sierra radio systems - hamstack.com commserv… · the sierra radio systems device control network...

Reference Manual

Version 1.1

CommServer

Embedded Linux Platform

And Station Management Systems

Sierra Radio Systems

Contents

• Introduction

• CommServer Embedded Linux Platform

• Device Control Network

• Site Controller

• Remote RF Power Monitoring

CommServer Introduction

The Sierra Radio Systems CommServer is an embedded linux host computer platform that

can be used for many applications. Sierra Radio will develop applications on this platform

and we encourage our users and 3rd parties to build on top of the platform as well. Where

possible, all of our software applications will be open source allowing maximum creativity

and range of development options.

Lets start with the hardware. The key features are…

BeagleBone Black single board linux computer

1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU

512 MB RAM

2 GB eMMC flash memory

MicroSD card slot

Ethernet

UARTs, I2C, SPI, A/D, etc.

Power supplies to deliver 5.0v digital, 3.3v digital and 5.0v analog voltage rails

Optional audio CODEC providing analog audio input and output

Xbee data radio socket to allow communications with external devices

RS232 level shifter and DB9 to bring out the linux board’s UART 2 port

Key software features

Ubuntu linux distribution

Built in SRS apps including voice telemetry, scheduled events and command decoding

from the main repeater controller CPU

CommServer Linux Platform

CommServer Parts Placement

Audio Interface

0.01uf Default: out

Used to force pre-emphasis

0.01uf Default: out

Used to force pre-emphasis

R11 Default: 47k – Change to adjust audio gain to RCB

R12 Optional 100 ohm resistor

Installing resistor will enable the low pass

Audio filter.

R10

15k – 18k

Resistor

Audio Options1. The level from the CODEC audio out may be too high. Adjust as necessary. (Default: 47k)

2. Install C4 and C5 if you want to pre-emphasize the audio. Normally these caps are out of the circuit and use

the pre-emphasis circuit on the RCB. Normally left out.

3. Install C6 to de-emphasize the audio. Normally left out.

4. Install C7 to de-emphasize the audio. Normally left out.

5. R10 gain set resistor for the audio in buffer is labeled 15k but the default value is 18k.

6. R12 forms a low pass filter with C8 and C9. Normally left out.

7. Install jumpers in header P1 to route audio and data signals.

Jumpers1-2 Route audio out to RCB (normal)

3-4 Route audio out to CPU board

5-6 n/c

7-8 Enable data to main CPU

9-10 Enable data to main CPU

C7 Optional

C6

Optional

The jumpers 7-8 and 9-10 allow you to plug

in multiple CommServers in the same card

cage. Only one CommServer can have

these jumpers installed to enable

communications to the master CPU board.

RCB DB9-5

RCB DB9-1

CPU I/O Connections

BeagleBone

CPU Pins Usage

Analog I/O

A/D 0 +12v backplane voltage monitor

A/D 1 +8v backplane voltage monitor

A/D 2 +5v local voltage monitor

A/D 3 Unused

All A/D inputs are a 10k series resistor and a 1k resistor to ground to form a voltage divider.

Digital I/O

GPIO2_1 Logic output to RCB COR logic input. Used to key up the repeater control system.

GPIO0_26 Logic output to RCB PL decoder logic input.

GPIO1_14 Logic input from RCB PTT output. Pulled high. Used to detect activity on the repeater system.

GPIO1_12 Upper user programmable status LED

GPIO1_29 Lower user programmable status LED

GPIO1_15 Net reset. Controls reset to the repeater control system net_reset signal on the backplane

GPIO0_27 RF reset. Controls reset to the Xbee data radio

Serial UARTS

UART 0 Console. 3.3v TTL logic brought to the 6 pin SIP header connector along the board edge.

This connection is designed to work with a FTDI USB to TTL converter cable.

UART 1 Connected to the repeater control system master CPU UART2.

UART 2 Connected to the DB9 RS232 connector on the front edge of the board.

UART 3 Not available.

UART 4 Xbee data radio socket

UART 5 Not available.

Software Environment

The CommServer is built on Ubuntu, a very popular linux distribution. The CommServer software includes a variety of

pre-installed programs, libraries and data files to make the system work properly.

Default root system login

Login: root

Password: sierra

File Structure

Just about all of the SRS developed software can be found in the directory /home/srs

Within that directory, you will find the following sub-directories…

Apps Contains sub-directories with various installed applications

Audio Audio data files

Install Programs ready to be installed

Log Log files

Python Python development

Startup Startup scripts

Scripts Various scripts in development

Special Not used

Test Temporary working directory

Web Web site data files

/home/srs/apps/tel

This folder contains the voice telemetry and command processing programs and scripts.

To launch the voice telemetry system: python /home/srs/apps/tel/command

/home/srs/apps/dcn

This folder contains the device control network (DCN) python and script programs.

Most of the CommServer apps are written in Python or BASH scripts.

Voice Telemetry System App

The voice telemetry system provides a mechanism to trigger the playback of pre-recorded voice phrases

based on command decoding in the master CPU. The control program called “command” can also decode

functions and trigger the execution of a python program or BASH script file.

