6809 SmartNet controller information
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2022 9:58 pm
Hello all.
I know what I am about to explain seems completely insane, and like a waste of time and effort. I get it, this isn't going to be an easy project but I am willing to take on such a challenge, and am simply looking for a bit of help, telling me its impossible doesn't help.
I am looking to get an old 6809 based trunking site controller and restore it back to operation. This is not going to be used as a full system for actual use, but really for educational purposes and fun. I want to learn how these old systems worked, try and decode/document their control channel protocol, and eventually make a good demonstration on how it all functions. I want to preserve the details of these and how they operated before its all lost to time. I know pretty much all that I'll need but am looking for input on a few things.
First off, manuals. Does anyone here have, know where I could get, or at least have a list of the manuals for this controller? I just bought the installation manual for it (68P81039E20-A) which should be here tomorrow, but really am looking for manuals that are going to describe all the operations of the terminal interface, the pinouts to the connectors on the back, a list of cards and how everything interfaces with a zone controller. There is almost no information on these apart from what's previously been posted on this board, and what bits and pieces I can find from other places.
Second, information on the U48 EPROM and its data format, or even better, an address map for it. I know that most the controller settings are done through the terminal, but the channel information, station ID, connect tone, and probably a few other things are set in that EPROM. It would be great if there's someone who has the ability to program one of those chips, or can confirm information about the "field programmer" I have seen mentioned before. But if all else fails, I am completely prepared to attempt to decode the format of it on my own, and figure out what values change what parameters. I know there's others who have done it before, and have mentioned that there's several (yikes) checksums in that chip. It would be great if anyone here who has dealt with it previously could provide any information on it, or BIN files read from other systems. I'm mainly looking for the addresses that determine the frequencies, and the station ID, and obviously any checksums that need to be updated.
And finally, here's just a list of other things that I'm still not really certain about, that someone here can probably answer:
-Is control channel rotation programmed in the EPROM, or done through the terminal?
-If any, what is the default login to the terminal interface?
-I see it has several serial ports, do these all run as terminal channels, or do they have other functions?
-Is it possible to whitelist radio IDs that can affiliate and be granted a channel?
-Can the system run with a single control channel and a single voice channel, or is there a minimum number of voice channels?
-What's the general architecture of a SmartZone system with these controllers, and any models of a zone controller?
-Is a telephone interconnect simply another card (if so, what model), or is it more complicated?
-Is there any other super important details that I am clearly missing?
I would really appreciate any help on this, this forum is really my only hope for getting any form of explanation of these, considering how old they are now.
Thanks in advance,
Keith
I know what I am about to explain seems completely insane, and like a waste of time and effort. I get it, this isn't going to be an easy project but I am willing to take on such a challenge, and am simply looking for a bit of help, telling me its impossible doesn't help.
I am looking to get an old 6809 based trunking site controller and restore it back to operation. This is not going to be used as a full system for actual use, but really for educational purposes and fun. I want to learn how these old systems worked, try and decode/document their control channel protocol, and eventually make a good demonstration on how it all functions. I want to preserve the details of these and how they operated before its all lost to time. I know pretty much all that I'll need but am looking for input on a few things.
First off, manuals. Does anyone here have, know where I could get, or at least have a list of the manuals for this controller? I just bought the installation manual for it (68P81039E20-A) which should be here tomorrow, but really am looking for manuals that are going to describe all the operations of the terminal interface, the pinouts to the connectors on the back, a list of cards and how everything interfaces with a zone controller. There is almost no information on these apart from what's previously been posted on this board, and what bits and pieces I can find from other places.
Second, information on the U48 EPROM and its data format, or even better, an address map for it. I know that most the controller settings are done through the terminal, but the channel information, station ID, connect tone, and probably a few other things are set in that EPROM. It would be great if there's someone who has the ability to program one of those chips, or can confirm information about the "field programmer" I have seen mentioned before. But if all else fails, I am completely prepared to attempt to decode the format of it on my own, and figure out what values change what parameters. I know there's others who have done it before, and have mentioned that there's several (yikes) checksums in that chip. It would be great if anyone here who has dealt with it previously could provide any information on it, or BIN files read from other systems. I'm mainly looking for the addresses that determine the frequencies, and the station ID, and obviously any checksums that need to be updated.
And finally, here's just a list of other things that I'm still not really certain about, that someone here can probably answer:
-Is control channel rotation programmed in the EPROM, or done through the terminal?
-If any, what is the default login to the terminal interface?
-I see it has several serial ports, do these all run as terminal channels, or do they have other functions?
-Is it possible to whitelist radio IDs that can affiliate and be granted a channel?
-Can the system run with a single control channel and a single voice channel, or is there a minimum number of voice channels?
-What's the general architecture of a SmartZone system with these controllers, and any models of a zone controller?
-Is a telephone interconnect simply another card (if so, what model), or is it more complicated?
-Is there any other super important details that I am clearly missing?
I would really appreciate any help on this, this forum is really my only hope for getting any form of explanation of these, considering how old they are now.
Thanks in advance,
Keith