Chip switch for Lincolns

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marytran
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by marytran »

Hey slamjam, can you please check the inbox.
Hi i am fine
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

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marytran wrote: 08 Aug 2019, 17:50 Hey slamjam, can you please check the inbox.
??
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by The Collector »

Oooeer missus.
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by No1cber »

I’d like one of these to or maybe even 2 of them if somone makes them please ..

Inbox me please
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by bladerunner1 »

In searching around looking to id the LCD part on the 2510, I discovered this lovely forum. After reading this topic I realized that there are others who are thinking the same thing I have been thinking with recreation of a chipswitch of sorts for these radios.

Has there been any headway on this project or is it stalled?
Thanks in advance.
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by lbcomms »

It's still a going project for us, just a long term one. First thing we need to do though is find an unmolested radio to play with (i.e. turn it into a development unit), a bit scarce down here in the land of Oz. Then find the time to design a daughterboard (as 64 pin 50 mil DIP micros are unheard of these days, but one is spoiled for choice with SMD QFPs) and write the firmware for it. Fun times ahead...
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by bladerunner1 »

Thank you for responding so quickly. I was completely unaware that anyone was also thinking along these lines. I even tried to find the valentine brothers to see if they had the source on the chipswitch as the original hitatchi part is somewhat sourceable.
I picked up a 2600 a while back. and have been breaking down the logic on it. my thought was also to make a drop in replacement cpu module board. I thought about a 64dip adapter but that lead into a whole slew of problems in itself just finding a dip header that would seat and stay in place.
Anyhow, I started researching the surrounding components on that cpu board and have been thinking of a drop in replacement that would get away that. Its mostly just some thinking at this point, but a new board allows itself to new possibilities, like replacement of the LCD with an OLED display. Sure there is the argument of why someone would want to even fiddle with radios that are getting near 30 years old, because? its there.
If you can find an HR2600 most of them are unmolested because they weren't easy to mod in the first place unless you swapped out the cpu. Anyway, looking forward to seeing where this goes.
As far as sales, I dont think anyone is going to get rich off a mod for them. The chipswitch guys only sold about 7000 or so over the decade or so they were selling them. I kinda wish I knew the total number of these boards that were sold in various models through the years. The fact that so many are still desired and working shows a testament to the durability.
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by astradyne »

I picked up a HR2600 maybe four/five years ago now. As you say they're not as easy to mod as the Lincoln, 2510 and 2830.

I eventually got round to converting it to cover 26 - 30 Mhz by dropping in a CPU board from a scrap Lincoln which I'd bought off a TM1 member. It's not a plug and play operation. A few of the wires need to be relocated and two five pin plugs need replacing with four pin in order to fit the sockets on the CPU board. A wire from each of these is not required for use on the Lincoln CPU board so can be tucked away or removed. But the same colour coding and placement for the wires in both the 2600 and Lincoln are identical so it's a really simple job. The LCD displays are also identical so no need for mods or swapping out.

Next are the nine push buttons for band, step, lock etc. The 2600 module will not work correctly with the Lincoln CPU. You'll push the RF/SWR/MOD meter button and the radio will change frequency etc. I chose to replace it with the one from the scrap Lincoln, but if you don't have a spare module at hand rewiring will be required.

Obviously you'll lose the repeater offset function as this isn't supported by the Lincoln CPU. You will also need to rewire the Lincoln push button module in order to use the TX function. I chose not to do this as disaster could happen if you catch it by accident.

This particular 2600 has been modified in the past. SSB TX power is 50W PEP and the RX is super quiet and incredibly sensitive. Much better than a Lincoln placed beside it.

Darn fine radio's.
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by bladerunner1 »

Indeed. sounds like the radios are mostly cross compatible. its a shame you have to loose the repeater offset. I guess for most guys looking at these radios the offset is a rarely used/if ever option.
I used to have a 2510 with a chipswitch in it a long time ago, back when I first got my ticket in the early 90's. As what happens with a lot of guys that were running rouge on triple nickle back in the day caught the dx bug and went the next step to get their Ham license.
Anyway, it seems that with some extra fiddling a drop in cpu board with a couple of pin jumpers on the top could make it so that it would work in any of the models.
"darn fine radio's", you dont hear that much about the RCI 2950 series, with all the multitudes of cold solder jonts, the low quality displays .. well a lot of the radios were just built cheap. Like so many you see on the markets today. Even the ssb filters on these newer rigs are a joke. built cheap. Not that the Uniden/lincoln radios were awesome filters. but still better than what I see being stuffed on boards today.
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by astradyne »

The two other conversations for the 2600 are either rather difficult or pretty much pointless.