How it works…

When a command is decoded in the master CPU of the repeater controller, let’s say *123, if that command is

a user written macro, it will cause one or more built in commands to be executed. For example *123 can

cause link 1 to be turned on by executing a built in C3311. In the configuration program (“config”) you would

define the macro *123 to cause the following to be executed: C3311

You can add an instruction to send a serial command to the CommServer with the S377 command. Using

the syntax S337[xxxxx] where the controller will send “xxxxx” to the CommServer. In our example your

macro would be written as…

C3311 S377[L1ON]

This macro will turn on link 1 because of the C3311 built in command AND then send the string “L1ON” to the

CommServer board. This is an arbitrary string you can make up as long as the command program on the

CommServer is looking for the same command string.

On the CommServer, there is a program called “command” which must be running to intercept the command

string from the repeater controller. In our example it is looking for the string “L1ON” for “Link one on”. The

command program is written in Python and you can modify the source code if you like. Basically the

command program will evaluate the new string, “L1ON”, and look to see if it is in it’s look up table of

commands.

If the command “L1ON” is found, the command program will run the code associated with it.

For example “os.system(say + “link 1 on”) Which will speak “Link one on”

Or “os.system(python /home/srs/test/blork”) Which will run a python program called blork in

/home/srs/test

There is a convenient utility that we include called “speak”. This is a python program is called like this…

python speak hello test 1 2 3

“python” will invoke the python program run time.

“speak” is the python program we wrote that does the speaking.

“1 2 3” are the list of arguments being sent to the speak program.

The way speak works, it will key up the repeater system, then cycle through each one of the arguments, 1 2

3, and attempt to play the associated audio files. Specifically /home/srs/audio/1.wav then

/home/srs/audio/2.wav etc.

Then when it’s all done, it will unkey the repeater system.

You can use the built in wav files or record your own and just replace them in the /home/sys/audio directory.

You can also add words to the vocabulary by just dropping new .wav files into the same folder. If you ask

speak to say a word that is not in the audio directory, it will just skip the word. A word can be a full phrase as

long as you like. For example a wave file called srs.wav could speak “welcome to sierra radio systems” if

that is the audio content of the srs.wav file.

INTRODUCTION

The Sierra Radio Systems Device Control Network (DCN) provides a way to allow multiple

devices communicate on a wired or wireless network. The primary application for the DCN is to

allow a master computer or device, to control and monitor a network of real-time control devices.

The DCN specification defines four components, the physical and RF connections and electrical

signals, data link layer, the application layer and network topology. The purpose of the physical

layer is to define the standard mechanical connectors, pin assignments, signaling voltages, and

RF frequencies . The next layer up, the data link layer, defines the format of data packets sent

on the network. The third layer defines the format of the payload being sent from point A to point

B and finally recommendations for the network topology.

SECTION 1 - PHYSICAL CONNECTIONS AND ELECTRICAL SIGNALING

The DCN is a “dual-band” system meaning that data may be transmitted over wired or RF

communications paths or both.

Physical Connections

The control protocol can be transmitted over any type of communications medium. The most

common connections are wired through an RS232 or RS485 connection, a wireless connection,

typically using an RF mesh data network or over ethernet.

Wired RS-485

The RS485 wired implementation uses commonly available Ethernet CAT5 cable and RJ-45

connectors. While the DCN protocol has nothing at all to do with Ethernet except that we take

advantage of the wide availability of premade cables. The CAT5 cable provides 8 wires which

carry the network traffic and power. Many devices have two RJ-45 connectors wired in parallel.

This allows for easy daisy-chaining of multiple devices using CAT5 cable. This makes it easy to

add more devices to the network without the need for any kind of hub or switch.

RJ-45 Cable Assignments

1 – Network data signal A 5 - Ground

2 – Network data signal B 6 - Reserved

3 – Reserved 7 - +12 VDC

4 – Ground 8 - +12 VDC

DCNDevice Control Network

Wired RS-485 Electrical Signaling - continued

The electrical signaling used is based on RS-485. This signaling technique is a half-duplex,

differential pair that allows multiple devices to be connected to a single pair of wires. RS-485

also has the advantage of allowing devices to be spread over 1000’s of feet of cable without the

need for signal conditioning or repeaters.

Power can be supplied by any device and delivered to all devices on the network. If a device

can supply power to the network, there must be a way to disconnect the power, usually through a

jumper block. Only 1 device is allowed to supply power to the network at a time. Network

voltage should be between 12-14 VDC. This provides enough of headroom to power any DCN

compatible device.

Wireless RF Data Network

The DCN can also use RF modules that operate on 2.4 GHz or 900 MHz. If mesh network radio

modules are used, if you add new nodes to the RF network, the automatically become part of the

network. This is particularly convenient when extending the range between devices. Each node

can be thought of as a serial port that taps into an invisible network of other devices. When data

is sent into the serial port of the data radio, the packet will be delivered to every data radio in the

network and the packet will be transmitted out of the RF module’s serial port into the local

device’s CPU.

