THE MONTREAL 525 FOX, fully compatible with International Hunts. May 2000 Hardware by Jacques Brodeur VE2EMM Software design by Francois VE2JX and Jacques VE2EMM Special thanks to Joe Leggio WB2HOL and Doug Reed N0NAS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEATURES : 8 selectable ID codes, "MOE", "MOI", "MOS", "MOH", "MO5", "MON", "MOD". And "MO" for the finish corridor beacon. For 1 minute, it continuously sends the selected ID code at 8 WPM and terminates by a fast "DE hider's call letters". (On demand, if needed, the program can be modified to replace the call letters with one more "MOx") Cycle times are: continuous to 7 minutes, depending on the numbers of FOXES in the hunt. 5 FOXES and 5 minutes is the international standard. More or less FOXES can be used for practice. Set the "MO" beacon to continuous or 0 minutes for continuous transmission. Delayed start up to 3 1/2 hour, in 1/2 hour increment, all FOXES can be synchronized by a single switch. (TIME CAN BE CHANGED) The Hider's call letters (a maximum of 6 characters) can be entered or changed in the EEDATA memory permanantly by setting S1-1 to S1-8 switches to the code of the desired letter and pushing the LOAD A LETTER button. The loading of the letters MUST be terminated by entering 15 15 in the S1-1 to S1-8 switches (all switches ON). Prior to entering the call letters, remove JP1 jumper and push the SYNC/RESTART button. When the letters are in memory, replace the JP1 jumper and push the SYNC/RESTART button. The indicating LED shows : 1- Delayed start timing, 1 short flash per second, 2- Incorrect combination of cycle time and number of FOXES, fast flash. 3- CW keying being done, in sync with the CW. 4- The call letters, in MORSE CODE, one by one, as they are being entered in memory. Timing accuracy, whithout selecting the chrystals, is better than 1 second after running 6 hours. Modulation : MCW. Power consumption is about 12 mA while timing, 180 ma while TX. The Source program and Hex file are graciously available for the asking, Jacques VE2EMM. email : jacbro@colba.net or ve2emm@amsat.org ******** MORSE CODE ENCODING ... for the hider's call letters. ********** One morse character per BYTE, bitwise, LSB to MSB. 0 = dit, 1 = dah. The byte is shifted to the right and executed bit by bit, until a 1 is left, this 1 is the END OF CHARACTER indicator. A maximum of 7 elements can be encoded, (error) then is excluded. SW1 SW1 BINARY -8-7-6-5 -4-3-2-1 MORSE ENCODING MSD LSD Comments ------ ---- ---- --- --- -------------------- KN -.--. 0010 1101 2 13 Go only SK ...-.- 0110 1000 5 8 Clear AR .-.-. 0010 1010 2 10 Over, end of message BT -...- 0011 0001 3 1 Pause AS .-... 0010 0010 2 2 Wait, stand by / -..-. 0010 1001 2 9 0 ----- 0011 1111 3 15 1 .---- 0011 1110 3 14 2 ..--- 0011 1100 3 12 3 ...-- 0011 1000 3 8 4 ....- 0011 0000 3 0 5 ..... 0010 0000 2 0 6 -.... 0010 0001 2 1 7 --... 0010 0011 2 3 8 ---.. 0010 0111 2 7 9 ----. 0010 1111 2 15 A .- 0000 0110 0 6 B -... 0001 0001 1 1 C -.-. 0001 0101 1 5 D -.. 0000 1001 0 9 E . 0000 0010 0 2 F ..-. 0001 0100 1 4 G --. 0000 1011 0 11 H .... 0001 0000 1 0 I .. 0000 0100 0 4 J .--- 0001 1110 1 14 K -.- 0000 1101 0 13 L .-.. 0001 0010 1 2 M -- 0000 0111 0 7 N -. 0000 0101 0 5 O --- 0000 1111 0 15 P .--. 0001 0110 1 6 Q --.- 0001 1011 1 11 R .-. 0000 1010 0 10 S ... 0000 1000 0 8 T - 0000 0011 0 3 U ..- 0000 1100 0 12 V ...- 0001 1000 1 8 W .-- 0000 1110 0 14 X -..- 0001 1001 1 9 Y -.-- 0001 1101 1 13 Z --.. 0001 0011 1 3 SPACE 0000 0000 0 0 Word space (special exception) EOM 1111 1111 15 15 End of message (special exception) OPERATION : * * * * * * * * RUN MENU * * * * * * * * 1- Ensure that JP1 is in 2- MAKE THE MENU SELECTIONS 3- PRESS RESTART TO OPERATE and or synchronize all foxes [S1/ 9-8-7] [S1/ 6-5-4] [S1/ 3-2-1] CYL-TIME FOX-CALL DEL-START 0=Continuous/ 0=MO 0=Now 1=Continuous\ 1=MOE 1=0H30 2=2 minutes 2=MOI 2=1H00 3=3 " 3=MOS 3=1H30 4=4 " 4=MOH 4=2H00 5=5 " 5=MO5 5=2H30 6=6 " 6=MON 6=3H00 7=7 " 7=MOD 7=3h30 * * * LOAD HIDER'S CALL LETTERS MENU * * * 1- REMOVE JP1 2- PRESS RESTART 3- LOAD THE CALL LETTERS by pressing the load button S2 4- Load 15-15 when finished 4- Reinstall JP1 ___________ ___________ S1/ 9 S1/ 8-7-6-5 S1/ 4-3-2-1 NOT USED MSD FOR LSD FOR LOADING THE LOADING THE CALL LETTERS CALL LETTERS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- SYNCHRONIZING SEVERAL FOXES : 1- Use a parallel cable with the appropriate plugs inserted in the Sync jack of each Fox. 2- Press and hold any one of the SYNC/RESTART switches. 3- Release the switch at the proper starting or delay time. 4- Remove the parallel cable. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------