IOS Iphone Ipad Tickets CAD integration.
Here a few screenshots of an IOS application I've been working on to allow IOS devices to communicate with external CAD systems. This particular integration is with TicketsCAD.
This is the screen with no calls dispatched in CAD. It will allow creating a new call or sending location information to CAD system.
This screen is show when a call is dispatched. It allows me to set my status as responding to the call as well as GPS Tracking.
After units begin responding or arriving on scene that is shown in the call history. It enables you to see who is responding and who is on-scene.
MendelMax 1.5 Build
I've been working on several stepper controller boards for other projects and I needed something small to do testing. The MendelMax 1.5 was a good option so I've started construction. These take a considerable amount of time to source all the parts and I purchased the majority from McMasterCarr and misumi. Both have excellent service, website, and very fast shipping.
MendelMax Parts
MendelMax Bottom Frame
Mendel Max Mostly Assembled
HP 5328a Frequency Counter Fix.
I purchased a HP 5328a counter off ebay for a decent price. It arrived a few days later and I'd say cosmetically its a 9.9/10. After putting it on the bench and turning on the unit I released it didn't have the oven based oscillator. It did have channel C option and GPIB interface. After checking channel A I was really glad to see that things were working correctly. I moved over to test channel C. All was well I thought until I noticed that the connector on channel C seems to work intermittanly. After pulling the cover off I was pleased to see the unit was very clean inside. I removed the channel C card by taking a single screw out from the rear to remove the top cover. Removing the BNC was just a simple process of removing the nut. After taking the connector apart it was tarnished quite a bit. Some cleaning and I did apply a bit of pressure. After assembly the C channel was working perfectly.
Pulse Counters – The Kenwood TM-D710A keyboard hack.
I've got a ton of emails about the adapter for the Kenwood TM-D710A. The microphone on this unit uses a digital pulse counter based on 4017 logic IC's to determine, over a single wire, which key is pressed. This same principle can be use in other projects to read a keypad, control LED's etc with on a pin or two from a microcontroller. For reference below, are the articles on the TM-710A Adapter and associated projects.
http://www.shaneburrell.com/?p=688 - Keyboard Adapter itself - This board is line powered from the microphone cable. It effectively sits between the Kenwood radio unit and Microphone. It allows you to place a keyboard in between the two to allow functionality that Kenwood never intended per say.
Adapter Board PCB Prototype.
The theory of operation: The microprocessor in the radio head unit sends pulses to the microphone. On each pulse the line is pulled low which the microcontroller spies on via another pin attached to the pulse pin. On a scope, it's very easy to see the line being pulled low depending on the keypress. In hacking the pulses, its just a matter of seeing what key generates what pattern. In the TM-D710A adapter I used a AVR to talk to the microphone and read a standard keyboard. The One Signal Wire board design above was used to Emulate the mic controlled by the AVR.
Pulse Counter in Action.
Below is a video some Arduino code I initially developed to scan the microphone patterns driving the Kenwood Mic from the AVR. If you look at the scope this should give you a good idea how the pulse counter is working.
The TM-D710A keyboard hack was a really fun project and hit multiple stages of hack/design. The 4017 counter is a pretty neat way of reading/controlling things using on 2 pins from a micro-controller.
TS-430 PLL Issues.
I've taken on yet another TS-430 and ran into an issue with whats coming off the PLL board. I traded a TS-430 I had purchased as non-working which I repaired/tuned for a unit in very nice shape cosmetically but not working. Another HAM back on the air, but now I have another TS-430 to figure out. I suspect this may be an issue with VCO signals coming to the PLL but after spending several hours getting to this point, I've put the project down for a bit to work on my workshop. Hopefully someone on a list somewhere has seen this before and I'll hear back from someone by the next time I pick this project up.
