Re: Linux box / repeater project

From: Robert L Cochran (xlnqe@krnap.cz)
Date: Sun Apr 27 2003 - 00:38:18 EEST

  • Next message: Niall Parker: "Re: Linux box / repeater project"

    I'm interested in the answer to this one also. I have a suggestion:
    check the O'Reilly book Linux Device Drivers to see what it has to say.
    I think it just came out in a new edition and may be useful. The Linux
    kernel book may similarly useful. This does not mean I know what I'm
    talking about. I don't.

    Can you keep me up to date on the answers you learn?

    Thanks

    Bob

    On Sat, 2003-04-26 at 16:26, Christian Reynolds wrote:
    > Hello,
    >
    > A Milwaukee, Wisconsin repeater presently has IRLP working on a
    > RedHat linux 7.3 box. That part is working fine -- what I would like
    > to do is utilize the computer's other ports to do administrative work
    > with the repeater's controller, so that performance reports may be
    > generated from the repeater's voter shelf and the repeater's
    > controller. The repeater sports a Motorola voter with several
    > receiver radios located at the transmitter site, and the IRLP
    > computer is within several feet of the communications hardware.
    >
    > I have 3 ports available to me for this project: 2 standard 9 pin
    > serial ports, and the Game / Joystick port. I cannot use the
    > parallel port, as it is supporting IRLP.
    >
    > Our goals:
    >
    > 1) Be able to program the ACC controller from the IRLP box (easy)
    > 2) Be able to tell the IRLP computer what receive site voted (hard)
    > 3) Upload that data to a website so that system administrators may
    > use it (easy).
    >
    > What I need to do is design the physical input system so that the
    > communications equipment can report to a port on the IRLP box, and
    > then I need to write some software to read the data and make sense of
    > it. I have some C and C++ programming experience...
    >
    > Thinking aloud, I am wondering if I can use linux to read the game /
    > joystick port. Let's say that each receiver has a wire that carries
    > a + voltage when the receiver is active (a COS signal). Can I assign
    > the pins on the Joystick port so that
    >
    > Pin 1 = Receive 1
    > Pin 2 = Receive 2
    > Pin 3 = Receive 3
    > Pin 4 = Receive 4
    > Pin 5 = Ground
    >
    > and then write code telling me if the hardware detects a signal on
    > that pin? If so, how? I assume that I can then write out the result
    > to a simple text file, or perhaps pipe it to a different process that
    > will tabulate the data. I am wondering if /dev/joystick is possible
    > so that I can reference it in scripts.
    >
    > I think I need to find hardware documentation on the Intel mother
    > board that is in there (BX class, 440 chipset) and I need to find out
    > how linux handles the joystick port. Is there a buffer in there that
    > I need to write code to extract an answer? How often can I poll the
    > hardware... I am thinking once each 1/2 second should be
    > reasonable... I do not need to bog down the machine looking at the
    > state in real time, nor want to look at a log file that is 800K per
    > day.
    >
    > As for the IRLP box controlling the controller, I think that a simple
    > shell with kermit running, and going out of /dev/ttyS0 will do the
    > trick. Hardwire the serial port from the controller (it goes to a
    > modem right now) and I should be able to run a terminal session like
    > that.
    >
    > Uploading the results will be done via normal bash / expect
    > scripting. We already do this with our IRLP logs to the website so
    > that members can see just how busy our IRLP setup is, and can see
    > where we have connected to.
    >
    > My degree is in computer science, and I am a network administrator by
    > trade. I'll admit to weak digital / chipset understanding. I can
    > solder and use a VOM meter, but cannot visualize logic circuts in my
    > head. Any and all help is appreciated, and once the process is
    > developed, I am open to publishing on the internet for others to
    > implement.
    >
    > Thank you,
    >
    > Christian Reynolds
    > KC0ARF 

    -- 
Bob Cochran
Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

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