From ???@??? Thu Aug 07 15:04:31 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id CAA01540 for ; Thu, 7 Aug 1997 02:42:21 -0500 (CDT) Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 02:42:21 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: Reply-To: kc5ejk@onramp.net Originator: tapr-bb@tapr.org Sender: tapr-bb@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: Robert Winingham To: wd5ivd@tapr.org Subject: [TAPR-BB:363] Totally Accurate Clock build note X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Announcements Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This message was submitted by Robert Winingham to list tapr-bb@tapr.org. If you forward it back to the list, it will be distributed without the paragraphs above the dashed line. You may edit the Subject: line and the text of the message before forwarding it back. If you edit the messages you receive into a digest, you will need to remove these paragraphs and the dashed line before mailing the result to the list. Finally, if you need more information from the author of this message, you should be able to do so by simply replying to this note. ----------------------- Message requiring your approval ---------------------- Sender: Robert Winingham Subject: Totally Accurate Clock build note I finished the TAC-2 board and it passed all power and logic tests. If UPS ever delivers the Digi-Key right-angle OSX/MCX connectors, then I can plug in the Trimble active antenna to the ONCORE-VP GPS. The following are some build notes and possible corrections to the assemble manual. GPS: The Motorola VP picture on the TAPR www site looks different that the unit I received. ( so please put an updated gif on the tape.org ONCORE page) 1. One big difference is the antenna socket in not right angle mine is pointed up from the board. 2. There are RF covers on both side of the GPS that adds depth to my unit. The supplied board to board 3/8 stand-offs are ok but The TAC-2/GPS unit will need longer than the included 3/4 inch standoffs before mounting in a case. 3. I would not use the screws with the washer for connecting the ONCORE gps BPC to the standoffs, remove washer or use a plastic spacer. There are parts very close to the holes. --- POWER: A. I found a PC 3.5 Disk Drive adapter Power Cable at Radio Shack part number 278-761 (a dual Y cable , so you get two connectors) The part doesn't fit the male header with out cutting 1/16 inch off the 4 pin female connector 1/8 inch wide locking notch. Filing off the locking bump also works but you then need all four female pins for a tight fit. (We MAC people don't use this type of disk power cable but it was easy to find) B. Optional switching regulator: 1. I see RFC2 is also part of the switching regulator option and should be in the bold outline. I would like to SEE a digi-key part number for items not included in the TAPR kit RFC2 I guess is same as RFC1 ? CE1 needs to fit between the boards and what is suggested voltage rating ? Z1 will 1 amp rating do ? ---------- Assembly: Build notes -------- We need a picture in the build notes like the one on tapr.org Page 2 The parts list: Resistors Put a note on R6 180 ohm and R6 1 Kohm, so we don't think that having two R6 it is a typo. R6 is part of two optional battery backup. The POWER schmetic has R6 listed as TBD. A chart would help. Page 3 : My kit did not have the parts to attach the 7805 regulator to the heat sink. I did plan to use the switching regulator Page 5 : Resistor : Solder and clip leads ( 6) should be 4 Page 6 : hint: Do RP1 last after RP2-RP5 as RP1 is taller. Page 7 : 1. it is easy to place the headers for P1 and P2 in the wrong holes. There are three ways to place the header but only two ways look correct as that places pin one in the square hole. When one looks at the PC board pattern from the botton you can see that only the middle two set of holes will work. o 6 o o 9 o o o o o o o o o o o o o 1 o o o 5 o The instruction about - like a IC socket - should be changed to use to - use the middle holes.- and the instructions art work page 18 can thicken the lines so that the placement is VERY obvious. The header part don't have any pin numbers anyway and the numbers on the PC board have the label for pin one on the right of the hole and pin 5 label is on the left of the hole. I guess since there was not room for a label of pin 10, you just labeled pin 9 6 7 8 9 10 o 6 o o 9 o o o o o o o o o o o o o 1 o o o 5 o 1 2 3 4 5 Page 7 : using the ONCORE VP - I was very careful to mount the part on the underside of PCB but I started to use the extra 2x5 male header as I almost over looked the female header included in the mounting pouch. A double heads up here. Page 8 : 7805 Voltage regulator. 1. The length of the 4-40 screw is not given just a dash. and was not in my kit. 2. I had to look all over the instructions to find out why I had to use the Z hole for the middle leg if I was not going to use the 7805 voltage tweak. -- It is another of the cunning cut trace to activat option design -- ** But the power schematic notes says to place in Z instead of ground. implying that the ground hole was a option. Needs to say in the power schmetic : Always put in Z hole and cut the trace to use option. 3. The +5 volt power tweak is not covered on page 17 -USER OPTIONS. but it is in the topic list for that page. The only reference to the +5 volt power tweak is under the Theory of Operations -- page 16 4. Theory of operations page 16 - Sheet 4- POWER This needs some work as it must be from the last revision as several part are numbered wrong. It talks about D7-D8 (should be ??) and R8+R9 should be ( R10-R11 ) R8 is part of the antenna bias option. 5. There is no Q1 for the ONCORE-VP GPS option or a R6-R7. A cut jumper and a jumper plug on JP3 is all that is needed. 6. Q1 is for the next item on the page. 3d Trimble-SK-8 (needs so (SOME) words here) ------------------------------------------------------------- What mail list do we use for the TAC-2 kit as there still is no GPS mail list ??? 73 Bob - Dallas,TX --- kc5ejk@onramp.net or kc5ejk@amsat.org --- From ???@??? Thu Aug 07 15:05:27 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id NAA12935; Thu, 7 Aug 1997 13:06:25 -0500 (CDT) Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 13:06:25 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <33EA0C82.811720B9@tomcat.gsfc.nasa.gov> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: "Dr Thomas A Clark (W3IWI)" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:534] Re: [APRSSIG:15069] Totally Accurate Clock comments X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.01 [en] (Win95; I) Concerning the TAC-2, Bob (KC5EJK) gave some really great feedback. Let me respond in public to them: > I finished the TAC-2 board and it passed all power and logic tests. > If UPS ever delivers the Digi-Key right-angle OSX/MCX connectors, > then I can plug in the Trimble active antenna to the ONCORE-VP GPS. > > The following are some build notes and possible corrections > to the assemble manual. > > GPS: > The Motorola VP picture on the TAPR www site looks different > that the unit I received. > ( so please put an updated gif on the tape.org ONCORE page) > > 1. One big difference is the antenna socket in not right angle > mine is pointed up from the board. > When we were trying to pick the ONCORE model to offer there was some confusion on parts numbers & options. I specified that we get the version with the good RF shielding, but the photo (gleaned from Motorola) shows the unshielded version. I >thought< we were getting the version with the right-angle connector, but I guess I goofed! I have always strongly recommended that people use the right-angle MCX connectors for 2 reasons -- they avoid any possible clearance problems and they are a LOT easier to install if you don't have the $pecial crimping tools. When you finally get the connectors, there have been some sub-optimum suggestions on the installation of the small (~3/16" diameter) shield cover -- my advice is that you DO NOT solder it in place. Test the cable without the cover being installed. If you are sure the connector is OK, then put the cover in place with the convex "dimple" pointing up after putting the small teflon disk in place. With a nail or a center punch, push down on the "dimple" (sorta like pushing on the bottom of an oil can) and the cap will expand into the proper position with no soldering. My personal "trick" is to put a ~1/8" drill bit into my drill press, and then use the drill press (motor off!!) as an arbor press. > 2. There are RF covers on both side of the GPS that adds depth > to my unit. The supplied board to board 3/8 stand-offs are ok > but The TAC-2/GPS unit will need longer than the included > 3/4 inch standoffs before mounting in a case. The 3/4" standoffs miss by about 1/32" of being long enough. One washer will probably solve the problem (at least it does on the several TAC-2s I've built). > 3. I would not use the screws with the washer for connecting the > ONCORE gps BPC to the standoffs, remove washer or use > a plastic spacer. There are parts very close to the holes. In laying out the PCB, I tried really hard to make sure there was enough room around all of the mounting holes so that there would be no possibility of shorts. One trick I found works really nice -- I use 4-40 flat-head screws to go thru the PCB. The PCB's mounting holes are intentionally a bit large (they are 0.140" diameter, where the normal clearance hole for a 4-40 is 0.125") to allow for tolerance errors in the drilling. The conical sides of a flat-head screw wedge in very nicely. > --- POWER: > A. > I found a PC 3.5 Disk Drive adapter Power Cable at Radio Shack > part number 278-761 (a dual Y cable , so you get two connectors) > > The part doesn't fit the male header with out cutting 1/16 inch > off the 4 pin female connector 1/8 inch wide locking notch. Filing > off the locking bump also works but you then need all four female > pins for a tight fit. All the 4-pin 0.1" pin spacing polarized disk-drive power connectors I've tried fit the polarized MOLEX power connector just fine with no surgery required. The MOLEX connector I chose is not precisely the one you find on disk drives, but they seem to mate properly. Guess I didn't try all the connector variants that are out there! > (We MAC people don't use this type of disk power cable but it was > easy to find) > B. > Optional switching regulator: > > 1. I see RFC2 is also part of the switching regulator option and > should be in the bold outline. > > I would like to SEE a digi-key part number for items not > included in the TAPR kit > > RFC2 I guess is same as RFC1 ? > CE1 needs to fit between the boards and what is suggested voltage > rating ? > Z1 will 1 amp rating do ? > RFC2 was left out of the switcher bold outline since people who have RFI problems may want to use