A network can consist of a mixture of wired RS-485 and RF data network enabled nodes.

In the 2.4 GHz version of the RF network, there are 16 possible RF carrier channels. Our default

pre-configured data radios are assigned channel “E”. Note that these frequencies are in the

same band of frequencies as WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and other data services. While

interference is rare, you can always change channels using the Digi International configuration

program called X-CTU.

IntroductionWe use the Digi International Xbee data radios running the Digi-Mesh protocol stack for our station

monitoring and control applications. To install firmware and set configuration parameters in each radio

module, you will use a program called X-CTU available free from Digi-International.

Firmware StackThe reason we use the Digi-Mesh stack is the ease of addressing nodes on a network and the ability for

the network to grow by simply dropping new nodes in the network. Any data packet that enters the

network will hop from node to node until the message goes to all nodes. Each device controller will

inspect the packet to determine if the message is for that particular node or not.

The firmware comes pre-installed and the devices are pre-configured for RF channel E and a network ID

of 7777. This is similar to an SSID in a WiFi network. If you need to re-flash your firmware or change

the configuration of your data radios, read the following instructions…

Step 1 – Install X-CTU PC softwareThe X-CTU software can be downloaded from the Digi-International web site.

Step 2 - Install the Digi-Mesh firmwareFor the 2.4 GHz xBee (1mw) module, install modem firmware type: XB24-DM

For the 2.4 GHz xBee PRO module, install modem firmware type: XBP24-DM

For the 900 MHz xBee PRO module, install modem firmware type: XPB09-DM

The field “Function Set” should be set to XBEE PRO DIGIMESH 2.4

There are only a few configuration parameters required to get your data radio module up and running on

the network.

Step 3 - Set network IDThis is the “name” of the RF network that all units will join.

This is an arbitrary 4 digit number. You can pick any number you want. You can run multiple

independent networks on the same RF channel by setting some modules to one address and other

modules in another network to another address and they will ignore each other.

Sierra Radio default recommendation:

Set Networking ID – Modem VID to 7777

Xbee Firmware Configuration Guide

Step 4 – Set operating channelThis is one of the 12 available RF carrier channels that the network will operate on. Channels are

assigned values from 0C to 17 (C, D, E, F, 10, 11, 12,13,14,15, 16, 17, 18) represented as a hex value.

The RF carrier channels overlap with other devices in the 2.4 GHz band including WiFi and Bluetooth

networks. Generally speaking you can pick any channel and it will work fine even with these other

networks in operation. If you are in an RF dense environment and want to take all steps possible to

avoid interference, pick a channel that does not overlap with your local WiFi networks. See the

frequency table in the appendix. We recommend using channel E.

Set Network CH – Operating Channel to E

Step 5 – Set device addressSetting the high order destination address to 0 and the low order destination address to FFFF will put the

radio in broadcast mode. All data packets received will be sent to the serial port. In a SRS environment

running the DCN protocol on the controllers CPU, the device address decoding is done by the local CPU.

This makes the network operate as a simple mesh of all devices where any data going into one data

radio’s serial port will appear at the output of all data radios. The CPU will then process the payload of

the packets.

The SRS default recommendation:

Set Addressing DL – Destination Address Low to FFFF

Set Addressing DH – Destination Address High to 0

Step 6 – Set serial port configurationThe data radio module’s serial port can be configured to one of eight standard baud rates including 1200,

2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400, 57600, 115200, and 230400 baud.

The SRS default recommendation:

Set Serial Interfacing BD – Baud Rate to 9600

xBee Firmware Configuration Guide

Digi International

X-CTU firmware configuration software

Defaults

Channel: E

PAN ID: 7777

Firmware

Type:

XB24-DM

Defaults

DH: 0

DL: FFFF

Data Radio

Network Topology

Overview

The Sierra Radio Device Control Network can be build with wired or wireless devices or a combination of

both. The network protocol is completely independent from the physical communications channels. In the

DCN, all devices are listening all the time to the network. One device, typically a computer, is the master

and all other devices are slaves. All slaves remain quiet until the master communicates with them. Every

device, including the master has unique address. Typically the master is address 0 (zero) and devices are

numbered 1, 2, 3 and so on. Think of the network as one big “party line” where everyone is connected all

the time. When anyone transmits, all devices can hear it. There are three commonly used physical

connections used in a DCN. They are RS232 for point to point applications with one master and one slave

device. RS485 which is a serial interface but very different from RS232. RS485 uses differential signaling

on a pair of wires (called the A and B wires) and operate half duplex. The advantage to RS485 is the ability

to hang multiple devices on the A/B pair and the long physical distances that can be used. The third

common connection type is an RF data channel. The DCN data radios take serial data into their UART

and package the data up in a packet and transmits them to the other data radios in the network where the

same data comes out the UART on the other end and into the local devices microcontroller.

Lets look at some typical network configurations.

MasterAddress: 0

DeviceAddress: 1

In the most simple example, the master can talk to a slave over a wired connection. Some Sierra Radio

products have RS232 ports but all devices have the RS485 DCN connector which is a RJ45 (ethernet)

modular connector.

