Assistance request - On the road to APRS with MFJ-1270B

[FDE504]

Wondering if someone has some time and patience to help a newbie on his way to get up and running on APRS with a Yeasu FT-8800R and MFJ-1270B

I've tried looking for a guide of some sort on the web but have come up short.

Important to note, I don't have GPS hooked up yet and right now I'm trying to confirm my Radio<->TNC connection is good. I attempted to make my own cable hence the reason why I'm stuck at this point (not to mention this is foreign to me.) Once done I may have to make my own cable from my Garmin to the TNC as well so I will be looking for those pin-outs next.

On to where I'm at.
The Yeasu and TNC are both set 1200baud. From my Win95 machine using hyperterminal I can connect to the TNC and get the following output initially.

MFJ ENTERPRISES INC TNC-2
AX.25 Level 2 Version 2.0 + FAX
Release 1.2.6 02/17/89 - 32K RAM
Checksum $1C
cmd:

I was able to successfully run the "MyCall" and "Beacon Every" commands so I'm comfortable with the PC to TNC connection/communication.

I've set my Mobile and HT on a vacant frequency on low power so I can try to see if something comes alive. (don't want to just blast the normal APRS freq until I know things are good)

I'm have no idea where to go next as far as testing proceedure and configuration settings but what I do know is if I cycle power to the TNC, I get a momment of snow/static on the Right side of my FT-8800 (I have the packet set to right side only).

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!!
Terrence - K5TBO

 

[fdcaptjd]

As memory serves, you can type H on the PC keyboard, and the TNC will give you a list of commands available.

I do remember some of them, but not all. It has been a long time. For starters, with the TNC in the command mode, simply type "C" and a call sign. This will cause the TNC to key the radio and send a connect request over the air. If the radio does not key, you still have a cable issue. You should hear the packet data on your HT.

There is a command to have the TNC key and send a continuous tone to the radio, for tuning purposes, but I can't remember it. See if it comes up in the help list.

However, I am not sure the any 1270 can accept GPS input. They make great nodes, I have two on the air currently in that role, but I think you you would be better off buying a Tinytracker from Byonics for your tracker. They are cheap and have much documentation for your purpose.

Good Luck,

JD

 

[kayn1n32008]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9780; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.600 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

Argent Data makes great equipment as well. Solid devices, and great support. In our area majority of our digipeaters are OT2m or OT3m with a few KPC thrown in for good measure.

If you decide you want to beable to see what is going on around you on APRS I really do recomend argent data over byonics.

 

[AK9R]

Since the MFJ 1270B is a TAPR2 clone, it should work fine as a TNC, though it may not have the APRS-specific functions that are built in to other TNCs such as the Kantronics KPC3 (firmware version 8.2 and later) or Argent Data Tracker2/Tracker3.

FWIW, I connected a Kantronics KPC3 to a Yaesu FT-8800R at a recent APRS presentation I gave and we were able to make it work after some fiddling.

Your first issue is connecting the TNC to the radio. Open up your FT-8800 operating manual to page 10. There you will find the pin-outs for the 6-pin mini-DIN connector on the back of the radio. The pins of interest are: Packet Data Input (1), 1200bps Packet Data Output (5), PTT (3), and Ground (2). You can use Yaesu's CT-39A cable or make your own. FWIW, 6-pin mini-DIN cables are usually available on-line for a lot less than the cables the radio manufacturers sell.

Now, look at the manual for your MFJ 1270B. According to the copy I was able to find through Google search, you will be using the 5-pin DIN connector and the pins you need to use are: Mic Audio (1), Receive Audio (4), PTT (3), and Ground (2).

So, wire your cable like this:

6-pin mini-DIN     5-pin DIN
        1               1
        5               4
        3               3
        2               2

Here's a link to a wiring diagram that I found online. I would not connect pins 4 and 5 at the radio end as shown in this diagaram.

http://web.archive.org/web/19991124030411/http://www.packetradio.org/0imgs/5060.jpg

Now, go into the radio's menus. Set Menu 26 PKT.SPD to 1200BPS. You will also need to set Menu 27 PKT.RXB, but you need to think about what you are going to do before doing so. If Menu 27 is set to MAIN, whichever "side" of the radio is selected as the MAIN band will be your packet receive band. If you set it to either R-FIX or L-FIX, then the right or left side of the radio will be the packet receive band. But, here's a problem with the FT-8800 when used for packet--the TNC can only transmit on the MAIN band. So, that effectively ties up the radio for just packet operations. I bring this up because my Kenwood mobiles can operate packet on one band and voice on the other simultaneously.

