Ok, so this isn't a list of 101 uses for an iPhone in Ham Radio but I bet there are at least those!
In the past I've used a handful of applications to make my life easier such as…
- AA9PW HamMorse – CW trainer
- HamLocator – uses GPS/triangulation to give the Maidenhead locator
- Ham – provides Solar data
- 3Dsun – great app from NASA that gives STEREO images of the Sun and alerts for coronal mass ejections, flares etc
But today I found a killer app – Clinometer.
I'm in the midst of a serious overhaul of the antenna farm – centering around putting in a tower with a SteppIR DB-18E at the top (we break ground for the foundation on Monday!).
Part of the overhaul is finding a new location for my 160m inverted L to a) raise it up as high as I can and b) put it in a location where I can use elevated radials.
I've got plenty of trees to use as support but how high are they? Enter Clinometer – a $0.99 application for the iPhone that uses the built in accelerometers to measure tilt of the phone.
Here's a screen shot of the application:
Clinometer has a "stability" lock which lets you lock in a measurement once a configured level of stability has been held for 2 seconds.
I used Clinometer by sighting alone one of the edges of the iPhone and capturing the measured angle. Add a tape measure to establish a base line and some simple trig and you've got a measured height.
For $0.99 it's hard to go wrong!
Works like a champ!