RS232 or RS485

MasterAddress: 0

DeviceAddress: 1

2.4 GHz RF Path

Data Radio

When using a RF data radio module instead of a wired connection, the logical behavior is exactly the

same. Data that comes out of the master’s UART will arrive at the input to the UART on the slave.

Network Topology

Wired and wireless connections can be combined. One example is where the local devices are connected

with cable and the remote devices connected with a wireless data connection. For example…

MasterAddress: 0

In this example, all devices are listing at the same time to the DCN regardless of the medium of

communications.

RS

48

5 o

ve

r C

AT

5

DeviceAddress: 1

Data Radio

Communication

Bridge

RS232

RS485

DeviceAddress: 2

DeviceAddress: 3

Data Radio

Communication

Bridge

RS232

RS485

DeviceAddress: 4

2.4 GHz RF Path

RS

48

5 o

ve

r C

AT

5

RS

23

2

SECTION 2 - DATA RATES AND PACKET FORMAT

The DCN data protocol sends ASCII data at 9600 baud, non-inverted, 8 bits, no parity.

The protocol defines the format of packets of data transmitted on the network. The simple way to

think of a packet is a string of ASCII characters that contains the payload to be transmitted from

point A to point B and the additional characters necessary to provide synchronization, packet

type identification, addressing, and error checking.

A typical packet looks like this...

/A01:RY1,1:4D <13>

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| Start | Packet | From | To | : | Payload | : | LRC | End |

| of | Type | Address | Address | | | | Value | of |

| Packet | | | | | | | | Packet |

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Start of Packet

A forward slash character / is reserved for the start of packet indication. When a slave device

sees the slash, it knows there is a new packet.

Packet Type

The packet type character defines the format of the packet and instructions for how the packet is

to be interpreted.

Packet types include direct, addressed and addressed with no error checking.

They start each packet with the characters //, /A, and /0 (zero) respectively.

Direct Packet type // ( Example: //reset )

This is a very simple format that is intended only for use in a system with a single node. The

format for a direct packet is simply the header // and the payload.

As you can see, there is no address or error checking. If multiple nodes are on the network and

a direct command is issued, all nodes will decode and execute the command.

This can be very convenient to send master commands to all nodes but there is no error

checking.

Addressed Packet type /A ( Example: /A01:reset:39 )

These packets start with /A and contain the source and destination address, payload and error

check data.

Addressed Packet, no error checking type /0 ( Example: /001:reset:34 )

This is an Addressed packet that ignores the error checking field. This is used for manual entry

of network addressed packets without the need to calculate the error checking value.

Device Addresses

You can assign any node an address using any printable character. However, for maximum

functionality, we recommend using numbers as the addresses.

.

Pre-assigned default device addresses

0 System master. .

1-9 Devices 1-9

1 Site Controller

2 Remote RF coax relay

3 GPIO board

4 Not assigned

5 Watt meter

6 Not assigned

7 RadioRouter audio mixing and switching device

8 Not assigned

9 Not assigned

A-Z Not assigned

* Broadcast to all devices.

Any other characters are reserved and should not be used.

If you add a second device and the default device address is already in use, just pick another.

Payload

The payload is application dependent. See standard command summary.

Error Check Value

The error check value is an 8 bit LRC.. The LRC is applied to all characters in the packet except

the initial start of packet character /. Of course the LRC is not applied to the LRC characters

either.

Example: with the packet /A01:reset:39 the LRC is applied to A01:reset:

End of Packet

The end of packet character is a carriage return, ASCII byte value 013 (decimal). When an end

of packet character is encountered, the input buffer is evaluated.

The evaluation process identifies a packet by finding the start of packet synchronizing character /

and extracts the buffer contents up to the end of packet character.

The command parser then extracts the packet type, addresses, error check value and payload.

The error check value is calculated and compared to the packets error check value. If the values

do not match, the buffer is flushed.

If the packet is good, then the to address is examined. If the to address is the same value as the

devices address, the packet analysis will continue, if not, the packet is ignored and flushed from

the buffer.

STANDARD COMMANDS – ALL DEVICES

Administrative Commands

Command SETADDR,<string>

Example //SETADDR,5

Definition Sets the network address for the RadioRouter to <string>, where <string> is a

single, printable ASCII character.

The default address for the RadioRouter is 9

While the address character can be any single character we recommend the

following guidelines for address programming.

0 Reserved for the controlling PC

1 Reserved for a hardware control head

2…9 Recommended for all user devices

A…Z Also available for user devices

* Reserved for broadcast

All others Punctuation is reserved for system use. Avoid lower case

letters to prevent confusion and accidental upper case

translation.

Command REBOOT

Example //REBOOT

Definition This is a soft reboot command will re-start the RadioRouter.

Command PING

Example //PING

Definition This will return the name, address and type of connected device.

