History
The Series 200 control system was born out of the need to supply
a new generation of control systems to the
Cactus Intertie.
(http://www.cactus-intertie.org) This radio network spans most of the South
Western United States
with over 150 repeaters and hundreds of full duplex RF links. The Cactus Intertie
is well known for its excellent audio
quality, unique control methodology designed to manage very large radio
networks and demands for high duty cycle
and reliable installations. None of the
existing control systems on the market met the need so a new generation
of control system was designed. Read more
Design philosophy
The design of the hardware architecture, software and supporting
accessories for the Series 200 control system
was the result of several demanding, and at times, conflicting design
objectives. At a high level, the design criteria
was to meet the demanding needs of a large scale, full duplex,
multi-ported linking control system.
More specifically
we wanted the system to be appropriate for both large, complex switching
systems and yet modular enough to build
small configurations that would go into space constrained sites and portable
systems. Read more
Products
The
Sierra Radio Systems Series 200 control system is designed to meet the rigorous
demands of remote
mountain top repeater service.
Supporting up to 8 full duplex ports per rack and a variety of port
personalities
including repeaters, RF links, remote base radios, microwave radios, and VOIP
computer links.
The modular architecture lets you expand your system to meet the needs of your
radio network.
Architecture Overview
The
Series 200 control systems are very modular and scalable. The basic architecture includes a master CPU
board,
from 1 to 8 Radio Control Boards (RCBs), and a
backplane to provide the interconnection between boards.
A smaller version, called a “Cube”, supports up to 3 ports without using a full
size card cage. Each RCB interfaces
with an external device such as a repeater, RF link, VOIP link, or computer and
provides a basic signaling interface
that includes receive audio input, transmit audio output, COR (carrier
present), CTCSS/DCS decode logic input,
and PTT (transmit control) output, serial radio control I/O, and transmitter
cooling fan output control.
The
RCB can interface with many types of radio and computer equipment without
modification. In some cases,
additional signal conditioning is required.
The Series 200 is designed to allow an additional signal interface board
to be added to any of the RCBs.
A
control system may be as simple as a CPU board, a single RCB and a short
backplane. A fully configured system
may occupy an entire 19 inch card rack and contain a CPU, up to 8 RCBs each with its own special signaling interface
board, optional system interface boards, and a large backplane and power supply
board. In any configuration,
the system uses exactly the same CPU and RCB boards so a small system can
easily grow into a large system by
simply adding more boards. Additionally,
the software that runs on the smallest configuration is exactly the same
as the software for the largest configuration.
The
modular nature of the Series 200 control system make it not only easy to
upgrade, but also very easy to maintain.
Boards can be quickly replaced from the front of the card rack.
19" Card Cage or "Cube" Board Stack
Control systems are availalbe in two configurations, a 19" rack mount card cage or as a free standing board stack we call
a
"cube". The card rack provides maximum flexability, capacity and
opportunity for upgrades. With 20 board slots,
the rack configuration supports up to the full 8 ports and up to 7 option boards for customized signal conditioning.
The rack mount card cage configuration is ideal for fixed installations where convenience and ease of installation and
maintenance are key.
The compact "cube" configuration uses the same boards as the card cage and supports a total of 4 boards. One slot
for
the CPU board and 3 slots for radio port boards and accessories.
The cube supports up to 3 ports. Cube controllers
are ideal for portable repeaters, limited space installations and applications where low cost is important.
Hardware Specifications
Ports
- 1 to 8 full duplex ports with any combination of port personalities
- Repeater
- RF link
- VOIP / IRLP / Echolink
- Remote base radio
- Microwave radio
Groups
- Up to 7 independently operating groups of ports
Radio interface
- Rx audio: hi-z unbalanced audio, 0-2v p/p
- COR (COS) active low, pull to ground
- CTCSS decode avtive low, pull to ground
- Tx audio: low-z unbalanced
audio, 0-2v p/p
- PTT open collector, pull to ground, 500 ma. max.
- Tx cooling fan control
open collector pull to ground, 500 ma max.
- Serial I/O TTL 0/5v logic
Audio
- Frequency
response flat from 0 to >4,000 Hz +/- 0.1db
- Full 8-by-8 audio matrix. Any port can
connect to any or all other ports
- Dedicated DTMF decoder on each radio port
- Software controlled squelch hysteresis and Rx audio
muting
- Supports routing of pre-emphasized or flat receiver audio
(Routing pre-emphasized audio maintains
the highest audio quality in large liked systems)
Audio level setting
- Digital pots
set receive, transmit, telemetry and external tone input level on each port
- Master telemetry level set
- Digital pots can be set by DTMF or through the master CPU serial port
- Commands available for setting absolute pot values or interactive “up/down
slider” commands
Telemetry
- Includes function complete, dial tone, busy signal, program tone, un-key
telemetry, CW, etc.
