M0UAW's Blog

Took me ages to get the Raspberry Pi Pico VSCode environment sort of set up on Linux Mint but I could never quite replicate the results on every machine I use (there are a few) and it was hit and miss with debugging etc. I'd spend a lot more time fighting the development environment than actually coding and by the time I'd got it working I'd lost the will to code.  I was over it, I'd consigned the Pi Pico boards back into the box and reverted to my favourite STM32 chips. Recently ST announced they're starting to use VSCode and nightmares that I might get stuck in the same loop began to grow in  my mind.  I decided that I needed to spend a little time working out how to install a complete, working  IDE for the Pi Pico, figuring it would open up an alternative to STM as well as giving me a way to use the Pi Pico boards I'd bought in an integrate development environment instead of with a bunch of command shell alphabetti spaghetti So, I did a little reading, realis...

If you've any interest in reverse engineering old code, Ghidra does a pretty good job of it though it does seem rather massive overkill to run it against <400 bytes of assembler.  I hope nobody objects to this, I've tried and tried to locate schematics and information on this oddball radio but even the people I've managed to track down from Garex/AKD don't seem to have it.   If you own this code and object to my posting it here, please contact me, I *will* remove it but also bear in mind reverse engineering is legal.     This is the code from the AKD: LAB_fc00 XREF[1]: fffe(*) fc00 8e 00 1f LDS #0x1f fc03 86 2d LDAA #0x2d fc05 97 20 STAA DAT_0020 = FFh fc07 86 00 LDAA #0x0 fc09 97 22 STAA DAT_0022 ...

Per previous post, my unusal/1st gen AKD Some notes:   Processor: MC6802 PLL NJ88C30, PLL Reference Oscillator 10MHz, Ref Osc divisor = 400, channel spacing = 25KHz On RX VCO runs at RX Frequency - 1st IF (10.7MHz) TX VCO runs at TX Frequency.  EPROM 27C128 Mapped to $E000-$FFFF (mostly unused, No code before FC00, only 1K used)   It seems to be a very simple design where the various 'peripheral' parts are memory mapped using a 74LS138 3-8 Decoder, it's not fully decoded so any write which addresses A13, A14, A15 or any combination will enable an output on the 'LS138   CP is the clock pulse for the 4024 Binary counter which generates the 1750 Toneburst  CLK is the PLL Clock Latch is the PLL Latch signal FPSEL and FP14 are related to the front panel, not sure how that works yet OE is the EPROM Select  And some NOR logic:   'FP' signals are related to the front panel, the front panel connector:   Amazingly, the entire operating code for the rad...

 One of a sporadic, few posts about my memories of radio, electronics, computers and whatever else strikes me might be interesting.   My first transceiver, an imported FCC spec Midland 100M, the very first contact was someone two streets away, maybe 150mtrs, because the final was blown, i had the stereotype DV-27 on a biscuit tin, no idea about SWR. I knew a bit about radio and electronics, I'd built a few things from Everyday Electronics and even modified them to do 'stuff', I repaired radios and cassette players for friends at school, more by luck and persistence than any actual knowledge but I learned. However, the insides of the Midland were a whole new level and I really didn't know an awful lot, plus I had nobody to ask, the internet was only a military research project called DARPANet so, as tempting as it was to tinker, I had to take it to the local CB shop and was mildly terrified because CB was illegal to use back then in the UK * (see below).   The owner was ...

****UPDATED 2026****   There's new spike protein mutations doing the rounds out there, be careful people    From 2022:   Two and a quarter years in, Corona Virus finally got me. I got a message from someone I'd spent 30 minutes in fairly close proximity with, two days after the fact they felt a 'bit off' and tested positive, they suggested I might want to test.   So, I did.    And yeah, wow, that red line appeared almost instantly and just got darker the longer I left it.   Cue a few days of feeling pretty crappy, sore throat, breathless, headachey and I've been vaccinated so I only got a mild case.   After effects, it ruined my taste buds, even the smell of coffee makes me heave now and even weeks after,  I can't taste properly, far worse than when I was a smoker.