HP 8935 CDMA Service Monitor EL Display Adapter / Converter
After a lengthy stretch of research on the EL 512x256 Planar display I finally gave up trying to get a datasheet for it. If you happen to have a datasheet I'd love to get a copy. Planar didn't have one or so I'm told by there rep. After a bit of reverse engineering I was able to figure out the output to the display. I prototyped it on a large FPGA dev board but then wondered if it would be possible to find a usable LCD to fit the frame and to use something a bit more practical to do the conversion. I have gotten a few responses back from other 8935 owners that they might be interested in a conversion kit of sorts based on what I have done so far. I also wonder if the E8285A has the same display. If somebody has a E8285A I'd like to know if it has the same display because that might make it worth putting together a kit. For now I just seem to take a step further and further towards a complete solution each time I power up my 8935 and struggle to tell what input is in the lower part of my screen.
Here is a photo in case you have something similar. (Note the pilot production tag)
HP 8935 E6380A EL Display Fix
I have a HP 8935 E6380A service monitor that had some pretty severe screen burn. After looking around for a replacement I wanted to see how hard it would be to adapt a current LCD to the 8935. Suprisingly it was fairly easy. I had a 10.5 inch display and after probing around a bit to see what signals/power were on the A1A1 connector (400 i think) I started playing with a FPGA dev board to convert signals to something I could see on the screen. It works but doesn't fill the entire screen and its not the right size hardware. Now that I have a PLAN B and I've found a 6.5"ish lcd I can readily buy cheap, I'll troll along with the burnt display till it fails or I can't stand it anymore. I'm hoping there is a lot of interest in this to other 8935 owners and its something I can justify doing in the near future.
Some things I played with while I had the 8935 apart and the 10.5" connected:
- Inversion to have some way of preventing screen burn.
- Adding some color (Changed boarder color, changed color of spectrum analyzer portions of the screen) This isn't something that can be done everywhere. If its simply which pixels get what color it's trivial.
- Added text to the parts of the screen not used going from 512x256 to 640x480. Could add ADC to show voltages etc as extra info.
-Centered screen and added border.
B & K E200D Issue and the Fix.
I recently discovered my B & K E200D would no longer modulate while working on a Kenwood TS-440AT. After getting inside the E200D nothing appeared to be unusual and I remember a site I had used before when searching for the switchcraft connector I needed to make a cable for this unit. http://www.freeinfostuff.com/E200D/E-200D.htm . After going thru the calibration procedure, everything was in calibration with the exception of the modulation level which once I adjusted the level the modulation meter was back in action. Easy quick fix and now I know that the unit is calibrated.
Digital Modem Codec and SDR
I've be looking at several platforms to do DSP work in relation to a SDR and digital modems. I have a xmos demo board and some AVR32 items laying around which I needed nice DAC/ADC to interface with. The TLV320AIC23 is a nice inexpensive codec. I built a small prototype board to use the chip in development products and later I'll turn this into a module that can just be plugged in to various projects. This board can be used with a small MCU 16-32 bit to do APRS, GSMK (DSTAR), P25 and various other digital demod/mod. The board breaks of all of the TLV320 channels for both input and output.
DMR NEXEDGE VOIP DSTAR Switch / Trunking
I've been working on a hardware to spin up a homegrown DMR/NEXEDGE/VOIP/DSTAR switch using freeswitch, some AMBE hardware, and common DMR radios (Hytera and Mototrbo) for use in Ham. I have been working a board design I did last year to handle the AMBE codec. The basic idea is to have a way to convert the AMBE codec to G711 to allow interface to other systems. It also allows trunking/routing between systems. If this something you might be interested in doing or helping with please let me know. I'm really interested in hardware donations including NEXEDGE, DSTAR, and Hytera gear.
Recent Posts
- KICAD on Mac OSX – The easy way.
- KICAD Mac OSX Build – BZR 4002
- IOS Iphone Ipad Tickets CAD integration.
- RZR Harness Keeper Clamps.
- Wayehutta OHV Park
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