it. The PCB default is that it is jumpered. On my prototypes, I used the same 6.8 uH choke as in RFC1, but the voltage drop across it is about 0.15v. A lower resistance choke is desirable. A simple, cheap choke to use can be made in a few minutes. Take some #30 wire-wrap wire and wind about 10-20 turns on a 1 watt resistor (value 100 ohms or bigger, not critical) as a coil form. Re CE1: I designed the PCB around a capacitor (which is a standard size) which I purchased a huge quantity of for a few bux at a hamfest. I provided a bag with several hundred to TAPR and requested that one be sent with each kit. I guess that this didn't happen. If you are using the PT switcher and need a capacitor, let me know and I'll get one to you. Re Z1: 1 Amp is fine. It was included 'cuz Power Trends show it as recommended on their schematic as a surge supressor. In normal operation it does nothing. > ---------- Assembly: Build notes -------- > > We need a picture in the build notes like the one on tapr.org > > Page 2 The parts list: Resistors > > Put a note on R6 180 ohm and R6 1 Kohm, so we don't think that having > two R6 it is a typo. R6 is part of two optional battery backup. > The POWER schmetic has R6 listed as TBD. A chart would help. There was supposed to be some text on the R6 selection, which depends on the specific battery you use in the BBRAM. Typically, the 180 ohm is fine if you use a 3.6v NiCd or the Gold Cap, 1k is a good value if you are using the +12v source to drive a 9v NiCd. > Page 3 : > My kit did not have the parts to attach the 7805 regulator to the > heat sink. I did plan to use the switching regulator > > Page 5 : > Resistor : Solder and clip leads ( 6) should be 4 > > Page 6 : > hint: > Do RP1 last after RP2-RP5 as RP1 is taller. > > Page 7 : > 1. it is easy to place the headers for P1 and P2 in the wrong holes. > There are three ways to place the header but only two ways look correct > as that places pin one in the square hole. The "outlier" holes at P1 & P2 are there to provide solder pads in case the user needs to pick up other RS232 signals. > When one looks at the PC board pattern from the botton you > can see that only the middle two set of holes will work. > > o 6 o o 9 o o > o o o o o > o o o o o > o 1 o o o 5 o > > The instruction about - like a IC socket - > should be changed to use to - use the middle holes.- > and the instructions art work page 18 can thicken the > lines so that the placement is VERY obvious. > > The header part don't have any pin numbers anyway and > the numbers on the PC board have the label for pin one > on the right of the hole and pin 5 label is on the left > of the hole. I guess since there was not room for a label > of pin 10, you just labeled pin 9 > > 6 7 8 9 10 > o 6 o o 9 o o > o o o o o > o o o o o > o 1 o o o 5 o > 1 2 3 4 5 The other problem with these headers is that conventional wisdom for such headers normally numbers the pin connections like 1 3 5 7 9 2 4 6 8 10 but for RS232 connectors the numbering goes like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Also, in the old original PVT-6 (a.k.a. ONCORE BASIC) Motorola numbered pins on the 10-pin header like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I am 99-44/100% certain that the PCB and schematics are correct, but I caution people to be very, very careful about the relation between pin numbers and wires when using these connectors. I know of one instance when an ONCORE receiver was fried because of failure to heed these warnings! > Page 7 : > using the ONCORE VP - I was very careful to mount the part on the > underside of PCB but I started to use the extra 2x5 male header > as I almost over looked the female header included in the > mounting pouch. A double heads up here. > > Page 8 : 7805 Voltage regulator. > > 1. The length of the 4-40 screw is not given just a dash. > and was not in my kit. Whatever fits, use it! Note that the hole for the 7805 is insulated. When used with the insulated (black anodized) heat sink, the case of the regulator is electrically floating, and the "Z" center lead on the regulator gets it ground thru the default "V" jumper at R11. If you need to tweak the +5v supply voltage (as was necessary with one Garmin GPS-20 I have), add R10/R11 and cut the "V" jumper. > 2. I had to look all over the instructions to find out why I had to use > the Z hole for the middle leg if I was not going to use the > 7805 voltage tweak. > -- It is another of the cunning cut trace to activat option design -- > > ** But the power schematic notes says to place in Z instead of ground. > implying that the ground hole was a option. > Needs to say in the power schmetic : > Always put in Z hole and cut the trace to use option. > > 3. The +5 volt power tweak is not covered on page 17 -USER OPTIONS. > but it is in the topic list for that page. Just like using the toilet, the paperwork is the last thing you need to do! I have been travelling on business a lot this summer and I am behind the power curve in doing the final text editing. Sorry! > The only reference to the +5 volt power tweak is under the > Theory of Operations -- page 16 > > 4. Theory of operations page 16 - Sheet 4- POWER > This needs some work as it must be from the last revision as > several part are numbered wrong. It talks about D7-D8 > (should be ??) and R8+R9 should be ( R10-R11 ) > R8 is part of the antenna bias option. > > 5. There is no Q1 for the ONCORE-VP GPS option or a R6-R7. > A cut jumper and a jumper plug on JP3 is all that is needed. > > 6. Q1 is for the next item on the page. > 3d Trimble-SK-8 (needs so (SOME) words here) Yes, the theory of operation text needs work, and its my fault! > ------------------------------------------------------------- > > What mail list do we use for the TAC-2 kit as there still is no > GPS mail list ??? The TAPR folks need to decide what to do about this. For getting the TAC-2 out the door, we had the private tacgps mailing list, and I'm not sure who is on the list now! I think we need such a mail exploder for those working on advanced & wierd GPS things. On the TAC-2 front, one of the next topics will be work on the TOC (TAC Oscillator Controller) which will allow you to stabilize ("discipline") a crystal oscillator to levels of ~1:10e9 to 1:10e10 (comparable to a Rubidium) -- we have a conceptual design, but hardware doesn't exist yet. There is new software in the offing -- right now I am testing TAC32 -- a new W95/NT 32-bit package (by WB2TNL) that does SHOWTIME properly; in the NT environment, the PC's clock is kept within 1 msec of UTC with TAC32! In W95, the MessDOS 55 msec clock resolution limits the performance, but TAC32 keeps it within one clock tick. Folks are beginning work on *NIX xntpd support for the TAC -- I hope there will be some good news on the LINUX fron RSN (RSN = Real! Soon! Now! -- the typical answer on when W95 will become W9? which will be the same thing as NT). Although it has been rather dormant recently, the gps-timing mail exploder archives are available for public view -- set a news server to point to news://aleph.gsfc.nasa.gov and subscribe to gps-timing. Of course, all the "publik" archives for my TAC project are also on aleph at ftp://aleph.gsfc.nasa.gov/GPS/totally.accurate.clock/ 73 de Tom, W3IWI From ???@??? Thu Aug 07 20:22:00 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id PAA19178; Thu, 7 Aug 1997 15:15:11 -0500 (CDT) Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 15:15:11 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: "Greg Jones, WD5IVD" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:535] Re: [APRSSIG:15069] Totally Accurate Clock X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In-Reply-To: <33EA0C82.811720B9@tomcat.gsfc.nasa.gov> >When we were trying to pick the ONCORE model to offer there was >some confusion on parts numbers & options. I specified that we >get the version with the good RF shielding, but the photo (gleaned >from Motorola) shows the unshielded version. I >thought< we were >getting the version with the right-angle connector, but I guess >I goofed! I have always strongly recommended that people use the >right-angle MCX connectors for 2 reasons -- they avoid any possible >clearance problems and they are a LOT easier to install if you don't >have the $pecial crimping tools. > The good RF version of the VP board we are getting from Syngery do not come in with a right-angle end connector. The choice would be to have poorer RF and a right angle or better RF and a straight. I talked to Larry Mackey in depth on this several months ago. We should be making the right angle MCX/OCX connector with cable a permanent inventory item to order. Cheers - Greg ----- Greg Jones, WD5IVD Austin, Texas wd5ivd@tapr.org http://www.tapr.org/~wd5ivd ----- "Before you become too entranced with gorgeous gadgets and mesmerizing video displays, let me remind you that information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other and we need them all." -Arthur C. Clarke From ???@??? Thu Aug 07 21:22:25 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id VAA15401; Thu, 7 Aug 1997 21:06:32 -0500 (CDT) Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 21:06:32 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <33EA7DD4.3403A0CE@mediaone.net> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: gregory.beat@mediaone.net (Gregory Beat) To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:536] Power connector part numbers X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.01 [en]C-MOECE (Win95; U) > Bob - Dallas,TX --- kc5ejk@onramp.net or kc5ejk@amsat.org --- > wrote: > >--- POWER: >I found a PC 3.5 Disk Drive adapter Power Cable at Radio Shack >part number 278-761 (a dual Y cable , so you get two connectors) > > The part doesn't fit the male header with out cutting 1/16 inch > off the 4 pin female connector 1/8 inch wide locking notch. Filing > off the locking bump also works but you then need all four female > pins for a tight fit. > (We MAC people don't use this type of disk power cable but it was > easy to find) The Digi-Key part numbers (please double check with catalog or at their web site on-line catalog) for the power connectors on the TAC-2 are: Male header on TAC-2 PC board (included with kit) 4 circuit header .100 straight friction lock .................WM4202-ND IF you want the right angle version for a lower profile 4 circuit header .100 right angle friction lock ............WM4302-ND Matching 4 pin female connector 4 circuit terminal housing .100 (with lock) ................WM2002-ND DO NOT forget the terminals for the female connector Crimp terminal .100 ............................................... WM2200-ND Hope this helps any TAC-2 builders out there looking for these Digi-Key part numbers. 73 G. Beat W9GB From ???