HamGadgets ID-O-Matic III Operating manual

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2014-01-17
HamGadgets ID-O-Matic III
Assembly, Setup and Use Guide

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Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Using Windows ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Setting up PuTTY ................................................................................................................................... 5
Setting up HyperTerminal ..................................................................................................................... 7
Linux and Mac Software................................................................................................................................ 8
Programming the ID-O-Matic III.................................................................................................................... 8
Timers and Time-Of-Day (TOD) Clock .................................................................................................11
Messages............................................................................................................................................. 13
Courtesy Beep..................................................................................................................................... 15
I/O Signal Polarity................................................................................................................................16
Baud Rates .......................................................................................................................................... 17
Connecting to Your Equipment................................................................................................................... 18
Power .................................................................................................................................................. 18
Signal Levels ........................................................................................................................................ 18
Connections ........................................................................................................................................19
LED Indications.................................................................................................................................... 19
Non-Repeater Use............................................................................................................................... 19
Updating the Firmware............................................................................................................................... 21
Assembly Instructions.................................................................................................................................23
Parts List..............................................................................................................................................24
PCB Layout & Schematic (Rev C)......................................................................................................... 26
PCB Layout & Schematic (Rev D)......................................................................................................... 27
Assembly Order...................................................................................................................................28
Adding Voice ID...........................................................................................................................................30
Install the voice ID board ....................................................................................................................30
Set up the ID messages ....................................................................................................................... 30
Adding GPS Timing...................................................................................................................................... 33
Hardware Specifications .............................................................................................................................34
Service and Warranty.................................................................................................................................. 34
Changes and Errata.....................................................................................................................................35

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Introduction
The HamGadgets ID-O-Matic III is a versatile ID timer and annunciator. It can be used as a
relatively simple repeater controller with some advanced features such as “polite” ID, voice
identification, courtesy tone, time-out timer and much more. While intended as a repeater
controller, it’s also simple to set up for applications such as beacon transmitters, a “fox”
controller for transmitter hunts, link ID and even automatic station ID for HF or VHF/UHF.
Setup is done with a computer equipped with a USB port, and any program capable of emulating
a serial terminal.
The ID-O-Matic III differs from earlier ID-O-Matic versions in several ways. The most obvious
is the inclusion of a USB interface in place of the earlier serial interface. This makes connecting
to most computer systems much easier, and eliminates the need for a USB to serial converter for
laptops and desktop systems lacking a serial port.
While you don’t need a serial port or serial converter, you will still need software that emulates a
“dumb” terminal. A program such as PuTTY that emulates ANSI or VT100 formats is ideal.
This software is available for free from numerous sources; check the HamGadgets web site for
links and more information. The ID-O-Matic III will appear as a virtual serial port on your
system, so software designed to communicate with serial devices is needed.
The setup menu has also changed. In place of the earlier product’s step-through setup procedure,
a series of menus allows you to go directly to the item(s) you wish to change. While changes
you make take effect immediately, no changes are saved to the nonvolatile storage until you
select that option.

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Using Windows
The first step in connecting the ID-O-Matic III to your Windows computer is to download and
un-ZIP the Windows device driver information (INF) file, available from the Downloads tab of
the ID-O-Matic III product page on the HamGadgets web site. The driver information file will
work with Windows XP and later versions. The ID-O-Matic III uses the Windows built-in USB
virtual COM port driver, so this file just tells the computer what to do when the board is
connected. Save the file to your computer (and remember where you put it). Make sure you
extract the .INF file from the ZIP archive before connecting your ID-O-Matic III. If you don’t
know how to do that, someone under the age of 30 should be able to help you.
Once your board is assembled and ready to use, connect it to your computer’s USB port using a
USB A to mini-B cable. If your computer asks for a device driver, point it to the INF file you
saved from the HamGadgets web site. If you’re having trouble with this step, it may be easier to
just copy the .INF file to the C:\windows\inf directory.
As with Linux and Mac OS, you’ll need to first determine the COM port number to use with
Windows. Many PCs have only one serial port, named COM1. Some have more than one.
Since the ID-O-Matic III appears as a virtual COM port, it can show up with different COM port
numbers depending on which port it’s plugged into. You can use the Windows Device Manager
to see what serial ports are available on your system. Look for a device labeled “Repeater
Controller”.