Command ROLLCALL

Example //ROLLCALL

Definition This will return the name, address and type of connected device from all

devices on the network. Each device will wait for a short period of timebefore

sending its response. The delay time is calculated based on the device

address. For example an address of 5 will wait 5 * 100 ms = 500 ms. This will

minimize or avoid collisions.

Command STATUS

Example //STATUS

Definition This will return useful status information about the connected device.

STANDARD COMMANDS – ALL DEVICES

Command STATE

Example //STATE

Definition Returns the state of the device. This typically includes the state of relays,

digital inputs, analog inputs, etc. The specific format varies depending on the

device type.

The return format will be

UPDATE,From, To, Arg1,Arg2,Arg3, etc

DEVICE SPECIFIC COMMANDS - RF Relay

Get site controller Status

Command STATE

Example //STATE

Will return the state of the site controller

Return payload format

UPDATE,1,SC1,RY,DI,Vin,Vout,current,Fwd,Rev,Max,Sense,RefVoltage,AN1,AN2,temp

1 Device address 1

SC1 Device type SC1 (site controller 1)

RY Relay state 10101 (Relay 1…Relay 5)

DI Digital inputs 1 and 2

Vin DC power relay voltage input

Vout DC power relay voltage output

Current DC current flowing through the DC power relay

Fwd Forward RF power

Rev Reflected RF power

Max Max voltage from directional coupler

Sense Directional coupler sense voltage

RefV Reference voltage to be calibrated out of the RF power measurements

AN1,2 User analog voltage input 0-30VDC each

Temp Temperature in degrees F from the digital temperature probe

Example

UPDATE,1,SC1,11111,00,13.8,13.7,14,55,0,2.5,2.0,0.14,13.8,6.0,68

Turn on / off Relays

Command RYx,y

Example //RY1,1

Will turn relays on or off where x is the relay number 1…5 and

y is the state (1=on, 0=off)

Relay state (y)

1 or “on” – Relay on

0 or “off” – Relay off

P – Pulse relay for 250 ms.

T – Toggle state

DEVICE SPECIFIC COMMANDS - Site Controller

Get site controller Status

Command STATE

Example //STATE

Will return the state of the site controller

Return payload format

UPDATE,1,SC1,RY,DI,Vin,Vout,current,Fwd,Rev,Max,Sense,RefVoltage,AN1,AN2,temp

1 Device address 1

SC1 Device type SC1 (site controller 1)

RY Relay state 10101 (Relay 1…Relay 5)

DI Digital inputs 1 and 2

Vin DC power relay voltage input

Vout DC power relay voltage output

Current DC current flowing through the DC power relay

Fwd Forward RF power

Rev Reflected RF power

Max Max voltage from directional coupler

Sense Directional coupler sense voltage

RefV Reference voltage to be calibrated out of the RF power measurements

AN1,2 User analog voltage input 0-30VDC each

Temp Temperature in degrees F from the digital temperature probe

Example

UPDATE,1,SC1,11111,00,13.8,13.7,14,55,0,2.5,2.0,0.14,13.8,6.0,68

Turn on / off Relays

Command RYx,y

Example //RY1,1

Will turn relays on or off where x is the relay number 1…5 and

y is the state (1=on, 0=off)

Relay number (x)

Relay 1 – DC power control

Relay 2 – AC power control

Relay 3 – User relay 1



Relay state (y)

1 or “on” – Relay on

0 or “off” – Relay off

P – Pulse relay for 250 ms.

T – Toggle state

DEVICE SPECIFIC COMMANDS - RadioRouter

RX mixer channel control

Command MIX,<mask>

Example //MIX,10X00000

Will turn on port 1, and turn off ports 2,4,5,6,7,8

Regardless of the current state port 3 will be unchanged

Argument definition

<mask> is a string of 8 characters that turn each mixer channel 1…8 on or off.

1 = port on

0 = port off

X = do not change the current state of the channel

Master receiver audio mixer volume

Command VOL, <value>

Example //VOL,100

Argument definition

<value> is a number between 0 and 255 which will set the master volume.

0 = off and 255 is maximum volume.

The default is typically 100 which is close to mid scale. Individual channel

volume is set with the radio’s volume control.

Transmitter selection

Command TXn (TX1, TX2, TX3, TX4)

Example //TX1

Argument definition: none.

Sets the focus of the transmitter board to transmitter 1 or 2 when using one

transmitter board or between 1, 2, 3, or 4 when using two transmitter boards.

Speaker control

Command SPEAKER,<value>

Example //SPEAKER,ON

Definition Enable / disable speaker output.

<value> can be one of the following strings

ON or 1 = speaker enabled

OFF or 0 = speaker disabled


Operating Mode Selection

Command MODE,<value>

Example //MODE,1

Sets operating mode of the RadioRouter.

Argument definition

<value> is one of the following options

1 = Mode 1. Control head or PC virtual control head control (default)

2 = Mode 2. OTRSP SO2R compatible mode.

