Federal Signal SS2000-SM emulating

[mike_gread]

Hey guys (and girls)

I recently got my hands on a Federal Signal Smart Siren 2000-SM keypad (just the keypad, not the siren) produced in December of 2008 (as stated by the manufacturer sticker inside).

I bought this unit to make a sim rig setup and I need to emulate the behavior of the siren when connected to the keypad. By itself, the keypad doesn't seem to be sending any data.

What I would need to do is send what the siren would normally send and catch the keypad's signal to decrypt it and process it to know which keys have been pressed.

Do some of you have experience with the data being sent and received by this kind of keypad? If yes, what should I send/receive in order for my project to work?

Cheers, thanks for reading

 

[shues]

I understand the connection from the control head to be made using a four-wire modular telephone cord with RJ11 connectors. Am I correct in my presumption that the four conductors are for power, ground, clock, and data?

 

[mike_gread]

I understand the connection from the control head to be made using a four-wire modular telephone cord with RJ11 connectors. Am I correct in my presumption that the four conductors are for power, ground, clock, and data?

Hey shues, thanks for the reply.
There's 4 cables: green, orange, blue, brown.
From what I've seen now, there's a Vcc (green) and GND (orange), that's for sure. I managed to power the keypad up with only 9V, which is a start, but nothing is working and one of the buttons is blinking.
For the other two cables, I'm not sure. I have one cable that is always hot (the blue one, around 5.7V DC) and the other which is low (the brown one, 0.0V DC). For these two wires there are several options in my opinion:
- Option 1: one cable is TX, the other is RX (most likely blue is TX then)
- Option 2: one cable is TX, the other is CLK In (once again, blue is very likely to be TX)
- Option 3: one cable is TX/RX, the other is CLK In (blue would probably be TX/RX)
- Option 4: one cable is TX, the other is CLK Out (blue would be CLK Out)
- Option 5: one cable is TX/RX, the other is CLK Out (blue would be CLK Out)
- Option 6: both cable are TX, but differential signals
- Option 7: both cables are TX/RX, but differential signals
- More?
But to understand which option would suit better, I need to understand the following:
- Whether or not there is a clock CLK
- If there is a CLK, is it the siren that sends it or the keypad?
- Whether or not we have one or more duplex cables (TX + RX)
- Whether or not we have differential signals
From what I understand so far, the blinking lights means that there is a communication defect. I would assume that the keypad is waiting for an input signal but no idea whether it's a CLK In, an RX, etc

 

[mike_gread]

PS: Button 4 (to the right of the slider) is blinking

 

[shues]

I have never owned a SmartSiren. I believe you have the wherewithall to figure this out.

If I were in your shoes, I would source an amplifier and work through the process of elimination to determine which of your various options is correct. Even if you have to borrow an amplifier, or buy one and later resell it.

Good luck!

 

[RS485]

Please take this with a grain of salt - I'm pretty unfamiliar with FedSig electronics.

But if possible, I'd take the unit apart to try get a good view of the circuit board and trace wires to the IC they connect to, then ID the IC and find its datasheet which should contain a pin-out telling you exactly what's what.

I've done this many times with Whelen's stuff and so far, its worked out great.

HTH
DrFS