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RS-232 Control of the AOR SDU-5000

Interface Unit: None (connection is direct)

Standard Connections Used: TXD, RXD, GND, RTS, CTS

Flow Control: Software
Note: the SDU-5000 manual advises that a three-wire hook-up can be obtained by linking RTS and CTS together (pins 7 & 8) at the SDU-5000 end of the cable (presumably RTS/CTS connections are advised for compatibilty with some non-PC RS-232 interfaces)

Type of RS-232 Command Set: Combined ASCII and binary

Data Parameters: 9600 baud; 2 stop bits; no parity

Overview of SDU-5000 Interface

The SDU-5000 is a spectrum display unit which can be used with the AR-5000, other AOR receivers and also certain Icom radios. It is connected to the RS-232 interface of your radio while your PC is connected to the SDU-5000 - this means that the PC has no control of the receiver other than via the SDU. The RS-232 command set reflects this.

Unusual is the departure from the standard AOR ASCII command structure. Instead a small set of commands are provided which map directly onto the front panel keys. For example sending a "1" is treated by the SDU-5000 as if the user pressed the "1" key. There are additional commands (not represented on the front panel) for reading back status information.

A binary format is used to transfer "video" data from the SDU-5000 using both high-speed and low-speed commands (originally, just the low-speed command was sent but the high speech command was added later to improve performance).

RS-232 connector pinout

SDU-5000 Command Set

Monograph	Key	Function	Command
0	INF 0
1	CONF 1
2	MKR->CF 2
3	PgDw 3
4	ATT 4
5	MODE 5
6	STEP 6
7	CF 7
8	SPAN 8
9	RBW 9
A	MAX
B	AVR
C	PEAK
D	MKR
E	PgUp
.	.
F
G
<ESC>	ESC
<CR>	ENT
H		Return configuration status	Responds with data in the following format: Rn Gn Dn Bn Cnnn.nnnnn Snnnnn Tnn.nn Mn An Where: R Receiver type: n 1 AR-5000 2 AR-3000A 3 IC-R7100 4 IC-R7000 5 IC-R9000 6 Other G RF gain: n 1 = low 2 = high D Display mode: n 1 = normal 2 = reverse B Resolution Bandwidth: n 1 = 5 kHz 2 = 30 kHz C Centre Frequency (in MHz) S Span (in kHz) T Step frequency (in kHz) M Mode: n 1 WFM 2 NFM 3 AM 4 USB 5 LSB 6 CW A Attenuator: n 0 = off 1 = on Note: not supported on all models
I		Low-speed spectrum readout	Responds with a list of 161 frequencies with corresponding signal level (in dBm) Example: /<CR><LF> F448.12500,L-88 F448.18750,L-86 F448.25000,L-89 ... /<CR><LF>
J		Marker	Responds with the frequency and signal level at the current market position. Note: Format is the same as a line from the I command
K		High-speed spectrum readout	Responds with binary data in the following format: K<CR><LF>, 161 bytes of data (0 - 160), K<CR><LF> Where: Frequency = CF - (span/2) + N * span /160 RF level (LOW gain) = -60 + data byte * 50 / 256 RF level (HIGH gain) = -90 + data byte * 50 / 256 Note: The K command is only available on SDU-5000 units with serial number 005300 and above

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This document maintained by simon.collings@cableinet.co.uk.
Material Copyright © 2000 Simon Collings