Notes on Mode Usage

Mode 1 – StationStack Control Head or Control Head Software

This is typically used with a PC virtual control head program or a hardware control head

using the StationStack Control Protocol where the packets are either fully addressed

(/A) type or direct (//) type. For example a direct command to turn on Rx port 1 would

be //MIX,1XXXXXXX

Mode 2 – OTRSP Logging Computer Program

This is used when the RadioRouter is being controlled from a contesting program such

as WinTest or WriteLog using the Open Two Radio Switching Protocol (OTRSP). This

format does not use any packet framing characters, like /A01:…. The OTRSP

commands are sent in “raw” form. A command payload of TX1 to select transmitter 1 is

simply sent as “TX1” from the logging program.

Setting the Mode Manually with the Reset and Mode buttons

The mode can also be set at boot time with the “Reset” and “Mode” buttons found on the

CPU or Tx boards. When the RadioRouter powers up, it will flash the Status LED a few

times indicating that power has been applied and it is going through its boot process. After

about 5 seconds, the RadioRouter is booted and ready to be used. At this point the Status

LED goes to a solid green indicating the normal “on condition”.

To set the mode manually with these buttons, hold the Mode button down, then press the

Reset button briefly, still holding the Mode button. After the Status LED initially flashes, a few

seconds later the Status LED will then blink once. If you want to boot in mode 1, you have

two seconds to let go of the Mode button at that point. If you want to boot in mode 2,

continue holding down the Mode button. After the Status LED blinks twice, let go of the

mode button. In a few seconds, the Status LED will send either the number 1 (. - - - -) or the

number two (. . - - -) in CW indicating which mode was selected. Timing is critical. If you

bounce you finger on one of the buttons or hold it down too long, you may set the wrong

mode. Repeat the process to set it to the mode you want. Every time the mode is set, it will

be stored in flash memory and when the device is re-booted, it will come up in the mode that

was last set.


Headphone output control

Command PHONES,<value>

Example //PHONES,ON

Definition Enable / disable headphone output.


ON or 1 = headphones enabled

OFF or 0 = headphones disabled

OTRSP Compatible Commands

This is an open standard protocol used to control hardware devices in an SO2R contest

station. OTRSP is the Open Two Radio Switching Protocol. The RadioRouter supports the

most common basic OTRSP commands that are used on popular logging programs including

WinTest, W1MM and WriteLog.

Supported OTRSP commands

RX1 Listen to radio 1

RX1S Listen to radio 1

RX2 Listen to radio 2

RX2S Listen to radio 2

RX1R Listen to both 1 & 2

RX2R Listen to both 1 & 2

?RX Returns the mode set

TX1 Set tx focus to radio 1

TX2 Set tx focus to radio 2

?TX Returns radio with focus

?NAME Sets the name of the device to TEXT (up to 32 chars)

?FW Returns the firmware version

Command PHONES,<value>

Example //PHONES,ON

Definition Enable / disable headphone output.


ON or 1 = headphones enabled

OFF or 0 = headphones disabled

DEVICE SPECIFIC COMMANDS - Control Head

Control Head Commands

These are commands that the master controlling device will respond to. The control head can

be a physical control head or a virtual control head implemented in software on a PC. In either

case, they should behave the same way.

Command LCD,<row>,<column>,<string>

Example //LCD,2,5,W1AW

Definition The RadioRouter assumes an LCD of at least 2 rows and 20 columns.

This command displays the text string W1AW <string> on row 2 starting at

character position 5.

The LCD command also responds to a special command CLS in the format

//LCD,CLS

The CLS argument will clear the LCD display screen

Command LED,<led_mask>

Example //LED, 1100XXGGRRYY

Definition This command will set the state of the control head LEDs. The RadioRouter

assumes 12 LED are available.

The <led_mask> is a 12 character string that represents the state of each LED

from #1 to #12. Each character can be one of the following values.

Character Meaning What is displayed

1 On Green

0 <zero> Off Off

G On Green

O <letter O> Off Off

R Red Not used

Y Yellow Not used

X No change What ever the previous state was

Examples

LED,111100001111 Turn on LEDs 1-4 and 9-12, turn off 5-8

LED,GGGRRRYYYOOO Set LED 1-3 Green, 4-6 Red, 7-9 Yellow, 10-12 off

LED,XXXXGXXXXXXX Set LED 5 on, don’t touch the others.

Note, trailing X’s can be left off and the control head will assume they are X.

Example

LED,XX1 is the same as LED,XX1XXXXXXXXX

DEVICE SPECIFIC COMMANDS - GPIO-2 Board

Relay control

Command RY,<mask>

Example //RY,10X00000

Will turn on relay 1, and turn off relays 2,4,5,6,7,8

Regardless of the current state relay 3 will be unchanged

Argument definition

<mask> is a string of 8 characters that turn each realy 1…8 on or off.

1 = relay on

0 = relay off

X = do not change the current state of the relay

Individual relay

Command RYn,<state>

Example //RY3,1

Argument definition

Where n is a value of 1..8 mapped to relays 1..8

<state> is one of the values 0, 1, T, P.

0 = relay off

1 = relay on

T = toggle state (flip on to off and off to on)

P = pulse. Assuming the relay is normally off, the relay is set off then pulsed

on for 250 ms. then set to the off state.

