Quantar

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Quantar/Quantro info

There is a bunch of info here about the technical aspects of the Quantar Stations.

The info on the modification and changing ranges of the various modules is on the respective pages. There is some conversion info below, but it's being migrated and reformatted under the respective pages. I feel this is more logical.

If you find anything to be wrong here, please feel free to make an account and change it. I've had to lock down account creation, so you'll need to have it approved. If you want to email me directly, my email is bryan@bryanfields.net

Specifications

Quantar Specifications VHF, UHF, 800 MHz - This is the combined spec sheet for the VHF/UHF and 800 base stations.

Quantar Data Base Station Specification Sheet 800 900 MHz

ASTRO TAC QUANTAR receiver manual

Programming

Links to programming stuff

CSS 007.13.R022.0035 for EPIC4 Smart Zone SCM

WinRSS 14.08.01 Windows RSS

WinRSS 14.10.00 release July 15 2011.zip

WinRSS 14.11.00

WinRSS R14.12.00

WinRSS 14.13.00 April 2015 Current Winrss - narrowband only. Use the rsscore.dll from 14.12.00 will re-enable wideband. Or just run 14.12.00.

DIU3000 CPS/CSS software 8.00.18 30-APR-2005


Firmware

The newer SCM modules can be upgraded via SLIP connection over the tty port, or via IP over the 10Base2 connector (anyone have a hub?).

The Wireline typically will upgrade during this too, unless it has the older EPROM memory. At that point you'll have to swap the chips.

The exciter is still a hard chip swap upgrade, but programed EPROM's are $20 shipped on eBay. Unless you have more than a few to upgrade it's not cost effective to buy the programer and chips yourself.

Quantar Conventional Firmware Upgrade Package R020-14-048


SIMM Images

The SIMM has a boot1 image which is a basic bootloader (0x460-0x3ffff). This runs just after the bootstrap code (0x000 0x45f). The bootloader (boot.o) contains basic code to initialize the hardware and validate the boot2.o, sc.o and wl.o images stored in the SIMM. It also has a slip loader in it. With only the boot.o code running it's possible to reload the entire OS at 9600 baud via the front port.

The boot.o is the only code not able to be upgraded on the SIMM via SLIP/FTP. To upgrade boot.o you need to flash the SIMM directly. Normally boot.o does not matter, but it is different for IR and NIR stations. The other issue is the newer (EPIC III) SCM cards will not boot with boot.o 020.10.001, and need at least the 020.10.008 code. The newest boot code is 020.10.012, and the images below have that code on them.


Conventional Firmware for U1-U4 on the SIMM module 20.14.048

media:NIR-R020.12.048 B2-R020.14.15 B1-R020.10.12.zip -- Most current firmware, works on all SCM boards.
media:Quantar-Flash-Simm-EPIC2-NON-IR-FW-20.14.048-Boot-020.10.001.zip -- Don't use, older code for historical reference only

IntelliRepeater (IR) Firmware for U1-U8 on the two bank SIMM module 20.14.520

Media:IR-SIMM-20.14.520.zip

This is for the old B013.05.014 EPIC I firmware that would run from the 27C040 PROMs. It's here for reference, don't use it.

Media:Quantar 27C040 SCM B013.05.014 EPROM images.zip


Hacking info 

How to combine the firmware into a single binary image

srec_cat -Output 20.14.038-SIMM.bin -Binary \
"U4.bin" -Binary -unsplit 4 0 \
"U3.bin" -Binary -unsplit 4 1 \
"U2.bin" -Binary -unsplit 4 2 \
"U1.bin" -Binary -unsplit 4 3

srec_cat -Output 20.14.048-SIMM.bin -Binary \
"20.14.048 - epic 2 - u4.bin" -Binary -unsplit 4 0 \
"20.14.048 - epic 2 - u3.bin" -Binary -unsplit 4 1 \
"20.14.048 - epic 2 - u2.bin" -Binary -unsplit 4 2 \
"20.14.048 - EPIC 2 - U1.bin" -Binary -unsplit 4 3