@??? Thu Aug 07 22:42:14 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id WAA19005; Thu, 7 Aug 1997 22:39:12 -0500 (CDT) Date: Thu, 7 Aug 1997 22:39:12 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <33EA939D.593D5296@mediaone.net> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: gregory.beat@mediaone.net (Gregory Beat) To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:537] New Motorola Marketing X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.01 [en]C-MOECE (Win95; U) Found this new addition on Motorola's GPS Oncore web page ..... Precision Timing and Synchronization A sub-set of Motorola GPS capability, timing applications are becoming increasingly important to the telecommunications, computer networking and other industries where highly accurate synchronized timing devices are required. Motorola GPS precision timing applications include synchronization of cellular site signals to help expand cellular telephone coverage, radio frequency stabilization, synchronization of internal clocks across LANs and WANs, and timing of lightning flashes for meteorological tracking. Recently, Motorola, in collaboration with Teleflex Incorporated, began developing an integrated GPS receiver and antenna for the precision time and frequency industry, eliminating the need for expensive coaxial cable and avoiding problems with RF signal loss. -------------- W9GB From ???@??? Fri Aug 08 15:39:13 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id PAA09643; Fri, 8 Aug 1997 15:19:48 -0500 (CDT) Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 15:19:48 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <33EB7D21.7309@tomcat.gsfc.nasa.gov> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: "Dr Thomas A Clark (W3IWI)" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:538] Travelling Again -- Alaska this time X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01Gold (Win95; I) I'll be away in Alaska for the next ~10 days -- doing some GPS measurements for science, teaching some high school kids about the wonders of science & technology in Valdez, Copper Center, Glenallen, McCarthy and other locations in the interior, and then doing some astrogeopolitical business (NASA vs NOAA vs LockMart [your one-stop defense contractor] vs the Teamsters) at my station near Fairbanks. Back from the 21st thru the 27th and then off for a week for some astrogeoornithological (i.e. for the birds!) meetings in Brazil. This is a 50,000 mile summer for me this year. Tom From ???@??? Tue Aug 12 23:35:43 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id JAA12032; Tue, 12 Aug 1997 09:45:34 -0500 (CDT) Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 09:45:34 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <01BCA70B.D2BE58A0@1Cust111.max10.orlando.fl.ms.uu.net> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 871437806.075 From: "John K. Pringle" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:540] Showtime problem X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 Status: O I recently completed the TAC-2 project including installation of my GPS-20. Everything seems to be operating normally except when I try to run SHOWTIME I get the following error message: " Device I/O error in line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0B1F:0696" and the program halts. The 1 PPS beeps are OK and I think initialization at 4800 kbps is OK. I edited SHOWTIME.GPS and inserted correct LAT, LON and altitude. Can anyone tell me what causes this error and how to correct it? Thanks. John jpringle@gte.net From ???@??? Tue Aug 12 23:38:02 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id TAA03551; Tue, 12 Aug 1997 19:53:47 -0500 (CDT) Date: Tue, 12 Aug 1997 19:53:47 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970812195631.0083f380@pop.gate.net> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 871437806.119 From: "Steven R. Bible" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:541] Re: Showtime problem X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In-Reply-To: <01BCA70B.D2BE58A0@1Cust111.max10.orlando.fl.ms.uu.net> X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Status: U John, there's a SHOWTIME .GPS example on the diskett for the GPS-20. The receiver type needs to be set to GPS-20, the default SHOWTIME.GPS is for the ONCORE. - Steve At 09:45 AM 8/12/97 -0500, you wrote: >I recently completed the TAC-2 project including installation of my GPS-20. Everything seems to be operating normally except when I try to run SHOWTIME I get the following error message: " Device I/O error in line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0B1F:0696" and the program halts. The 1 PPS beeps are OK and I think initialization at 4800 kbps is OK. I edited SHOWTIME.GPS and inserted correct LAT, LON and altitude. Can anyone tell me what causes this error and how to correct it? > >Thanks. > >John > > jpringle@gte.net > > > - Steve, N7HPR (n7hpr@tapr.org) From ???@??? Tue Aug 19 22:00:32 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id TAA01219; Tue, 19 Aug 1997 19:58:47 -0500 (CDT) Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 19:58:47 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <3.0.3.32.19970819205522.006a0988@cyberia.com> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 872039835.000 From: "Charles E. Heisler K3VDB" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:542] X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.3 (32) Status: RO I am a late comer to the list. I was wondering if any one saved some of the more interesting discussions heretofore regarding the TAC-2. If it would be possible for you to send them to me direct I would appreciate it. Please send me a note first so I don't get multiple copies. Thank you Charlie K3VDB cheisler@cyberia.com From ???@??? Wed Aug 20 14:53:34 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id OAA25589; Wed, 20 Aug 1997 14:40:00 -0500 (CDT) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 14:40:00 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <199708201939.MAA08361@proto.math.ucdavis.edu> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: Bill Broadley To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:543] Oncore VP+Lowe antenna? X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Type: text Anyone using an oncore VP with a Lowe antenna? I'm concerned about the 25ma rating of the mcx port on the VP board, and the 32 ma typical power rating on the antenna. Close enough? Working well for anyone? -- Bill Broadley Bill@math.ucdavis.edu UCD Math Sys-Admin Linux is great. http://math.ucdavis.edu/~bill PGP-ok From ???@??? Wed Aug 20 16:58:29 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id QAA01238; Wed, 20 Aug 1997 16:50:12 -0500 (CDT) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 16:50:12 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970820013058.0083fb20@pop.gate.net> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: "Henk Uijterwaal (RIPE-NCC)" (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:544] TAC (fwd) X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Hi, I just finished building my TAPR TAC kit with a Motorola Oncore VP as the GPS unit. The kit passed all tests described in the manual, but when I connect it to a computer, it doesn't seem to work. When I start the clock program from an MSDOS shell: c:\tac showtime showtime.gps I get a message "pulses look good", followed by a pattern on the screen that looks like: ----###----###---###---###--- (4 or 5 yellow boxes connected with straight lines). The program then says: Init @4800 @9600 . And then nothing... It doesn't respond to keyboard input either, the only way I can get out of it, is by forcing Windows to close the shell. I have determined our position with another GPS receiver from Motorola (their "Oncore evaluation kit") and put that into the config file. This unit found 4 to 5 satelites, so their should be a satelite signal in our office, the antenna is sitting in the window, we're on the top floor of the highest building in the area. The computer we use is a standard Dell Win95 PC, with the TAC connected to the com1 port (given that I get pulses, I guess that I'm using the right connector). The cable is a standard D9 to D9 cable from the local computer shop. Any ideas what is wrong here? Henk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Henk Uijterwaal Email: henk.uijterwaal@ripe.net RIPE Network Coordination Centre WWW: http://www.ripe.net/home/henk Singel 258 Phone: +31.20.5354414 1016 AB Amsterdam Fax: +31.20.5354445 The Netherlands Home: +31.20.6651962 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %DCL-E-NOCFFE, unable to locate coffee - keyboard input suspended. From ???@??? Wed Aug 20 17:15:45 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id RAA02117; Wed, 20 Aug 1997 17:11:15 -0500 (CDT) Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 17:11:15 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: Dave Martindale To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:545] Re: Oncore VP+Lowe antenna? X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In-Reply-To: <199708201939.MAA08361@proto.math.ucdavis.edu> >Anyone using an oncore VP with a Lowe antenna? > >I'm concerned about the 25ma rating of the mcx port on the VP board, and the >32 ma typical power rating on the antenna. Close enough? Working >well for anyone? The 32 mA rating must be worst-case manufacturing tolerances, temperature, and voltage. My Lowe antenna is measured to draw about 22 mA at room temperature and 5 V power supply. I've also corresponded with someone at Lowe, who said they had measured a number of them and never found a current draw more than 25 mA. So you should be safe. (I actually use the antenna on a GPS 20, which is theoretically rated for 15 mA. It has run for days with no apparent problem). Dave From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 16:35:14 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id QAA07011; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 16:29:29 -0500 (CDT) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 16:29:29 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <34009837.2532@tomcat.gsfc.nasa.gov> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: "Tom Clark (W3IWI)" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:546] Re: Oncore VP+Lowe antenna? X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01Gold (Win95; I) Bill Broadley wrote: > > Anyone using an oncore VP with a Lowe antenna? > > I'm concerned about the 25ma rating of the mcx port on the VP board, and the > 32 ma typical power rating on the antenna. Close enough? Working > well for anyone? > > -- > Bill Broadley Bill@math.ucdavis.edu UCD Math Sys-Admin > Linux is great. http://math.ucdavis.edu/~bill PGP-ok I'm back briefly between trips. The Motorola "25ma" is just a nominal value. I've pulled as much as 50 ma with no problems. Tom