Does anyone know if it is possible to do bank-switching on a Maxtrac to support multiple banks of channels, or does programming the radio force a Chip Erase on the EEPROM when it loads the new code plug?
(is this an RSSish question or is general appropriate?)
Bank-switching Maxtrac EEPROM?
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I'm pretty sure the EEPROM gets erased or over-written whenever a codeplug is sent to the radio.
If there was enough EEPROM memory to support some kind of bank switching, it would have to be done externally, and you'd probably need to initialize the radio and load a codeplug into each bank. MaxTracs don't normally have any feature like this.
Bob M.
If there was enough EEPROM memory to support some kind of bank switching, it would have to be done externally, and you'd probably need to initialize the radio and load a codeplug into each bank. MaxTracs don't normally have any feature like this.
Bob M.
Overwritten is not a problem. Blanked is.kcbooboo wrote:I'm pretty sure the EEPROM gets erased or over-written whenever a codeplug is sent to the radio.
Yup. I'm completely ok with that... just add a little glue logic and go. I'm looking at dual/quad banking a 32 channel Maxtrac to support two towns (since I live in one and visit another) and possibly supporting a 'reverse' function on both banks. But if the chip is erased, there's no point in even attempting since only one codeplug would be able to reside in *any* bank (since all others would be blanked on update).If there was enough EEPROM memory to support some kind of bank switching, it would have to be done externally, and you'd probably need to initialize the radio and load a codeplug into each bank. MaxTracs don't normally have any feature like this.
Bob M.
You could use a perf board with sockets to hold both EEproms and then fabricate a way to switch between them. I frankensteined a similar setup on one a while back but didn't document it since i never thought it would be feasible nor reliable.
What i did was take an old serial port switch box and built in a small perf board with two EEprom sockets, then i took the lines from each socket to a large wafer switch. Off the back of the switch box i had a cable that went into the radio, you would have to drill a hole through the cover or something to make it permanent, and then i had a connector that looks like a EEprom socket but has a ribbon cable off it, i think i got it from some old computer junk in the basement, and that plugs into the EEprom socket in the radio.
To use it though you have to select chip A or B then turn on the radio. And if you want to switch you have have to turn off the radio and select which one you want and then power it back up. If you try hot switching it you just get a boop and then a constant tone because it thinks the codeplug data was corrupted.
So yes, it is do-able, looks ugly as heck, but it can be done. I sold that contraption to a guy on here, who is no longer a member and i don't recall his callsign, and he further expanded on it by adding a different switch and another small board with two more EEproms. Giving him four banks of 32ch. The nice thing about this setup though is you can program each bank individually once you have it setup, just select a chip and then blank and initialize and program as normal.
Also, what i did to make the second chip without having to redo the tuning data was take the one out of the radio and toss it in my Eprom burner, read it and save an image, then put in a blank and program that data back to it. I verified it worked in the radio and then put everything together with the switch inline. Then i could select chip 2 and change the channel data to make two different banks.
What i did was take an old serial port switch box and built in a small perf board with two EEprom sockets, then i took the lines from each socket to a large wafer switch. Off the back of the switch box i had a cable that went into the radio, you would have to drill a hole through the cover or something to make it permanent, and then i had a connector that looks like a EEprom socket but has a ribbon cable off it, i think i got it from some old computer junk in the basement, and that plugs into the EEprom socket in the radio.
To use it though you have to select chip A or B then turn on the radio. And if you want to switch you have have to turn off the radio and select which one you want and then power it back up. If you try hot switching it you just get a boop and then a constant tone because it thinks the codeplug data was corrupted.
So yes, it is do-able, looks ugly as heck, but it can be done. I sold that contraption to a guy on here, who is no longer a member and i don't recall his callsign, and he further expanded on it by adding a different switch and another small board with two more EEproms. Giving him four banks of 32ch. The nice thing about this setup though is you can program each bank individually once you have it setup, just select a chip and then blank and initialize and program as normal.
Also, what i did to make the second chip without having to redo the tuning data was take the one out of the radio and toss it in my Eprom burner, read it and save an image, then put in a blank and program that data back to it. I verified it worked in the radio and then put everything together with the switch inline. Then i could select chip 2 and change the channel data to make two different banks.
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"I'm pretty sure the EEPROM gets erased or over-written whenever a codeplug is sent to the radio."
I do know that even when you write a codeplug out, the software reads stuff first, so it could read the tuning data and other stuff it needs, merge it with the info in your computer's memory, blank the EEPROM, then write everything back out to the radio. Some EEPROMS let you write each byte, others are an all-or-nothing deal.
Not all MaxTracs have an EEPROM (masked 5-pin, for example) or even one that's socketed.
Bob M.
I do know that even when you write a codeplug out, the software reads stuff first, so it could read the tuning data and other stuff it needs, merge it with the info in your computer's memory, blank the EEPROM, then write everything back out to the radio. Some EEPROMS let you write each byte, others are an all-or-nothing deal.
Not all MaxTracs have an EEPROM (masked 5-pin, for example) or even one that's socketed.
Bob M.