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OpenTracker

User’s Manual

PCB Revision 4

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Summary of Contents for OpenTracker

Page 1: ...OpenTracker User s Manual PCB Revision 4 ...

Page 2: ...ithout requiring a heat sink Acknowledgements The OpenTracker is far from being the first device of its type and owes much to those that came before in particular John Hansen s GPS E firmware and its TAPR PIC E hardware Steve Bragg s HamHUD and Byon Garrabrant s very successful TinyTrak series Lessons learned from all of these devices have contributed to the design of the OpenTracker The OpenTrack...

Page 3: ...des 8 e Configuration Program 8 f Main configuration window 9 5 Installing New Firmware 14 6 Weather Station Operation 15 7 Telemetry Operation 16 8 OpenTracker Circuit Details 17 Theory of Operation 18 Appendix A Test Procedures 20 a Measurements 20 Appendix B APRS symbol tables 21 Appendix C Common Modifications 23 OpenTracker Manual Version 1 05 6 25 06 page of 23 3 ...

Page 4: ...t edge of board X2 DB9 Connector male Right edge of board Y1 29 4912 MHz crystal Bend down to PCB before soldering A 6 2K resistor Blue Red Red may be substituted for R6 The OpenTracker kit requires basic to intermediate level soldering skills You will need a low wattage soldering iron wire cutters and solder Rosin core solder is recommended never use acid core solder for electronics Review the pa...

Page 5: ...s to the line at the pointed end of the symbol shown for these parts on the silkscreen The LED should have its short lead and or flat edge installed to the left facing D1 The microcontroller U1 has a reference notch on one edge that should face left as shown in the diagram below To straighten U1 s pins prior to insertion place one row of pins on a hard flat surface Hold the IC by the edges and gen...

Page 6: ...If JP8 and JP9 are jumpered together pin 4 on connecter X2 Serial Port can be used to supply raw voltage Vin to an external device such as a GPS receiver or to receive power via a specially wired cable assembly JP9 and JP10 may be connected to provide regulated 5 volt power on pin 4 Table 3 DB9 Female X1 Radio Port Table 4 DB9 Male X2 Serial Port Pin Function 1 No Connection 2 Data In 3 Data Out 4...

Page 7: ...f a jumper is installed between pins 8 and 9 of the expansion header power may be supplied through pin 4 of the data connector b Receive Adjustment The OpenTracker cannot decode incoming packet data Instead it watches for audio energy voice data or static to avoid transmitting over other stations The sensitivity of the energy detect is determined by the trimpot labeled RX Adjust the squelch on the...

Page 8: ...website Use a standard null modem cable to connect the device to the PC The PC does not supply power to the tracker so it must be powered externally Connect the tracker and start the configuration program The first window displayed allows you to select the COM port that the tracker is connected to Overwriting an Invalid Configuration The Erase device and load new firmware option will load a new fi...

Page 9: ... upgrade it may fail to enter configuration mode You can correct this by performing a cold boot power the unit off and power it on again after clicking Connect f Main configuration window Configuration Profiles The OpenTracker can store two separate configuration profiles The profile currently being shown is selected using the tabs at the top of the window labeled Config 1 and Config 2 OpenTracker...

Page 10: ...ly Once the switch to the new profile has been made the criteria in the new profile take effect Another switch will not occur until the new criteria are met Often the criteria in each profile will be complementary For example Config 1 might indicate a switch when the jumper is installed and Config 2 would indicate a switch when the jumper is removed However the criteria may be completely independe...

Page 11: ...s with many trackers and short transmission intervals should be operated on a separate frequency not on the shared APRS channel An interval of zero will disable timed transmissions Symbol Table and Symbol Code These settings control the symbol used to indicate the station s position when drawn on a map See Appendix B for a listing of available symbols Temp Adjust Calibration offset for onboard tem...

Page 12: ...d Between these two extremes the interval varies between the low and high rates depending on the speed A turn angle can also be specified to cause the tracker to transmit when turning Power Control When selected the tracker will assert a 5 volt signal on JP1 before each transmission This can be used to drive a relay or MOSFET to control power to the transmitter The tracker will pause for the speci...

