TARGETuner Firmware

Download the latest firmware (1.09) for the TARGETuner.

Here are directions for updating the firmware on your TARGETuner:

1. Unzip the TARGETuner upgrade package ZIP file.

2. Attach a USB cable from your Windows PC to the TARGETuner.

3. Connect 12V DC power to the TARGETuner to power the unit. While USB is connected to the TARGETuner, the TARGETuner will always be on and the POWER button will cause the unit to reset.

4. While the unit is powering up (with USB cable connected) hold down the LEFT and RIGHT buttons down until it says "Software update" on the first line of the LCD. If it didn't work, keep holding down the LEFT and RIGHT button and press the POWER button to reset the unit to try again.

5. If Windows asks to install the drivers, point it to the SoftwareUpdater folder, which comes in the TARGETuner upgrade package ZIP file.

If Windows didn't ask you to install the drivers, you will have to do this manually from Device Manager. In Device Manager, a TARGETuner without drivers loaded will be displayed as "TARGETuner Software Updater" and you will probably see it with a yellow exclamation point under the "Other Devices" section. Right click on it and choose "Update Driver Software", then choose the Browse option and then point it to the SoftwareUpdater folder.

6. Once Windows is ready and the drivers are succesfully loaded it will say "Ready" on the second line of the LCD.

7. Launch the USBLoader software.

8. Press the Connect button in the USBLoader software. The first line of the USBLoader software should show the current version of firmware on the TARGETuner, the second line should have a pull-down and have automatically selected the latest firmware (1.09).

9. Press the Write button in the USBLoader software.

10. When this process is complete (it will say "Done" on the second line of the LCD) disconnect the USB connection and power-cycle the unit.


List of Changes

--- TARGETuner 1.9 Changes ---------------------------

* Added Yaesu FT-891 support. Since this radio uses the USB connection for CAT rig control, the West Mountain Radio USB2CAT device must be used in conjunction.


--- TARGETuner 1.8 Changes ---------------------------

* Fixed an issue with 1200 and 38400 rig control baud rates not working correctly.


--- TARGETuner 1.7 Changes ---------------------------

* Fixed an issue with the contrast of the LCD screen. Also added a new menu option to configure the contrast level of the LCD.


--- TARGETuner 1.6 Changes ---------------------------

* Seperated Elecraft KX3 support from Elecraft K3 support. Using Elecraft KX3 will switch the TTL output/input to the TARGETuner to be inverted, as used by the KX3.


--- TARGETuner 1.5 Changes ---------------------------

* Added Yaesu FT100 CAT support.


--- TARGETuner 1.4 Changes ---------------------------

* Added Kenwood TS480 CAT support.

* Added an optional ham band filter. This can be enabled/disabled from the menu. When enabled, the unit will reject frequences detected by the sensor module if it's not a valid ham frequency. This can improve accuracy in poor SWR conditions when detecting the frequency on the sensor module is not physically possible.

* Added parking. The park position can be changed in the menu. To initiate a park, hold down the manual button for over 5 seconds. Parking will cause the antenna to be moved to the max most up or down position.


--- TARGETuner 1.3 Changes ---------------------------

* During the 2s delay between changing motor directions, the motor is now set to a brake condition correctly. This should eliminate any sliding and improve accuracy of moving to desired position.

* Ramping the motor was causing many motor brakes, which may cause lots of EMF and noise from the motor and motor driver. This has been resolved.

* Added a "Rig CTL Test" in debug mode for production testing of a unit.


--- TARGETuner 1.2 Changes ---------------------------

* From the menu, you can configure the unit to not use a sensor module. This won't work correctly unless you are using CAT/CIV. If this option is selected (no sensor module) then the unit will not display SWR on the screen.

* If this option is selected, you cannot choose Auto SWR mode via the Auto button.

* If this option is selected, it will let you save points to memory if CAT/CIV is reading successfully (and won't save SWR).

* If motor current is less than 0.100, but not zero, then display 0.1A on the screen for motor current.

* If there is nothing connected to sensor, don't display 0.0:1 for SWR (display 9.9:1).

