Homebrew Remotehead for DMA Uniden

[Stupidfatkid]

Finally

After having the parts for two months I finally got off my lazy butt and put it all together. It's ugly as hell, but it works great on the 996T.

 

[richk107]

That's great. Better to build it on the bench first then in an enclosure.

I still haven't completed mine. I'm still looking for the "perfect" enclosure" Thay're always either too small or too large.

Rich

 

[kb0nly]

What is the board that you have plugged into the Arduino? Looks interesting.

 

[richk107]

it looks like a Arduino ProtoShield with a blue breadboard.
Arduino ProtoShield Kit - SparkFun Electronics

 

[Stupidfatkid]

You are correct. It's a Proto Shield from Adafruit.

Adafruit Proto Shield for Arduino Kit

it looks like a Arduino ProtoShield with a blue breadboard.
Arduino ProtoShield Kit - SparkFun Electronics

 

[KJ4ODU]

Now what I would like...

2.8 TFT Touch Shield for Arduino [2.8] ID: 376 - $59.00 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits

with the right programming and stuff ( I'm No Programmer at all)

you could do a integrated touch screen for like the 996 and etc, that would control the unit. like a Home Patrol unit.

Just my 2 1/2 cents.

Back on track, Nice Setup.

 

[KJ4ODU]

I also been on Ebay, looking at LCD boards, seen this, and if it have a enclose already made for it. it would make it alot easy to build. or at lease for the lazy folks( like me)

Front Panel 2x16 LCD w/HD44780, 4 buttons, 3 LEDs. | eBay

 

[sandman1991]

will the remote head work on radio shack digitals?

 

[richk107]

KJ4ODU - The touch screen unfortunatly needs too many pins to run. The second one looks very promissing. The program would probably need some minor changes.

sandman1991 - The code will only work on Uniden. Radio Shack (GRE) use a different protocol.

 

[sandman1991]

home brew

ok thanks , i was just wondering i just got a 2011 buick regal and dont have a place to mount my radio shack digital guess ill have to buy a uniden lol good job on the home brew any way looks good

 

[c5corvette]

Will it work on the Uniden Home Patrol ???

 

[KJ4ODU]

KJ4ODU - The touch screen unfortunatly needs too many pins to run. The second one looks very promissing. The program would probably need some minor changes.

sandman1991 - The code will only work on Uniden. Radio Shack (GRE) use a different protocol.

Yep, I emailed the guy one the 2x16 with buttons, have not heard from them yet. But I asked if there was a Premade Box for it some where, and if the Screen can be lit.


The Touch Screen, They make a Controller for it. From what I read. and if there was code made for that controller, then it might work. the Touch is like uses 5 pins, GND, and one for each corner, and depends on where you touch it the input/output will change. so the Touch would be out. and the Buttons. would have to be added.


on a side note. I see there are 6 input and only 4 are being used, If I wanted to use pin 4/5 for Squelch. what would the input/output code be?

 

[KJ4ODU]

I'm looking for a Enclosure that is Premade. best think I found. looks to fit a 16x2 LCD. and the Arduino is this,


Enclosure for Arduino - Electronics enclosure [1.0] ID: 271 - $15.00 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits

Still looking for the 20x4

 

[richk107]

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I've been traveling.

To manage the squelch, it would depend on how you would like to handle it. It you could like to control it similar to how the volume is controlled. With the way I have the project wired, there are only two more available connections, A4 & A5. The control code for squelch is:
==========================================================================
<COMMAND SQL>
Get/Set Squelch Level Settings
==========================================================================
Controller &#8594; Radio
&#9312; SQL[\r]
&#9313; SQL,[LEVEL][\r]
Radio &#8594; Controller
&#9312; SQL,[LEVEL][\r]
&#9313; SQL,OK[\r]
[LEVEL] : Squelch Level (0:OPEN / 1-14 / 15:CLOSE)

Basically, substitute SQL where you see VOL. Obviously there is a little work to get it going, but not much.

 

[K4APR]

When I started to redesign the hardware for the HamHUD II+ (http://www.rpc-electronics.com/hamhud2p.php) I decided to move to this 4x20 LCD (https://www.crystalfontz.com: CFAH2004K-TMI-JP, Parallel Character LCD 20x4, RoHS, White Edge LED Backlight, STN Negativ) I liked this better because it still had the HD44870 controller/pinout, but it took up much less space to mount.

EDIT: I forgot to add that I am not much of an Arduino fan, but I do have one of those micro Arduino pros from SparkFun and I could see tacking that to the back side of one of the narrow LCD's I linked to above and having a nice compact package. I'm not a firmware guy, I am a hardway guy. I enjoy looking for hardware solutions to projects like this.

 

[richk107]

Jason,

I like the LCD and will definatly have to consider it. I also looked at your webpage, nice job. I am curious to know where you found the enclosure.


Rich

 

[KJ6VIP]

Great job everyone,

Been watching this thread with great interest. Fantastic project idea and glad to see it actually come to fruition. Now pack one up and send one over for me to play with! Seriously, thanks for sharing, enjoyed watching this play out.

-Rylak

 

[K4APR]

Jason,

I like the LCD and will definatly have to consider it. I also looked at your webpage, nice job. I am curious to know where you found the enclosure.

Rich, I like to design my products around Hammond enclosures:

Hammond Mfg. - Small Enclosure Index

I really like the extruded cases (like the one you saw in the photos):

Hammond Mfg. - Extruded Aluminum (Metal End Panels) - 1455 Series Enclosures

I also really like Pactec cases: and they are quickly becoming my choice for many of my new products:

PacTec - Home

They are quickly becoming my choice for many of my new products, such as our new YagTracker:

http://www.rpc-electronics.com/yagtracker.php

For the LCD, there is also another option that I have been meaning to try out:

EA DIP204B-6NLW ELECTRONIC ASSEMBLY LCD Character Display Modules

This is a direct mount module. You solder it directly to the main PCB. I have not ordered any to check out yet, but I imagine it could be used with SIP sockets, but I like the direct solder option to reduce the space between the main board and the LCD. Really nice for squeezing it into a thinner case, such as the one shown in the pictures I linked previously.

This LCD still uses the standard HD44870 controller, but has the addition of built in icons along the top of the LCD. There is a single command that can be sent to hide these icons, since they all show by default, at power up.

 

[K4APR]

I have attached a quick and dirty mockup of what a single board design could look like, in EagleCAD.

 

[richk107]

Jason,

Thanks for the links.

I've been meaning to come up with a PCB. With the long weekend coming up maybe I'll have some time.

Rich