Compatible GPS receiver for a Nixichron?

[Mike Schudel]

I have a IN-18 Nixichron clock that Jeff Thomas built for me about 10 years ago.  The GPS antenna that came with it I've had to repair and it's basically on it's last leg from a hail storm last weekend.  The original antenna is in a rectangular clear and translucent blue case.  It's the one shown on his old site.  http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/nixichron.html

Does anyone know of a replacement GPS antenna, with the PS/2 connection, that I can use?  When I started having issues with this a few years ago Jeff pointed me to a few antennas on Ebay but he would need to reprogram the unit to be able to use them.

Now that he has passed away, sadly, it would be nice to find a direct plug and play replacement.

Thanks!

Mike

[Nicholas Stock]

I have a Nixichron too, and I believe it uses a Haicom GPS receiver. You can still buy these on eBay with the PS/2 connection...but did Jeff say those wouldn't work? I know you have to modify the nixisat to use the BR355 receivers, but I thought the Nixichron used the Haicom out of the box....let me check the model I have at home and I'll repost. Do you have any links/info on the models that Jeff suggested?

It is sad to visit his site and realize that he's no longer with us.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/73573855-5b62-468e-9e0c-7c171a5cadc4%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[David Forbes]

Does anyone else have source code? He mentioned that he had collaborated with
someone on the GPS clock software.

>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/73573855-5b62-468e-9e0c-7c171a5cadc4%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>> .

[Nicholas Stock]

Jeff Miktuk?

Sent from my iPhone

> To post to this group, send an email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/53D95993.5020404%40dakotacom.net.

[Nicholas Stock]

Sorry, trigger happy..

John Miktuk

http://www.oldvan.com/

[Terry Kennedy]

On Wednesday, July 30, 2014 1:33:46 PM UTC-4, Mike Schudel wrote:

I have a IN-18 Nixichron clock that Jeff Thomas built for me about 10 years ago.  The GPS antenna that came with it I've had to repair and it's basically on it's last leg from a hail storm last weekend.  The original antenna is in a rectangular clear and translucent blue case.  It's the one shown on his old site.  http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/nixichron.html

Does anyone know of a replacement GPS antenna, with the PS/2 connection, that I can use?  When I started having issues with this a few years ago Jeff pointed me to a few antennas on Ebay but he would need to reprogram the unit to be able to use them.

He issued a firmware update some years ago. Firmware 040604 (that's MMDDYY) and earlier require a receiver with a 1PPS output. Firmware 11xx05 and newer uses the start of the $GPRMC string as the reference. Roughly, this means that if you have a firmware version that incorporates the "DST fix" for 2005 and newer, you can use any receiver.

The firmware was shipped on pre-programmed microcontrollers, so you'd need to find one of those (or someone who has the firmware binary) in order to update.

[Mike Schudel]

The eBay link he sent me no longer works. So I'm not sure what those antennas were. His email said ti get one and send him the antenna and base unit and he would reprogram to be able to use it.

[Mike Schudel]

My unit displays 052505 at boot up. I know my unit does not have the DST fix and uses the older protocol. Really I guess it's the older antenna that I'll need.

[Terry S]

Here's the receiver Jeff recommended:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280476254707?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

He did mention needing to reprogram it.

Terry

[Nicholas Stock]

Yep, that's the one I have. I must have the newer firmware...

Nick

Sent from my iPhone

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/c8e49e26-692b-49a3-a0f3-7b12375b5d0c%40googlegroups.com.

[Terry S]

Speaking of which, could someone archive his site? Someone with some server space?

Terry

[Terry S]

This one would likely work too: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Haicom-HI-206-PS2-Mini-size-Waterproof-GPS-Mouse-SiRF-StarIII-Ultra-High-Sens-/161071435099?pt=GPS_Antennas&hash=item25809b0d5b

[David Forbes]

On 7/30/14 7:03 PM, 'Terry S' via neonixie-l wrote:
> Speaking of which, could someone archive his site? Someone with some server
> space?
>
> Terry

I just wget-ed it. Lots of amusing stuff, but only 12 MB, so it's not
onerous to copy.