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Setting up PuTTY
Now that we know the COM port number, we can set up our terminal program accordingly. The
free program PuTTY is available for download from www.putty.org; it’s easy to use and works
well. There is no special installation process; the program has a single executable file that can be
run by itself. You can also use Windows HyperTerminal if you have it, or under Linux you can
use Minicom. The example below uses PuTTY.

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Open the PuTTY program. This will be the
first screen you see.
Type the COM port name (COM4 in this
example). Click the Serial radio button.
You don’t need to change anything else.
Type a name for this connection in the
“Saved Sessions” box – “ID-O-Matic” is a
good choice. Click Save.
Now you can double-click the session name,
or select it and click Open.

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Setting up HyperTerminal
I strongly recommend using PuTTY for serial terminal emulation. If you absolutely must, you
can use Windows HyperTerminal to communicate with your ID-O-Matic. HyperTerminal has
some limitations and bugs and is not present with many newer versions of Windows, but here is
how to set it up if necessary.
After starting HyperTerminal, type a name
for this connection (ID-O-Matic would be
a good choice). Select any icon you like.
Select the COM port number assigned to
your ID-O-Matic.
Modify the port settings for flow control =
NONE. Since this is a USB connection,
the bits per second setting does not matter.
Click the “Call” icon (looks like a telephone). You should now be able to communicate with
your ID-O-Matic.

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Linux and Mac Software
Linux: Linux users will probably have minicom, picocom or seyon installed. The screen
command can also be used, if present. There are a lot of free, open source terminal emulation
programs available that can be installed and used on your system.
Mac: Numerous choices also exist for Mac users. The simplest for Mac users is screen, a
command normally installed with Mac OS X. Other choices include simple serial terminal
emulation programs such as picocom, minicom, iTerm, zTerm and others.
To use the screen command (Mac or Linux):
1.) Open a Terminal window.
2.) Determine the name of the virtual serial port you’re using to connect your ID-O-
Matic. This will likely be /dev/ttyUSB0, /dev/ttyACM0 or something
similar –different operating systems and distributions will use different naming
conventions.
3.) Type the command: screen /dev/ttyxxxx 9600 (use the name of the virtual
serial port you found in Step 2).
4.) You should immediately see the response from the ID-O-Matic. Press ENTER to
enter the setup menu, then refer to the following pages to set up your ID-O-Matic III.
Remember that new settings are not automatically saved; make sure you save your
changes before quitting!
5.) To exit the screen program, type Ctrl-a followed by K. If that doesn’t work, try Ctrl-
A then ? to see your key bindings. On a Mac, try Ctrl-a followed by Ctrl-\.
Programming the ID-O-Matic III
Once you have established a terminal session and connected to your ID-O-Matic III, you should
see a brief header printed on the screen. The header will tell you the product name (ID-O-Matic
III) followed by the firmware version. The next line will give the system date and time, if the
real-time clock is set. If it’s not, it will display “Clock not set”. This is the normal state after
power-up. The real time clock does not have battery backup, so the date and time is lost when
power is removed from the board. If your installation requires that the clock stay synchronized
to the real time, a backup power source can be used. A USB phone charger or a 4-12V battery
pack plugged into the USB port in addition to the standard power connection can be used. As an
alternative, you can connect a GPS receiver as detailed in the “Adding GPS Timing” section of
this manual.

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If you do not see the header information immediately, hit the ENTER key and you should see the
setup menu.
This is an example of what you will see in the main setup menu. Operation is as simple and
intuitive as I could make it. To change a timer value or to set the clock, type 1 and hit the
ENTER key. To add or change a message, type 2 and hit the Enter key, and so on.

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Note the last few items –specifically, the options to back up and save the configuration. I
recommend backing up your configuration (C command) before making any changes. You can
easily revert back to your original settings if you make a mistake –even if you’ve already saved
your changes multiple times.
Don’t forget to save changes to the on-board nonvolatile FLASH memory (W command) before
removing power or putting the ID-O-Matic in service. If you make changes and don’t save them,
they will be lost when power is removed.
There is a timeout built into the setup menu. If no keys are pressed for five minutes, the ID-O-
Matic III will return to normal operation. Note that any changes that have been made will be in
effect, but will not be saved to non-volatile memory –so they will be lost if the board is reset or
if power is turned off. If the timeout occurs before you’re finished making changes, you can re-
enter the setup menu by pressing ENTER and pick up where you left off.