From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 16:50:12 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id QAA07476; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 16:36:06 -0500 (CDT) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 16:36:06 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <199708242132.OAA13762@proto.math.ucdavis.edu> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: Bill Broadley To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:547] Re: Oncore VP+Lowe antenna? X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Type: text In-Reply-To: <34009837.2532@tomcat.gsfc.nasa.gov> from "Tom Clark" at Aug 24, 97 04:29:29 pm > I'm back briefly between trips. > > The Motorola "25ma" is just a nominal value. I've pulled as much as > 50 ma with no problems. > Thanks, I've received other encouragements as well (i.e. observed load lower then rates on the lowe), and people who it's working for. I ordered mine last week, many thanks. > Tom > -- Bill Broadley Bill@math.ucdavis.edu UCD Math Sys-Admin Linux is great. http://math.ucdavis.edu/~bill PGP-ok From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:23 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23453 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:35:23 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA57542 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:35:11 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203513.007f8340@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:35:13 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: mdf@angoss.com (Matthew Francey) (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:524] Issues re: TAC-2 assembly. Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I got my TAC-2 working on the weekend. Hundreds of dollars to just see an LED blink every second ... :-) Some questions/comments: 1. Currently, I'm burning 12V down to 5 and this makes things warmer than I prefer. The assembly manual mentions 3 possible "high efficiency" switching power supplies. Can I just select one at random? Two are the same, except for a "heat tab" -- does one need the "heat tab"? 2. There are a number of glitches in the assembly manual, though none of them are even close to fatal -- incorrect lead-counts in 3-4 places, and for ONCORE VP installation, one has to set a jumper to "I", not to "N" as the manual claims. 3. Is there a Linux or similar version of SHOWTIME? 4. [This isn't really a TAC issue, but hey] Playing around with the ONCORE's command set, I was looking at the "broadcast data". The GPS signal specification says that "sub-frame 4, page 17" is a "special message" which can be set at the "discretion of the system operator". It is 22 characters, ASCII encoded. Earlier today, it seems that the "discretion" was: 45HF16-UAEVT492W+14RR0 If this isn't some US military secret, can someone tell me what this might mean? Thanks! From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:24 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23457 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:35:32 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA50682 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:35:21 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203523.007f66c0@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:35:23 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: "Steven R. Bible" (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:525] Re: Issues re: TAC-2 assembly. Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I'll try and answer some of your questions Matthew... At 02:27 PM 7/28/97 -0500, you wrote: >I got my TAC-2 working on the weekend. Hundreds of dollars to just >see an LED blink every second ... :-) You're a true pioneer now :-). >Some questions/comments: > >1. Currently, I'm burning 12V down to 5 and this makes things warmer than > I prefer. The assembly manual mentions 3 possible "high efficiency" > switching power supplies. Can I just select one at random? Two are the > same, except for a "heat tab" -- does one need the "heat tab"? I use a 9 VDC power supply. Check the Radio Shack catalog. >2. There are a number of glitches in the assembly manual, though none of > them are even close to fatal -- incorrect lead-counts in 3-4 places, > and for ONCORE VP installation, one has to set a jumper to "I", not to "N" > as the manual claims. We'll put these in the next rev of the assy man. >3. Is there a Linux or similar version of SHOWTIME? Not yet (any way). We hoped that by getting the TAC-2 out it would spur other software development. >4. [This isn't really a TAC issue, but hey] Playing around with the ONCORE's > command set, I was looking at the "broadcast data". The GPS signal > specification says that "sub-frame 4, page 17" is a "special message" > which can be set at the "discretion of the system operator". It is > 22 characters, ASCII encoded. > > Earlier today, it seems that the "discretion" was: > > 45HF16-UAEVT492W+14RR0 > > If this isn't some US military secret, can someone tell me what this > might mean? I can't help you here. - Steve, N7HPR (n7hpr@tapr.org) From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:26 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23473 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:36:23 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA51652 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:36:10 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203610.007ec8c0@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:36:10 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: "Dr Thomas A Clark (W3IWI)" (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:532] Regarding TAC Software Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Lyndon Nerenberg wrote: > > >>>>> "Steven" == Steven R Bible writes: > > >> 3. Is there a Linux or similar version of SHOWTIME? > > Steven> Not yet (any way). We hoped that by getting the TAC-2 out > Steven> it would spur other software development. > > I'm still waiting for my TAC kit to arrive, so this is a little ways > away, but I'm planning to use it to set up a stratum 1 NTP server on > ve7tcp.ampr.org. Assuming I can get the Oncore RS232 datalink wired > to the server I'll be writing a monitoring utility that will collect > info from the receiver, and allow for control of the receiver. I'll > make the source available once it's stable. It will be written for > 4.4BSD, but should port easily to Linux. > > --lyndon Sorry I have been out of touch for the past 3 weeks. I was on a business trip to two VLBI stations in China (one near Shanghai, the other in the far west of China near Urumqi) and was pretty much out of touch. FYI -- they are using my original TACs at these (and several other) Chinese stations and I can report that GPS in the opposite hemisphere looks pretty much like it does here! Also, I can report that the new Garmin GPS II+ works fine at airplane speeds. I can also lay claim to doing the first GPS survey of the location of a Kazakh yurt whilst riding on a Kazakh horse! Now on the TAC software, I see that the formerly private TACGPS mailer has now been opened up and many questions are flowing in. Be advised that much of the early TAC and GPS timing discussion took place via another mailing list, gps-timing@aleph.gsfc.nasa.gov. For people asking questions, you might want to refer to the gps-timing archives. Set a news browser to point to to my aleph server: news://aleph.gsfc.nasa.gov and then "subscribe" to the gps-timing entry. This has all the archives available for your perusal. In these archives, you will see a lot of postings by me about the evolution of my MessDOS SHOWTIME code. You will also see a week-long burst of activity on the NTP issues including inputs from Dave Mills ("Dr.NTP", a.k.a. W3HCF) and Louie Makamos (WA3YMH). Regarding NTP support -- here at NASA Goddard, my project has a real need for working code. We support the VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) data acquisition systems (1 Gb/s data recorders that record wideband noise from Quasars using Hydrogen Maser frequency standards to achieve coherence times of a few thousand seconds at X-band = 10e10 Hz) in use at a number of observatories around the world (including the Chinese facilities where I was the past few weeks). The instrument controller for the telescopes and the VLBI data systems (a.k.a. "FS" = "Field System")is written in LINUX and runs on generic Pentiums. My FS code guru is Ed Himwich (a.k.a. N3HXQ) who is working on the task of supporting the TAC in the LINUX FS software, which should include NTP. Ed has reported to me that there are problems with the generic NTP code in the earlier LINUX kernals. I know of one (IMHO) serious "glitch" in all the NTP GPS implementations when you are using the ONCORE in the "zero-D" mode I recommend for achieving the highest possible timing accuracy (at levels of tens of nsec). The existing generic NTP GPS code gets the current time from the $GPGGA NMEA message, but $GPGGA is defined as the time >>OF THE LAST VALID POSITION FIX<<. In the zero-D timing mode, the receiver does not do position fixes, but instead uses all the GPS satellite pseudoranges to extract timing info under the assumption that the position is known perfectly; this is incredibly effective for reducing the timing "dither" of Selective Availability (SA) and errors in the broadcast GPS ephemerides. But the time that is reported in the $GPGGA message can be days, weeks or months ago, and does not change since the receiver is not doing position fixes (the same comments apply to the timing info in the $GPRMC NMEA message). The proper NMEA message to use (if the receiver supports it, and the ONCORE BASIC/VP do) is $GPZDA, which reports the CURRENT GMT (i.e. UTC) time in any mode (and the ZDA message also reports the date, which is missing from the GGA message). Therefore, anyone planning to do some NTP code hacking needs to rewrite xntpd to properly recognize & use the $GPZDA message. If you plan to do some xntpd hacking, let me also note that the $GPZDA message lags the UTC second by ~0.6 seconds and you should not rely on the arrival of the message for any precise timing functions. For reasons known only to them, Motorola elected to send the $GPxxx messages in alphabetical order, so xxx=ZDA comes last. Before the ZDA message several earlier messages are of variable length. Of particular concern is the $GPGSV satellites-in-view message, which reports on the S/N, az, el for up to 12 satellites in NMEA sentences that contain only 4 satellites of info; therefore you have to plan on a variable number of GSV messages preceeding the ZDA message! c'est la vie! In SHOWTIME, I read the time from the ZDA message knowing it is late. I increment the time just read by one second and then apply the time when the hardware-generated 