Sound like you are all in on the SB9600 interfacing.
Yes, I'm convinced. I think we so we can get the radio re-read the mode data
when it's changed if nothing else.
The reference to an outboard AT or PIC to handle the SB9600 commands was to hand off dealing with the busy line and send properly timed pre-formatted packet(s) to trigger mode change/read EEPROM.
A simple "doit" command from the Pico via I2C was what I was thinking. Let the AT/PIC deal with any busy buss issues. Might be useful to monitor COS etc and I2C that back to the Pico as well.
It shouldn't be difficult to deal with the timing on the Pico directly.
Handing it off to another processor would still require Tx and Rx lines so
we might save one pin.
Tapping the LED and BootSel on the Pico does add complexity for those lacking that skillset, but so does soldering SMTs.
In for a penny, in for a pound I guess.
The larger SMT parts aren't impossible to hand solder, but I do hope that
someone might fill Lee's roll and offer built and tested boards for those
who would want that.
Once we have a workable design we can sort out the SMT vrs DIP issues.
Adafruit also has "breakout" boards that we could use... not my preference
but something to think about.
Because the RSS plays "cup and ball" games with the PL value storage, alterations made outside of the RSS will get wiped if any PL settings are modified with the RSS.
The behavior is difficult to pin down because the RSS moves around/deletes a lot of stuff when a value is edited/deleted.
Maintaining compatibility with how the RSS handles PL may be a challenge.
The other big thing is as far as I can tell, is the 16 MPL limit is operationally hard coded (in RSS?). Meaning it is possible to set any number of MPL but the storage area for the mode slaved PL values starts 16 tx/rx sets above the end of 16 MPL tx/rx sets.
Writing values to MPL 17 and up with the RSS begins overwriting the modeslaved PL data.
For maximum compatibility I've been working with a 2k codeplug image.
The RSS that is modified to allow 32 MPL only allows it for 8k images.
I have not determined if the overwriting issue exists with the 8k version.
I'm still not done exploring...as time permits.
Excellent work so far! Getting a handle on this is essential to say the
least! The orignal X was a cake walk since all of reverse engineering had
been done when I moved on from Micors to Syntors!
73's Skip WB6YMH