- User programmable telemetry patterns, tones and amplitude
- Up to 4 unique sine waves per transmitter
- Up to 4 sine waves from telemetry bus to all transmitters.
User programmable outputs
- 5 open collector, user programmable
outputs per RCB. 500 ma.
max.
Main CPU configuration port
- Serial ASCII, RS-232, 9600 baud
- Windows-based graphic user interface config program
sets all control system parameters
Remote Base Support
- ICOM data format with TTL level signaling. CI-V level converter required.
Mechanical
- Standard 19”
card rack
- Smaller 1-3 port “cube” version
Computing Architecture
- Multi-processor, distributed architecture
- Master CPU board controls all central operations
- RCB interface boards contain a local CPU for telemetry, serial I/O etc.
- No firmware changes when adding more ports, just plug in additional radio
cards
- Each radio board’s personality and digital pot values are downloaded from the
master CPU at boot time
- Software updates available for download from the web
- All boards plug into the backplane from the front of the controller for ease
of installation and maintenance.
Power requirements
- 8 to 14 VDC
- ~100 ma. per
board.
Software Command Overview
The
Series 200 control system has over 100 user level and system administrator
commands including the following...
Command Processor
- Local and
remote prefix support (1-3 digit site address)
- String multiple commands together, no “enter”
key required for most commands
- Telemetry includes function complete, dialtone, busy signal, program tone, unkey telemetry etc.
User Level Commands
- Reset to
normal configuration
- Identification
- Repeater System on / off
- Repeater Port Commands
- Link Port Connection Commands
- Port Access Mode – Carrier / CTCSS/DCS / Etc.
- Port Monitor Commands
- Force transmitter on / off
- Loopback
- General Purpose I/O (GPIO) commands
- Remote Base Commands
System Administrator Commands
- Test tone
generator
- Link port CTCSS mode commands
- Port Enable / Disable Master Commands
- Command Enable / Disable Commands
- DTMF Generation Commands
- Unlock code management commands
- Basic configuration: ID, prefix, location ID
- Macro programming commands
- CW Telemetry Commands
- Port personalities and link map
- Group configuration and management
- Digital Pot Controls
- Command Telemetry Routing
- Radio normal behavior
- Remote base radio configuration
and
many more…
Optional Interfaces
MAX-1 Motorola Maxtrac
Radio Cable Kit
The
MAX-1 is a simple interface board that plugs into the back of a Motorola Maxtrac radio equipped with a 16 pin auxiliary connector. This interface connects the Rx and Tx audio signals, COS, COS & PL decode and PTT signals
from the radio to a 9 pin D connector with the same pin out as the RCB making
interfacing between the radio and the control system very simple. A cable with a male 9 pin D connector on
either end with straight through wiring on all 9 pins is all that is
required. The MAX-1 Cable Kit comes with
two MAX-1 boards, connectors, control system cable and 3 conductor wire to build
a jumper between the two MAX-1 connectors.
This is all you need to interface to either a single Maxtrac
(when used in remote base or a simplex configuration) or a pair of Maxtrac radios (when used in a full duplex configuration
with one receiver and one transmitter).
Note: This is a KIT, not an assembled
product. Read more
CDM-1 Motorola CDM Series Radio Cable Kit
The
CDM-1 board provides the same functionality as the MAX-1 board, but uses the 20
pin connector on the back of the CDM1250 and CDM1550 radios. . This
interface connects the Rx and Tx
audio signals, COS, COS & PL decode and PTT signals from the radio to a 9
pin D connector with the same pin out as the RCB making interfacing between the
radio and the control system very simple.
A cable with a male 9 pin D connector on either end with straight
through wiring on all 9 pins is all that is required. The CDM-1 Cable Kit comes with two CDM-1
boards, connectors, control system cable and 3 conductor wire to build a jumper
between the two CDM-1 connectors. This
is all you need to interface to either a single radio (when used in remote base
or a simplex configuration) or a pair of radios (when used in a full duplex
configuration with one receiver and one transmitter).
Note: This is a KIT, not an assembled
product. Read more
Programming and
Configuring the Control System
There are
two aspects of programming the control system, loading new versions of firmware
and configuring the behavior of firmware.
Installing Firmware
The
main CPU board and each RCB contains a flash memory based microprocessor. Loading the latest version of firmware is a
fairly simple task requiring an in-circuit programmer and the latest version of
firmware in the form of a .hex file. One
file is compiled for the main CPU board and another file is compiled for the RCBs.
Configuring the Control System
Once
the firmware is loaded, the control system will operate in a fully functional
default state. Every installation
requires at least the customization of the radio systems call sign, password and site prefix (address). Configuring the control system can be done
through any port’s DTMF decoder or through the main CPU board’s serial
port. Configuration parameters can be
entered through a simple dumb terminal program or through a Windows program
with a graphic user interface called config.
Copyright
© Sierra Radio Systems. All rights reserved.