How to Split it back into a per chip image.

srec_cat 20.14.048-SIMM-920mhz.bin -Binary -split 4 0 -Output U4-920.bin -Binary
srec_cat 20.14.048-SIMM-920mhz.bin -Binary -split 4 1 -Output U3-920.bin -Binary
srec_cat 20.14.048-SIMM-920mhz.bin -Binary -split 4 2 -Output U2-920.bin -Binary
srec_cat 20.14.048-SIMM-920mhz.bin -Binary -split 4 3 -Output U1-920.bin -Binary

0x00000 is the start of boot1 

boot1 is never updated by the station.  When you go to flash the station, the ftp server an everything runs from this code.  The main sc.o code doesn't have the FTP server in it. 

0x40000 is the start of boot2  
BEBE CAFE BEBE CAFE then object name
FEED BEEF FEED BEEF is the end then  4 bytes 
EEnd of ROM
0x80000 is the start of sc.o
0018FC54 is the start of wl.o
Wireline Images

Go check out the wireline page for updated info the below is not the most current.

Wireline 20.10.816 for AT27C010 Chips. This works with the 20.14.048 Conventional Firmware

Wireline U134 Upper 20.10.816
Wireline U135 Lower 20.10.816
Exciter Images

This is the matching Exciter Image for a AM27C512 UV EPROM

Exciter 020.09.018

Code Plug format

Manuals

The PDR3500 is basically a Quantar in a portable format using a PA from a Spectra mid power radio. The basic service manual has a diagram of the backplane and glue circuits that tie this all together. It's very interesting to read as it explains quite a bit more of how the ID resistors and SPI bus works. If you're hacking quantar's, it's a must read.

Hardware info

Part numbers

Here are part numbers and what the correspond to.

Power Supplies

The -48v supplies are easy to see as they have a side to side DC breaker style switch. The Motorola/Onan column refers to the manufacturer of the PS. Many people rag on the Onan power supplies, but I've not had one fail in service yet. The Onan do have a heat activated fan, whereas the Motorola run continuously. This can be good for base use or in the lab, as the base station will not make noise unless it's keyed down for some time.

Quantar power supplies
P/N Description Motorola/Onan Watts
CPN1031 48/60v input Yes 600
CPN1049 AC no charger Yes 265
CPN1050 AC with Charger Yes 265
CPN1047 AC no charger Yes 625
CPN1048 AC with Charger Yes 625
TRN7802 12/24v DC No 210
TRN7803 48/60v input No 210
TRN7801 24v input No 600
CPN1042 AC No 700
TPN6185 AC w/Charger ? 625
TPN1186 No idea ?

BackPlane

The BackPlane modules are different for the Quantar and Quantro.


Station Control info

Station Control Module or SCM is the heart of the Quantar station. The SCM comes in different revisons known as EPIC.


Quantar
EPIC P/N Type Conv/6809 IntelliRepeater Astro 25 Trunking ONLY
EPIC I Board TTN4094 TRN7900 N/A
FRU TLN3397 TLN3398 N/A
EPIC II Board CLN6961 CLN6960 N/A
FRU CLN1293 CLN1294 N/A
EPIC III Board CLN1614 N/A N/A
FRU CLN1621 N/A N/A
EPIC IV Board N/A N/A CLN7692
FRU N/A N/A DLN1229
EPIC V Board MCLN8426 MCLN8447 N/A
FRU CLN8480 CLN8479 N/A
ASTRO-TAC Receiver
EPIC P/N Type Conv/6809 Astro 25 Trunking ONLY
EPIC I Board TTN4094 N/A
FRU TLN3397 N/A
EPIC II Board CLN6873 CLN6873
FRU CLN1273 CLN1273
EPIC V Board MCLN8426 MCLN8426
FRU CLN8480 CLN8480
Others
EPIC P/N Type SecureNet Limited PDR 3500 DBS ATAC 3000 ATAC9600
EPIC II Board CLN6961 CLN7462 CLN6686 CLN7361 CLN7361 CCN4009
FRU CLN1609 CLN1177 CLN1914 CLN1914 CCN1009
EPIC V Board MCLN8426 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
FRU Unknown N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A


The only difference between the various versions of the EPICs (excluding EPIC IV) is the hardware is newer. There is no difference in functionality for conventional analog/astro/P25 operation.