Get the state of the GPIO board

Command STATE

Example //STATE

Argument definition: none.

Returns the current state of the GPIO board in the format:

//STATE,11111111,0000,13.8,13.8,13.8,13.8

In this example…

11111111 represents the state of the relays #1 .. #8

0000 represents the state of the digital inputs #1 .. #4

13.8, 13.8, 13.8, 13.8 represents the values of the A to D inputs #1 .. #4

State will also send the following additional commands to the master control unit or program:

//LED,10101010 See //LED command for details

//LCD,1,1,TEXT See //LCD command for details

//LCD,2,1,TEXT See //LCD command for details

//TAGLINE,TEXT See //TAGLINE command for details


LED command

This command is send from the GPIO board back to the master controlling device.

The master can be a PC program, iphone, or hardware control head.

This command updates the state of the LEDs on the master control panel or control head.

Command LED,<mask>

Example //LED,10GYYRX00000

The mask maps to LED’s #1 .. #12

<mask> is a string of 12 characters that turn each LED on and off

1 or G = Turn LED on with a green color

0 (zero) = Turn LED off

R = Turn LED on with a red color

Y = Turn LED on with a yellow color

X = do not change the current state of the LED

LCD command

This command sends a text string to the master control program or control head to set

characters to be displayed on the LCD screen.

Command LCD,line,col,text

Example //LCD,1,5,Hello

Argument definition

line is the line 1 or 2 where the text will appear

col is the column where the text will start typically between 1 and 16

text is the text string that will be written on “line” starting in column “col”

Trailing spaces are truncated.

Any text written past the end of the display are lost

Tagline

Command TAGLINE

Example //TAGLINE,W1AW

Tagline places the text string on the control panel’s tagline usually near the top of the display.

This is provided for users to annotate a title to the control panel to personalize the display.

Typically used for callsigns, names, or the purpose of the control head such as

“Antenna Controller”


Autoupdate

Command AUTOUPDATE,<value>

Example //AUTOUPDATE,ON

This command turns the autoupdate mode on and off. When on, the autoupdate will send

the GPIO board state at a regular interval defined by the INTERVAL command.

The values are

1 or ON = turn on autoupdate

0 or OFF = turn off autoupdate

Interval

This command determines the interval at which the GPIO board update is sent to the master

controller.

Command INTERVAL,<value>

Example //INTERVAL,30

The interval is a number representing approximate number of seconds

between updates.

Invert digital inputs

Command INVERTN,value

Example //INVERT2,ON

This command will invert the state of a digital input so when it is represented to the master

controller a high logic input (+5v) is represented as an off state (RED) as

opposed to the normal condition where a logic 1 (+5v) is high and therefore

GREEN.

Other useful commands

//PING Used to pin the GPIO board to make sure it is alive. Ping will return the device

address as well.

//ROLLCALL Same as ping but with a delayed response based on the device address to

allow multiple devices to respond on the network.

//SETADDR,x Set the devices network address to x

//ECHO,x Return the exact string x

//HELP Display the help screen

//STATIS Human readable system status.

Site Controller

1 2 3 4 5Status Link

Site Controller

Status: Normal

Rack mount Site Controller

Desktop Station Controller

Introduction

The Sierra Radio Systems Site Controller is used to remotely monitor and control two-way

radio systems an other non-radio equipment. The controller provides the following

features:

High current latching DC radio power relay

Measure input DC voltage, output DC voltage and DC current

+5v switched DC voltage output to control optional external AC power relay modules

Digital temperature probe input

2x opto-isolated digital inputs

3x 0-30v DC analog voltage inputs

3x 2A dry contact SPDT user relays

Typical applications include remotely controlled ham radio stations, remote computer

rebooting, repeater site monitoring, and remote alarm monitoring. In most remotely

controlled radio systems, the system already has a way to control the main functions.

The site controller communicates over the Sierra Radio Device Control Network (DCN) to

the CommServer or another SRS internet gateway device.

Theory of Operation

DC power switching and measurement

The main DC power path flows current into one Anderson power pole and out the other.

The power is switched using a latching relay. The site controller is supplied with NO DC

power relay installed. The system includes a relay capable of handling up to 10 amps of

current at 13.8 VDC. If you choose to use this default relay, you will need to solder it in

place. If you need to switch higher current, up to 20A, you can install the optional high

current relay instead. The high current relay will actually handle up to 30A but the PCB

traces can only handle a maximum of 20A. If you need to run 20-30 amps, you can add

additional heavy duty wire to the bottom of the PCB.

The switched DC power flows through a current sensor that measures DC amps and will

report the value back to the master in 1A increments. Input and output DC voltages are

also measured and reported back to the user.

AC power switching

We use an optional external AC power relay and AC

pigtail assembly. This power switch pigtail simply plugs

in series between the wall outlet and the AC load.

The site controller uses a low voltage (+5v) signal

to turn the AC power relay on and off. The AC power

switch is opto-isolated.

