/
Using the Z88 to control a Radio Scanner

Using the Z88 to control a Radio Scanner

 

This article was written by Ian Burkinshaw, I do not know how to contact him so I hope he will not mind his article to be published here. The IC-10 described here is no longer available, but the principal should work with later radios.

For most people the serial (RS232) is just used to connect to a printer. However the Z88 user manual says the Z88 can be used to control other devices. With this in mind and being interested in Short Wave listening I wanted to control a Radio Receiver. The radio I started to work with is the Icom IC-10 hand held scanner.

IC-R10

This radio covers from 500KHz to 1300MHz in all major modes AM, FM, WFM (wide band fm for band 2 broadcast band), CW (continuous wave, carries Morse (code), SSB (single side band) both USB and LSB. This like other Icom radios has a Cl-V protocol, which I will outline below.

I found early on, getting the serial port to work in this application was not as straight forward as you would first think. So you will find below my solution to this problem. However there may be another way of doing this which I have not discovered.

The Hardware

The radio has a 3.5mm mono jack which is used for serial communication, This is a bidirectional port. This port works on a 5V signal., this is different to the signal coming from the Z88 which is +/- 12V (RS232). There is a conversion box made by Icom called CT-17. The CT17 is small (100mm [w] x 60mm [d] x 30mm [h]) box with a power input connector on the rear panel, the voltage range being 9 to 15 volts which can be either a mains adapter or batteries. On the front panel there is a power LED and four 3.5mm jack sockets. This box can be used to control up to four radio's and/or transceivers.

The control of each radio/transceiver is achieved by each device having its own address which is a hex number in the range of 01 to 7F. This box is a bit expensive for what it is. If you are into electronics you can make a similar box yourself All you need is a 5V power regulator (78L05) and a MAX232CPE which is a RS232 to TTL (5V) level converter, integrated circuit. A typical circuit is shown below.

Please note: if you attempt to build this circuit yourself it is at your risk to your radio and computer, do check every thing twice ! All the parts to make the converter are available from Maplin Electronics.

 

Z88 Scanner circuit.png
Circuit of Level Convertor

Connect the ring of the 3.5 mm jack to GND. Not shown for clarity.

 

Testing the cable

It is a good idea to make sure each part of the system is working, in this case this is very easy. Having made the cable, short pin 2 and pin 3 of the 25 way D-Type together. Plug the 9 pin D- Type into the Z88 and turn the Z88 on. Select the Index by pressing the index button, then with the up/down arrow keys select Terminal.
The terminal application will now run if all is OK type in any letters or numbers you like and you will see the letters displayed. If this does not work then check your wiring of the D-Type connectors do not forget to also check for any short circuits. If this works then move on to the next stage.

Switch off the Z88 and disconnect the 9 Pin D-Type from the Z88 and remove the short from the
25 pin D-Type.

Testing the CT-17 box or your home made converter.

Plug the 9 Pin D-Type in the Z88 as before and plug the 25 pin D-Type in the converter. Do not connect the radio at this stage. Provide power to the converter (If you are using the CT-17 the LED on the front should light). Turn on the Z88 and if you have not changed anything the Z88 should return to the terminal application. Again type any number or letter and you should see it displayed just as when you tested the cable. If not check the converters wiring, it may be you reversed the connections pin 2 and pin 3 in the 25 way D-Type.

In the event of this not working try connecting an LED and resistor to the output of the converter (The radio side). To do this connect the anode of an LED to the tip of a 3.5mm jack plug, then the cathode to one end of a 470 ohm resistor and the other end of the resistor the sleeve of the jack plug, plug this into the converter. When you type on the keyboard of the Z88 you should see the LED flash. This means the transmit (Z88 to radio) side of your set up is working.

Once you have the above working you can connect the radio via an 3.5mm jack to jack cable.

The Icom protocol (C1-V)

Notes on Cl-V Control of IC-R10 Receiver and other Icom radios and transceivers.

General

The IC-RI0 can be connected to a computer via the computers RS .232C port using an optional CT-17 Cl-V level converter or the circuit show above. This allows you to control the receiver from the computer and/or transfer data from the receiver to the computer.

R10 Baud Rates are as follows:-

300
1200
4800
9600
19200

The baud is set in the radio under the SET MODE (Function Key SET)

Data Format

The Cl-V system can be operated using the following data formats. Data formats differ according to command numbers. A data area is added for some commands.

Controller (Z88) to IC R10

FE(254)

FE(254)

52(82)

E0(244)

Cn

Sn

Data Area

FD(253)

FE(254)

FE(254)

52(82)

E0(244)

Cn

Sn

Data Area

FD(253)

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Note: The numbers in brackets are the decimal of the hex number preceding.

IC-R10 to Controller (Z88)

FE(254)

FE(254)

E0(244)

52(82)

Cn

Sn

Data Area

FD(253)

FE(254)

FE(254)

E0(244)

52(82)

Cn

Sn

Data Area

FD(253)

1

3

2

4

5

6

7

1=Preamble Code (Fixed)
2=Receivers default address (This is set in the radio under the SET MODE see above)
3=Controllers default address
4=Command number(see table below)
5=Sub command number (see table below)
6=BCD code data for frequency entry
7=End of message code (Fixed)

Command Table

Description

Cn

Sc

Description

Cn

Sc

Transfers frequency data (transceive)

00

-

Transfers mode data (transceive)

01

-

Reads display frequency

03

-

Reads display mode

04

-

Sets frequency data

05

-

Sets LSB mode

06

00

Sets USB mode

06

01

Sets AM mode

06

02

Sets CW mode

06

03

Sets FM mode

06

05

Sets WFM mode

06

06

Reads squelch condition (open or closed)

21 (15)

01

Reads S-meter level

21 (15)

02

Page 73 of the instruction manual for the R10 has an error. The command table shows Cn (Command Number) for reading the S-meter and squelch condition as 15, in fact it is 21.

Some examples for controlling the IC-R10

Transmit Frequency 131.725500

FE(254)

FE(254)

52

E0

Cn

Freq

Data

FD

FE(254)

FE(254)

52

E0

Cn

Freq

Data

FD

254

254

82

244

5

0.85

114,49

1,253

Read Receiver Frequency

Send

FE(254)

FE(254)

52

E0

Cn

Freq

FE(254)

FE(254)

52

E0

Cn

Freq