* When in Auto SWR mode, when unit is searching pressing the UP or DOWN button will change to that direction. There was some code to do this before, but now it is improved for all situations.

* When in Auto SWR mode, once the unit is locked you can press UP or DOWN to make manual adjustments.

* When going to Manual Memory mode, initialize the starting menu choice to be the closest position.

* Fixed a bug where pressing SAVE in Manual Memory mode if there were no points saved to memory would cause the motor to move to fantasy land.

* Fixed a bug where sometimes the Auto Memory mode would sometimes say it was still moving the antenna even though it stopped moving the antenna.

* Minor tweak to the alogrithm for detecting sensor module connected backwards.

* The motor not moving/stall error check has been added to the Auto SWR mode (so now it checks for this in all modes).

* The delay between changing motor directions has been changed from 1s to 2s, to reduce position being lost/corrupted due to motor sliding.


--- TARGETuner 1.1 Changes ---------------------------

* Now supports an antenna that doesn't have an encoder wheel. To choose this option, use the 'Encoder Wheel' menu setting. If encoder wheel is disabled it removes all saving/loading/viewing points from memory. That means you only have 'Manual Mode' and 'Auto SWR' mode.

* If it appears the motor is stalled (not moving) on any mode except for 'Auto SWR' mode will cause a hard error. This error is ignored if you don't have an encoder wheel.

* If you don't have an encoder wheel you get a new menu option, "Stall Current". If motor current goes above this current it is assumed that it stalled because it hit the end of the track. This is an important setting in 'Auto SWR' mode so it can detect if it hit the end and needs to go the other way.

This is different than "Fuse Current", which when triggered causes a hard error on the unit and prevents motor usage until the user acknowledges the error.

* Attempt to compenstate for dead spots on the antenna, where the frequency reading is corrupt. The workaround is that it ignores a change in read frequency unless the forward voltage is greater than the previous frequency.

Another workaround is that 'Auto SWR' doesn't display frequency while the motor is moving (tuning).

Another workaround is that the detection if the radio is in XMIT or not in 'Auto SWR' is much more sensitive.

* 'Auto SWR' mode was rewritten to be much faster and also handle dead spots and no encoder wheel. This was primarily done because some people, including Sholto, complained that it past SWR match too many times.

One drawback to the new algorithm is that the TX has to be held down until match is found. That means SSB will not work.

* If you attempt to change the motor direction, there is now a 1s delay.

* When saving a point to memory, it now saves the direction the motor was moving when it went to that location. If you attempt to go to this location from the wrong direction, it will overshoot the location and then reverse so it always goes to the point in memory in the same direction that was saved.

* The wording of the motor speeds were changed because some people were confused and thought that "Fast" was the fastest setting.

* The menu now has 2 speed selections: "User Motor Speed" and "Auto Motor Speed". "User Motor Speed" is the speed used almost all of the time, and for most people this should be "Fastest". "Auto Motor Speed" is used during a few places during the algorithm when the firmware wants to slow down (like when it's close to the target or when SWR is improving). That means the user should make the 'Auto Motor Speed' slower than the 'User Motor Speed'.

This was done because Darren defaulted all speeds to "Medium Fast" in order to improve 'Auto SWR' accuracy, but caused all other modes to be too slow.

* User can disable the motor ramping speed via the menu option "Motor Ramping". This was added because Sholto complained about a whine heard on his radio when the motor was moving which might have been caused by the PWM/FET duty cycle not being 100%.

* If it appears that the user plugged the sensor module backwards (forward and reverse voltage backwards) causes a soft error.

* 'Auto SWR' mode display now matches the 'Manual Mode' display.


REQUIRES REV 2 HARDWARE:

* Added beeper settings. One is for beeping when the motor is moving, another when SWR is above a certain threshold.

* RIG Control (ICOM CI-V or Yaesu FT857) added. When using RIG control it will use the frequency from the radio and not the RF sensor. It will always display the frequency on the screen even if the radio is not transmitting. The auto memory mode will automatically move to the point in memory once the frequency on the radio changes.

* USB port added for updating the firmware over USB. Requires a PC with the bootload software.