OK, now the radio and the TNC should be talking. What the radio hears should be decoded by the TNC and what the TNC encodes should be transmitted by the radio. Based on your first message, your computer is talking to the TNC, so that part of the equation shouldn't be a problem for you.

You can test the receive capability by tuning the radio to 144.390 MHz. If there is APRS activity in your area, you should see the packets scrolling by on your computer screen.

Transmitting APRS beacons will be a little more difficult. You can construct a beacon manually based on the APRS protocol, but that'd be a PITA. It may be tough to find an APRS program that will work with the 1270B. The three programs I'd look at are APRSISCE/32, UI-View, or APRSpoint. I'm familiar with all of them, but have never used them with a 1270B. Each of those programs have Yahoo groups supporting them which may be able to help.

 

[FDE504]

fdcaptjd / kayn1n32008 / W9BU

Sorry for the delay guys. Just getting back to the thread. I will try respond to you all in one post with where I am. Shortly after posting I decided to pop over to 144.39 while the TNC was connected to a laptop and I was infact getting the occasional packets scroll across Hyperterm. (There's actually a digipeater about 3 miles from my house.) This led me to believe that I should be fine with the cable I made.

Reading through fdcaptjd's post I tried to get C and Call sign but that didn't work. After some digging I found that "Connect CALLSIGN" would work or atleast seemed to cause the TNC/Radio to come alive. The manual states that if the "BTEXT" field is Null then beacon's will not be sent regardless of how you set the Beacon time. So I put "APRS testing" in the BTEXT field and the TNC would key the radio according to how I had set the beacon time but still no APRS/GPS data being sent out.

I moved from the FT-8800R to a FT-2600M and made a cable for it. Results were the same on both radios with hyperterm and UI-View as far as receiving location data and not being able to send APRS position data.

Still not making any progress with the GPS I spent a couple of days trying to get through to MFJ tech support and ask if they had any direction that could give on getting the 1270B working for APRS. I was told I needed to update my firmware to version 1.2.9. So I placed the order for the eprom and 2 weeks later it arrived. I went through the upgrade steps and was less than excited as I had no change in results. I made another call to MFJ and asked again if they could provide any assitance/direction. As this point I was a little preturbed, feeling like I was sold an uncessary part/eprom and Tech support seemed a little surprised. Then I was told since it's APRS I should call another number and ask for a specific person.

I did as directed and boy was that a mistake because the person didn't want to help and didn't listen. I advise that I'm trying to get APRS working and couldn't find much information online to allow me to get passed the problem I'm having. The first response I got was that it's been a long time since they dealt with APRS and would have to dust off some books. (basically he just greased the skids to not be able to be much help). Then I was told I should just look on the internet. I advised that I had already spent several days of searching and couldn't get far. It would have been nice to find a guide someone had typed up and I approached this from the start that I was going to write my own guide for future reference. He then had me wait while he fired up his computer and searched for himself. He then tells me that they are over a dozen pages that come up if you search for "MFJ APRS". He then tells me that the information is right there and I should change the 1st link if I perform the same search as he thinks it might be my answer based soley on the subject. I asked him what the link was and he response was "Assistance request - On the road to APRS with MFJ-1270B". He seemed convinced that the first link would be the answer to all my questions so I had no problem telling him that was my thread I had posted here trying to get more assistance. His only response at that point was the information must be out on the internet and that's all he could say.

So I'm far from impressed with MFJ. Particularly when Support Rep #1 tells me to call Support Rep #2 which was a waste of time. Needless to say, I've given up on anything MFJ. (sorry I had to just vent a little).

Back on track now. I was in the local HAM/Radio Shack and they happened to have a used OpenTracker+ on the shelf. Long story short, 5 minutes to drive home, 30 minutes finding/making a cable and after I connect it to my 2600 and Garmin Etrex I'm up and running with APRS. I had little to know issues with the OT+, maybe it was becuase of some of the time/work I spent on the MFJ or maybe they are just that easy to get up and running.

Previous to the OpenTracker+ purchase, I had already weighed the options of TinyTrak/OpenTracker and ArgentData was winning in my decision process. Specifically I was trying to decide if I wanted to get a OT3 or a OTUSB so walking into the HAM store I was able to get some instant gratification with the OT+.

If anyone is curious the MFJ and the cables I made will be making its way to eBay or yard sale table at a hamfest.

Circling back and saying thanks to you guys for the input you guys.

To get a list of commands on the 1270B you simply type "Display" and it will list everything. Not sure if this is the same on all others or if they

One of the goals I had (to eventually get but not immediately) was to get a Garmin Nuvi with Fleet Management cable to use as my GPS and display other stations. Getting the OT+ now just sped me on the way to that.

