[time-nuts] Odetics 425: Damn... It's really dead now...

[Bruce Lane]

Fellow time-tickers,

	Well, I suppose it was due to happen. The GPS receiver in my Odetics 425 finally died. Hard. The thing's been intermittent for nearly the entire two years since I became its new owner, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the thing finally keeled.

	I would REALLY like to restore this grand old beastie, not just because I like the workmanship but because it has a unique history. Its last home, before I got it, was the Amundsen Antarctic Research Station as part of the AST/RO program.

	So -- Before I start stretching my brain cells, and those of a close friend, and try to come up with a way to interface a generic NMEA receiver module into this wonderful old beast, I have a couple of questions to put to the group, especially those who used to (or still do? Hopefully?) work for Odetics/Zyfer.

	(1) Does ANYone have a working Magellan OEM 5000 receiver module that they would be willing to part with? If so, please contact me off-list.

	(2) The schematics I have are poor-quality copies that were reduced to letter size from the original ANSI size D pages. Does anyone have schematics of this unit's MPU board that are more readable?

	(3) Failing finding a Magellan receiver -- Fitting a standard receiver to this beast is going to require some reverse-engineering, and perhaps modification of the firmware. The section that communicates with the GPS receiver uses a 68B09 CPU.

	Suggestions on what tools would be most useful to this effort, as well as any hints those who have worked with 6809's might have. I do have available a Fluke 9100 series CPU troubleshooting system, with a 6809 pod.

	(3) Was there EVER a case where a generic (as in NMEA-speaking) receiver was used with the 325/425 series? If so, please provide details. Or did they get retired before NMEA became the defacto standard?

	Keep in mind that if I can come up with a viable way to do this, it will likely mean a new lease on equipment life for all owners of 325/425 systems, because in the event it all works I will make the details of the process freely available.

	Looking forward to hearing anything that might help.

	Thanks much.


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner & Head Hardware Heavy,
Blue Feather Technologies -- http://www.bluefeathertech.com
kyrrin (at) bluefeathertech do/t c=o=m
"Quid Malmborg in Plano..."