I won the auction, now what?

"Padu"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName­ME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Itemu69988243

I was mistaken, looking the pictures closer, the ports are ethernet
connectors (RJ45?)

There is an article in the new "Robot" magazine that uses WI-FI and ethernet
technology to control a bot from your PC:

http://www.botmag.com/issue1/index.shtml

Cheers

|-]

Dale

"Dale Stewart"

Thanks for the link, I just ordered a trial edition of this magazine, seems
interesting.

I was thinking that the RJ45 is there for raw signal transmition, it didn't
cross my mind that that controller could be network enabled... Do you think
it is?

Padu

I think you need to re-evaluate your thiking here.

The pics on the ebay page of the rear panel says: "POWER / COMMS"

Ethernet does not supply power. There are also two connectors showing
"POWER/COMMS".

If it were ethernet it would show a network symbol.

I think you need to find a real schematic or manual to help you here.

Donald

"Donald"

I wasn't thinking it was ethernet, but you're right, I should've deducted
that it couldn't be either.


The item description says it is new in box, so I'm hoping for a manual, but
I honestly doubt I will get any. I spend some time trying to find any info
related to this model on the internet but in vain. Hacking is a
possibility...

Cheers

Padu

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName­ME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Itemu69988243

The connectors look like shielded 8p8c connectors.  While Ethernet is one
system that uses _un_shielded 8p8c connectors it is far from the only
one--they were developed for telephone service and were around long before
there was such a thing as a computer network.  Since they are inexpensive,
reliable, and readily available, connectors of that general class get used
for many purposes and their presence does not suggest anything about the
connection being made other than that it is electrical or electronic in
nature and does not use terribly high voltages or currents.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"J. Clarke"


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName­ME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Itemu69988243

I couldn't find any information about this specific model, except its
manufacturer was bought by one company that now was bought by honeywell and
now no information is available.
But I was able to find out that other CCTV controllers use either RS232 or
RS485. If that's the same for the one I bought, then it will possibly be
simple to interface with that.

I'll let you guys know how it goes. Well, it is cheaper than a game joystick
and has far more functions and possibilities.

What I have in mind is use this device in two ways: If I connect it directly
to the robot's CPU, I will be able to control it directly (it's an ATV, so I
will be onboard, and the controller will be my "drive by wire"). The other
use is to plug it to my laptop that is wirelessly connected to my robot,
then it will work as a remote operator control unit.

Let's see.

Padu

I think RS485 is pretty standard for CCTV control systems (at least old
ones).
Did you try emailing Javelin ?

I got a big pan/tilt platform camera that was made by pelco, ancient
stuff, but great platform. I politely emailed their techsupport, saying
that I had to repair one of their devices (gave the model number etc.)
and would appreciate any technical documentation such as wiring and
protocols, but could not find it online, probably because it was an old
device. They emailed back the full specs, connection diagrams, protocol
description, etc.

Usually, there is always some engineer somewhere who has a pile of
documentation in a drawer, on stuff he worked on. You just need to find
that guy :-). Email, get some names, call left and right, get more
names, google them... being really polite and engaging, posing as
someone genuinely interested in the history of the company and genesis
of the device can get you lots of information. Even if no documentation
is really to be found, there is always someone who remembers some
valuable tidbits to send you in the right direction. Look for resumes
of people who worked at Javelin for example. I personally have been
contacted before by some Open Source developer trying to reverse
engineer an old chip on which I had worked years ago. they found my
resume and noticed I had worked for the company that produced the chip
!

bruno

Padu wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName­ME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Itemu69988243

I pulled those docs for my pelco pan/tilt cam, and one of them has some
protocol description for american dynamics and pelco. Seems like the
most common protocols. I can email it to you...

BTW,  once you find out if your controller is RS422 or RS485, you might
want an RS-232 to RS 4XX converter if you want to interface with your
PC. I got a cheap one from
<http://www.rs485.com/pconverters.html>

bruno

Padu wrote:

"bschwand"

They shipped the unit yesterday, so I should be receiving it this week. Yes,
I'd appreciate if you could send me some docs on the protocol.
Regarding the RS585, I already have a USB-to-RS485 unit and a couple of
ST485 chips. I'm really hoping that it is indeed RS485, because that's what
I'm using to connect the multiple sensors of my robot. Depending on the
protocol, I could either hang the Javelin unit to my bus or create a
separate bus for it.

Cheers

Padu

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName­ME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Itemu69988243

Did you find any useful information on this device?

"Just A. User"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName­ME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Itemu69988243

Well, I got it but I haven't played with it yet. It has two RJ45's as shown
in the ebay picture, and quality of buttons and joystick is ok. I'll open it
this week and try to hack it. I'll post the results here later.

Padu

"Just A. User"

Latest news:


Yester I opened the device to find the power and ground pins on the RF45
jack. I found them and I also got a few more insights:

1-The device uses as PIC16C77 as a microcontroller (nice, I like PICs).
2-It definitely communicates through RS485. I found a MAX487 in there, then
I downloaded the datasheet for the MAX487 and traced the A/B signal lines to
the RJ45.
3-It communicates at 19200bps. When you power up the unit it displays the
following information at initialization (through its LCD)
  Remote Keyboard
  V2.04  19200
  ---
  Dest Unit