W I R E L E S S C O M M U N I C A T I O N S Y S T E M S SPS-5 Paging System Handbook Version 6.35 Firmware WaveWare Technologies, Inc.
Introduction Your SPS-5tm Paging System allows you to send paging messages to one or more persons via pagers, and devices that incorporate POCSAG paging data receivers. You can setup automatic transmission of messages or you can compose messages on the fly and transmit them immediately.
Obtaining Pagers for Your Paging System You can use a wide variety of paging receiver types with SPS-5 Paging Systems, including tone/vibe, numeric, alphanumeric, and wireless message centers. You can obtain WaveWare compatible paging receivers from many sources, including Motorola, NEC, Panasonic, and others.
Paging System Operation Your SPS-5 Paging System includes a either VHF or UHF transceiver, and onboard RS-232 communications, that transmits paging messages using the industry standard POCSAG paging protocol. The RS-232 communications allow you to interface the paging system to a PC or to other devices and systems that use RS-232 serial communications (Host Devices).
Paging System Installation Your SPS-5 Paging System includes a Black 8”x8”x2” Transmitter Unit, a “Rubber Duck” Antenna, a Mounting Kit, a 6’ Serial Cable, and a Power Adapter. Refer to the diagram on the following page. To install the paging system, perform the following steps: 1. Attach the “Rubber Duck” Antenna to the Transmitter Unit. In normal paging operations, the paging transmitter antenna should be oriented in a vertical position to maximize the paging range.
Trouble Shooting POWER When the WaveWare Paging Transmitter Unit is assembled and power is applied, you should be able to see a red PWR/BAT indicator illuminated on the Transmitter Unit. If not, verify that all connections are tight and verify that 110 VAC power is available at the power outlet. If connections are tight, power is available and the red PWR/BAT indicator doesn’t illuminate, determine if the Power Adapter is at fault by trying another Power Adapter.
SITE SURVEY Some installation sites might cause paging reception problems. It might be beneficial to perform a site survey by monitoring the radio waves in the area that you want to install a system. It also might be beneficial to perform a range test to find out of the installed signal will be strong enough to be received in all of the areas you want to cover.
Appendix A – TAP Interface Specifications This appendix is included for those who want to develop their own paging control software or add an interface for the SPS-5 Paging System to their existing software applications..
The TAP mo de of operation can be supplemented with two additional functions, including Host Monitoring Function, and Contact Monitoring Function. See Appendix J - Host Monitoring Function and Appendix K - Contact Monitoring Function, for operational details.
PAGING OPERATION Paging transactions are transmitted in blocks of characters, where one transaction is sent per block. Each block sent by the Host Device is acknowledged by the paging system. The Host Device must wait for this acknowledgement before sending the next block. The SPS-5 Paging System provides acknowledgement in the form of an character.
If your SPS-5 Paging System is configured to operate using TAP Non-Verbose mode, the paging system will respond only with an initial response code of: 211 Following the first part of the TAP message block response, if the input buffer of the paging system has capacity for another TAP message block, the paging system will send the following message. The response can be used as a flow control method to prevent overflow and lost messages.
Appendix B – DIP Switch Settings You may be required to configure the DIP switch bank in the paging encoder to establish the appropriate operating mode and serial communication parameters. Your SPS-5 Paging System typically communicates with a PC or other host system via RS-232 at 9600 Baud, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit. You can configure the paging system for other serial communication parameters. The available operating modes include TAP Verbose, TAP Non-Verbose, COMP1, and COMP2.
Appendix C – TAP Checksum Calculation Following is sample Visual Basic™ code that creates a string to be sent to the paging system. A subset of the string has a checksum calculation performed on it, then the checksum and a control character are appended to form the string to be sent to the paging system. Refer to the TAP specification at http://www.pcia.com, for more details on the checksum calculation.
Appendix D – TAP Response Codes Following is a table of response codes supported by the SPS-5 Paging System. Refer to the TAP specification at http://www.pcia.com, for more details on the Response Codes. Please note that a response means the message should be resent by the host, and an response means the message should be abandoned by the host. Response Code Definition 110 1.8 Paging system supports TAP Specification v1.
Appendix E – Extended ID Processing The WaveWare TAP interface and the COMP2 interface support ID field lengths from 1 to 10 digits. The ID field can be formatted as follows: • Standard Method - ID field lengths from 1 to 4 digits will cause a pager database lookup. ID fields of this format must contain numeric digits only. The numeric ID value will be compared to the ID values stored in the SPS-5 Paging System’s onboard pager database.
Appendix F – Embedded Control Characters To embed a control character in a paging message, include a control character followed by an offset version of the control character you want to embed. You offset the control character by adding 40 HEX to the control character, to make the character printable. Adding 40 HEX to Carriage Return gives you M. Adding 40 HEX to Line Feed gives you J.
Appendix G – COMP1 Interface Specifications This appendix is included for those who want to attach the SPS-5 Paging System to existing systems that output raw data or simple data strings that are normally used in printing status logs on serial printers. The COMP1 protocol is designed to emulate one of the operational modes of the Motorola People Finder™ paging system.
NOTE: When using COMP1 mode, please note that all data is transmitted to all pagers in the SPS-5 Paging System pager database. When setting up for COMP1 operation, you should limit the pager quantity in the pager database to no more than a few pagers, in order to avoid excessive paging transmissions.
Appendix H – COMP2 Interface Specifications This appendix is included for those who want to attach the SPS-5 Paging System to existing systems that output simplified paging system control commands. The COMP2 protocol is designed to emulate one of the operational modes of the Motorola People Finder™ paging system.
PagerID1Message1PagerID2Message2 Forced Resynchronization Example: PagerIDMessage When incoming data is detected on the serial port, one of three things will happen: 1) The data in the serial port input buffer contains properly formatted COMP2 command strings, 2) a time period of approximately 10 seconds elapses after receipt of the last character on the serial port, or 3) 256 characters or more accumulate in the serial port input buffer.
Appendix I – Host Monitoring Function The Host Monitoring Function is designed to allow the SPS-5 Paging System to be used for purposes of automatically transmitting predefined messages upon timer related conditions. The Host Monitoring Function can be activated during the process of programming the pager database using the WaveWare Paging Encoder Setup software. The Host Monitoring Function is available only with the TAP mode of operation.
Appendix J – Contact Monitoring Function The Contact Monitoring Function is designed to allow the SPS-5 Paging System to be used for purposes of automatically transmitting predefined messages upon contact closure and/or contact open conditions. The Contact Monitoring Function can be activated during the process of programming the pager database using the WaveWare Paging Encoder Setup software. The Contact Monitoring Function is available only with the TAP mode of operation.
