[aprssig] [opentracker] OpenTracker USB released

[ray at rayvaughan.com]

Any hope for an Ethernet version some day?  So much more flexible.  The radio
could be anywhere in the world with a hardwire or WiFi connection. PoE could
even power the device, and a low wattage radio.

 
Ray, KD4BBM

 

On December 15, 2010 at 11:16 PM Scott Miller <scott at opentrac.org> wrote:

> The OT1+ has never had particularly strong RX capability.  It was
> something I managed to add on when I upgraded from the old KX8 processor.
>
> When I have time, I'm going to see if the OTUSB's demodulator can be
> back-ported to the OT1+.  It's going to be a bit of a stretch, though -
> the OTUSB is clocked 3.25 times faster than the OT1+.
>
> I've been getting results of over 930 packets decoded on the WA8LMF test
> track, compared to about 960 for the MX614-based OT2m and under 900 for
> most TNC2 clones.  The biggest limitation is dynamic range, since it's
> using mostly 8-bit math.  You have to make sure the audio level is
> adjusted properly, but there's a display in the diagnostic screen for
> that.  I'm going to add a simple AGC function later on - that helped
> with the DTMF decoding on the ADS-SR1.  Incidentally, that runs on a
> slightly slower version of the same processor, so at some point I'll
> probably port the DTMF code over and use it for some non-APRS stuff with
> the OTUSB hardware.
>
> The new MCU also has more RAM available, and part of that's going to go
> to KISS buffering.
>
> I'm really looking forward to doing a few more specialized board layouts
> based on the OTUSB.  Aside from the voltage regulator there's just one
> 44-pin IC that does everything, USB interface included.  Some of the
> software work was a major pain - getting it to load firmware over the
> USB port when a good chunk of that firmware is the USB stack itself, for
> example - but it does make the hardware side easier.
>
> Scott
> N1VG
>
> On 12/15/2010 4:01 PM, Xinhua Rong wrote:
> > Scott,
> >
> > Congratulations on the new product release. Personally, I like MX614
> > more. I had poor decoding experience in OpenTracker+ with FT-7800R,
> > FT-8800R etc mobile radios with DATA port. Not sure if you had chance to
> > test OTUSB with these radios.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Adam
> >
> > On 2010-12-16 6:01, Scott Miller wrote:
> >>
> >> I'm pleased to announce that the new OpenTracker USB is now shipping!
> >>
> >> https://www.argentdata.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=148
> >> http://wiki.argentdata.com/index.php/OpenTracker_USB
> >>
> >> The new tracker is basically a Tracker2 without the digipeater and
> >> Garmin protocol functions, but with a full-speed USB port that can be
> >> used for configuration, command prompt access, and KISS mode,
> >> independent of the two regular serial ports.
> >>
> >> This means you get remote control capability, a TNC2-style command
> >> prompt, scripting, weather station support, KISS mode, and the ability
> >> to do all of this simultaneously without reloading the firmware.
> >>
> >> There's also space inside for a GT-525 GPS receiver module, and we'll be
> >> offering that with the appropriate jumper a little later as an option.
> >>
> >> Demodulation is software-based, and significantly improved over the
> >> OpenTracker+ - in our testing, it's been very close to MX614-based TNCs
> >> in decode performance.
> >>
> >> Because of the surface mount construction we won't be offering this one
> >> as a kit. We'll still be offering the OpenTracker+ as a kit as long as
> >> we're able to get the parts, but the assembled version will be phased
> >> out in favor of the new design.
> >>
> >> USB support has been tested with Windows 2000/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux.
> >> We'll be adding INF files for Vista and Windows 7 shortly, but it shows
> >> up as a generic USB CDC device so drivers are included with the
> >> operating system.
> >>
> >> Documentation is still sparse, but the wiki has the critical
> >> information. Nearly all of the information in the Tracker2 manual
> >> applies, with the exception of the digipeater and Garmin sections. The
> >> OTUSB manual should be published by this weekend.
> >>
> >> We've got units ready to ship now, and more on the way, so there's still
> >> time to put it on your Christmas list!
> >>
> >> 73,
> >>
> >> Scott
> >> N1VG
> >>
> >>
> >
>
>
>
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