Interfacing a Desktrac and Vega Telex C2000

[bob-the-scanner-man]

I'm trying to set up the above combo so I can remotely operate the Desktrac from another part of my property. I've got all the ingredients (Desktrac with tone board and a Vega tone remote) but have no idea where to really start. I have the pin outs for the RJ45s on both of the units. Sounds easy enough to connect the wiring together, but what settings need to be done on either end to allow for remote control?

 

[ff026]

If you wanna channel steer via tone remote you need the desctrac RSS. You can set frequencies and PL tone and signaling via maxtrac RSS.
In order to set up the desctrac, all the parameters for tone remote are done via the RSS

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

That sounds pretty straightforward, I have the RSS so I should be good to go.

For the physical connection, am I correct that this only requires 2 wires between the Desktrac and Vega?

Repeaterbuilder says Desktrac has the following pin outs on the accessory jack:

1​	LINE1 DC+	2-4 Wire TX
2​	LINE2 DC-	2/4 Wire TX
3​	LINE 3	4-wire RX
4​	LINE 4	4-wire RX
5​	BUSY
6​	BUSY GND
7​	DATA+
8​	DATA-

The manual for the Vega lists the following for its pinouts:

1. Cross mute I/O
2. Supervisor I/O
3. RX+
4. TX+ (RX+ 2W)
5. TX - (RX- 2W)
6. RX-
7. Local
8. Gnd/local

So what needs to be connected to what in order for these to talk to each other?

 

[ramal121]

You need to know if the Desktrac and/or the remote is 2 wire or 4 wire. 2 wire is most common for none duplex base stations so start there.
Just connect Desktrac pins 1 and 2 to the Vega 4 and 5.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

You need to know if the Desktrac and/or the remote is 2 wire or 4 wire. 2 wire is most common for none duplex base stations so start there.
Just connect Desktrac pins 1 and 2 to the Vega 4 and 5.

Thanks for the info. I'm finally getting back around to this project and here's what I have so far.

I wired up the Desktrac to the Vega as described and surprisingly it works...for the most part. I can navigate between channel 1 and 2 on the Desktrac and can key the radio up and transmit remotely with the Vega. However, I am not receiving any kind of received audio through the Vega, it only comes out of the Desktrac internal speaker.

So now I just need to resolve the audio issue and get the remaining 14 channels set up and it sgyve good to go.

 

[ramal121]

As I mentioned one or both units could be set up for 4 wire. This configuration separates the transmit and receive audio onto two different phone pairs. If you could listen on pins 3 and 4 of the desktrac with something like a buttset or an amplified speaker and see if you hear any receive audio. You would also check the Vega by injecting noise onto pins 3 and 6 with an audio generator or headset out from a radio.

If both devices show they are 4 wire then just connect the above pins. If it's one or the other then you'll need to reconfigure one to match either 2 wire or 4 wire. You'll need service docs to probably move some jumpers around.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

Just to follow up, it turns out that both devices were already set up for 4-wire so I just connected the two remaining wires and now it works perfectly. I just need to set it up for the remaining channels and I should be all set. Thanks for your help!

 

[ff026]

Just to follow up, it turns out that both devices were already set up for 4-wire so I just connected the two remaining wires and now it works perfectly. I just need to set it up for the remaining channels and I should be all set. Thanks for your help!

You can set up the tone keying parameters for channel steering in the desctrac RSS. If remember correctly you can do 15 channels via tone remote.