Before you purchase a HAL ST-8000A, it would be best for you
or the seller to run the internal test procedures to check your firmware and to
ensure that everything is still running correctly. These units are over 20 years old now, and
the electronics could start to fail if they have been sitting in storage for
too long. The good news is that this
testing is very easy, and only takes the power cable to complete. So even a NOS unit can be powered up and
tested with no technical knowledge about the unit.
Check on
the back panel to make sure that the frequency and voltage match your power
mains. Unlike most TNC’s, the 8000A uses
about 30W of AC power and not 13.8 VDC.
In the US this would be 115V and 50/60 Hz. Europe and Asia require it to be set to 220V
and 50/60 Hz. The frequency switch can
also be set to 400Hz for aircraft use in accordance with MIL-STD-704. If your 8000A has the accessory package, you
should be supplied with two power cables, one that is a standard desktop
computer cable, and a short adapter that allows the unit to be plugged into
military power systems. The male plug is
for the US standard, but adaptors or other cables with the proper female socket
will work.
Once the
unit is plugged in, flip the front power switch and the 8000A will go through
the first diagnostic check. During this
check the firmware version will be displayed.
The newest firmware is version 1.9.
Once the start up has ended, the unit will show mark and space frequency
as well as baud rate, and you should get a slight flicker in the LED bar
graphs. A few of the display LED’s might
also be illuminated, depending on the settings.
This is the first test, and the one most ignorant sellers will claim is
all they can do.
The
second test is called the BIT test, and this tests the internals of the ST-8000A
by routing the modulator through the demodulator to check that the circuits are
working correctly. To perform this test,
turn the unit it on, and upon completion of the start up test, hit the “2nd”
key, then hit “BIT” and finally “Enter.”
This will run the machine through a 13 step self-diagnostics test,
including testing all the LED’s and testing the demodulator at several audio
levels. If all is well, the unit will
end the test by putting “Pass” on the LED display and finally returning to
standby mode. If there is a failure at
any point, it will display the step of failure and say “FAIL” on the
screen. The test will not proceed beyond
the failure point.
Once the
ST-8000A is verified to be functioning correctly by these tests, it is time to
move onto the wiring to be able to get audio into the unit from the source, and
then intelligence back out.
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