--------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00001 Date: 05/06/97 From: HOLGER SKURBE Time: 05:45pm \/To: BILL TRACY (Read 3 times) Subj: Transceiver You are right. You did used to need a license for CB, but no longer. I dropped out of the CB scene in the '70s. I started in 1968, but it got so popular that is actually got worse. I;m not sure the year that they dropped the requirement, but for years no one bothered anyway. There is a new CB service int he 460 Mhz band. Radio Shack is making a big deal over it and making a ton of money off of it too. The radios are low power, but the FM modulation makes them sound great. I've sold quite a few of the Motorola "spirit" line of portables myself for groups or companies that require communications for short distances (less than a mile) and I have repeaters up for those who require wider area communicaions. --- HyperMail! v1.22 * Origin: Wizard's Tower BBS, NJ V34+ (908)-473-1933 (1:107/7010) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00002 Date: 05/07/97 From: BILL TRACY Time: 06:53am \/To: RALPH MOWERY (Read 3 times) Subj: Transceiver RM> I can't say about Mass. but it is NOT legal anywhere in the RM> US to transmitt where you are not licensed to. You must be right excluding C. B.. Thank you Bill Tracy --- FMail/2 1.22+ * Origin: Dave's RA! Lowell Ma (1:324/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00003 Date: 05/06/97 From: TONY SZABLOWSKI Time: 04:25pm \/To: NATHAN BOLLINGER (Read 3 times) Subj: Re: frequency counter -> >From what I gathered when looking for a freq counter, the Radshacks -> >garbage. Very low sensitivity. You have to be practically standing -> >right next to a transmitter to get something. -> -> Well, I wouldn't call it "garbage," but you're right; they aren't -> very sensitive. But then, that might have been the way the RadShak -> engineers intended it. Like I said, it works very well as a "test -> bench" counter, and if you'll look in the catalog, you'll notice -> that it's listed with the test equipment, NOT with the scanners. But since this is an echo about _scanners_ and scanning, one assumes that it would be used in conjunction with said apparatus or for finding active freqs, but not as _actual_ testing equipment. Tony --- Platinum Xpress/Wildcat! v1.3 * Origin: -=The Merchants of Venus BBS=- Colonia, NJ 908-388-47 (1:2630/122) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00004 Date: 05/07/97 From: BILL CHEEK Time: 08:42am \/To: RICH WILLBANKS (Read 3 times) Subj: review Yo! Rich: Wednesday April 30 1997 13:27, Rich Willbanks wrote to Bill Cheek: RW> Hey Bill what's the scoop on the computer scanner, RW> WinScan , you were playing with a few months ago? You mean WINRADIO? RW> You said you would let us know what the thing would and wouldn't do RW> after you had it a while but I haven't seen anything. Well, there are several reasons......chief of which is that I haven't had the time to dive into the sucker whole-hawg, as is usually my style. I have been dabbling with it, however....waiting for its market potential to be established so I can benefit others besides myself. Trouble is......the darn USA distributor (EDCO) isn't pushing WINRADIO to speak of and there have been few reviews and exposures of it so far. Rosetta Labs, the manufacturer, is going to make another mass effort at promotion of WINRADIO at the Dayton HAmvention this year, so we'll see what comes of that. Meanwhile, I have peered inside WinRadio and see all sorts of goodies and possibilities for the beastie. I built mine into a cheap 386 computer with a small case that can go mobile or base.......and have been having a ball with it, in shop and on the road. More in due time, I hope. For now, see my next message where I'm posting something that I picked up off the Internet! Bill Cheek | bcheek@san.rr.com Windows 95 Juggernaut Team | Microsoft MVP --- Hertzian Mail+ * Origin: Hertzian Intercept-San Diego 619-578-9247 (6pm-1pm) (1:202/731) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00005 Date: 05/07/97 From: BILL CHEEK Time: 08:53am \/To: ALL (Read 3 times) Subj: Unauthorized WINRADIO Hack! The following information was taken off the ALT.RADIO.SCANNER newsgroup of the UseNet. I cannot attest to its validity, but it sure seems worth a repost. Bill Cheek | bcheek@san.rr.com Windows 95 Juggernaut Team | Microsoft MVP ===================================================================== Path: newsfeed.san.rr.com!news-out.internetmci.