Temperature probe

The digital temperature probe is a 6’ cable with a

digital temperature sensor housed in a metal cylinder

suitable for mounting to a surface or hanging in free

space to measure ambient room temperature.

Block Diagram

Current sensor

Output

Voltage meter

Input

Voltage meter

Latching DC power control relay

0-10A or 0-20A

User relays 1, 2, 3

+5v

Gnd

DC Input

DC Output

Power supply

Radio

AC relay

Temperature probe

DCN – Device Control Network

Ground

Analog in 2

Analog in 1

Digital in 2

Digital in 1

RY

RY

RY

CPU

RF Data

Modem

RS485

Wireless

Wired

( )( )( )

Power

Supply

iV

V

SPKR AMP

Tone Generator

Front Panel Indicators

Packaging

The site controller comes in a 1U industrial rack mount chassis or in a stand alone

plastic desk top chassis. The desktop version is called a “Station Controller” but the

electronics inside are identical.

Desktop Packaging Front Panel

StatusThe status indicator indicates the general condition of the site controller and doubles as the

power indicator. In normal operation, the status LED is on. When the system is powered on

and starts up, the status LED may be off or blink a few times. This is normal. Once the system

is fully operational, the LED will remain on. If the status LED continues to blink, this indicates an

error condition in the controller.

LinkWhen the site controller is connected to a master station control system, the link LED will be

turned on. When the site controller is operating on it’s own, the link LED will be off.

Rx & TxThese LEDs will blink when data is being received and transmitted through the RS485 Device

Control Network (DCN). Data transmitted or received through the wireless DCN will not cause

the Rx and Tx LEDs to blink.

DCThis LED shows the state of the high current DC power relay.

ACThis LED shows the state of the AC control line that controls an external AC power relay.

RY1, RY2, RY3This LED shows the state of the three user definable low current (2A) SPDT relays.

Rear Panel Connections

TempTemperature probe jack. This jack supports the Sierra Radio Digital Temperature Probe

(#411). The probe contains a DS18B20 digital temperature sensor in a metal case.

CouplerThis RJ45 connector is used to connect to an Elecraft directional coupler using common 8 wire

cable. The coupler measures forward and reflected RF power. Feature currently in beta.

DI1 & DI2Digital input 1 and 2. These inputs are opto-isolated and active pull to ground. These pins are

internally pulled up to 5VDC.

AI1, AI2, GDAnalog voltage input 1, 2 and a ground reference. The analog voltage inputs can measure 0-

30 volts DC. The GD pin is connected to system ground. The ground pin provides the ground

reference for both the analog and digital inputs.

Relay 1, Relay 2, Relay 3These are user programmable dry relay contacts that can support up to 2 amps.

ACThis 2.1 mm coaxial connector applies +5 VDC to the center pin, referenced to the ground shell

pin. This +5v DC output is used to switch the external AC power relay.

DC InConnect the output of your 12 VDC power supply to this connector.

DC OutConnect the DC output connector to the power input of your radio.

DCNDevice Control Network. Used to connect additional station control devices. Pins 1 & 2 are

data, pins 4 & 5 are ground and pins 7 & 8 are +12 VDC.

Power2.1mm DC power input coaxial jack. Apply +12 to +13.8 VDC to this input.

Example #1

Repeater Site Monitoring and Control

AC Power

Switch Pigtail

Power Supply

Repeater Rx


Site Controller

Status: Normal

Front

Rear

Repeater Tx

• Input Voltage

• Output Voltage

• Current

Temp Probe

S

Duple

xer

• 2x Digital inputs

• 2x DC volt meters

• 3x SPDT relays

13.8

VDC

Example #3

Remotely Controlled Base Station

13.8 VDC

RF

PIGREMOTE

Operator

Windows – MAC – IOS - Android

Power Switch

Tail

Power Supply

2 GHZ DCN

RF Data Link

#411

Temp Probe

Elecraft Coupler Coax Relay

CAT5

Cable

CAT5 Cable

2 wires

DC

Power

Cables

User Defined Connections 12 VDC

Power

Adapter

Desktop Station Controller

Remote RF Power Monitoring

Introduction

The Sierra Radio Systems RF Power Monitor is used to remotely monitor multiple RF feed

lines. The user can monitor RF power through the SRS web site. In addition, event

triggers can be programmed to notify the user when a failure condition occurs.

Monitor up to 5 feedline sensors per controller

Unlimited number of controllers per installation

Measure forward and reflected RF power on each sensor

Requires a CommServer for internet access

RF power sensors available in various frequency ranges and power limits

The power monitoring system is not intended to make laboratory accurate RF power

measurements. The goal is to monitor the general RF level in the forward and reflected

direction for general power levels.

Theory of Operation

Each power sensor is constantly being measured by the controller. The CommServer

polls each RF power controller at a user selected sample rate. Typically the system

updates every 5 seconds.

Example #2

Monitoring Multiple Transmitters


Watt Meter

1: 100w 0w

Front

Rear

S

S

S

S

S

S = RF power sensor

sierra radio systems - hamstack.com commserv… · the sierra radio systems device control network...

Documents