SIMM info

The SIMM used for firmware in the Quantar EPIC 2/3 is an 80 pin SIMM and is basically unobtanimum. It is possiable to use a Motorola Console Operator Interface Module SIMM if you want to modify it.

The conventional uses 4, 29F040 chips arranged to be 32 bits wide. This means each chip stores every 4th byte.

Example we store "QUANTAR MOTOROLA" in the SIMM

Chip 1 Chip 2 Chip 3 Chip 4
Q U A N
T A R
M O T O
R O L A

So if we read Chip 1 we'd see QTMR.

The IR uses a two bank SIMM with the same layout (8 chips total)

It's possible to pull these chips and read/write them if you have the right programmer. Taking advantage of this I was able to build a SIMM programmer for the soldered in place SIMM's that essentially programs one chip at a time (8bits).

80 Pin SIMM Programmer


It's not pretty but it works.

The SIMM has the ability to be upgraded via the SCM download procedure, but the IR SIMM and NON-IR SIMMs cannot be interchanged. This is do to the boot code being different. Using the SIMM programmer or the socketed SIMM you can reprogram the SIMM's for either.

SIMM-less SCM

It is possible to use 29F040 chips in the sockets on the EPIC 1 with just a flick of the Flash switch, this makes it easy to use the current Quantar Firmware in the EPIC 1 with just standard DIP chips.


In the later revision EPIC's the DIP sockets are only used for 27c040 chips which have a slightly different pinout. It's possible to use the SIMM images as u1-4 maps to U451-454 with a slight modification to the chips. Typically I'll bend up pins 1, (A18 on Flash, VPP on EEPROM) and 31 (!WE on Flash, A18 on EEPROM), and then connect a wire from the board at pin 31 to pin 1 on the chip. A connection to !WE on the chip is optional unless you want to be able to upgrade the chips. In this case you'll need to make a conection from SIMM pins 53, 29, 6, & 5 to the !WE lines on U451-U454 respectively.

The Quantar doesn't care about the ID pins on the SIMM, but I typically will tie 74, 75, 76, 79 to ground/pin 80. If you're doing an ATAC 3k, the ATAC does care about this and you need pins 76 and 79 tied to ground.

Of course the Intelerepeater and ATAC9k will not work in this configuration as they need two banks on the SIMM, so you can't do this if that's your requirement. For most ham stuff, there's no reason you need anything more than NIR code for Quantar and ATAC 3000.

Receiver

Like the rest of the unit the receivers are frequency dependent and consist of their own modules. The basic receiver has a preselector which is 4 MHz wide on VHF and 6 MHz wide on UHF.

The receiver is an excellent high side injection design (exception for 800/900 which is low side). The first IF is +21.45 MHz on VHF and +73.35 MHZ on UHF/800/900. The second IF is 455 KHz. In many cases barefoot (minus preselector) the receiver sensitivity is under -120dBm for 12 dB SINAD. Couple this with the great built in selectivity and it's truly a bullet proof design idea for high RF sites.

The receiver is pretty dumb, there is not a μP on the board, making it easier to troubleshoot. The devices receive their programming from the main CPU on the SCM via SPI bus. The two main chips are the U2500 receiver IC and U2401 PLL IC. U2401, the PLL, is a custom chip responsible for locking the VCOs to the proper frequency, and selecting the high or low VCO. U2500, the receiver IC, contains the 2nd IF/VCO and final processing of the intended signal. Unlike other designs, the receiver IC presents the recovered audio/data as two digital signals to the SCM where A/D conversion happens (if needed).

