Zello Customization: Set Hardware Buttons as a Channel Up/Down Selector

Intro:

For hardcore radio enthusiasts, we seem to want Zello to work more like a radio and not so much like a social media application. Luckily for us enthusiasts, there's such thing as Zello Work which is a commercial version of Zello that workers in the field use, either with their phone or special made "radios". I say this because most of those guys use radios in the field, and Zello has done some things in the programming to help those guys out.

One radio specifically that I have is the Anysecu N60. Notice all of the hardware buttons this gadget comes with:

These buttons can actually be mapped to give them more functionality with Zello with the help of Button Mapper!

Tools needed:

In a nutshell:

1. you need to rename the channels that you want to be able to "channel up" and "channel down" through.
2. Use button mapper to map a channel up button, and a channel down button.
   • In Button Mapper, you'll use Broadcast Intent for each button
   • Channel Up broadcast intent code: com.zello.intent.channelUp
   • Channel Down broadcast intent code: com.zello.intent.channelDown
3. Then you can channel up and down without even looking at the screen. Android will read the names of the channels as you scroll through them!

....now, here's a little more detail as to how to set it up:

Step 1: Rename your Zello Channels

You don't need to rename them all... You only need to rename the ones that you would like to have in your Channel Up / Down. The channel up and down feature will only look for channels (and contacts) that begin with numbers.

Example:

• 01a, My Channel Name, Channel 1
• 01b, My Channel Name, Channel 2
• 01c, My Channel Name, Channel 3
• 02a, Republic of Avalon Radio
• 02b, All Night Rag Chewers
• 03a, Network Radio Channel 00
• 03b, Network Radio Channel 01
• 03c, Network Radio Channel 02
• 04, Ham Radio Hub
• 05, Echo

....and so on

Tip: the comma will add a quick pause in the speech which sounds better (to me)

Tip 2: your contacts will be included if you rename them with a number in front as well

Tip 3: You can add a group of channels into one channel number like I did above. However, you don't have to add a letter like I showed in the example above. If you have 2 channels with the same channel number, the device will just scroll through alphabetically.

Step 2: Button Mapper: Map your channel up and channel down buttons

• Go into Button Mapper
• Click "Add Buttons"
• Click the + button to add a new button mapping
• Press the button you want for "Channel Up"
• If detected, click Add
• Once the button is "captured", you'll see the button name and a number in parenthesis.
• (note: if you want to delete the mapping, you would click the trash can icon to the right)
• Now, click the + button again and add the "Channel Down" button
• If detected click Add

At this point, you should see both buttons ready to be mapped.

• Click on the item for the "Channel Up" button.
• Turn the Customize switch on
• Click "Single Tap"
• Choose "Advanced" in the drop down menu
• Choose "Broadcast Intent"
• In the "Action: (Optional)" field enter: com.zello.intent.channelUp (case sensitive!!)
• nothing else needs to be entered into this window - just click "OK"
• (You can also assign actions to Double Press or Long Press - or you can leave them as is)
• click the back button at the top of the app
• Now click on the item for the "Channel Down" button.
• Turn the Customize switch on
• Click "Single Tap"
• Choose "Advanced" in the drop down menu
• Choose "Broadcast Intent"
• In the "Action: (Optional)" field enter: com.zello.intent.channelDown (case sensitive!!)
• Again: nothing else needs to be entered into this window - just click "OK"
• (Again: You can also assign actions to Double Press or Long Press - or you can leave them as is)
• click the back button at the top of the app
• click the back button at the top of the app (again)
• Exit out of Button Mapper

Now try clicking the Channel Up and Down button. You should hear Android name off each channel as it scrolls through them.

NOTE: On my Anysecu N60, I found that after doing the steps above, if I were to click any of the number keys to go to a channel, and then go to a screen where I can type text, the last number hit would start typing out and repeating itself endlessly. I found that the problem went away if I changed the following setting in Button Mapper (under More Options): Alternate Button Handling=On