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Timers and Time-Of-Day (TOD) Clock
This menu can be used to set the various timers used. Except as noted below these interval
timers are set in seconds, so use 60 for one minute, 300 for five minutes, 1800 for 30 minutes
and so on.
ID interval: This should be pretty self-explanatory. This timer determines how often your ID
message will be sent while the repeater is in operation. This setting is the “hard limit” for how
long the repeater can go without an ID being sent. Once this timer expires, an ID will be sent
whether someone is talking or not. The following settings can be used to try to make the
repeater ID more “polite”.
ID minimum: You may want the ID-O-Matic III to attempt to send the ID when there is no
active user talking (COR idle). Setting the ID Minimum will cause the ID to be sent as soon
after that time as possible, when COR is not active.
For example, let’s say you want to ID the repeater at least every 10 minutes, but you want to try
not to ID when someone is talking –a more “polite” ID. If you set the ID time to 600 (10
minutes) and the ID minimum to 570 (9 minutes 30 seconds), the ID-O-Matic will start watching
the COR input at the 9:30 mark. As soon as COR is idle, the ID will be sent –but if COR is still
active at 10 minutes, the ID will be sent regardless.
If you leave this set to zero the early ID timer feature is disabled. The ID interval will always be
used, with no attempt to ID early.
Idle time: When using the ID minimum setting, the ID-O-Matic will wait for COR to drop (go
inactive) before immediately starting the ID. In some cases, you may want to wait until PTT

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drops, then ID after a few seconds of inactivity. This is often desirable if, for example, you are
using CTCSS to reduce the likelihood that users will hear the Morse code ID. Idle time sets the
number of seconds that the repeater must be idle before an ID will occur. If you don’t want to
use this feature, simply leave the idle time set to zero.
The ID minimum and idle time settings are used to try to provide a “polite” ID that occurs when
no one is actively using the repeater. As always, the ID interval setting takes precedence; an ID
will always be sent if the normal ID timer (ID interval setting) expires even if attempts at a polite
ID don’t work due to heavy or constant repeater use.
First ID: After the repeater has been idle for longer than the normal ID interval, it will attempt
to ID immediately after the first time it’s keyed up by a user. The First ID setting determines the
minimum delay before this initial ID is sent. This will be a “polite” ID, meaning the ID will be
sent after the user un-keys –or, if COR is active long enough, at the time-out time or the normal
ID interval. If you set this timer to zero the short first ID interval feature will be disabled, and
the normal ID time (with minimum/early ID time, if set) will be used.
Beacon interval: You may want your repeater to ID even when it’s not been used for a while.
You can set this timer to ID the repeater as often as you wish, in seconds. For example, 3600
will send an ID every hour whenever the repeater is idle. If you do not wish to have beacon ID
messages sent, just set this to zero to disable beacons.
Random beacons: Set to Y or N. If this is set to Y, the beacons will be sent at semi-random
times up to but not exceeding the beacon interval. This would normally be used for a “fox hunt”
transmitter.
Time sync BCN: This selection will only appear if the real-time clock is set. If this is set to Y,
the beacon transmissions will occur at appropriate clock times. For example, a one hour beacon
(3600) will be sent on the hour. A 30 minute (1800) beacon would be sent on the hour and at 30
minutes past; a 15 minute beacon (900) would be sent on the hour and at 15, 30 and 45 minutes
after the hour and so on.
PTT watchdog: The maximum time, in seconds, that PTT is allowed to be active before the
repeater stops transmitting. If you do not wish to have a PTT timeout, set this to zero.
PTT hang time: The amount of time the PTT line will stay active after COR drops. The hang
timer starts after the courtesy beep and/or ID message have been sent. Enter the time desired in
1/10 second increments –so for half a second enter 5, or for one second enter 10 and so on.
ID delay time: You may wish to key the transmitter for a brief period before sending the ID
message –for example, to allow link transmitters to key up. Enter the time desired in 1/10
second increments –so for one second, enter “10”.
Fan timer: If you are using the ID-O-Matic III to control a cooling fan, this is the amount of
time in seconds that the fan will run after the PTT line drops. The fan timer is reset with each
transmission.

