[time-nuts] Lady Heather and Lucent RFTGm-II-XO / RFTGm-II-Rb

[Rodger Adams]

> Hey Mark,
>  
> Thanks for the reply.  
>  
> It was relatively straightforward getting the Lucent RFTG software to work.  No special cable or PCMCIA card was needed.  Here’s what I’ve learned in the few days that I’ve had my modules. 
>  
> First, the RFTG software runs under Windows XP with no problem.  I gave up on trying with Windows 10 and compatibility modes.  I downloaded virtualbox (free) which lets me run a Windows XP virtual machine on Windows 10.  (you’ll still need to have an XP install disk)   I gave the VM just enough memory and disk space for it to run RFTG so it runs without wasting a lot of resources on the host, Windows 10 pc.
>  
> For the physical interface I use standard, cheap RS-232 to USB serial adapters.  Virtualbox allows you to select which USB devices get passed through from the host to the XP VM so I simply pass the serial port usb device through to the VM and run the USB serial port drivers in the XP VM.  
>  
> Now that I have a working XP PC with a serial port the rest is easy.  The RS-232 port can be connected to the RS-422/485 port with a simple 3 wire connection, as follows.  On the RS-232 interface, connect pins 2,3 and 5 to pins 9,8, and 7 (in that order) of the RS-422 port on the RFTGm-II-XO module.  This is the port on the far right end of the XO module that is labeled RS-422/1 PPS.  As soon as I made this connection, I was able to see serial data flowing from the module at 9600N81 using a terminal program.  After running RFTG.exe and selecting the right serial port, RFTG came to life showing the GPS status, etc.   By moving the RS-232 interface over to the RS-422 port on the Rb module, (same pin configuration) you can monitor the status of the Rb module instead. 
>  
> The RFTG software is designed to use 2 serial ports, 1 for the XO and 1 for the Rb.  I think this is where the Lucent proprietary “Y” cable comes into play.  Although I haven’t proven this yet, I believe that the 2 RS-422 connections (1 from the XO and 1 from the Rb) are simply combined in the module on the upper left side of the frame. (above the Rb module, connectors labeled J7 through J11)  I’m guessing that the Lucent “Y” cable plugs into J7, J8 or J9 and splits the “combined” RS-422 signals back into 2 separate RS-422 ports.  I have some USB to RS-422 ports (although I could just use RS-232 ports)  and some DB-15 connectors on order.  As soon as I prove this to be the case, I’ll post the cable schematic here.  Once I have this working it will allow for monitoring and control of both the XO and the Rb simultaneously using RFTG.exe. (right now, I can only look at either one at a time)
>  
> If I can help you in any way with getting this set up for Lady Heather please let me know.  I’m not a programmer, but will be glad to capture data, test, or assist in any way I can.
>  
> Thanks,
>  
> Rodger


> On May 23, 2017, at 1:43 PM, Mark Sims <holrum at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I also got one in.   Unfortunately it talks some proprietary, undocumented command set.   I was hoping to be able to sniff what the Lucent code is doing and eventually add support to Lady Heather.
> 
> How did you connect up to the device to use the Lucent code?  The documentation talks about using some PCMCIA RS-485 card and seems to use a "Y" cable that has a toggle switch that switches between the two boxes... that cable is undocumented.
> 
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