Flexwire Protocol question

Jerry Mulchin

Does anyone know the protocol for the Flexwire I/O port? I'm trying to interface to multiple Transverters and want to design my one interface from the Flexwire I/O port. Any help or explanation on what the protocol looks like would be appreciated.

Thanks
N7EME

Richard G7EIX

It's I2C is it not?

Ive seen USB to I2C adapters from $10 to $30.   Like this...

http://store.cutedigi.com/usb-to-i2c-adaptor/

I2C on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C2%B2C

Jerry Mulchin

Richard,

Thank You for the reply. Sorry but I asked the question incorrectly.

I do know the protocol is I2C, but what I'm after is the format of the data coming out of the Flexwire I/O port. So when I select for example the 1296 transverter, what is the data value coming out? I believe there are 15 or 16 ports available. So what is the data value that selects the lowest port, and the data value for the next port, etc....

Thanks
N7EME

Richard G7EIX

Ahhh. Ok. Sorry then the only thing I can find is this old link. It may be of use, or it may not. Also I did a search for ddutil and i2c and some pages came up. http://www.km0t.com/pages/sdr.htm

Jerry Mulchin

The KM0T page has a lot of interface info related to the SDR-1000. But I don't know if the Flex-1500 uses the same digital commands and data stream as the SDR-1000. It would be nice if it did. Anyone know if this is the case or not??? I guess I'll probably have to tear into the I2C data stream with some protocol analyzers to see what's going on. Was trying to avoid this tasks. Oh well....

Thanks for your help Richard and 73
N7EME

Tim - W4TME

Jerry - there isn't a published set of I2C commands for PowerSDR.  We were hoping that experimenters would have built several I2C devices for the FlexWire port, but that just didn't happen.  The only supported devices are the UCB (K3TUF) and an interface to the Heros preselector.  Your best bet is to request a copy of the PowerSDR source code (gpl@flexradio.com) and look to see what has been implemented for the UCB or talk to Phil (K3TUF) to see what I2C commands he used for his UBC "widget".

Jerry Mulchin

Tim,

Thank you for the reply. I'll go ahead and request the source code for the PowerSDR and glean it for the codes. I also ordered a I2C protocol analyzer so I can capture the codes that way. It seems strange that the Flexradio folks have not published this data to make it easier for people to interface to the Flexwire I/O port.

Thanks Tim for your help and 73
N7EME

Ron Parsons

With the release of SmartSDR 1.3.0 with its limited transverter support, I was hoping to see some support of the I2C protocol on the Accessory Connector as a beginning of built-in support for external devices. Unfortunately, there was no mention of this in the latest hardware and software manuals for the 6000 series.

With my Flex-based full-duplex satellite system, based on PowerSDR, I made extensive use of the I2C/Flexwire interface and K3TUF's Flexwire interface, to control automatically the complex switching of the connections between two Flex radios and two transverters.

As FlexRadio expands the support for a variety of external devices for the 6000 series and SmartSDR, I hope the use of the I2C protocol does not fall through the cracks. Tim's suggestion of the need for looking at the PowerSDR source code to find out what I2C commands are supported illustrates the apparent lack of support for this protocol.

Is there any roadmap guidance on this subject?

Ron W5RKN

Jerry Mulchin

I received my I2C protocol analyzer and have begun to look at the Flexwire commands coming out of the DB-9 connector. But to date, I have not been able to see any I2C commands or even partial commands come out of the SDA/SCL lines when a Xverter is selected in the VHF+ bands. I would think I would see the initial start/address sequence followed by a NACK because I don't have anything connected to the Flexwire port yet. The SDA/SCL lines are pulled up to +3.3 volts, but neither of them ever goes LOW. So, my question is; is there something I must setup in PowerSDR to make this work? I did setup the xvrt box with some dummy entries as if there were Transverters there. That did not change the problem either. Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
N7EME

Tim - W4TME

Yes.  The only two  PowerSDR functions implemented that interface to the external I2C is the USB (universal controller board by K3TUF) and the Heros preselector.  To get a full understanding of how it operates, you may want to request a copy of the latest PowerSDR source by sending an e-mail to GPL[at]flexradio[dot]com

Mike Webb

Have looked thru all the source code pertaining to the Flex-1500 and tried to email K3TUF and no replies - would love a UCB board as I want to transvert to 70Mhz/2m/70cm/23cm.and change between them automatically. Anyone who can supply a K3TUF board I would be grateful.

Mike

GD6ICR