Guy sure could hold a grudge! We'll miss him.
http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/dickwad.jpg
--
David Forbes, Tucson AZ

[Nick]

I rebuilt mine with Jeff's help earlier this year (February 2014) - the firmware is now 11/02/10 - this removed the dependency on the 1pps input and instead uses the leading edge of the $RMC string as its epoch, averaging over 5 of them - the clock now locks in 15 to 30 seconds - its also means that pretty much any GPS NMEA puck will work fine.

The thread is here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/neonixie-l/nixisat/neonixie-l/evzX0noEGXg/JrVaZG3YFogJ 

Regrettably, Jeff sent me a pre-programmed PIC 16F877, not the firmware - it adds a LOT of features. I've attached both the latest manual and schematic. I don't have the firmware, I'm afraid, except on the PIC that probably has the lock bits set (though I could check). The upgrade process was:

• Remove the BNC and replace it with a mini-DIN 6 female socket
• Replace old Oncore puck with a Haicom HI-204III
• Remove the unused coin cell battery holder, and the 10 pin GPS connector from the board.
  
• Then tack the new GPS Power,Gnd, and data wires directly to the board at J3.
  
• The unused 1PPS input pin on the MCU (pin 36) must be connected to ground.
  
• Verify the anode resistors (R1, R2, R4, R5, R7, R8 are 10k. If not, replace them.
  
• Replace R16 to 12.7k resistor, if it has a 13k installed.
  
• If only R14, and R15 are installed, two additional .5ohm resistors must be added in parallel, for a total of four equalling .12 ohm 1w. See schematic for detail.
  
• Last, replace electrolytic caps C1 and C2.
  

Nick

[David Forbes]

On 7/30/14 9:32 PM, Nick wrote:
> I rebuilt mine with Jeff's help earlier this year - the firmware is now
> 11/02/10.
>
> Regrettably, Jeff sent me a programmed PIC, not the firmware - it adds a

> LOT of features. I've attached both the latest manual and schematic. I

> don't have the firmware, I'm afraid, except on a pre-programmed PIC that
> probably has the lock bits set.


That's too bad. Open source FTW!

I live a couple hours from him by motorway, but I never met his wife. I
last saw Jeff three years ago at the Phoenix Mini-Maker Faire. He was
there with his son Christian. They were both wearing Nixie watches. How
cool is that?

[Nick]

On Thursday, 31 July 2014 05:40:17 UTC+1, nixiebunny wrote:

That's too bad. Open source FTW!

Aren't you a bit old to be using phrases like "FTW" - my kids would give me no end of grief if I used that in their presence :)

Nick 

[Mich...@aol.com]

That is the one I had.

 

Keep in mind, I think he said that 2 of the wires were changed.  So, the end had to be replaced to make this happen.  I believe later changed so that the wires were swapped at the unit instead of changing the end.

 

Of course this might have been the issue for someone else completely, but just thought I would bring it up as someone else might recall the exact issue.  (Might have been only on a 4 letter word gen)

 

Michail Wilson
206-920-6312

 

In a message dated 7/30/2014 5:52:53 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, neoni...@googlegroups.com writes:

Here's the receiver Jeff recommended:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280476254707?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

He did mention needing to reprogram it.

Terry

On Wednesday, July 30, 2014 12:33:46 PM UTC-5, Mike Schudel wrote:

I have a IN-18 Nixichron clock that Jeff Thomas built for me about 10 years ago.  The GPS antenna that came with it I've had to repair and it's basically on it's last leg from a hail storm last weekend.  The original antenna is in a rectangular clear and translucent blue case.  It's the one shown on his old site.  http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/nixichron.html

Does anyone know of a replacement GPS antenna, with the PS/2 connection, that I can use?  When I started having issues with this a few years ago Jeff pointed me to a few antennas on Ebay but he would need to reprogram the unit to be able to use them.

