The cockpit PCs are now Win x64, so the replica needs no real RS-232 — a
native-USB MCU presenting as a USB CDC virtual COM port is transparent to
the host (opens COMx, can't tell it isn't a UART). Records the consequences
(baud cosmetic, timing instant, pin the COM number, LEDs need their own
power) and marks the hardware/protocol thread parked until the U3 EPROM
firmware dump (or Babcock programming manual) is in hand.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Historical reference for recreating the cockpit plasma display in hardware.
The original Babcock plasma panels are failing; the end goal is a drop-in
replica — a modern microcontroller driving a 128x32 LED array that reads the
same RS-232 serial bus and speaks the same command protocol as the original
PD01D221. vPLASMA (the C# app) is the executable spec and test oracle for
that firmware.
Contents:
- PD01D221.pdf — Babcock datasheet (doc 9200-0109 Rev A)
- Board photos: controller overview, Cherry silkscreen, EPROM/SRAM, JP1
- README.md — full investigation: hardware ID (stock Babcock PD01D221,
Cherry PCB 4317-C), chip inventory, recovered ESC command protocol, the
JP1 config-jumper map (MODA/MODB hardwired to expanded mode), and the
firmware-dump plan.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
CydandClaude Fable 5