Re: Late to the party: What's Rosetta?

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

It's roZetta. It's a DIY project I'm working on that is based on a ZX-24 and
will have 5 full duplex serial ports, two TTL ports and one pin that can be
used for 10-bit ADC, DIO, or to output pulsetrains (modulated for IR or
baseband for RF).

One serial port is highspeed and will connect to a PC. An optional 10/100
Ethernet port can be used instead of the PC connection. Jumpers will select
between them. The ZX-24 firmware can be updated over the serial link. I
still have to test whether it can be updated over the Ethernet port. There
are virtual comm port drivers for the Lantronix xPort so the same software
written for serial communications can also work over Ethernet.

The other four serial ports are 9600 MAX and will understand the
communications protocols for the CM11A, CPU/XA, Ocelot, Leopard, Smarthome
2414S, PCS UPB PIM, MR26 and a few other devices. I'm willing to consider
anything for which I can get the documentation and someone will loan me the
hardware. Bruce Robin has sent me a 2414S and UPB interface along with lamp
modules for each so my hands are full for now. It cannot support USB devices
as the ZX-24 has nowhere near the horsepower to be a USB host. For those who
have no RS232 ports on their PC I will recommend a USB/serial adapter that
is known to work with roZetta.

The two TTL ports will understand the X-10 PLC protocol (i.e. TW523/PL513).

roZetta will translate between the various protocols so that signals
arriving on any port can trigger an output on any other port. Programming
will be kept as simple as possible. I will try to design it so users can
support any serial device for which they know the ASCII (or binary protocol)
and for which there is no handshaking.

It will have a capacitor backed RTC so events can be scheduled by time of
day. It will either compute dawn/dusk or use lookup tables. As I recall, it
only took a few more bytes to compute it than to do lookup with the BX-24 -
I expect the ZX-24 to be a bit more efficient.

I got the final parts I need today to build a prototype using a BX24-AHT
board. I'll have a couple of boards for a dedicated design in 2-3 weeks and
expect to be ready for release a few weeks after that.

I've revised the design to use more through hole components. It will be
available as a bare board (with the remaining SMT components preinstalled)
with a bill of materials (Mouser P/Ns) or assembled with the exception of
the chips (socketed) and optional Ethernet port (Lantronix xPort). It will
fit a standard Polycase enclosure but you will have to cut the openings for
the ports. I've tried to cut cost where possible. It will require a +5V
*regulated* power supply. I will supply part numbers for reliable sources.

It will allow those with an investment in X-10 based controllers (HAI, JDS,
etc.) and devices  to continue to use them with the newer PLC protocols that
have recently been introduced.

I'm estimating a final cost of $100-175 depending on options and on whether
you do some of the assembly. Four of the serial ports use RJ11. I'll design
adapters for the CM11A, and for DB9.

There's no web page yet but I'll try to get one up in the next few weeks. I
want to make sure it's really going to work first. ;)

prc1 <prc1@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I just read a few of the latest messages, enough to get my interest
>piqued.  Is there a web site, or can someone cut/paste an explanation
>for me?  Sounds like I might want one!