Quantar Upgrade Requirements

[ASTROMODAT]

In order for a Quantar to be FLASHport upgradeable (with an FTP download through the Ethernet BNC port), the station MUST meet ALL 5 of the following conditions:

1. System Release 3.0, or later

2. Station ship date of 1/1/97, or later

3. For Conventional, it must have either the EPIC II (CLN6961) or the EPIC III (CLN1614) board. Note: Notice that the TRN7760D will NOT meet this requirement, as it was a much earlier board. The EPIC I will also not support FLASHport uplifts.

4. WIB II CLN6955 (WIB TRN7477 will NOT work!)

5. WIB II software version WL-20-09-015 thru WL-20-10-021

Note: The TRN7477 SCB and the EPIC I boards were both discontinued in January, 2003. In both cases, the (SCB and EPIC I) the replacement board is the EPIC II, and it is only compatible with the WIB-II board. One leads to the other.

The basic Quantar FLASHport kit is T6693 (this is the ‘Main” line item on the STIC-1 form), and then you add sub-items to this in order to specify individual features that you want to address.

You will need the Motorola FTP Software Kit to be loaded onto your PC in order to enable the proper protocol that is necessary to dump the new firmware into the Quantar (via the EPIC board). It is CVN-1077A.

If your Quantar is too old to be FLASHport upgradeable, then you can uplift its firmware and features with a PROM change out.

In either case, to place an order, you need to supply your Motorola salesman (unfortunately FLASHport is not available through parts) with several pieces of info, including:

Station serial number, backplane board ID serial number, SCB board serial number (must physically remove board to read), model number, and FLASHcode number.

The older the station, the more difficult any upgrade is. Parts Quantars are probably not going to support any sort of upgrade, unless you can self-hack it. A Quantar that was originally integrated at the factory, and has not subsequently had individual boards replaced without the proper firmware, should always be upgradable, so long as it is not too old. The difficulty comes into play where someone put a board(s) into the Quantar, but did not properly integrate the firmware, etc.

You can just load the latest shipping software (a so-called “software refresh”) if you want to uplift your Quant to the most current operating firmware.

For schematic board level detail, you can find that information in the Quantar Service Manual (68P81088E90). The Quantar Instruction Manual (68P81095E05, also known as the "Functional Manual") is typically most helpful, especially since the boards are not recommended for field repair (they are all FRU's).

Hope this helps.

Larry