Home Automation - What chip was used on the DTMF Weeder Kit?

Author

What chip was used on the DTMF Weeder Kit?

Jack Edin

2005-10-12, 6:21 am

Hi gang!

I too would very much like Mister House to log outgoing calls as well.

I added a NetCallerID and enjoy it logging my incoming calls.

I joined Vonage just to get CallerID service, for this purpose.

Mister House is compatible with a Weeder kit, which is no longer
available... So...

I called Mr. Weeder today.

"The Outgoing DTMF phone monitor kit was discontinued, as were all kits,
around 5 or 6 years ago."

I asked if he was going to produce a finished product instead? "No."

He's focused on Industrial products, and has strayed away from Home
Automation. "There is no market for kits."

So I asked him for the schematics and board layout. "I don't have that
stuff anymore", he said.

Do I believe him? As an engineer-type myself I can assure you - I never
throw anything away. Maybe HE did, how knows?

"Besides..." he added, "The chip I used was made by Motorola. It was
discontinued 6 years ago. So it wouldn't do you any good to have the
schematic anyway!"

Well I have found a few chips that do the job, including an old Motorola
part. And a current source for that part being under $5.00

So now the board layout and schematic would be very helpful indeed.

Do any of you HA buffs have this Weeder kit in use? Could you look at
the chip for me?

I think it is the Motorola MC145436.

Whatever I make, I'll want it to act identically to the Weeder design
soas to maintain Mister House compatibility.

Does the Weeder kit connect the the Parallel port? No CPU would be
necessary to serialize the data...

Anybody have a spare Weeder kit they would part with?

Thanks for any help Terry Weeder and the HA community can offer.

Sincerely,

Jack Edin
Logic Unlimited
Aloha, Oregon

Dave Houston

2005-10-12, 10:21 am

The Weeder Telephone/Computer Interface kit (WTTCI-K) did use the MC145436
but it also used a PIC16C54 which decoded the DTMF and provided the
multidrop RS232 interface. Aside from the fact that supplying you with the
board layout and schematic would infringe Weeder's copyright it wouldn't do
you any good without having the firmware for the PIC. If you plan to write
your own PIC firmware, you may as well design the whole thing from the
ground up.

Unless you can find a surplus Weeder kit, it would be simpler to choose some
other DTMF decoder kit (there are many) and adapt the MH code as needed.
Check out the QK153 from Quality Kits.

Jack Edin <nospam@logicunlimited.com> wrote:

>Hi gang!
>
>I too would very much like Mister House to log outgoing calls as well.
>
>I added a NetCallerID and enjoy it logging my incoming calls.
>
>I joined Vonage just to get CallerID service, for this purpose.
>
>Mister House is compatible with a Weeder kit, which is no longer
>available... So...
>
>I called Mr. Weeder today.
>
>"The Outgoing DTMF phone monitor kit was discontinued, as were all kits,
>around 5 or 6 years ago."
>
>I asked if he was going to produce a finished product instead? "No."
>
>He's focused on Industrial products, and has strayed away from Home
>Automation. "There is no market for kits."
>
>So I asked him for the schematics and board layout. "I don't have that
>stuff anymore", he said.
>
>Do I believe him? As an engineer-type myself I can assure you - I never
>throw anything away. Maybe HE did, how knows?
>
>"Besides..." he added, "The chip I used was made by Motorola. It was
>discontinued 6 years ago. So it wouldn't do you any good to have the
>schematic anyway!"
>
>Well I have found a few chips that do the job, including an old Motorola
>part. And a current source for that part being under $5.00
>
>So now the board layout and schematic would be very helpful indeed.
>
>Do any of you HA buffs have this Weeder kit in use? Could you look at
>the chip for me?
>
>I think it is the Motorola MC145436.
>
>Whatever I make, I'll want it to act identically to the Weeder design
>soas to maintain Mister House compatibility.
>
>Does the Weeder kit connect the the Parallel port? No CPU would be
>necessary to serialize the data...
>
>Anybody have a spare Weeder kit they would part with?
>
>Thanks for any help Terry Weeder and the HA community can offer.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Jack Edin
>Logic Unlimited
>Aloha, Oregon

Jack Edin

2005-10-12, 6:21 pm

Dave Houston wrote:
> The Weeder Telephone/Computer Interface kit (WTTCI-K) did use the MC145436
> but it also used a PIC16C54 which decoded the DTMF and provided the
> multidrop RS232 interface. Aside from the fact that supplying you with the
> board layout and schematic would infringe Weeder's copyright it wouldn't do
> you any good without having the firmware for the PIC. If you plan to write
> your own PIC firmware, you may as well design the whole thing from the
> ground up.

As I said, I don't have the schematic. As such I really have no idea
what went into his design...

If he went directly to the PC's parallel port, with a little low-level
software, he wouldn't need a PIC.

> Unless you can find a surplus Weeder kit, it would be simpler to choose some
> other DTMF decoder kit (there are many) and adapt the MH code as needed.

Any leads on a surplus Weeder kit?

> Check out the QK153 from Quality Kits.

Dave, you did it again!

I just bought 2 of these, as well as some other stuff (telephone surge
suppressor, SLA battery charger, & 8 relay kit) and it has shipped!

Looking forward to making this work.

This kit will put a character out the serial port as it comes along on
the DTMF (phone line.) No formatting whatsoever.

And it doesn't terminate the line, either.

So there doesn't seem to be an indication of off-hook status either...

Mister House would have to time incoming data. After a period of
inactivity, it'll have to terminate that entry to the log.

It also can't time the call's duration. Or can it?

Anybody else using the QK153 from Quality Kits with Mister House?

Worst case it may be necessary to re-write the kit's firmware. They use
an Atmel 89C2051. They don't provide or make available the source code.

I wonder what the Weeder kit's protocol was... Anybody?

Thankx, again.

Jack

Dave Houston

2005-10-12, 7:21 pm

If you went straight to the parallel port I doubt MH could handle it. You'd
need an interrupt.

Had you indicated up front that you wanted to do more than the Weeder kit
was capable of I would have suggested...

http://electronickits.com/kit/complete/tele/ck602.htm

Jack Edin <nospam@logicunlimited.com> wrote:

>Dave Houston wrote:
>
>As I said, I don't have the schematic. As such I really have no idea
>what went into his design...
>
>If he went directly to the PC's parallel port, with a little low-level
>software, he wouldn't need a PIC.
>
>
>Any leads on a surplus Weeder kit?
>
>
>Dave, you did it again!
>
>I just bought 2 of these, as well as some other stuff (telephone surge
>suppressor, SLA battery charger, & 8 relay kit) and it has shipped!
>
>Looking forward to making this work.
>
>This kit will put a character out the serial port as it comes along on
>the DTMF (phone line.) No formatting whatsoever.
>
>And it doesn't terminate the line, either.
>
>So there doesn't seem to be an indication of off-hook status either...
>
>Mister House would have to time incoming data. After a period of
>inactivity, it'll have to terminate that entry to the log.
>
>It also can't time the call's duration. Or can it?
>
>Anybody else using the QK153 from Quality Kits with Mister House?
>
>Worst case it may be necessary to re-write the kit's firmware. They use
>an Atmel 89C2051. They don't provide or make available the source code.
>
>I wonder what the Weeder kit's protocol was... Anybody?
>
>Thankx, again.
>
>Jack
>

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