CLaNZeRS USB Season / Logger / Cam Loader Interface.

What is it?

Well first of all it is an interface that emulates a smartcard using your PC.
This is not a new idea and has been around for a few years now, but all previous designs are based on using the computers serial port. As we all now know most laptops only come with USB ports and we thought it was time to release something that would bring a smile to their faces. You still get Serial ports on desktop PC's but these days most people are using USB hubs and preferring all their peripherals to be connected in one place.
Another advantage of the USB Season Interface is that it pulls power from the computers USB port and does not pull any power from the receiver, this is a extra bonus as certain receivers only supply a small amount of power, which for alot of serial Season Interfaces is not enough and why you see 9v PP3 battery holders hanging off everywhere.

This has been tested with the two popular emulation programs out there, EmulatoreK and WCE that can both be downloaded from http://www.laurals.com/

Next thing that we thought would be useful was to add a smartcard socket onto this unit so people can also use it as a Logger Interface as well. This will allow you to slide your smartcard into the card slot and then log the data going back and forth from the receiver back to the PC.

Final thing we incorporated into the design was the ability to program Receiver Cams.
At the moment this has been tested and works on the following Cams:

Matrix Reloaded Cam.using the Multicam Board Loader Software V.21
Converted Magic>MR Cam V1.02 Multicam Board Loader Software V.21
Converted Magic>MR Cam V1.03 Multicam Board Loader Software V.21
Xcam using the Xcam Loader Software.
 

What are the two LED's for?

These are just status lights, the Green LED shows that there is power being supplied from the USB port and the Red LED will flash when data is flowing back and forth from interface to PC.

What is the switch and jumper blocks for?

The little switch either places it in Season/Logger Mode or Cam Loader Mode.
Slide the switch to the letter L and it is in Logger Mode, by sliding the switch to the Letter S places it in season mode.

The Block is a break out block for future addons if anyone wants to add extra stuff.
The first 10 links from the left as shown in picture above must be closed off for normal operation. The other 5 must be left open.

The pins do the following:

1.) Top Pin = Datain line circuit
     Bottom Pin = Datain pad on iso pads for Cam.
2.) Top Pin = Dataout line circuit to
     Bottom Pin = Dataout pad on iso pads for Cam.
3.) Top Pin = RXD line from USB chip to
     Bottom Pin = circuit
4.) Top Pin = TXD line from USB chip to
     Bottom Pin = circuit.
5.) Top Pin = DCD line from USB chip to
     Bottom Pin = Reset line of iso pads.
6.) Top Pin = Data line from circuit to
     Bottom Pin = Data line on iso pad.
7.) Top Pin = Clock line iso pad to
     Bottom Pin = Smartcard Socket Clock line.
8.) Top Pin = DCD from circuit to
     Bottom Pin = Smartcard Socket Reset line.
9.) Top Pin = VDD supply from iso pad to
     Bottom Pin = Smartcard Socket VDD line.
10.) Top Pin = Data line from iso pad to Smartcard Socket Data line.
11.) Top Pin = SCK line input on Smartcard Socket.
       Bottom Pin = Mosi line input on Smartcard Socket.
12.) Top Pin = Buffer 1 input > Bottom Pin = Buffer 1 output
       Bottom Pin = Buffer 2 input > Bottom Pin = Buffer 2 Output
13.) Top Pin = Buffer 1 input > Bottom Pin = Buffer 1 output
       Bottom Pin = Buffer 2 input > Bottom Pin = Buffer 2 Output
14.) Top Pin = 6mhz OSC output.
       Bottom Pin = Enable line from USB Chip.
15.) Top Pin = VDD from Circuit .
       Bottom Pin = GND from Circuit.

 As you can see, we have allowed access to most of the circuit, so it can be used for a number of things :)

How to install and use?

First thing is to download the following drivers:
Download USB Drivers Here.

Unzip these files into a temp folder on your local hard drive.

To install the unit, simply plug your USB lead into the Interface and then Plug it into your computers USB Port.
Windows will now come up with Found New Hardware box, so when asked for a driver simply point it to your temp folder where you extracted the above files.
Click continue when it gives the warning box about XP approved drivers. These drivers are approved but because we are using a unique VID number it will throw up this error.
When you get your Hardware is all installed you can check in your Device Manager and under Ports you should now see CLaNZeRS USB Season listed along with the Virtual Com Port number that you will need to configure your software later, so make a note of it!!.

Now to test the unit using Hyper terminal that should already be installed under windows do the following.
Run up Hyper terminal and set it to the Com Port that your Interface is using, make sure handshaking is set to none and use any baud rate.
Now connect within Hyper terminal by hitting the enter key and it should say connected at the bottom.

Now with the switch in Season mode you should be able to press any key and see the RED LED flash and also see characters echo'ed to the screen that you are typing.

Now switch it to Cam Loader mode and again you should see the RED led flash everytime you hit a key but this time it should not echo back.

You are now ready to try other software.

10/04/2005