I can't claim any originality in with this project. It is the work of N6BG. All I have done is to download his diagrams and code and off I went.  One of the most frustrating things when you are setting up your packet system is not knowing if your tones are being decoded or not. Enter the PeekPack. Its a PIC based packet decoder with a 16x2 LCD display that shows you if your tones/data is good. Its also usefull as a shack packet monitor for watching the local DX cluster etc.

As you can see its quite a simple circuit to build requiring only a 16F84-10 PIC, an MX614 Modem (available from TAPR) and a few R's, C's, a 7805 and of course the LCD display. There is no circuit board available for this project because of its simplicity. I built mine on a piece of VeroBoard.

You will need to program your PIC with the software which is available from N6BG's website here. This started me off on yet another construction adventure; the No Parts PIC Programmer. More about that another time.

As you can see from the prototype, the LCD displays decoded packet data with the source callsign on the top line and the data itself on the bottom line. The circuit calls for a 16x2 type LCD display however I decided to use a 24x2 display to allow for 'future upgrades' and becasue it was all I had in the junk box :-}

I then mounted my finished device into a Radio Shack plastic box with sockets on the side so that I could plug external power and also my HT so it could 'hear'.  I'm quite pleased with the end result ans especially with the box. As I have still to build my LCD Display for Linux into a box I might just use the same one. Radio Shack, here I come!

I stole this picture from Jason, KE4NYV

© & ® Mark A Phillips, G7LTT 1995-2004
This page was last updated Saturday October 09, 2004 22:01 Eastern Daylight Time