There are a couple other chips which present various

UHF R0 was added later and extends the coverage and tuning range of the unit down to 380 MHz. The preselctor for this covers the whole range as well.

Each item has more information on it's own page and covers conversions there as well.


Svc Man P/N CLD FRU P/N Range Preselector Description
TRD6361 CLD1250 TLN3250 VHF R1 TFD6511 VHF Receiver 132-154 MHz
TRD6362 CLD1260 TLN3251 VHF R2 TFD6512 VHF Receiver 150-174 MHz
CRX4022 CRX1027 DLN1215 UHF R0 CRX4001 UHF Receiver 380-433 MHz
TRE6281 CLE1190 TLN3313 UHF R1 TLE5991 UHF Receiver 403-433 MHz
TRE6282 CLE1200 TLN3314 UHF R2 TLE5992 UHF Receiver 438-470 MHz
TRE6283 CLE1210 TLN3373 UHF R3 TLE5993 UHF Receiver 470-490 MHz
TRE6284 CLE1220 TLN3374 UHF R4 TLE5993 UHF Receiver 490-520 MHz
TRF6551 CLF1530 TLN3315 800 N/A 800 MHz Receiver 806-825 MHz
TRF6552 CLF1540 TLN3316 900 N/A 900 MHz Receiver 935-941 MHz

Exciter

The exciters contain their own CPU which communicates with the SCM over a SPI bus. This CPU runs it's own firmware and requires a socketed UV EPROM to upgrade it. This also controls the PA meeting and the bit of EEPROM in the CPU stores the alignment settings for the exciter and PA. Generally a Exciter/PA pair will not need to be realigned if moved from one chassis to another, although it should be checked.

Svc Man P/N CLD FRU P/N Range Description
TLD9831 CLD1270 TLN3252 VHF R1 VHF Exciter 132-154 MHz
TLD9832 CLD1280 TLN3253 VHF R2 VHF Exciter 150-174 MHz
CLX4000 CLX1000 DLN1214 UHF R0 UHF Exciter 380-433 MHz
TLE5971 CLE1230 TLN3305 UHF R1 UHF Exciter 403-433 MHz
TLE5972 CLE1240 TLN3306 UHF R2 UHF Exciter 438-470 MHz
TLE5973 CLE1210 TLN3375 UHF R3 UHF Exciter 470-490 MHz
TLE5974 CLE1220 TLN3376 UHF R4 UHF Exciter 490-520 MHz
TLF6920 CLF1510 TLN3307 900 800 MHz Exciter 850-870 MHz
TLF6930 CLF1520 TLN3308 900 900 MHz Exciter 935-941 MHz

Station Access Module

Check here for SAM info

Troof Table

There is a ID code representing the exciter type, it consists of R3700 to R3710. These are either pull up or down resistors on a 6 bit code and are identified on the schematic on the left side of U3700, the μP. Below is the table in MSB-LSB format, with a 1 being high (5v) and a 0 being a low (0v).


Dip switch! Band! Binary! Notes in the RSS!
0 VHF_R1 000000
1 VHF_R2 000001 VHF R2 SL
2 UHF_R1 000010
3 UHF_R2 000011
4 800 000100
5 VHF_R3 000101 sl
6 VHF_R4 000110
7 VHF_R1 000111
8 VHF_R2 001000 VHF R2 FL
9 VHF_R3 001001
10 VHF_R4 001010
11 900 001011
12 UHF_R3 001100
13 UHF_R4 001101
14 blank 001110
15 blank 001111
16 blank 010000
17 blank 010001
18 blank 010010
19 blank 010011 uhf r0 from book
20 blank 010100
21 blank 010101
22 blank 010110
23 blank 010111
24 blank 011000
25 blank 011001
26 blank 011010
27 blank 011011
28 blank 011100
29 blank 011101
30 blank 011110
31 blank 011111
32 blank 100000
33 blank 100001
34 blank 100010
35 blank 100011
36 blank 100100
37 blank 100101 boot
38 blank 100110
39 blank 100111
40 blank 101000
41 blank 101001
42 blank 101010
43 blank 101011
44 blank 101100
45 blank 101101
46 blank 101110
47 blank 101111 "RSS only"
48 blank 110000
49 blank 110001
50 blank 110010
51 blank 110011
52 blank 110100 RAP says VHF_R2 SL
53 blank 110101
54 blank 110110
55 blank 110111
56 blank 111000
57 blank 111001
58 blank 111010
59 blank 111011
60 blank 111100
61 blank 111101
62 blank 111110
63 INVALID 111111 Exciter is in reset all LED's are on and the PA fans turn on