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Time of day: If you wish, you can set the time of day clock to the real time. This can be used
for beacons and quiet time. Enter the date and time in the format specified. If you have a GPS
time source attached, this field will indicate if the clock has been set to GPS time.
Quiet time start/end: If desired, you can set a “quiet time” during which no beacons will be
sent. Enter the beginning and ending hours for quiet time, in 24 hour format –for example, to
stop beacon transmissions from 11 PM to 7 AM, enter 23 and 07 for the quiet time start/end
hours. If the time is not set (either manually from the menu or via GPS receiver), the quiet time
settings will be ignored.
Messages
The Messages screen allows you to enter the message(s) you wish to send when the ID and/or
beacon timers expire.
The CWID, beacon and ALT (alternate) messages can each be up to 63 characters long. The
TOT (Time-Out Timer) message can be a maximum of 10 characters. Morse ID speed is self-
explanatory, and the “ID on power-up” setting determines whether the ID message will be sent
immediately when power is applied to the ID-O-Matic III. The Morse code ID tone (in Hz) can
also be set here.
There are a couple of special things to be aware of when entering your message. If you want to
include a timed key-down or solid tone (useful for beacons, for example) you can do so by
entering a colon, the number of seconds, and another colon as part of the message. Let’s say I
want to include a 10 second key-down in a beacon message. I might use a message like this:

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DE N0XAS/B EN11 :10: N0XAS/B
There is another special case -- if you have a voice record/playback board attached, see the
“Adding Voice ID” section for instructions on that.
There are a few things to remember about ID messages:
1. If you need to delete a message, just enter a SINGLE space character and hit ENTER.
The message will be deleted.
2. The ID message is the default for all messages. In other words –if you don’t enter a
beacon message, but do set the beacon timer, the ID message will be sent as the beacon
message also. The same is true of the ALT message; if you don’t set one up here, the ID
message will be used.
3. You MUST have an ID message if you want to send anything –other than courtesy
beeps, of course.

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Courtesy Beep
The courtesy beep can be transmitted each time after the COR signal drops to let a listener know
that the person talking has stopped transmitting. While it’s referred to as a courtesy “beep”, you
can set it to any Morse code character or up to three characters. Use “E” for a short beep, or “T”
for a longer beep. The length of the beep can be adjusted using the Morse code speed setting. If
you don’t want to use a courtesy beep, simply set the beep off by typing a single space character.
The beep delay is the amount of time after COR drops that the beep will be sent. This value is
entered in tenths of a second, so for one second you would enter “10”. And lastly, the audio
frequency of the courtesy beep can be set here, independent of the Morse code ID tone.

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I/O Signal Polarity
On this screen you will be able to customize the ID-O-Matic for your hardware setup. All of the
input and output signal polarities are settable from this menu. You can also select whether any
of the available signals are to be used for cooling fan control.
COR and ALT MSG Polarity: For each of the input signals (COR and ALT MSG), set the pin
to 0 for active-LOW or 1 for active-HIGH. Active-LOW means the input signal is normally at a
higher voltage level when idle, and goes to ground when active. Active-HIGH means it’s
normally grounded and goes to a positive voltage when active.
Other Polarity settings: For the output signals (PTT, BCN, ID and CW), select 0 for active-
LOW or 1 for active-HIGH. In this case active-LOW means the signal will float when inactive,
and be grounded when active (similar to a relay output to ground). Active-HIGH means the
output is normally grounded, and goes to a high impedance open state when active. If your
equipment needs to be driven with a positive voltage, you may need to add a pull-up resistor.
Because of the wide range of equipment to which your ID-O-Matic III may be connected, it is
impossible for these instructions to cover model-specific connection information.
Fan Control: You may wish to use your ID-O-Matic III to control a cooling fan or other device.
The fan output can be selected to appear on any output signal that you don’t plan to use (the CW
output is probably most common). The Fan Control setting can be set to any of the following:
B: Use the BCN (Beacon indicator) output as fan control
C: Use the CW (CW on/off keyed) output as fan control
I: Use the ID (ID indicator) output as fan control
N: None, don’t use fan control

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If one of the outputs is selected as fan control, its normal function is not available and that output
will now act as a fan control. The fan control will become active as soon as COR is detected,
and will remain on until transmission stops AND the fan timer (see the Timers screen) expires.
The active state (grounded or open) depends on the polarity setting for the output signal used.
Note that any of these outputs is driven by a 2N7000 MOSFET. The absolute maximum output
ratings are 60V and 200 mA, but the actual limit of what the transistors can drive without heat
sinking is substantially lower. If your fan draws more than a very modest amount of current, an
external relay would be a good idea.
Baud Rates
If you are not using a GPS receiver for timing, you won’t need to worry about this menu. It is
used only to set the serial baud rate for an optional GPS receiver used to set the real time clock.
The default speed is 9600 BPS; if your GPS receiver requires a different setting you can enter it
here.