Now that he has passed away, sadly, it would be nice to find a direct plug and play replacement.

Thanks!

Mike

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/c8e49e26-692b-49a3-a0f3-7b12375b5d0c%40googlegroups.com.

[rubli]

I replaced my gps on my nixiechron with a standard receiver, the only thing you have to do is program it so it sends only one of the protocols. It was long time ago, so i don't remember exactly which one is it. If i see a list, i might remember.
Buy one that you know how you can program it.

My clock works flawlessly with the new receiver (also known as gps mouse)

Regards

Alex

[Nick]

On Thursday, 31 July 2014 14:49:18 UTC+1, Michail wrote:

Keep in mind, I think he said that 2 of the wires were changed.  So, the end had to be replaced to make this happen.  I believe later changed so that the wires were swapped at the unit instead of changing the end.

 

That was on the FLW he did with Pete Hand - The problem was, I believe, that the orientation of the GPS connector on the PCB was rotated through 180 degrees or moved to the other side of the board (whatever!) which resulted in all the pins being mirrored, so each puck had to have the miniDIN-6 connector cut off and a new one re-wired... Jeff mentioned having to do 100s of them...

I have one of these FLWs and they are lovely - mine has pride of place on our bedside bookcase...

Nick

[rubli]

I found the mail Jeff once sent me :

Correct, the GPS receiver is a Haicom HI-203E.
The PS2 connector pinout may still be available on the Haicom web site.
Four of the pins are active: Power=5vdc, Gnd, Serial data IN, Serial data OUT. 4800b, 8 bits, no parity.
Only the $GPRMC is transmitted at each epoch (one per second), all other NMEA-0183 strings are disabled during reprogramming here when the clocks are assembled.

If you can locate the pinout, then you can use any terminal program set to 4800b to monitor the output. If the receiver does output the string, then the clock is bad, and must be returned for repair.

Jeff

On Apr 7, 2006, at 10:40 AM, Alex Rubli wrote:

[Nick]

The puck he sent me was a Haicom HI-204III - see http://www.haicom.com.tw/gps204III.aspx

Nick

[Nicholas Stock]

Terry, that's a great idea. Is anyone on the list in touch with his relatives/some one who knows where it's hosted etc?

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/343edb0e-9729-4198-9949-7596494cbdb4%40googlegroups.com.

[Per Jensen]

On 31 Jul 2014, at 18:45, Nicholas Stock <nick...@gmail.com> wrote:

Terry, that's a great idea. Is anyone on the list in touch with his relatives/some one who knows where it's hosted etc?

I have lots of server space, i can store a backup here indefinetely, no problem.

If anyone has any gripes with this, or want me to change something on the fronpage, let me know!

http://www.nixie.dk/~jthomas/

// Per.

[Mich...@aol.com]

It's a great idea; however, I would suggest coping all the pages below the front page as well.   Links still go back to original.

 

Michail Wilson
206-920-6312

 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/0C5BC9D8-A657-49FF-A513-609EBE09AEF1%40gmail.com.

[David Forbes]

The original HTML files all have absolute URL links. They require editing to be
made relative.

On 7/31/2014 2:40 PM, Michail1 via neonixie-l wrote:
> It's a great idea; however, I would suggest coping all the pages below the
> front page as well. Links still go back to original.
>
> Michail Wilson
> 206-920-6312
>
>
> In a message dated 7/31/2014 11:21:21 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> elektron...@gmail.com writes:
>

> On 31 Jul 2014, at 18:45, Nicholas Stock <_nick...@gmail.com_

[Alex]

By pure co-incidence, I have a Haicom HI-204E on my desk here, completely un-nixie related. I liberated it from work a few years back and was going to use it, along with a PIC16F877, to run the display section from an old scrolling 60x7 LED board that has a somewhat handicapped controller at present. I have a drawer full of 16f877 and a somewhat masochistic attitude to writing software.

