WINFLEX COMES FROM HTTP://WWW.EAVSDROPPER.DABSOL.CO.UK



 
   WinFLEX - Windows95/98 FLEX/POCSAG/Golay Pager Decoding Software
                  (Hardware Interface Documentation)

WinFLEX is a Windows program that allows you to monitor RF transmissions
to pagers using a modified radio scanner and a simple op-amp circuit called
a data slicer.

If you are uncomfortable with modifying a scanner or building a data slicer
then this program will do nothing for you.

MODIFYING YOUR SCANNER WILL VOID THE WARRANTY AND VERY OFTEN REQUIRES
DELICATE SOLDERING SKILLS.  IF YOU ARE A NOVICE ELECTRONICS EXPERIMENTER
IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED THAT YOU ATTEMPT TO DO THIS.  THE AUTHOR OF THIS
PROGRAM TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOU FRYING YOUR SCANNER!

You can obtain information about modifying your scanner to tap the
discriminator at the following web site:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bcheek
(look for the decoding digital data section)

or search the web for "radio scanner discriminator" using your favorite
web search engine.

Here is a simple ASCII drawing of the 2-level FSK data slicer circuit...

                            +12V
   0.1 uF                |\  |
 ---||-------------------|- \|
DISC IN   |              |LF  \                   Data Out
 ----     |              |411 /------------------ CTS (pin 5/8)
     |    \        ------|+ /|
     |    / 1M     |     |/  |         GND ------ GND (pin 7/5)
     |    \        |       -12V
    GND   /        |               Pin Numbers for COM port are
          |        |               given as x/y, where x is for
          |        |               a 25 pin connector and y is
         GND      GND              for a 9 pin connector.

If you want this device to obtain power from the COM port you can try
the following circuit...

             --------------|<------------------------------ -12v
             |                        |                |
             | RTS (4/7) ------|<------    GND        - -
             |          |                   |          _ +  10uF
             |           ------->|-----    - -         |
             |           Diodes1N4148  |    - + 10uF  GND
             |                         |    |
 DTR (20/4) --------------->|------------------------------ +12v

All of the above can be made to fit inside a DB25 shell and I have heard
rumors of people being able to put everything in a DB9 shell.  You may
want to build the circuit using a breadboard first to shake the bugs
out and then decide if you want to create a more robust and portable
interface.

Install a jack (or some other small connector) on your scanner for the
discriminator tap.  Connect the discriminator output to the DISC IN part
of the data slicer.  Connect the DB25 or DB9 connector from data slicer
to one of the serial ports on your PC.  Run the WinFLEX decoding software.
Select the desired frequency of the pager transmissions on your scanner.

In the WinFLEX application, click on "Setup" and select "Interface...".
Select the desired COM port.  Note that the I/O port setting and IRQ
setting will change as you select from COM1 to COM4.  The settings for
your computer can be found by going to the Control Panel and double
clicking on System, then click on Device Manager, then double click on
Ports, select the desired COM port by double clicking on it and click
on Resources.  This will show you the I/O Range and Interrupt Request
(IRQ) settings for your PC.  If these settings do not match the I/O port
and IRQ settings displayed by WinFLEX then you will have to select
"Custom" in the WinFLEX Interface dialog box and enter the I/O address
(in hex as show in Resources) and the IRQ Vector (Interrupt Request
number) as show in Resources.  If you are using the data slicer circuit
shown above or a similar Hamcomm type interface, you will need to make
sure the "4 Level FSK" box is NOT checked.  If you are using the 4-level
FSK decoder board (from the included .GIF files), make sure the "4 Level
FSK" box is checked.  Click on "OK" and you should begin to see pager
messages appear in the bottom WinFLEX window.

If you hear messages being transmitted on your scanner but there are no
messages being decoded by WinFLEX you may need to invert the data.  Do
this by clicking on "Setup" and select "Interface..." then click on the
"Invert Data" box.  Click on "OK" and see if you begin decoding pager
messages.  If not, double check to make sure that you are using the
correct COM port, double check the COM port I/O address and IRQ settings,
double check your data slicer circuit, and double check your modifications
to the scanner to verify that everything is done correctly.  

If you still don't get any messages being decoded, you might want to
download one of the MS-DOS programs that will also decode pager messages
(PD-204 and POCFLEX are 2 such programs), shut down to MS-DOS mode and
try running one of the MS-DOS decoding programs to see if they provide
any output.  If they work fine, but WinFLEX does not, you may have a
non-standard COM port on your PC.

If you are still unable to decode pager messages and don't know what to
do, DON'T CONTACT ME, because I will just ignore e-mail requests to
troubleshoot people's scanners or data slicers or Windows COM port
configurations.

Happy decoding!

Notes on the Four Level Slicer:

1.  Tried to power it from the COM port.  Sorta Kinda worked.  Best is
to have a +/- 12 VDC power supply.  Allied and Newark in the US have some really nice ones for less than $30.00 US.

2.  Couldn't get a nice symmetrical waveform out of the Four Level Slicer.  Altered the output pullup resistor values.  Added adjustable input amp. 

3.  Slightly re-arranged the layout for easier wiring. 