Need help with MSF10000's with wildcards

[n9dki]

We have two MSF10000s (the export version of the MSF5000) one on 2 meters, one on 440 MHz. Both are the digital version, with SSCB, TTRC, expansion trays, and two wildcards each. The wildcards in each machine are set up the same - there's a 4 wire cable jumpering the optoisolators from one board to the other, and one of the cards has a couple of chips and a bunch of spaghetti wiring in the expansion area.

So the big question is this: are the wildcards actually doing anything at this point in time? Can they be stripped down and re-configured for IRLP interfaces without losing any features like output power foldback on battery revert?

And does anybody have any idea what these wildcards might have been configured for?

Yogi Bear & I thank any and all people that can offer some insight into this problem - these are the W9YB club repeaters.

[xmo]

If the stations were configured with the wildcards at the factory, there might be an SPXXX notation on the station's model number plate or in the original parameter booklet.

If you have that number, it might be possible to look it up to determine what the wildcards were for.

You can also check the Station Type / Options in the RSS to see if the codeplug contains any SP.

None of the station's standard features would require the wildcard - including power foldback on battery revert.

You won't hurt anything if you simply unplug the expansion tray or wildcard.

You should have a DMP for working on the MSF. Start by connecting that. Make note of an active bits on the MUXBUS, then power the station down, disconnect the wildcard, power it up, watch for any errors, and then compare active bits to what was previously there.

[n9dki]

Wildcards were most definitely installed at the factory. Will check the model plate for SPX numbers. Don't have the orginal parameter booklet.

The RSS Station Type/Operation section has SP Number: NO SP

Have a DMP, will check the operation with and without the expansion tray plugged in.

The optos and relays are ideal to isolate PTT and COS for the IRLP interface, What do you think about 1:1 audio transformers for the audio paths?

Thanks for the great troubleshooting advice! If everything tests OK, it looks like I'll be reconfiguring some wildcards.....

[George]

[quote="n9dki"]Wildcards were most definitely installed at the factory. Will check the model plate for SPX numbers. Don't have the orginal parameter booklet.

The RSS Station Type/Operation section has SP Number: NO SP

Have a DMP, will check the operation with and without the expansion tray plugged in.

The optos and relays are ideal to isolate PTT and COS for the IRLP interface, What do you think about 1:1 audio transformers for the audio paths?

Thanks for the great troubleshooting advice! If everything tests OK, it looks like I'll be reconfiguring some wildcards.....[/quote]

While you can use the wildcards for PTT and COS access, you really don't need them because the same signals are available from your TTRC on pins 9, 12 and 19. Check to verify this.

One pin is remote PTT, the other is an optional output that can be set to give you a Receiver active or other signal to indicate what you need.

I would not bother with matching transformers because you already have them on your TTRC. Just set it up for for wire audio and you can run audio directly from your computer to the MSF and you will need to pad the MSF to computer side, but you can handle making an H pad to accomplish this.

I have serveral sites set up this way. Not a problem at all.