I also have the manual for said GPS receiver, and the CD with the manual as a .pdf so can upload it if interested? 

If anyone does get any source code, I would definitely be interested in having a peruse of his GPS routines :-)

- Alex

On Thursday, 31 July 2014 15:27:18 UTC+1, rubli wrote:

[Alex]

As an aside, I have been playing with a few modules, including the Haicom, to see what they pump out of their TX lines.

An old Sigem SGM5608 "Here& Now" pcb that came from a 2000 era car tracker gave one neat line, once per second  (lat/long obscured):

$GPRMC,135654.00,A,1234.5678,N,00123.4567,W,0.0,131.7,020814,,*23 

It also gave a 1pps output.

I also tried for ages to get another pcb receiver from the same line of tracker (I had loads of them) to work, a motorola ONCORE SL series R6111G1112. I could get nothing from these at all. Not a peep, at any baud rate. Fed through a MAX232. It only has one TX line, but has 2 RX lines and the pdf states loads of weird motorola protocol stuff. I would avoid this for your own sanity.

The Haicom units are a bit weird also, they pump out loads of stuff at a fair old rate, here is a snapshot, this repeated on a 1 second duty but took about 500ms to transmit at 4800 baud (again lat/long has been swapped out):

$GPGSA,A,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,*1E

$GPGSV,3,1,12,15,59,352,,24,54,172,,21,36,314,,25,26,193,*7F

$GPGSV,3,2,12,18,21,309,,08,12,192,,01,10,240,,05,03,079,*74

$GPGSV,3,3,12,27,13,331,36,19,27,353,40,12,00,170,,03,24,348,35*7C

$GPRMC,161253.00,V,1234.5678,N,1234.5678,E,,,020814,,,N*4A

$GPGGA,161253.00,1234.5678,N,1234.5678,E,0,00,0.0,,M,,M,,*5E

From reading the manual, I think you can turn these other messages off, which probably only serve to fill up a serial buffer on a pic (which is a scarce hand crafted software based affair).

Just food for thought on picking a replacement gps module. I suspect Jeff used the GPRMC line only and trimmed the fat from that, plugging something that swamped it with satellite signal strengths, speed over land, bearing info etc is probably the root of the problem.

- Alex

[Terry S]

Here's what Jeff had to say about it:

<<

The DST table was never resolved to accommodate the 2007 changes. I 
completely lost interest in the clocks when business picked up, and 
the kids had grown up to school age and require outside activities. 
And, to make matters worse, there's a bug in the manual DST setup -as 
you've already discovered. You are not doing anything wrong. That 
option was accidentally stepped on when I revised the program last, 
to resolve another unrelated bug... I've just been telling folks to 
set their UTC offset twice a year until I have the courage to go back 
into the assembly language program that has not been touched since 
2005...

The clock expects RS-232 serial levels from the mini DIN port, and 
only the $GPRMC string once per second. The Max232 device you see on 
the board handles translation. Additionally, the 1PPS input (if 
provided) is buffered through the spare channel of the Max232.

>>
Terry

On Wednesday, July 30, 2014 12:33:46 PM UTC-5, Mike Schudel wrote:

[Mike Schudel]

So I've ordered a Globalsat BR-355 as it has the same output string protocol and cconnector as the original Haicom that Jeff supplied. Since my Nixichron never got the latest DST update I'm hoping this will work. I'll post again once it arrives and I have a chance to plug it in.

[MichaelB]

Terry is spot on. The original HaiCom 204III did require turning off everything but the $GPRMC string which could be done via the SiRF chipset shareware

I have several sets of Jeff's NixiChron electronics driving various clocks that I purchased from Jeff after the DST fix was incorporated. This Rev. also incorporated the change to accommodate 'todays' GPS pucks that do not have the 1PPS out. Last Rev. was "11-02-10" (Rev. is written in pencil on the top of the MCU) I use the GlobalSat BR355 exclusively now on these electroincs. Much better at locking-on too compared to the Haicom.

