[CQ-Contest] Tic Ring

[David Pruett]

Rick Dougherty NQ4I wrote:
> Hi all..not having any success getting a diagram from Carl at TIC...I need a
> diagram of the original Ring Rotor the 1032...it has a digital
> controller..we need a diagram so we can make a repair..anybody have one they
> could share?? Thanks de Rick NQ4I
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>   
Rick,

There are at least two different variants of the digital TIC RingRotator 
control.

I received one when I bought a brand new 1032 from TIC in the fall of 
2003 if I remember right.  In that one, the main logic board appears to 
be identical to the analog board - all that's different is that the 
analog meter has been replaced with a LCD with a small daughter board on 
the rear, carrying a PIC micorcontroller which reads the analog pot 
voltage and drives the LCD display.

Several years ago, I bought seven used 1022 TIC RingRotators from AA8U 
when health reasons forced Bruce to downsize his contest station.  A 
couple of these had digital displays and RS-232 connectors on the back 
panel.  This design is significantly more complicated than the one 
described above - the logic has a PIC 16C57 CPU, an ADC 0809 A/D 
converter (to read the direction and preset pots) and an 8251 UART (for 
the RS-232).

My TIC owner's manual for the latter box contains a schematic of the 
latter design, which I can scan and send to you in .PDF form.  I have no 
schematic for the first design I described.

I've had so many problems with my TIC analog controllers (sticking 
meters, inaccurate readings) that I'm about to launch into my own 
digital retrofit for the TIC control boxes.  Yes, I know that the Green 
Heron box works with TICs and while that looks like a solution offering 
excellent performance, $600+ is way more than I'm willing to spend.

73,  Dave/K8CC