To keep the repeater offset and expand the radio to include 11 metres you could swap the 64 pin microprocessor chip with one from a Lincoln, 2510 or 2830. Not the easiest of jobs and great care would be needed.

If you only want 11 metres on the radio a simple crystal swap would achieve this. Simply remove the 22 Mhz crystal on the processor board and replace it with a 20 Mhz crystal. Now you have 26.000.0 to 28.000.0. Is it that simple? Well, no...

The display works off the processor and will read whatever is sent from it. So, even though you're on 27.555.0 for example, the radio will still read 29.555.0 as this is the information being sent from the processor chip. Also the display will be off by 2 Mhz so the radio will still need aligning. You'll still have the repeater offset function, but what's the point if you don't have 10 metres on the radio.
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by Otter »

OK, so what I get so far is that it's wanted to convert HR2600s for 26MHz, and bladerunner1 would like to experiment, which you couldn't do if you just bought a chipswitch.
I will probably go so far as to make my existing code work in an HR2600. I have a couple myself with the original chipswitch in them, and a couple more without. Or something like that. I'm just playing with other things at the moment.

@bladerunner1 - there are some HD4074008S chips for sale on AliExpress, but they have already been programmed (but they don't tell you until you specifically ask) and since they are not erasable they are useless. Well, maybe they could be used in an art installation or as landfill. If you know of another source check that they aren't already used, or that they don't come from the same source!
I do have a few unused chips, and a UV erasable one from when I was playing a 2 or 3 decades ago. I'm hanging onto the chips for Emperor Shogun/ Midland 9001 chip replacement. I am definitely not selling any, but would buy a few if any came up

There is no need to have a link to specify between the HR2600 and HR2150/Lincoln/2830. You can detect the state of a few pins such as the CW pin, and one or two others that are different between models on power-up to see which radio the chip is in. The original chipswitch is front panel selectable between models on first power-up, and after a reset.
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by bladerunner1 »

@otter,
Yea I was looking at the IC's but because of their difficulty in getting them without something cooked into the silicon is hard. So that goes back to updating with something off the shelf in micro controllers. and to do that would be a new PCB drop in board design, or at the very least a piggy back board. Thats kind of the way I was thinking about going about. aside from the mixer IC's and a couple other components could be sourced.
I can make them work on 26mhz but as was said before its a kludge. changing out the cpu is the only option.
I was under the impression by looking at the schematics that the MCU serial pins were used for different functions for different models. the 2510 and the 2600 schematics differ quite a bit on the CPU board. hence the header pins to match the radio functions.
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by lbcomms »

Designing something new to use new-old-stock or recycled controller ICs is risky, you don't know how long your supply is going to last or how much they will cost next year. Something like the picture on page 2 of this thread is what we've got in mind, a common / cheap chip in a QFP SMT package (such as an ATmega2561) on a 64 pin daughterboard, with room for anything else that may be needed such as filtering, level shifters, memory, or regulators.

The 2510 and 2600 are probably similar enough to be able to make it a universal conversion, selectable with a solder link or possibly by detecting the pinout difference between the two radio types. Once we can find an suitable example of each radio (dead or alive, but relatively unmolested) I'll be able to start playing...
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by Otter »

@bladerunner1 Yep, but all the pins that matter have the same function - such as LCD, and comms to the PLL chips etc. The few pins that are different are things like the addition of the CW key on pin 57, AM on pin24, 59 to enable the CTCSS encoder. That can just be taken care of in code once you know which radio you are in ( see pin 58, and the CW key input)

@Sue That's pretty much what I've done, but with a PIC18F8722. I decided to do it with a PIC16 (16F19197?, 16F1527?) to cost reduce, but haven't ported the code although I do have boards. I'm not sure that the Atmel has any advantages over PIC? The PIC doesn't have a memory backup feed though, and if you run the PIC from the memory feed voltage it sucks the reservoir capacitor dry before you can tri-state the outputs and sleep the processor. I have got around that.
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Re: Chip switch for Lincolns

Post by astradyne »

Some of the earlier 2600's were modifiable in the same way as the 2510, 2830 and Lincoln (simply bridging pins 34 & 35 of the CPU). These are the ones with either the UC1249 (with or without the 'A' suffix) and the UC1250.

The UC1250A and UC1251 chips are non modifiable.

As a side note, some of the later HR2510's were non modifiable and used the UC1250A.
Never, ever, ever....bloody anything ever!

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