Link ZX-40 to Cell Phone

[liam.zbasic]

Hello, I'm planning my next project - a light weight autonomous UAV guided with GPS. The goal is to reach a location several miles away (~25 miles), take photographs, and return to the launch point (~50 mile round trip). The main problem is communication. I want to monitor UAV location and view intermittent photographs. To communicate over long distances, I plan to use a cell phone linked to a ZX device via Bluetooth and use the phone as a modem. Is this possible? Has anyone communicated with their ZX device via cell phone? Thanks.

[dkinzer]

I plan to use a cell phone linked to a ZX device via Bluetooth and use the phone as a modem.

You can find a lot of information on the web about using SMS messages to communicate via cell phone.

Some examples:
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod ... oc8016.pdf
http://www.mcselec.com/index.php?option ... &Itemid=57
http://www.smssolutions.net/tutorials/gsm/sendsmsat
http://www.smssolutions.net/tutorials/gsm/receivesmsat
http://www.microcontroller-bg.com/

[liam.zbasic]

The ATMEL application note AV323 is very promising but somewhat esoteric. Anyone know of a kit complete with interface-circuitry and connectors that seamlessly implements the AV323 approach? Thank you.

[liam.zbasic]

After some considerable research, I decided to link my ZX device with a cell phone with DTMF communication. I seems to be relatively straightforward and the method will work with ANY cell phone. And I can control the project near real-time compared with SMS messages. The main challenge is decoding DTMF with the ZX device. I found a chip specifically designed for this purpose (M-8870), but its very difficult to find (not in mouser or digikey). Any known alternatives? Thanks.

[twesthoff]

They are available from Avnet, however they can be difficult to buy from sometimes...
http://avnetexpress.avnet.com/store/em/EMController?langId=-1&storeId=500201&catalogId=500201&term=mt8870&x=18&y=9&N=0&action=products

You might be able to get a sample from:
http://www.zarlink.com/zarlink/hs/82_MT8870D.htm

I was surprised Digikey, Mouser, and Jameco did not have them available...

I have also used the MT8888 on ZX devices, this is a DTMF tranceiver.
Tom W.

On 4/20/2010 2:44 AM, General wrote:

After some considerable research, I decided to link my ZX device with a cell phone with DTMF communication. I seems to be relatively straightforward and the method will work with ANY cell phone. And I can control the project near real-time compared with SMS messages. The main challenge is decoding DTMF with the ZX device. I found a chip specifically designed for this purpose (M-8870), but its very difficult to find (not in mouser or digikey). Any known alternatives? Thanks.

[liam.zbasic]

Earlier I finally found the MT8870 at electronics-diy.com too, but they were selling them for over $4 bucks. Avnet is selling them for just over a buck. I really appreciate your tip. Thanks.