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Connecting to Your Equipment
Power
The ID-O-Matic III has two possible power sources. One is the terminal block, positions 1
(ground) and 2 (power). The other is the mini USB connector, which can be used to provide a
5V power source. Naturally, this makes it easy to set up the board –just plug it into your
computer’s USB port, and it will draw power from the computer.
The USB connector can be used as a source of backup power. Both a DC power source via the
terminal block and a USB power source can safely be connected at the same time - assuming you
take care to keep the grounds at the same potential! Diodes will keep one power source from
affecting the other, and the ID-O-Matic III will draw its power from whichever source has the
highest voltage. This means you could, if you wish, attach a 12V DC power source to the
terminal block, and put a mini USB plug on a small backup battery pack to keep the board
powered in the event of a failure of the main power source. Older mini USB cell phone chargers
are also suitable for powering the ID-O-Matic III.
Power input to the terminal block must be a stable DC voltage between 6 and 20 V. Although
the power input pin is protected from reverse polarity by a diode, care should be taken not to
connect power backwards –especially if you have any other equipment (like a computer or
repeater gear) connected! If you are just programming the ID-O-Matic, it’s a good idea to
disconnect everything from the terminal block before plugging in the USB cable.
Signal Levels
Each input signal is clamped by a series 1K resistor and a Zener diode before being fed to the
corresponding CPU pin. This protects the PIC input pin from damage due to over-voltage.
Signal levels must not be allowed to drop below ground, as this can damage the CPU. Input
voltages in the 0 to 20 Volt range are acceptable. It is safe to leave unused inputs disconnected.
Outputs are open-drain MOSFETs, capable of sinking up to 200 mA at up to 60V. These are
absolute maximum ratings, and I recommend keeping currents low if possible to avoid
overheating the output devices.

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Connections
I/O connections to your equipment are made via a 12-position screw clamp type terminal block.
Pins 1 and 12 are marked on the board; pin 1 is toward the center of the board and pin 12 is
closest to the edge. Connections are as follows:
Pin
Function
1
GROUND
2
POWER INPUT (6 to 20 V)
3
PTT OUT (keys the transmitter in FM repeater applications)
4
CW OUT (on/off keyed Morse code output, NOT audio)
5
BEACON INDICATOR output (active when beacon is being transmitted)
6
RESET - ground to reset the ID-O-Matic III
7
COR Input
8
Receiver audio input
9
ID INDICATOR (active when Morse ID is being transmitted)
10
ALT MSG input –selects the alternate CW ID message
11
Audio Out –Morse ID And tone output
12
GROUND
LED Indications
The LED is controlled by the ID-O-Matic firmware, and can be in one of four states:
OFF –This is usually an indication that there is no power supplied to the board.
SOLID GREEN –The ID-O-Matic is idle.
FLASHING GREEN –COR has been sensed, and a timing cycle is in progress.
FLASHING AMBER –PTT is active, and a timing cycle is in progress.
FLASHING RED –COR time-out has been reached; repeater function is disabled.
SOLID RED –An ID message is being transmitted, OR the terminal is in the setup menu.
These states are valid for firmware version 1.03 or newer. Earlier firmware versions do not have
the flashing red or amber indications.
Non-Repeater Use
It’s possible (and quite common) to use your ID-O-Matic III to provide automatic Morse or
voice ID for your HF, VHF or UHF transmitter or transceiver. Given the hundreds of different
HF, VHF and UHF rigs out there, I cannot provide specific instructions for them. In general,
though, it's a pretty simple proposition. For use with a voice rig (SSB, AM or FM) the ID-O-
Matic’s PTT output can key the transmitter while the audio output provides the Morse ID. There
is also a CW keying output for use with beacons or for CW operation.

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Depending on your equipment, you may have different options for attaching the ID-O-Matic.
You can put it between the mic and the rig for voice operation -- microphone PTT to the COR
input, ID-O-Matic PTT output to the transceiver's PTT input, and audio either just tied in parallel
or fed through the ID-O-Matic, depending on what works for your particular equipment.
On rigs with rear panel connections for TNCs and accessories, there may be PTT and audio
signals available so you don't have to put it between the mic and the rig. It really depends on the
rig; this is where you get to put your Amateur Radio experimental skills to work.