1PPS pulse arrives on the RS232's DCD pin; the incrementing algorithm includes a carry so that minutes & hours roll-over properly. In MessDOS, this works to within the resolution of the DOS clock = 1/18 sec = 55 msec. The only time when this gives a hickup is at the time of a leapsecond when the ZDA message reports seconds counts of :58, :59, :60 and then :00. SHOWTIME ends up displaying two successive :00 second readings. Regarding SHOWTIME: As you doubtless know by now, SHOWTIME is an MessDOS "hack" that I wrote in compiled QuickBasic 4.5. Many of the problems people report concern the fact that QB's serial port support is verey minimal, and can lead to bizzare behavior when running in a DOS box under Windows. I put aside any work on SHOWTIME a number of months ago to try to get the TAC-2 hardware "out the door". SHOWTIME 3.34 sorta works, but is not as reliable as I'd like to see. Rick Hambly (WB2TNL) has been woring on an improved Windoze-friendly version, but the pressures of getting the TAC-2 hardware ready and a lot of business travel have precluded us spending any time together to make progress. I have not release the SHOWTIME code to the public because it needs some grammatical cleanup (it has a helluva lot of lines REMmed out from earlier abortive tests!) and because I don't want to waste time trying to explain its philosophy and the myriad "tricks" I had to play to make it work well in an obsolete language running in obsolete DOS! Finally -- I think all the newcomers know, but my "official" TAC repository is my aleph ftp file server: ftp://aleph.gsfc.nasa.gov/GPS/totally.accurate.clock/ where you will find plots showing results, text info, software, etc. 73 de Tom, W3IWI From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:27 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23479 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:36:38 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA106296 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:36:25 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203625.007ea940@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:36:25 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: Lyndon Nerenberg (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:533] Re: Regarding TAC Software Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Thanks for the update, Tom. What I had in mind for the local NTP clock was to write a GPS controller program that would handle all the RS232 communications with the Oncore and place the gleaned information into a shared memory segment. Other apps (NTP, CGI web monitor tool) would look into the SHM segment for clock info. xntpd would use the 1PPS on the CD pin for its ticks, and would poke into the SHM segment for the absolute time. As long as the SHM segment and the 1PPS are within one second of each other (and one is consistently ahead of or behind the other) this should work fine. (I'm not going to worry about leap seconds for now -- this only real need for this is to sync up a bunch of machines for Kerberos.) --lyndon From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:28 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23490 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:37:01 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA57534 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:36:47 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203649.007e2100@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:36:49 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: "Dr Thomas A Clark (W3IWI)" (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:534] Re: [APRSSIG:15069] Totally Accurate Clock comments Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Concerning the TAC-2, Bob (KC5EJK) gave some really great feedback. Let me respond in public to them: > I finished the TAC-2 board and it passed all power and logic tests. > If UPS ever delivers the Digi-Key right-angle OSX/MCX connectors, > then I can plug in the Trimble active antenna to the ONCORE-VP GPS. > > The following are some build notes and possible corrections > to the assemble manual. > > GPS: > The Motorola VP picture on the TAPR www site looks different > that the unit I received. > ( so please put an updated gif on the tape.org ONCORE page) > > 1. One big difference is the antenna socket in not right angle > mine is pointed up from the board. > When we were trying to pick the ONCORE model to offer there was some confusion on parts numbers & options. I specified that we get the version with the good RF shielding, but the photo (gleaned from Motorola) shows the unshielded version. I >thought< we were getting the version with the right-angle connector, but I guess I goofed! I have always strongly recommended that people use the right-angle MCX connectors for 2 reasons -- they avoid any possible clearance problems and they are a LOT easier to install if you don't have the $pecial crimping tools. When you finally get the connectors, there have been some sub-optimum suggestions on the installation of the small (~3/16" diameter) shield cover -- my advice is that you DO NOT solder it in place. Test the cable without the cover being installed. If you are sure the connector is OK, then put the cover in place with the convex "dimple" pointing up after putting the small teflon disk in place. With a nail or a center punch, push down on the "dimple" (sorta like pushing on the bottom of an oil can) and the cap will expand into the proper position with no soldering. My personal "trick" is to put a ~1/8" drill bit into my drill press, and then use the drill press (motor off!!) as an arbor press. > 2. There are RF covers on both side of the GPS that adds depth > to my unit. The supplied board to board 3/8 stand-offs are ok > but The TAC-2/GPS unit will need longer than the included > 3/4 inch standoffs before mounting in a case. The 3/4" standoffs miss by about 1/32" of being long enough. One washer will probably solve the problem (at least it does on the several TAC-2s I've built). > 3. I would not use the screws with the washer for connecting the > ONCORE gps BPC to the standoffs, remove washer or use > a plastic spacer. There are parts very close to the holes. In laying out the PCB, I tried really hard to make sure there was enough room around all of the mounting holes so that there would be no possibility of shorts. One trick I found works really nice -- I use 4-40 flat-head screws to go thru the PCB. The PCB's mounting holes are intentionally a bit large (they are 0.140" diameter, where the normal clearance hole for a 4-40 is 0.125") to allow for tolerance errors in the drilling. The conical sides of a flat-head screw wedge in very nicely. > --- POWER: > A. > I found a PC 3.5 Disk Drive adapter Power Cable at Radio Shack > part number 278-761 (a dual Y cable , so you get two connectors) > > The part doesn't fit the male header with out cutting 1/16 inch > off the 4 pin female connector 1/8 inch wide locking notch. Filing > off the locking bump also works but you then need all four female > pins for a tight fit. All the 4-pin 0.1" pin spacing polarized disk-drive power connectors I've tried fit the polarized MOLEX power connector just fine with no surgery required. The MOLEX connector I chose is not precisely the one you find on disk drives, but they seem to mate properly. Guess I didn't try all the connector variants that are out there! > (We MAC people don't use this type of disk power cable but it was > easy to find) > B. > Optional switching regulator: > > 1. I see RFC2 is also part of the switching regulator option and > should be in the bold outline. > > I would like to SEE a digi-key part number for items not > included in the TAPR kit > > RFC2 I guess is same as RFC1 ? > CE1 needs to fit between the boards and what is suggested voltage > rating ? > Z1 will 1 amp rating do ? > RFC2 was left out of the switcher bold outline since people who have RFI problems may want to use it. The PCB default is that it is jumpered. On my prototypes, I used the same 6.8 uH choke as in RFC1, but the voltage drop across it is about 0.15v. A lower resistance choke is desirable. A simple, cheap choke to use can be made in a few minutes. Take some #30 wire-wrap wire and wind about 10-20 turns on a 1 watt resistor (value 100 ohms or bigger, not critical) as a coil form. Re CE1: I designed the PCB around a capacitor (which is a standard size) which I purchased a huge quantity of for a few bux at a hamfest. I provided a bag with several hundred to TAPR and requested that one be sent with each kit. I guess that this didn't happen. If you are using the PT switcher and need a capacitor, let me know and I'll get one to you. Re Z1: 1 Amp is fine. It was included 'cuz Power Trends show it as recommended on their schematic as a surge supressor. In normal operation it does nothing. > ---------- Assembly: Build notes -------- > > We need a picture in the build notes like the one on tapr.org > > Page 2 The parts list: Resistors > > Put a note on R6 180 ohm and R6 1 Kohm, so we don't think that having > two R6 it is a typo. R6 is part of two optional battery backup. > The POWER schmetic has R6 listed as TBD. A chart would help. There was supposed to be some text on the R6 selection, which depends on the specific battery you use in the BBRAM. Typically, the 180 ohm is fine if you use a 3.6v NiCd or the Gold Cap, 1k is a good value if you are using the +12v source to drive a 9v NiCd. > Page 3 : > My kit did not have the parts to attach the 7805 regulator to the > heat sink. I did plan to use the switching regulator > > Page 5 : > Resistor : Solder and clip leads ( 6) should be 4 > > Page 6 : > hint: > Do RP1 last after RP2-RP5 as RP1 is taller. > > Page 7 : > 1. it is easy to place the headers for P1 and P2 in the wrong holes. > There are three ways to place the header but only two ways look correct > as that places pin one in the square hole. The "outlier" holes at P1 & P2 are there to provide solder pads in case the user needs to pick up other RS232 signals. > When one looks at the PC board pattern from the botton you > can see that only the middle two set of holes will work. > > o 6 o o 9 o o > o o o o o > o o o o o > o 1 o o o 5 o > > The instruction about - like a IC socket - > should be changed to use to - use the middle holes.