[Terry S]

Michael -- I'm having issues with my 204III -- does the Globalsat need configuration as well? Is there freeware for configuring the puck? Not sure what rev software I have.

Terry

[MichaelB]

Power up the NixChron and the 6 digits will display the firmware rev. The Globalsat does not need configuration assuming you have one of the later NixiChron firmware revs. I believe the
05’ revision and higher accommodates non-1PPS GPS pucks like the GlobalSat and later Haicoms. I know for certain the 11-02-10 not only includes the 1PPS change, but also was the first to address the DST issue which was a pain. If you do have the earlier rev. I believe there are still GPS pucks available with a 1PPS out. I would ask the group for a little help there?

[Nicholas Stock]

Well. it appears that Jeff's original pages on the AMUG server are now gone...

Per, once you have everything in place (and fixed the URL's) would you let everyone know on the list?

Thank you!

Nick

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/0C5BC9D8-A657-49FF-A513-609EBE09AEF1%40gmail.com.

[Per Jensen]

On 05/08/2014, at 04.23, Nicholas Stock <nick...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Well. it appears that Jeff's original pages on the AMUG server are now gone...
>
> Per, once you have everything in place (and fixed the URL's) would you let everyone know on the list?
>

Fixed it!

// Per.

[David Forbes]

Per,

Thanks for copying these pages and hosting them.

I think it would be best to remove the telephone number and email
addresses from the pages, since these no longer work and will just cause
grief for the family.

Also, it would be wise to a statement at the top of the main
clockpage.html that Jeff is no longer with us, and that you are hosting
this for historical reasons only.

[Per Jensen]

I've added a note on the site, and removed all his contact information now.

// Per.

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.

> To post to this group, send an email to neoni...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/53E0FF85.7020107%40dakotacom.net.

[Nicholas Stock]

Thanks for doing this Per. Much appreciated.

Cheers,

Nick

Sent from my iPhone

> To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/0D229A5F-1D12-493B-9464-47EA667A444D%40gmail.com.

[Terry S]

Thank you so much. Jeff's content is worth preserving.

[Alex]

The Haicom pucks may well (the manual insinuates that they do) have the 1pps available on the header inside, even if it is not routed to the PS2 connector. It may be necessary to amputate the PS2 wire from the puck and replace it with one scrounged from a PS2 extension cable or similar with all 6 cores to route the 1pps out?

Just a thought.

- Alex

On Wednesday, 30 July 2014 18:33:46 UTC+1, Mike Schudel wrote:

I have a IN-18 Nixichron clock that Jeff Thomas built for me about 10 years ago.  The GPS antenna that came with it I've had to repair and it's basically on it's last leg from a hail storm last weekend.  The original antenna is in a rectangular clear and translucent blue case.  It's the one shown on his old site.  http://www.amug.org/~jthomas/nixichron.html

Does anyone know of a replacement GPS antenna, with the PS/2 connection, that I can use?  When I started having issues with this a few years ago Jeff pointed me to a few antennas on Ebay but he would need to reprogram the unit to be able to use them.

[Nick]

It'd be FAR neater to program a tinyAVR or small PIC etc. powered off the puck, to take the Haicom/whatever NMEA sentences and massage it into a form that can be used by the clocks - this would cost peanuts, would mean no changes to the puck or clock and could be resold to the owner of every affected clock as a completely painless upgrade - I seem to remember Jeff saying that there were several 100 out there (in excess of 300).

Probably only a weekend job for a competent hacker type (of which we have many!) to produce that on a small PCB with a minDIN-6 socket and the required output cable for the clock :) A seamless fix, that would be...

Nick