PDR3500

The PDR3500 is a portable version of the repeater. Here's some details and internal pics of it.

Power Amp

The power amps are actually a cool design.

Their are two basic power amps, a 25W, and a 100/110/125w (depending on band). The power amps all use the same general board layout, with the frequency dependent parts separate from the support components. The 25W PA is a passively cooled unit with a massive heatsink, while the 100/110/125W unit has active cooling with a horizontal heatsink and two cooling fans moving air front to back.

There are a couple different revisions of the PA's so the main PCB has changed a bit over time.

PCB Layout High Power
PCB Layout Low Power

[[|thumbnail|center]]

The PA doesn't contain any CPU, it's controlled via the exciter CPU with basic analog level lines going over to the exciter. Some of what's measured by the exciter

  • Intermediate PA drive level - this is the output of the IPA to the final PA pallet
  • Driver PA Level - output of the final PA before the circulator (FPA_DETECT).
  • TX Power Forward - Output measured at the output of the Low Pass Filter
  • TX Power Reverse - Reflected Power from the antenna port
  • OMNI voltage - this is the control voltage on the IPA which comes from the SCM as a 0-5V control signal (V_CONT). This 0-5v controls a transistor making a 0-14v signal to provide the gain of the IPA. This is the basis of the power control. The Control Voltage from the SCM is only present during keydown.
  • IPA Current detect
  • DPA Side A & B current sense
  • Temperature of the PA 3.981v is 79f 2.0 is about 170f This looks like an 8 bit value with 0xFF == 5.000 V or .019608v per bit.
    • PA Fans turn on at 2v and off at 2.90v.
  • Fan on/off and alarm
  • PA_ID bits A & B - resistor divider that programs to reference voltages in .5v increments to ID the PA hardware to the exciter.

All these are measured over an TDM bus that selects each at a 200ms interval using a single analog input on the exciter CPU.

