[time-nuts] Trimble Software

[Didier Juges]

I talked to the Trimble sales manager. He said there really should be 
mainly two versions of firmware, and they are mated to 2 different 
versions of hardware, so there would be no point of upgrading.

I will try to find the specifics, but he said the older units have much 
more available setings, to the point where too many customers were 
messing up their units by playing with settings they should have left 
alone. So, when they redesigned the hardware a few years later, they 
removed some tweaks from the firmware to eliminate a lot of the service 
calls. An example of what you could do with an older unit but not with a 
new one would be to upgrade the OCXO, which would require to 
change/optimize a number of parameters regarding loop compensation and 
so forth.

The Trimble software is available in the Support section

http://www.trimble.com/tmg_thunderbolt_ts.asp?Nav=Collection-2357

The manual is pretty detailed and you have enough info to write your own 
software, but if you will be using a PC, the Trimble software does all 
you want. I am planning to write software for a microcontroller to drive 
an LCD display with essential health information, so I don't need to tie 
a PC for monitoring, but that will take a little while as my plate is 
full at the moment. When I have something, I will post info there. That 
will be using a variant of 8051, probably a Silabs chip, or Atmel, 
because I have a lot of C code and a good compiler for the 8051. For the 
moment, I am working on a Visual Basic program just to understand the 
protocol.

Didier KO4BB


Richard W. Solomon wrote:
> I recall reading that the Trimble Thunderbolts require special software
> only available from Trimble. Am I correct or guilty of another brain burp ??
>
> I looked at the Trimble site and didn't see where I could download any
> software. I also found a thread about difficulties in getting firmware
> upgrades.
>
> Can someone clarify this for me.
>
> Thanks,
>
> 73, Dick, W1KSZ
>