Page 13: ...e channel is busy when the carrier detect input is low Suppress PTT Out on PTT In This option allows the tracker to be used in burst after voice mode without breaking any lines between the microphone and radio PTT is not asserted by the tracker until the microphone PTT is released Disable Transmit on Low Voltage To avoid over discharging batteries enable this option and enter the minimum voltage a...

Page 14: ...a remote weather station or CW keyer for example Two methods are provided to install new firmware images First the files may be downloaded from the website manually and uploaded to the device using the File button This is particu larly useful if you will be configuring devices on a computer without Internet access Second by clicking on the Web button the configuration program will retrieve a list ...

Page 15: ...erial port Weather Firmware Setup If the OpenTracker has the weather station firmware loaded the configuration program will detect this and display a different screen on startup Most of the options function as with the standard tracker firmware However the weather station operates only in fixed position mode it cannot interface with a GPS receiver Also the comment text is always sent in a separate...

Page 16: ...h each transmission ADC0 Multiply by 1 9608 for temperature reading in kelvins ADC1 Divide by 17 for supply voltage reading in volts ADC2 Divide by 51 for auxiliary analog input reading in volts Counter Low eight bits of the digital counter input HDOP Divide by 10 for GPS horizontal dilution of precision reading Of the final eight digit field only two binary digits are used the rightmost bit refle...

Page 17: ...8 OpenTracker Circuit Details OpenTracker Manual Version 1 05 6 25 06 page 17 of 23 ...

Page 18: ...lling the audio output down through R3 for handheld PTT and pulling X1 pin 3 to ground for other radios An externally applied PTT signal on X1 pin 8 will pull the PTT output low through D2 and will pull pin 14 of the MCU low it is normally held high by an internal pull up resistor through D3 The audio input from the radio is AC coupled by C3 and biased by R9 R9 sets the carrier detect threshold X1...

Page 19: ...Solder a few parts solder and then clip off leads close Look for bridges and shorts as you go along 4 Close up of C6 Y1 C7 note how inserting Y1 might be tricky if C6 and C7 are both already in place 5 Finished project In this case R3 has been left out as this unit will be used with a mobile rig OpenTracker Manual Version 1 05 6 25 06 page 19 of 23 ...

Page 20: ...s power source Using U1 pin 1 or JP2 as ground check the following voltages Connection Nominal Value Circuit Description U1 pin 16 5 V 0 25 Voltage regulator output U1 pin 5 10 mV K Temperature sensor 2 95 V 295 Kelvin 71 3 F JP8 6 7 to 35 V Vin U1 pin 6 1 3 Vin Voltage divider Remove power re install U1 and power up the tracker With a typical digital voltmeter U1 pins 9 and 10 should indicate app...

Page 21: ... Cloudy Wheel Chair MODIS Earth Observation Snowmobile Snow Red Cross Church Boy Scouts Girl Scouts House VHF House HF X Question Mark Red Dot Destination Red Dot 0 Circle Obsolete Circle w overlay 9 Obsolete Gas Petrol Station Fire Hail Campground Park or Picnic Area Motorcycle Advisory Railroad Engine Reserved Car Car w overlay File server Info Kiosk Hurricane Prediction Hurricane Tropical Storm...

Page 22: ...l Defense w overlay d Fire Station DX Spot e Horse Sleet f Fire Truck Funnel Cloud g Glider Gale h Hospital HAM store i IOTA Indoor BOXn digi w overlay j Jeep Work Zone k Truck SUV off roader 4x4 l Laptop Area Locations m Repeater Signpost 3 digit n Node Triangle w overlay o EOC Small Circle p Rover Partly Cloudy q Grid square Reserved r Antenna Restrooms s Ship Power Boat Boat w overlay t Truck S...

Page 23: ...l adjustment range PTT Signal Method When to use Use this modification when the OpenTracker is used with most mobile radios and certain handhelds Explanation Most handheld radios signal push to talk by pulling the microphone input to ground through a known impedance R3 normally serves this purpose in the OpenTracker It is not required for mobile radios and certain handhelds most notably those made...

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