- > and the instructions art work page 18 can thicken the > lines so that the placement is VERY obvious. > > The header part don't have any pin numbers anyway and > the numbers on the PC board have the label for pin one > on the right of the hole and pin 5 label is on the left > of the hole. I guess since there was not room for a label > of pin 10, you just labeled pin 9 > > 6 7 8 9 10 > o 6 o o 9 o o > o o o o o > o o o o o > o 1 o o o 5 o > 1 2 3 4 5 The other problem with these headers is that conventional wisdom for such headers normally numbers the pin connections like 1 3 5 7 9 2 4 6 8 10 but for RS232 connectors the numbering goes like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Also, in the old original PVT-6 (a.k.a. ONCORE BASIC) Motorola numbered pins on the 10-pin header like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I am 99-44/100% certain that the PCB and schematics are correct, but I caution people to be very, very careful about the relation between pin numbers and wires when using these connectors. I know of one instance when an ONCORE receiver was fried because of failure to heed these warnings! > Page 7 : > using the ONCORE VP - I was very careful to mount the part on the > underside of PCB but I started to use the extra 2x5 male header > as I almost over looked the female header included in the > mounting pouch. A double heads up here. > > Page 8 : 7805 Voltage regulator. > > 1. The length of the 4-40 screw is not given just a dash. > and was not in my kit. Whatever fits, use it! Note that the hole for the 7805 is insulated. When used with the insulated (black anodized) heat sink, the case of the regulator is electrically floating, and the "Z" center lead on the regulator gets it ground thru the default "V" jumper at R11. If you need to tweak the +5v supply voltage (as was necessary with one Garmin GPS-20 I have), add R10/R11 and cut the "V" jumper. > 2. I had to look all over the instructions to find out why I had to use > the Z hole for the middle leg if I was not going to use the > 7805 voltage tweak. > -- It is another of the cunning cut trace to activat option design -- > > ** But the power schematic notes says to place in Z instead of ground. > implying that the ground hole was a option. > Needs to say in the power schmetic : > Always put in Z hole and cut the trace to use option. > > 3. The +5 volt power tweak is not covered on page 17 -USER OPTIONS. > but it is in the topic list for that page. Just like using the toilet, the paperwork is the last thing you need to do! I have been travelling on business a lot this summer and I am behind the power curve in doing the final text editing. Sorry! > The only reference to the +5 volt power tweak is under the > Theory of Operations -- page 16 > > 4. Theory of operations page 16 - Sheet 4- POWER > This needs some work as it must be from the last revision as > several part are numbered wrong. It talks about D7-D8 > (should be ??) and R8+R9 should be ( R10-R11 ) > R8 is part of the antenna bias option. > > 5. There is no Q1 for the ONCORE-VP GPS option or a R6-R7. > A cut jumper and a jumper plug on JP3 is all that is needed. > > 6. Q1 is for the next item on the page. > 3d Trimble-SK-8 (needs so (SOME) words here) Yes, the theory of operation text needs work, and its my fault! > ------------------------------------------------------------- > > What mail list do we use for the TAC-2 kit as there still is no > GPS mail list ??? The TAPR folks need to decide what to do about this. For getting the TAC-2 out the door, we had the private tacgps mailing list, and I'm not sure who is on the list now! I think we need such a mail exploder for those working on advanced & wierd GPS things. On the TAC-2 front, one of the next topics will be work on the TOC (TAC Oscillator Controller) which will allow you to stabilize ("discipline") a crystal oscillator to levels of ~1:10e9 to 1:10e10 (comparable to a Rubidium) -- we have a conceptual design, but hardware doesn't exist yet. There is new software in the offing -- right now I am testing TAC32 -- a new W95/NT 32-bit package (by WB2TNL) that does SHOWTIME properly; in the NT environment, the PC's clock is kept within 1 msec of UTC with TAC32! In W95, the MessDOS 55 msec clock resolution limits the performance, but TAC32 keeps it within one clock tick. Folks are beginning work on *NIX xntpd support for the TAC -- I hope there will be some good news on the LINUX fron RSN (RSN = Real! Soon! Now! -- the typical answer on when W95 will become W9? which will be the same thing as NT). Although it has been rather dormant recently, the gps-timing mail exploder archives are available for public view -- set a news server to point to news://aleph.gsfc.nasa.gov and subscribe to gps-timing. Of course, all the "publik" archives for my TAC project are also on aleph at ftp://aleph.gsfc.nasa.gov/GPS/totally.accurate.clock/ 73 de Tom, W3IWI From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:31 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23494 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:37:15 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA04352 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:37:02 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203703.007df9e0@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:37:03 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: Robert Winingham (by way of Greg Jones, WD5IVD) (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TAPR-BB:363] Totally Accurate Clock build note Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This message was submitted by Robert Winingham to list tapr-bb@tapr.org. If you forward it back to the list, it will be distributed without the paragraphs above the dashed line. You may edit the Subject: line and the text of the message before forwarding it back. If you edit the messages you receive into a digest, you will need to remove these paragraphs and the dashed line before mailing the result to the list. Finally, if you need more information from the author of this message, you should be able to do so by simply replying to this note. ----------------------- Message requiring your approval ---------------------- Sender: Robert Winingham Subject: Totally Accurate Clock build note I finished the TAC-2 board and it passed all power and logic tests. If UPS ever delivers the Digi-Key right-angle OSX/MCX connectors, then I can plug in the Trimble active antenna to the ONCORE-VP GPS. The following are some build notes and possible corrections to the assemble manual. GPS: The Motorola VP picture on the TAPR www site looks different that the unit I received. ( so please put an updated gif on the tape.org ONCORE page) 1. One big difference is the antenna socket in not right angle mine is pointed up from the board. 2. There are RF covers on both side of the GPS that adds depth to my unit. The supplied board to board 3/8 stand-offs are ok but The TAC-2/GPS unit will need longer than the included 3/4 inch standoffs before mounting in a case. 3. I would not use the screws with the washer for connecting the ONCORE gps BPC to the standoffs, remove washer or use a plastic spacer. There are parts very close to the holes. --- POWER: A. I found a PC 3.5 Disk Drive adapter Power Cable at Radio Shack part number 278-761 (a dual Y cable , so you get two connectors) The part doesn't fit the male header with out cutting 1/16 inch off the 4 pin female connector 1/8 inch wide locking notch. Filing off the locking bump also works but you then need all four female pins for a tight fit. (We MAC people don't use this type of disk power cable but it was easy to find) B. Optional switching regulator: 1. I see RFC2 is also part of the switching regulator option and should be in the bold outline. I would like to SEE a digi-key part number for items not included in the TAPR kit RFC2 I guess is same as RFC1 ? CE1 needs to fit between the boards and what is suggested voltage rating ? Z1 will 1 amp rating do ? ---------- Assembly: Build notes -------- We need a picture in the build notes like the one on tapr.org Page 2 The parts list: Resistors Put a note on R6 180 ohm and R6 1 Kohm, so we don't think that having two R6 it is a typo. R6 is part of two optional battery backup. The POWER schmetic has R6 listed as TBD. A chart would help. Page 3 : My kit did not have the parts to attach the 7805 regulator to the heat sink. I did plan to use the switching regulator Page 5 : Resistor : Solder and clip leads ( 6) should be 4 Page 6 : hint: Do RP1 last after RP2-RP5 as RP1 is taller. Page 7 : 1. it is easy to place the headers for P1 and P2 in the wrong holes. There are three ways to place the header but only two ways look correct as that places pin one in the square hole. When one looks at the PC board pattern from the botton you can see that only the middle two set of holes will work. o 6 o o 9 o o o o o o o o o o o o o 1 o o o 5 o The instruction about - like a IC socket - should be changed to use to - use the middle holes.- and the instructions art work page 18 can thicken the lines so that the placement is VERY obvious. The header part don't have any pin numbers anyway and the numbers on the PC board have the label for pin one on the right of the hole and pin 5 label is on the left of the hole. I guess since there was not room for a label of pin 10, you just labeled pin 9 6 7 8 9 10 o 6 o o 9 o o o o o o o o o o o o o 1 o o o 5 o 1 2 3 4 5 Page 7 : using the ONCORE VP - I was very careful to mount the part on the underside of PCB but I started to use the extra 2x5 male header as I almost over looked the female header included in the mounting pouch. A double heads up here. Page 8 : 7805 Voltage regulator. 1. The length of the 4-40 screw is not given just a dash. and was not in my kit. 2. I had to look all over the instructions to find out why I had to use the Z hole for the middle leg if I was not going to use the 7805 voltage tweak. -- It is another of the cunning cut trace to activat option design -- ** But the power schematic notes says to place in Z instead of ground. implying that the ground hole was a option. Needs to say in the power schmetic : Always put in Z hole and cut the trace to use option. 3. The +5 volt power tweak is not covered on page 17 -USER OPTIONS. but it is in the topic list for that page. The only reference to the +5 volt power tweak is under the Theory of Operations -- page 16 4. Theory of operations page 16 - Sheet 4- POWER This needs some work as it must be from the last revision as several part are numbered wrong. It talks about D7-D8 (should be ??) and R8+R9 should be ( R10-R11 ) R8 is part of the antenna bias option. 5. There is no Q1 for the ONCORE-VP GPS option or a R6-R7. A cut jumper and a jumper plug on JP3 is all that is needed. 6. Q1 is for the next item on the page. 3d Trimble-SK-8 (needs so (SOME) words here) ------------------------------------------------------------- What mail list do we use for the TAC-2 kit as there still is no GPS mail list ??? 