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com! howland.erols.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!sprint! news-pull.sprintlink.ne!news.sprintlink.net!news-chi-13.sprintlink.net! gergs_bane.org!anon From: DrQuack@intergate.bc.ca Newsgroups: alt.radio.scanner Subject: Unauthorized WINRADIO Hack Date: 19 Apr 1997 09:27:50 Sender: DrQuack@intergate.bc.ca Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: pm22s7.intergate.bc.ca X-Newsreader: WinVN 0.99.7 Lines: 179 Dear Hackers and Crackers! This document is a purely UNAUTHORIZED WINRADIO SDK (software developers kit) brought to you by an escapee of the Legion Of Doom, or perhaps a liberated asylum inmate. This is not manufacturer-provided info. They do not supply this information even if you beg for it (believe me, I tried). But there are other means of getting what you want... What you do with this is strictly your business. Warning: don't go to Rosetta Laboratories for support, clarification, interpretation, or other help. If you do, they might go into spasmic shock and could even call a lawyer in... :-))) With the below information, you can get right to the heart of matters - the original Windows user interface is no longer between you and the WiNRADiO card. You can control it directly from your own software: use your imagination. No guarantees, no claims, no bullshit, no nothing is attached to this information. =============================================================== Directly Communicating with WiNRADiO Port addresses ============== The card occupies eight consecutive I/O addresses. The base address may be one of: 180h, 188h, 190h, 198h, 1A0h, 1A8h, 1B0h, 1B8h The eight ports are used as follows: Offset Read Write ====== ============= ============== 0 Read MCU data Write MCU data 1 Read status Reset MCU (1) 2-7 reserved reserved Note 1. Write 0 then 1 to BASE+1 to force a hardware reset of the MCU. This will re-initialize the receiver card. The status port (at BASE+1) is configured as follows: Bit Name Function ======= ======== ================================= 0 IBF High if Read-MCU port is full 1 OBF High if Write-MCU port is full 2 -XLD Inverse of PLL lock detect signal from radio card 3-7 reserved Reserved MCU commands ============ The MCU responds to the following commands: * Some commands are followed by one or more data bytes, noted in the WR# column. Some commands return one or more bytes of data, noted in the RD# column. * Before sending a byte, wait until bit 1 of the status port is clear. * To read a byte, wait until bit 0 of the status port is set. Group Cmd Name Function WR# RD# ======= === ===== =================================== === === MCU 00 NOP No operation - - fnctns 01 RESET Reset all outputs to startup values - - 00-1F 02 SETHARD On MCU reset, reset receiver card also - - 03 SETSOFT On MCU reset, do NOT reset receiver card - - 04 SOFT? Return 0/1 if hard/soft reset enabled - 1 05 CLRINIT Clear "initialized" flag 06 SETINIT Set "initialized" flag - - 07 INIT? Return 0/1 if "initialized" flag is clear/set - 1 08 PWRON Turn power on - - 09 PWROFF Turn power off - - 0A PWR? 1 if power is on - 1 0B SETBFO Set BFO voltage (MSB/LSB) 2 - 0C BFO? Return current BFO setting - 2 0D HELLO Returns $55, $AA (diagnostics) - 2 0E VERS? Returns MCU S/W version as a NULL terminated string - ? Read 40 Rsrvd Reserved for future use - 1 analog 41 RDRSSI Read current RSSI voltage - 1 voltages 42 RDAGC Read current AGC voltage - 1 40-4F 43 RDAUD Read current audio sample - 1 45 RDVBFO Read VBFO feedback level - 1 High 50 MUTEOFF Turn mute off - - level 51 MUTEON Turn mute on - - Fnctns 56 ATTENON Turn attenuator on - - 50-6F 57 ATTENOFF Turn attenuator off - - 5A BAND1 Select BAND 1: 0.5 to 50 MHz - - 5B BAND2 Select BAND 2: 50 to 513 MHz - - 5C BAND3 Select BAND 3: 513 to 1300 MHz - - 5E SSB Select SSB - - 5F AM AM - - 60 FM-N FMN - - 61 FM-W FMW - - 66 SETMXAB Enable both mixers: 513 - 798 MHz - - 67 SETMXA Enable mixer A: 300 - 513, 798 - 1106 MHz - - 68 SETMXB Enable mixer B: .5 - 300, 1106 - 1300 MHz - - 69 SETVOL Set volume 0-31 1 - 6A WRTVOL Write to current volume register 1 - 6D SETPLLC Set PLL register C 1 - 6E SETPLLR Set PLL register R 2 - 6F SETPLLA Set PLL register A 3 - Queries 80 MUTE? 0 if mute is on - 1 80-9F 83 ATTEN? 