DIGIWAVE — Pocket Terminal for Digital Radio

DIGIWAVE is custom firmware for the LilyGo T-LoRa Pager, an ESP32-S3 device with a 480 × 222 display, keyboard, rotary wheel, GPS and SD card. It receives and decodes FT8, FT4, CW, RTTY, NAVTEX, WEFAX and colour SSTV; in the transmit-capable modes it also generates the audio and keys the radio. The complete workflow stays in a device that fits in a jacket pocket.

The hardware is now complete. A purpose-built board plugs into the pager’s 12-pin connector and adds an ES8311 audio codec, line input, line output and open-collector PTT. A single TRRS cable carries receive audio, transmit audio and PTT, while two accessible trimmers set receive and transmit levels. The board, connector and cable live in a compact 3D-printed enclosure attached directly to the pager.

FT8 and FT4 can run a full QSO sequence, find a free transmit frequency and write contacts to an ADIF log. The interface marks stations already worked, supports CQ additions such as POTA or SOTA and reports distance and logbook statistics. WEFAX has received real weather charts; DWD broadcast schedules are built in, and saved WEFAX or SSTV images can be viewed on the pager or through its phone page over Wi-Fi.

The hardware-independent signal-processing core is covered by 47 native host tests. Real FT8 signals decode on the pager in roughly 0.7 seconds, and FT8 calls have now gone out on air through the interface board with PTT and audio levels verified. The repository includes the KiCad design, schematic, Gerbers, parts list, enclosure STL files and the complete GPL-licensed firmware; the hardware is published under CERN-OHL-S-2.0.