73 Bob - Dallas,TX --- kc5ejk@onramp.net or kc5ejk@amsat.org --- From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:32 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23498 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:37:30 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA99178 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:37:19 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203720.007db860@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:37:20 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: gregory.beat@mediaone.net (Gregory Beat) (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:536] Power connector part numbers Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > Bob - Dallas,TX --- kc5ejk@onramp.net or kc5ejk@amsat.org --- > wrote: > >--- POWER: >I found a PC 3.5 Disk Drive adapter Power Cable at Radio Shack >part number 278-761 (a dual Y cable , so you get two connectors) > > The part doesn't fit the male header with out cutting 1/16 inch > off the 4 pin female connector 1/8 inch wide locking notch. Filing > off the locking bump also works but you then need all four female > pins for a tight fit. > (We MAC people don't use this type of disk power cable but it was > easy to find) The Digi-Key part numbers (please double check with catalog or at their web site on-line catalog) for the power connectors on the TAC-2 are: Male header on TAC-2 PC board (included with kit) 4 circuit header .100 straight friction lock .................WM4202-ND IF you want the right angle version for a lower profile 4 circuit header .100 right angle friction lock ............WM4302-ND Matching 4 pin female connector 4 circuit terminal housing .100 (with lock) ................WM2002-ND DO NOT forget the terminals for the female connector Crimp terminal .100 ............................................... WM2200-ND Hope this helps any TAC-2 builders out there looking for these Digi-Key part numbers. 73 G. Beat W9GB From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:33 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23510 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:37:54 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAB57576 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:37:42 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203745.007d5930@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:37:45 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: "John K. Pringle" (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:540] Showtime problem Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" I recently completed the TAC-2 project including installation of my GPS-20. Everything seems to be operating normally except when I try to run SHOWTIME I get the following error message: " Device I/O error in line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0B1F:0696" and the program halts. The 1 PPS beeps are OK and I think initialization at 4800 kbps is OK. I edited SHOWTIME.GPS and inserted correct LAT, LON and altitude. Can anyone tell me what causes this error and how to correct it? Thanks. John jpringle@gte.net From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:34 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23515 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:37:59 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA43532 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:37:48 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203750.007d3860@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:37:50 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: "Steven R. Bible" (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:541] Re: Showtime problem Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" John, there's a SHOWTIME .GPS example on the diskett for the GPS-20. The receiver type needs to be set to GPS-20, the default SHOWTIME.GPS is for the ONCORE. - Steve At 09:45 AM 8/12/97 -0500, you wrote: >I recently completed the TAC-2 project including installation of my GPS-20. Everything seems to be operating normally except when I try to run SHOWTIME I get the following error message: " Device I/O error in line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0B1F:0696" and the program halts. The 1 PPS beeps are OK and I think initialization at 4800 kbps is OK. I edited SHOWTIME.GPS and inserted correct LAT, LON and altitude. Can anyone tell me what causes this error and how to correct it? > >Thanks. > >John > > jpringle@gte.net > > > - Steve, N7HPR (n7hpr@tapr.org) From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:36 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23527 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:38:23 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA98736 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:38:10 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203812.007cd4e0@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:38:12 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: "Henk Uijterwaal (RIPE-NCC)" (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:544] TAC (fwd) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi, I just finished building my TAPR TAC kit with a Motorola Oncore VP as the GPS unit. The kit passed all tests described in the manual, but when I connect it to a computer, it doesn't seem to work. When I start the clock program from an MSDOS shell: c:\tac showtime showtime.gps I get a message "pulses look good", followed by a pattern on the screen that looks like: ----###----###---###---###--- (4 or 5 yellow boxes connected with straight lines). The program then says: Init @4800 @9600 . And then nothing... It doesn't respond to keyboard input either, the only way I can get out of it, is by forcing Windows to close the shell. I have determined our position with another GPS receiver from Motorola (their "Oncore evaluation kit") and put that into the config file. This unit found 4 to 5 satelites, so their should be a satelite signal in our office, the antenna is sitting in the window, we're on the top floor of the highest building in the area. The computer we use is a standard Dell Win95 PC, with the TAC connected to the com1 port (given that I get pulses, I guess that I'm using the right connector). The cable is a standard D9 to D9 cable from the local computer shop. Any ideas what is wrong here? Henk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Henk Uijterwaal Email: henk.uijterwaal@ripe.net RIPE Network Coordination Centre WWW: http://www.ripe.net/home/henk Singel 258 Phone: +31.20.5354414 1016 AB Amsterdam Fax: +31.20.5354445 The Netherlands Home: +31.20.6651962 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %DCL-E-NOCFFE, unable to locate coffee - keyboard input suspended. From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:37 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23531 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:38:32 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA78834 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:38:19 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203821.007cb4f0@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:38:21 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: Dave Martindale (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:545] Re: Oncore VP+Lowe antenna? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Anyone using an oncore VP with a Lowe antenna? > >I'm concerned about the 25ma rating of the mcx port on the VP board, and the >32 ma typical power rating on the antenna. Close enough? Working >well for anyone? The 32 mA rating must be worst-case manufacturing tolerances, temperature, and voltage. My Lowe antenna is measured to draw about 22 mA at room temperature and 5 V power supply. I've also corresponded with someone at Lowe, who said they had measured a number of them and never found a current draw more than 25 mA. So you should be safe. (I actually use the antenna on a GPS 20, which is theoretically rated for 15 mA. It has run for days with no apparent problem). Dave From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:38 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23540 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:38:46 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA51508 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:38:35 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203837.007c2530@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:38:37 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: "Tom Clark (W3IWI)" (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:546] Re: Oncore VP+Lowe antenna? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Bill Broadley wrote: > > Anyone using an oncore VP with a Lowe antenna? > > I'm concerned about the 25ma rating of the mcx port on the VP board, and the > 32 ma typical power rating on the antenna. Close enough? Working > well for anyone? > > -- > Bill Broadley Bill@math.ucdavis.edu UCD Math Sys-Admin > Linux is great. http://math.ucdavis.edu/~bill PGP-ok I'm back briefly between trips. The Motorola "25ma" is just a nominal value. I've pulled as much as 50 ma with no problems. Tom From ???@??? Sun Aug 24 19:46:39 1997 Received: from chickasaw.gate.net (root@chickasaw.gate.net [199.227.0.143]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with ESMTP id TAA23544 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 19:38:51 -0500 (CDT) Received: from srbible (kngga2-26.gate.net [207.36.2.26]) by chickasaw.gate.net (8.8.6/8.6.12) with SMTP id UAA78676 for ; Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:38:40 -0400 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970824203842.007c2a70@pop.gate.net> X-Sender: srbible@pop.gate.net X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:38:42 -0400 To: wd5ivd@tapr.org From: Bill Broadley (by way of "Steven R. Bible" ) Subject: [TACGPS:547] Re: Oncore VP+Lowe antenna? Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > I'm back briefly between trips. > > The Motorola "25ma" is just a nominal value. I've pulled as much as > 50 ma with no problems. > Thanks, I've received other encouragements as well (i.e. observed load lower then rates on the lowe), and people who it's working for. I ordered mine last week, many thanks. > Tom > -- Bill Broadley Bill@math.ucdavis.edu UCD Math Sys-Admin Linux is great. http://math.ucdavis.edu/~bill PGP-ok From ???@??? Mon Aug 25 13:09:30 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id JAA27990; Mon, 25 Aug 1997 09:21:47 -0500 (CDT) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 09:21:47 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <199708251414.JAA19497@dlep1.itg.ti.com> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 872519610.000 From: "Ken Garlock" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:548] help me X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.71.1008.3 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; MIME-Version: 1.0 Status: U help me Happy Computing. Regards, Ken Garlock k-garlock@ti.com, (972) 575-4332 From ???