sent after I key up?

Unclear at the moment. RepeaterPhone sends and IAX DTMF command immediately, but I am still digging into the app_rpt code to determine why it holds on to the digits.

How do I add an AllStar node that I have a username and password for?

On the Favorites screen, click the “+” in the upper right corner. For Credentials, choose “Node” instead of “Account” and you will be able to enter your IAX username and password there.

Can RepeaterPhone support the “Magic Tap” VoiceOver gesture for Push-to-Talk?

Unfortunately, no. (Trust me, I’ve tried) RepeaterPhone uses CallKit to register the VOIP calls with iOS and this comes with many benefits, like special background app priority and call history. The Magic Tap gesture is mapped system-wide to “end call” and individual apps are not given the ability to respond to it.

Will there ever be an Android version?

It’s unlikely, but not completely off the table.

Another (non-ham) app that I have developed, “Mother Hen”, does have an iOS and Android version, so I have done it before. However, that overall experience has strongly discouraged me from bringing more apps to the Android platform. Between constant API churn/deprecation, poorly designed and supported frameworks, and a much more “grumpy” user base, the reward has not really been worth the hassle, when it comes to the Android platform.

Plus, DVSwitch Mobile exists on Android, so there’s already a free solution in that space.

How do I connect to a….

Node-Ventures ClearNode