1 if attenuator is on - 1 85 BAND? Band# 1/2/3 - 1 86 MODE? 0=SSB, 1=AM, etc. - 1 88 MX? 1=mixer A, 2=mixer B, 3=both - 1 89 VOL? Return current volume setting 0-31 - 1 8C PLLC? Return current PLL register C - 1 8D PLLR? Return current PLL register R - 2 8E PLLA? Return current PLL register A - 3 Setting the Frequency ===================== Three values have to be sent to the PLL, to registers C, R and A. The frequency range is divided into 5 ranges: 0.5-300, 300-513, 513-798, 798-1106, 1106-1300 MHz To calculate the VCO frequency, add: 556.325, 249.125 58.075, -249.125, -556.325 MHz to the receiver frequency according to the above ranges. The PLL generates the VCO frequency according to the following equation: fvco = 12.8 MHz * N / R The value of R must range from 640 to 2560, and N up to 262144. The ratio of N/R must be calculated for the desired VCO frequency. Once the N and R values have been calculated, the PLL can be programmed: * PLL register C is always set to 0x2C * PLL register R is set to: 0x4000 + R * PLL register A is set to: 0x700000 + (N & 63) + ((N >> 6) << 8) After the PLL has been programmed, the Band has to be set (see commands 5A to 5C) and the Mixer has to be set (see commands 66-68). Setting the Volume ================== After first applying power, the volume has to be reset (allow about 1 second for the radio receiver to completely power up before setting the volume, it may be a good idea to mute the audio during the power up phase). Send 31 to command 6A (write to volume register). Send 0 to command 69, then send the actual volume (also to command 69). Once this has been done, the volume can be set by sending the desired volume level to command 69. Setting the BFO =============== The BFO has to be within +/- 3000 Hz. Setting the BFO requires calculating the 2 bytes to be sent to command 0B. First, if the receiver frequency is equal to or above 513 MHz, negate the BFO offset. Ct = pow2(5e5 / (3.14159 * (455.0 + bfo / 1000.0))) / 212.46 - 560.14 C = (47 * Ct) / (47 - Ct) V = exp(((50 - C) / 41) * ln(10)) Value to send to BFO command 0B equals the Low byte and High byte of the integer value of: V * 6553.5. END OF FILE ============================================================= DO NOT CONTACT THE MANUFACTURER ABOUT THIS INFORMATION !! ============================================================= --- Hertzian Mail+ * Origin: Hertzian Intercept-San Diego 619-578-9247 (6pm-1pm) (1:202/731) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00006 Date: 05/07/97 From: BILL CHEEK Time: 08:58am \/To: DON DECHAINE (Read 3 times) Subj: Scanner Adjustment Yo! Don: Monday April 28 1997 18:39, Don Dechaine wrote to All: DD> I've got a Bearcat hand held scanner (Model BC 100XLT) and was DD> wondering if anyone knows how to widen the receiving band to 900Mhz. DD> Or do you know of a manual that would help me out. The BC-100XLT is a stripped down clone of the more powerful BC-200XLT. With the addition of a few modules and parts, it can be made into a BC-200XLT. However, the job is not for the neophyte and there are no published procedures or instructions for the task. Instead, you'd need to contact Uniden Customer Service in Indianapolis and acquire two service manuals, one for each scanner. Then, with the schematics side by side....and the pictorial diagrams side by side, you can see what's missing in the BC-100XLT. Parts for the BC-200XLT can be bought and installed to turn it into a BC-200XLT. There you have it in a nutshell....and it won't get any better than this. The rest is up to you. Bill Cheek | bcheek@san.rr.com Windows 95 Juggernaut Team | Microsoft MVP --- Hertzian Mail+ * Origin: Hertzian Intercept-San Diego 619-578-9247 (6pm-1pm) (1:202/731) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00007 Date: 05/06/97 From: SCOTT CHRISTENSEN Time: 07:04pm \/To: BLAKE BOWERS (Read 3 times) Subj: RE: Uniden Trunk Tracker Blake Bowers writes in a message to Bud Jamison BB> GTX are also capable of both I and II, and IIi. And very cheap! For an inexpensive radio, I really like them. They program up easily - even without templates, but you do need the appropriate system authorization files. We've had a number of PA failures in the mobile version though... I've never seen a price list, do you know the list price on the portables and mobiles? The trunk Tracker may be too little, too late. --- COUNTERPoint 2.3 * Origin: MacRefuge * 612-426-6687 * (1:282/24) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00008 Date: 05/07/97 From: RON TAYLOR Time: 07:57am \/To: BOBBIE BEERS (Read 3 times) Subj: Transceiver BB> -=> Quoting Andrew Naylor to Bobbie Beers <=- BB> AN> Actually you can transmit on any freq as long as you don't broadcast > AN> over state lines. It's a little known fact. :) BB> AN> -ANDREW NAYLOR KB9IZK- (Tech Plus) (Age 17) <>< ^^^^^^ BB>Andrew, BB>The fact is so little known because it is illegal to transmit outside the >approved frequencies for a particular radio. I think you'd better go >back and read the book. BB>73 >Bobbie, KB5RPI And he sports a HAM call sign! Maybe he thought that "state lines" were the upper and lower boundaries of his permitted frequency bands. 73 Ron, KC4KEB --- * QMPro 1.02 42-7029 * Your tagline? It went thataway............ * Origin: ViaMAIL! - Fully Integrated Front End Mailer (1:124/7019) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00009 Date: 05/07/97 From: BILL TRACY Time: 11:30pm \/To: HOLGER SKURBE (Read 3 times) Subj: Transceiver In a message to me you wrote, HS> There is a new CB service int he 460 Mhz band. Radio Shack HS> is making a big deal over it and making a ton of money off of it too. HS> The radios are low power, but the FM modulation makes them sound great. Without getting too much into detail, What is the difference in the radio you mention and the standard C.B. that we used in the 197O's? What about Sideband? That was quite a thing. I think Simba is a name that pops up in my mind. Some folks were placing sliders on the Sideband which really made the reception of some very unusual stations and transmitting illegally. On Plymouth, Massachusetts with the skip over the Atlantic Ocean we would pick up places in Europe, and even the mid west part of the United States. It has been so long now since I have even looked at a C.B. radio that with Cell phones for safety on the roads, it was like graduation from a C.B. radio to a cell phone that made the cars today drop C.B. from the road ways. Just about all the C.B. being done today from what I know is the Trucks on the highways. Some State Police still have a C.B. radio in the police vehicles. HS> I've sold quite a few of the Motorola "spirit" line of HS> portables myself for groups or companies that require communications for HS> short distances (less than a mile) and I have repeaters up for those who HS> require wider area communicaions. The ones in the past would probably go 4 to five miles. Isn't that better? Bill Tracy --- FMail/2 1.22+ * Origin: Dave's RA! Lowell Ma (1:324/278) --------------- FIDO MESSAGE AREA==> TOPIC: 154 SCANNERS Ref: E5C00010 Date: 05/07/97 From: GUY DISTAFFEN Time: 06:07pm \/To: CHARLES HUNTER (Read 3 times) Subj: Transceiver On 05-05-97 Charles Hunter wrote to Andrew Naylor... AN>Actually you can transmit on any freq as long as you don't >broadcast over state lines. It's a little known fact. :) CH> Taking your statement as true, ARGUENDO only; then please tell us how CH> you could absolutely ensure that you were not transmitting over state CH> lines except for transmitting into a dummy load? I think that it might be more accurate to say that it is legal to transmit on any frequency, as long as you can't be received by anyone else. Guy ___ * OFFLINE 1.58 * The total of intelligence is staying the same, the population is increasing. --- Maximus 2.01wb * Origin: The Shack TOO * Mike Ward - Sysop * (716)288-5848 (1:2613/150)