Day 15 (published 18 December 2020)

What to Buy First?

Since you have decided to start looping (you did decide, right, otherwise you wouldn’t still be reading these pages?), it is time to start ordering the necessary parts.

RadioLink

You can order both RileyLink and OrangeLink from https://getrileylink.org/.   For RileyLink, you’ll need to choose whether you want the Medtronic or OmniPod version.  RileyLink has a wireless charging option available which is fairly new, but people seem to really like it (it is water-resistant, which the traditional case is not).  You will need a charging cable to charge the battery in your RileyLink.  Specifically, you will need to purchase a USB 2.0 Charger Cable – A-Male to Mini-B Cord (available on Amazon.com and other retailers).

OrangeLink uses two AAA batteries that last for approximately 30 days on alkaline batteries (fewer days on lithium), instead of recharging every day.   The OrangeLink is in beta now and getting favorable reviews.

If you need more instructions or information on plugging the battery in or selecting the device, Loopdocs RileyLink page has more detailed information.

More information about EmaLink can be found here.

 You will eventually want a spare, but you can order one for now. 

Apple Developer Program

It is also time to enroll in the Apple Dev program.  You do that at the https://developer.apple.com/programs/enroll/ site.  Don’t consider using a free account unless you are not sure you are going to continue looping, and are willing to plug your computer into the phone and rebuild at about the same time every single week.

Note: it can take a few days for the enrollment to become active.   If the address on the Apple account does not exactly match the credit card account, you will go into a Loop with Apple in which they will never actually approve your account.    The best thing to do in this case is to pick a new email address that is not at all associated with anything Apple and use it for just the developer account.   When entering all the info, make sure it exactly matches the credit card.   Using an Apple credit card seems to speed things through, if you have one.

There is more on the Developer program in the LoopDocs Apple Developer Program page.