@??? Sat Aug 26 14:09:14 1995 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id OAA03728; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 14:00:59 -0500 (CDT) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 14:00:59 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <9707268726.AA872632755@smtp_link.orbcomm.net> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: "Eric Rosenberg" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:549] TAC-2 Power Supply X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio I'm a bit confused about the power supply for the GPS-20 in the TAC-2 kit I've just ordered. There are mentions of options, and in the latest PSR there's a picture of a power supply for the GPS-20, yet I can't find anything current on this subject. Steve Bible's page on the TAPR web site give s some options, but that's about it. Can anybody shed some light on the subject... Thanks! Eric W3DQ Washington, DC erosenberg@orbcomm.net From ???@??? Sat Aug 26 14:39:01 1995 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id OAA05396; Tue, 26 Aug 1997 14:23:46 -0500 (CDT) Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 14:23:46 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <35511@tomcat.gsfc.nasa.gov> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk From: clark@tomcat.gsfc.nasa.gov (Tom Clark -- W3IWI) To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:550] Re: TAC-2 Power Supply X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio To answer Eric's questions: > There are mentions of options, and in the latest PSR there's a picture > of a power supply for the GPS-20, yet I can't find anything current on > this subject. Steve Bible's page on the TAPR web site give s some The GPS-20 requires +5VDC to run it. The TAC-2 PCB has basically 3 options on how you can do this: (1) An on-board 7805 regulator, which is furnished with the kit, drops an 12V input in a lossy, heat-generating mode. (2) The 7805 can be replaced with a Power Trends switching regulator available for < $15 from Digikey so you don't waste as many ergs on heat (3) You can just forget the regulators and feed it +5V directly. The power connector is a 4-pin (0.1" pin spacing) polarized connector that is compatible with a normal disk drive. The disk drive interface has both +5V and +12V pins. If you use either the (1) or (2) 12V options, the PCB has provisions for an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) battery to keep the rcvr alive during brief power failures. A standard "9V" (actually 8.4V) NiCd "transistor radio battery" will keep the unit running for a couple of minutes if you use the lossy 7805 or for about 6 minutes if you use the Power Trends switcher. Eric -- if you are thinking about the TAC for the "professional" application we discussed en route to Dayton, I would >>STRONGLY<< advise the use of the Motorola ONCORE instead of the Garmin GPS-20. IMHO, the GPS-20 is an unreliable "toy" whilst the ONCORE is much more robust receiver. 73, Tom /ex From ???@??? Wed Aug 27 09:05:47 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id VAA03051; Fri, 29 Aug 1997 21:51:14 -0500 (CDT) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 21:51:14 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <34078955.9118A729@mediaone.net> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 872955612.004 From: gregory.beat@mediaone.net (Gregory Beat) To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:552] Re: Showtime problem X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.01 [en]C-MOECE (Win95; U) Status: U John K. Pringle wrote: > I recently completed the TAC-2 project including installation of my > GPS-20. Everything seems to be operating normally except when I try to > run SHOWTIME I get the following error message: " Device I/O error in > line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0B1F:0696" and the program halts. > The 1 PPS beeps are OK and I think initialization at 4800 kbps is OK. > I edited SHOWTIME.GPS and inserted correct LAT, LON and altitude. Can > anyone tell me what causes this error and how to correct it? Powered up the TAC-2 with my new antenna and have received a similiar error. "Device I/O error in line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0A12:0AE6" I run Showtime in a DOS window on my Windows 95 machine. Experimenting with a couple of settings, it appears that Showtime does not like the behavior of the Win95 screen saver. I understand that someone was woking with Tom for a Windows version of the Showtime code. I suggested Retsik Software for Windows since they wrote the AccuSet 4.1 application and there are nice features that could be adopted. Meanwhile, I shut the Screen saver off. Greg Beat W9GB From ???@??? Wed Aug 27 09:02:25 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id VAA03059; Fri, 29 Aug 1997 21:51:21 -0500 (CDT) Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 21:51:21 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <34078A2D.E9B2A472@mediaone.net> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 872955612.002 From: gregory.beat@mediaone.net (Gregory Beat) To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:553] Enclosure for TAC-2 X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.01 [en]C-MOECE (Win95; U) Status: U There had been some discussion earlier this year and in the latest TAPR newsletter that a box may be fabricated for the TAC-2. May I suggets that you look at the cases at Lansing Instrament in Ithaca, NY (800)-847-3535 . There are not many companies that will do enclosures for prototypes or quantity of one - they have for other projects. G. Beat W9GB From ???@??? Wed Aug 27 09:07:03 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id KAA07046; Sun, 31 Aug 1997 10:11:22 -0500 (CDT) Date: Sun, 31 Aug 1997 10:11:22 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <01BCB5FD.CE8AFDA0@1Cust66.max26.orlando.fl.ms.uu.net> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 873528500.032 From: "John K. Pringle" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:554] Re: Showtime problem X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="---- =_NextPart_000_01BCB5FD.CE929EC0" MIME-Version: 1.0 Status: U I solved the Device I/O error message problem by setting the receiver type to 4 (GPS-20) in SHOWTIME.GPS thanks to suggestion from Steve Bible. I thought the program would auto-detect the receiver type but apparently not. I am also running SHOWTIME in a DOS window in Windows 95 but don't seem to have the screen saver problem. Everything looks good as of now. I also would welcome a Windows 95 version of SHOWTIME ! John W4SF -----Original Message----- From: Gregory Beat [SMTP:gregory.beat@mediaone.net] Sent: Friday, August 29, 1997 10:51 PM To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:552] Re: Showtime problem John K. Pringle wrote: > I recently completed the TAC-2 project including installation of my > GPS-20. Everything seems to be operating normally except when I try to > run SHOWTIME I get the following error message: " Device I/O error in > line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0B1F:0696" and the program halts. > The 1 PPS beeps are OK and I think initialization at 4800 kbps is OK. > I edited SHOWTIME.GPS and inserted correct LAT, LON and altitude. Can > anyone tell me what causes this error and how to correct it? Powered up the TAC-2 with my new antenna and have received a similiar error. "Device I/O error in line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0A12:0AE6" I run Showtime in a DOS window on my Windows 95 machine. Experimenting with a couple of settings, it appears that Showtime does not like the behavior of the Win95 screen saver. I understand that someone was woking with Tom for a Windows version of the Showtime code. I suggested Retsik Software for Windows since they wrote the AccuSet 4.1 application and there are nice features that could be adopted. Meanwhile, I shut the Screen saver off. Greg Beat W9GB From ???@??? Wed Aug 27 09:07:34 1997 Received: from tapr.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by tapr.org (8.7.5/8.7.3/1.9) with SMTP id WAA24575; Sun, 31 Aug 1997 22:43:00 -0500 (CDT) Date: Sun, 31 Aug 1997 22:43:00 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <01BCB667.436DFE60.rick@cnssys.com> Reply-To: tacgps@tapr.org Originator: tacgps@tapr.org Sender: tacgps@tapr.org Precedence: bulk X-UIDL: 873528500.064 From: "Richard M. Hambly" To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:555] Re: Showtime problem X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0 -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio X-Mailer: Microsoft Internet E-mail/MAPI - 8.0.0.4211 Status: U A Windows 95 version is coming! The ALPHA testing has begun on TAC32. It has some of Showtime's features, but many others haven't been written yet. It will eventually have all of Showtime's features and more. If anyone is desperate enough to want to test this and is willing to run the risks, send me an e-mail. Rick Hambly WB2TNL -----Original Message----- From: John K. Pringle [SMTP:jpringle@gte.net] Sent: Sunday, August 31, 1997 11:05 AM To: 'tacgps@tapr.org' Subject: RE: [TACGPS:552] Re: Showtime problem I solved the Device I/O error message problem by setting the receiver type to 4 (GPS-20) in SHOWTIME.GPS thanks to suggestion from Steve Bible. I thought the program would auto-detect the receiver type but apparently not. I am also running SHOWTIME in a DOS window in Windows 95 but don't seem to have the screen saver problem. Everything looks good as of now. I also would welcome a Windows 95 version of SHOWTIME ! John W4SF -----Original Message----- From: Gregory Beat [SMTP:gregory.beat@mediaone.net] Sent: Friday, August 29, 1997 10:51 PM To: tacgps@tapr.org Subject: [TACGPS:552] Re: Showtime problem John K. Pringle wrote: > I recently completed the TAC-2 project including installation of my > GPS-20. Everything seems to be operating normally except when I try to > run SHOWTIME I get the following error message: " Device I/O error in > line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0B1F:0696" and the program halts. > The 1 PPS beeps are OK and I think initialization at 4800 kbps is OK. > I edited SHOWTIME.GPS and inserted correct LAT, LON and altitude. Can > anyone tell me what causes this error and how to correct it? Powered up the TAC-2 with my new antenna and have received a similiar error. "Device I/O error in line 1 of module SHWTM33D at address 0A12:0AE6" I run Showtime in a DOS window on my Windows 95 machine. Experimenting with a couple of settings, it appears that Showtime does not like the behavior of the Win95 screen saver. I understand that someone was woking with Tom for a Windows version of the Showtime code. I suggested Retsik Software for Windows since they wrote the AccuSet 4.1 application and there are nice features that could be adopted. Meanwhile, I shut the Screen saver off. Greg Beat W9GB Attachment converted: Power Mac:WINMAIL.DAT 5 (????/----) (0002491E)