In all the experimenting, I did see exactly what W9BU was referring to as far as the FT-8800R and how it behaves with packet. When I first started I already had Menu 26 set correctly and menu 27 set to R-Fix. Once I read his comment, I decided to pick up the FT-2600M. It's going to be dedicated to APRS. Might seem kind of silly given the FT-350 and Kenwood D710 units that area available but I like gadgets (grin) and I now have a spare radio should something happen to my 8800. Currently, I'm weeding through antenna options for the truck that will allow me to still pull it in the garage without alot of hassle.

 

[kayn1n32008]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; CPU OS 6_1_3 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10B329 Safari/8536.25)

Well I run an OT3 and a Nuvi 350. Great combo, and trouble free. I am currently using a 1/4wave mag mount for my APRS, but will be going to a 5/8wave diplexed to a 6m FM rig at some point down the road. Good luck and I am glad you moved away from the More F*cking Junk stuff to a real APRS device.

 

[K4APR]

There is an easy fix for the 1270B...throw it in the trash! They were garbage when they were new and got worse as they got older. MFJ sold you snake oil and I would go back to get a refund on that EEPROM they sent. The 1270B was never intended to be a "tracker". It was meant to be sat on a shelf, connected to a radio that didn't move. It didn't even do THAT well.

I am an Argent Data dealer, so if you are looking for a turnkey solution, the OpenTracker USB is your best bet. We have them in stock, ready to ship. We also can make cables for just about any radio you want to connect it to. The OpenTracker has a KISS mode, so you can use it at home as well, as a TNC (like you were hoping for the 1270B).

For home, take a look at the TNC-X KISS TNC:

PIC-Based TNC

This is by far the best KISS only TNC on the market! USB interface and excellent decoding performance. John is also a great guy and stands behind his products 100%.

If you want to get a little more advanced for your mobile, you might want to check out our YagTracker:

www.rpc-electronics.com/yagtracker.php

This is a full featured mobile APRS terminal that not only serves as a tracker, but as a display for all other traffic in your APRS network, messaging, weather display and can even send station waypoints to your Garmin eTrex GPS (allowing you to see the other stations/objects around you). We currently have a few in stock, ready to ship. We also have a breakout box that makes connecting everything to the YagTracker plug and play.

 

[FDE504]

It's been way too long for an update. I've moved on to the next problem. The MFJ TNC is gone. For packet in the home I'm using a KAM Plus. For mobile I've been running an OpenTracker+ that I was able to pickup from the local Radio shop. Been running it with a hockey puck GPS without issue for some time but now I'm trying to move to a OTUSB and Nuvi350 which is where my problem is.

I've got 2 Nuvi's. One running software version 4.20 and the other 5.50.

My problem is I can't get either unit to go display the dispatch button. With the power connected to the crable and the FMI cable connected to the side port on the GPS itself. If I remove power from the crable (or remove the Nuvi from the crable) it tells me "serial accessory requires external power". If I go into favorites I am getting that populated with the list of stations that the radio receives and the TNC decodes so I have atleast some valid connection between the TNC and Nuvi. I've done a reset of both Nuvi to clear the user data and both still function the same.

What am I missing. Is there a specific software version I need to be running or modification I need to do to the GPS?

Thanks.

 

[FDE504]

I think I have found my problem. The OTUSB doesn't support the Garmin protocol functions. I think this is why the dispatch button isn't appearing.

 

[kayn1n32008]

I think I have found my problem. The OTUSB doesn't support the Garmin protocol functions. I think this is why the dispatch button isn't appearing.

You also need the proper translator cable to go from an OT3m to the Nuvi as well.

When you plug the cable in, the dispatch feature should appear, regardless of the device attached to the other end.

Also, you MUST have power applied via the rear power of the Nuvi, I order to power the translator cable. It does not work otherwise.


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[FDE504]

You also need the proper translator cable to go from an OT3m to the Nuvi as well.

When you plug the cable in, the dispatch feature should appear, regardless of the device attached to the other end.

Also, you MUST have power applied via the rear power of the Nuvi, I order to power the translator cable. It does not work otherwise.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yeah my problem is I'm using the OTUSB and not the OT3m. The OTUSB will not put the Nuvi350 into FMI mode.

 

[kayn1n32008]

Yeah my problem is I'm using the OTUSB and not the OT3m. The OTUSB will not put the Nuvi350 into FMI mode.

Noses the prices have changed the OT3m is USD 100.0. And it is a far better device than the OTUSB.


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