PA types

Svc Man P/N Other P/N Rated Power Range Description
CLD1295A 120? VHF? Unknown
TLD3102 CLD1299 125 VHF R2 VHF PA
TLD3110 25 VHF R1/R2 VHF PA
TLD3101 TLN3379 CLD1298 125 VHF R1 (NEW) VHF PA
CTX1146 DLN1216 110 UHF R0 Second Generation UHF PA 380-433 MHz
TTE2061 TLN3444 110 UHF R1 First Generation UHF PA 403-433 MHz
CLE6164 Example 110 UHF R1 Second Generation UHF PA 403-433 MHz
TTE2062 TLN3446 110 UHF R2 First Generation UHF PA 438-470 MHz
CLE6165 CLE1308 110 UHF R2 Second Generation UHF PA 438-470 MHz
TTE2063 110 UHF R3 First Generation UHF PA 470-490 MHz
TTE6373 110 UHF R3 Second Generation UHF PA 470-490 MHz
TTE2064 100 UHF R4 First Generation UHF PA 490-520 MHz
TTE6374 100 UHF R4 Second Generation UHF PA 490-520 MHz
CTF1091A/TLF1930 TLN3442 100 800 800 MHz 100W PA
CTF1092A/TLF1800 TLN3299 100 900 900 MHz 100W PA
PA Type PA_ID_A PA_ID_B R4162 R4163 R4164 R4165 Official?
900 100W 3.0 .5 20.5k 10k 1k OPEN YES
800 100W 0.5 1.0 OPEN 0 1.5K 15K YES
800 20W 0.0 1.0 OPEN 1k 1.5K 15K YES
UHF 110W R0 0.0 1.5 OPEN 0 390 1k YES
UHF 110W R1 1.0 0.5 15k 1.5k 560 10k YES
UHF 110W R2 1.5 0.5 1k 390 100 1k YES
UHF 110W R3 3.0 1.0 2.2k 2.7k 1.5k 15k YES
UHF 100W R4 3.5 1.0 18k 15k 1.5k 15k YES
UHF 25W R1 5.0 0.0 33.2k OPEN 0 OPEN YES
UHF 25W R2 0.0 0.5 OPEN 0 1k OPEN YES
VHF 125W R1 3.0 0.0 20.5k 10k 0 OPEN YES
VHF 125W R2 0.0 0.0 OPEN 0 0 OPEN YES
VHF 25W R1/R2 4.5 0.0 12k 68k 0 OPEN YES
VHF 25W R1 3.5 0.0 NO

UHF 110W Generation 1 UHF 110W Generation 2


CTF1091A 100 W 800 MHz CTF1092A 100 W 900 MHz CTX1146A Range 0 Power Amplifier TLF1800B 100W Power Amplifier Module TLF1930C 100W Power Amplifier Module TLF1940B 20W Power Amplifier Module TTE2061A 110W Power Amplifier UHF R1 TTE2062A 110W Power Amplifier UHF R2 TTE2063A 110W Power Amplifier UHF R3 TTE2064A 110W Power Amplifier UHF R4

TLE2511A/ 110W Power Amplifier Module TLE2512A TLE2521 TLE2572 TLE2731B 25W Power Amplifier Module UHF R1 TLE2732B 25W Power Amplifier Module UHF R2 TLD3101G 125W Power Amplifier Module VHF R1 TLD3102G 125W Power Amplifier Module VHF R2 TLD3110C 25W Power Amplifier Module VHF R1/R2 CLX4002A 100/110W Power Amplifier Module (UHF; R1-R4) CLE6164A 100/110W Power Amplifier CLE6165A Module (UHF; R1-R4)

TTE6373A/ 100/110W Power Amplifier TTE6374A Module (UHF; R1-R4)

Troubleshooting notes

Most of the time the PA's are rock solid. I have some notes below on trouble shooting them.

  • swap with a known good PA, does the problem go away?
  • Align the PA/init the PA
  • Check the amp draw on both sides
  • Always run it at 100% rated power for testing.


Silly PA syndrome

Some times people run the PA at lower output to "make it easier on it". So long as cooling is working, running it at rated output is the least stressful way to operate it. Running at reduced power output is actually harder on the PA.

The PA has an intermediate stage and a final amp stage. The final amp runs at the same gain level all the time. The power out is changed by varying the IPA voltage. As this is done via a linear regulator, as the power output goes down, there is more and more power dissipated in the Q4100 (UHF) pass transistor. This is due to running the IPA at lower and lower voltage to drop the power to the final. Typically what happens is a station will key up, then fail and try to fall back in power, but this just makes it worse.

What I've done to test this:

  • Run the PA at 120% (ie 150w output) just for a bit. ie init it and align it for 110w = 130W.
  • Test the station, key it down and check that it's solid for 2-3 min.
  • check the value of the OMNI Voltage in the station metering.

If this is good, replace the Q4100, and check the operation of the power control circuits (q4101, V_CONT, VOMNI).

This normally fixes it.

  1. ↑ my theory on this is eBay sellers searched the part number CLN7692 and found this page and then read 'IV' as 6 not 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exiy5eVMzg4
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