V1 interface for CFE

iamgnat · 12-23-2007, 11:14 AM

FYI I do have my new MBP now so I am back to trying to get some work done on CFE.

To this end, my current project is to build an interface between my Valentine and my Mini with a plugin for CFE.

The hardware side of all this is based on the work done in the other V1 threads on MP3Car like this one.

I should have my breadboard version of the interface tested today, then i'll have to spend some time driving around to get a good read on what is being transmitted (the guy that has written a PC interface doesn't seem to want to share his knowledge

). So hopefully i'll have something working in the near future.

As far as the CFE plugin goes, my plan is to have the QuickSlot button update with what the display should look like and have a overlay popup when a new signal is found and touching the overlay would cause it to mute and hide the overlay.

I would also like to play the sounds through the Mini so you can have the volume off on the unit itself since this would allow you to hear it if you have your audio up loud. I have no ideas on how to come up with good sounds for it though...

If anyone else has ideas on what they'd like to see in this plugin, post away.

Please do not ask about this working with other radar detectors. To the best of my knowledge the V1 is the only one with an interface like this and it is the only one I own. By all means use anything that comes of this project as a basis for another detector and i'll be glad to help if I can though.

-dave

P.S. Jirka, it will all be open source in my project so you can use what I find for QCar if you'd like.

iamgnat · 12-25-2007, 12:41 PM

Well this isn't going so well.

I'm obviously doing something wrong, but I fail to see what. Hopefully I can have one of my friends that understand electronics better than I take a look at it this week and see if they can spot the problem.

On a side note, for grins I hooked the data line directly up to an analog port on my Wiring board and not only did it not fry anything

but information streamed across. Now I just need to see if I can figure out what it all means.

I do know that the logic is all done by the V1 itself and the message protocol carries the information of which LEDs should be lit on the remote display. So it might just be as simple as deciphering the analog readings i'm getting.

-dave

iamgnat · 12-26-2007, 12:29 PM

My co-worker that does some electronics work looked over my breadboard this morning and agrees that it all looks like it is hooked up as described in the schematic. So that route looks like a bust since the old thread appears dead at this point.

The good news is that Valentine is willing to share at least some information, so assuming I can figure out how to interface with it (which I may have accidentally already figured out

) I now have the communication protocol

-dave

iamgnat · 12-29-2007, 12:05 PM

Just another update.

I got some more help from another friend and believe that i'm listening to the V1 correctly now with a simple 10k resistor between the data line and a digital i/o port on a micro-controller. This is with my CDU still attached though, without it you need another resistor and a +5v source.

Now I need to work out the code to identify the start of a message, gather the message, then send the message along.

To start with i'm using a basic breadboard and my Wiring.org.co development board for development and making sure I understand it in principle. The code I develop for my board should also work on the Arduino boards too with minimal (if any) tweaking.

After that i'll build a custom board using an Atmel ATMega16 or ATMega32. There are smaller chips that will work (probably with the same code when i'm done), but I have a couple of spare 16s and 32s laying around. I'll use a FTDI DLP-USB232M as the USB->Serial interface between the ATMega serial port and the Mac.

As I get through the various stages, i'll make my code available for others to abuse as they see fit. The end result should be easy to use from any OS (though OSX is all i'll mess with

).

To start, i'm only working on reading the input from the V1 without trying to control it (mute, change modes, etc..). Once I get the kinks worked out of the reading, then i'll see what I can do on the writing (Valentine hasn't been forth coming on sharing that information like they have the reading side).

-dave

Bugbyte · 12-29-2007, 12:28 PM

You are a man of many talents. Nice progress so far!

iamgnat · 12-29-2007, 02:10 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

You are a man of many talents. Nice progress so far!

Not sure about that. "A man of biting off more than he can chew but still finds a way to muddle through" is probably more apt. But that doesn't roll off the tongue so easily

-dave

BenMara · 12-29-2007, 07:57 PM

Nice Keep us up dated id like to do away with the hidden display for the V1

BenMara · 01-02-2008, 09:00 PM

might wanna ask around on www.radardetector.net/viewforum.php?f=23 for some help someone there might know

Curiosity · 01-02-2008, 11:41 PM

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/hard...er-design.html

Go to post #3 and download "V1 Protocol.pdf"

That should help you out a bit.

You just have to wait on that high carrier and then start reading bits at something like 3971.88 Hz until all those damn sync bits are done.

iamgnat · 01-03-2008, 09:03 AM

I have the PDF, but thanks to the pointer to the thread. I missed that one, but will give it a read later today.

Thanks,
-dave

BenMara · 04-23-2008, 08:29 PM

any updates?

iamgnat · 04-23-2008, 09:19 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by BenMara

any updates?

Nope. Lack of time and motivation have been close friends of mine of late and they've caused quite a negative impact on CFE development

-dave

EnglandGreen · 05-02-2008, 11:24 PM

That's a shame, Dave. I haven't been over to MP3 car for a while and was really hoping that CFE was more advanced. But I understand the time and attention constraints.