En JOTRON electronics a.s.

PR40 INSTALLATION AND

PROGRAMMING MANUAL

REVISED: 15.11.05
1. INSTALLATION ................................................................................................. 3
• Operating systems ....................................................................................................................................... 3
• INSTALLATION PROCEDURE ............................................................................................................... 3
2. Starting the program for the first time ................................................................ 4
• Registration Form ....................................................................................................................................... 4
• Initials ......................................................................................................................................................... 5
• Port configuration ....................................................................................................................................... 5
3. Programming main window ............................................................................... 6

• Program button ...................................................................................................... 7

• Read button ................................................................................................................................ 8

• Report button ........................................................................................................................... 8

4. Programming beacons....................................................................................... 9
• Beacon information..................................................................................................................................... 9
• Bracket information .................................................................................................................................... 9
• Battery expiry date .....................................................................................................................................10
• Vessel Information .....................................................................................................................................10
• MID / Country code ...................................................................................................................................10
• Protocol information ..................................................................................................................................11
• Additional information...............................................................................................................................12
5. Other program options......................................................................................13
• Options | Program / Reports .......................................................................................................................13
• Options | Beacon / Bracket.........................................................................................................................13
• Options | Countries.....................................................................................................................................14
6. Database ..........................................................................................................15
• View database (Beaconlist)........................................................................................................................15
• Beacon TAB, database ...............................................................................................................................16
• Import / Export TAB, database ..................................................................................................................17
• Database – Jotron report (generate) ...........................................................................................................18
CONTACT JOTRON: ................................................................................................19

PR40: INSTALLATION 2
1. INSTALLATION

• Operating systems
The program may be run under the following operating systems:

WINDOWS 95, WINDOWS 98, WINDOWS MILLENNIUM, WINDOWS NT 4.0,

WINDOWS 2000, WINDOWS XP

WINDOWS NT/2000 NOTE:

FIFO buffers must be switched off on the COM port to be used in order to
enable Tron40S programming from WINDOWS NT/2000.
This is done from the control panel of WINDOWS NT / 2000.
Select Start | Control Panel | Ports | Com2 Settings | Advanced to bring up the
following screen
– then make sure that the FIFO Enabled box is not checked.
Warning – you must restart the computer before the new setting will work:

(In the above COM2: is used as an example, COM1 or another COM port may also be used).

• INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

To install from floppy disk:

Start A:\SETUP.EXE from disk number 1. Then follow the instructions on the screen
to finish the installation.

To install from “ZIP” file distributed by email:

First “unzip” all files by double-clicking the attached files (disk1.zip and disk2.zip) to
an empty directory (C:\TEMP).
You should first have installed a proper ZIP/UNZIP program, for instance WINZIP.
The WINZIP program is available as an evaluation version from the following
location: http://www.winzip.com/
Next start the program SETUP.EXE from the directory you unzipped the files, and
follow instructions to finish the installation.

PR40: INSTALLATION 3
2. Starting the program for the first time
Start the program from the Start menu of windows, choose Start | Programs | Jotron
Beacon Programmer | PR40.

• Registration Form

The first time you start the program or an update of the program, it will show a
registration form on the screen. The information on the form should be filled in and
mailed or faxed to Jotron. Registering the software ensures that you are put on the
mailing list for future updates of the program.
The registration can be sent automatically from the registration form (press: register
now!), this possibility is tested with Microsoft outlook 2000 and Groupwise 5.5. If you
encounter any problems with the email feature, you must manually send an email to
the following address: [email protected]
In the email heading write: Program Registration.
In the body of the email write your name, company and email address for future
updates.

PR40: REGISTRATION 4
• Initials
Next you are prompted for your initials, this is the initials that will show on the
programming report and that are stored in the beacon database for each beacon
programmed.

• Port configuration

Finally the main window of the program shows up. In this window there is a main
menu on the top, and fields for entering programming data for the beacons to be
programmed.
In order to be able to program beacons there is a few configurations that must be
done to enable programming.

For Tron30S mkII programming with the PRU30 programmer, the parallel (LPT) port
that is dedicated to the programmer must be selected – note: the port can not be
used to a printer at the same time.
Select Options|PRU30 to configure the parallel port.

For Tron40S programming with the PRU40 programmer, the serial (COM) port that is
used to connect to the programmer must be selected.
Select Options|PRU40 to configure the serial port.

In both cases, only ports that are available on the PC will be shown in the drop-down
list boxes.

PR40: REGISTRATION 5
3. Programming main window

• The main programming form contains all the data that is actually programmed
into the EPIRB and gives the data that Jotron need to maintain an updated
database. It also provides vital information for the invoicing and crediting
procedures.

• In principle, all spaces in the programming form should be filled in.

• When the required information for the 406MHz message has been entered, the
“Program” button will switch from red to green, indicating enough information to
program the EPIRB has be entered. However you should always check that the
information is correct, remembering that this is crucial information in an
emergency situation where the EPIRB will be used.

• Tips are displayed in the left bottom of the form. Warnings are presented in the
right bottom.
Further help is available for the separate items by pressing F1 from any input /
selection box.

PR40: PROGRAMMING MAIN WINDOW 6

• Program button

The program button will switch from red to green as soon as all required data for the
406 MHz message in the EPIRB has been entered. When pressing the Program
button a programming status form pops up.

The form informs you about connection status and battery status of the PRU40
programmer. If either or both of them are red – programming is not possible.
Note that the Battery status LED will show green even if the battery is missing or
totally discharged – i.e. green LED is no guarantee that the battery is ok.

When the programmer is aligned (or connected with cable – PRU30), press and hold
the EPIRB in test position, the programming will automatically start.
If the EPIRB instead start the test sequence (LED flashing) – the programmer is not
aligned properly, and you must try again by releasing and pressing the EPIRB switch
to the test position.

When the programming succeeds, the program will ask if you want a print out of the
programming report, or alternatively preview the report and print it from the preview
form. For UK, a special UK registration form is available from the program, for other
countries, these forms are normally available on the internet or from the national
registration authorities.
In particular, registration form for USA is available at: http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/
NOTE that all countries using serial user protocols demand EPIRBs to be registered
in the national databases with updated information.
Countries using other protocols may operate by different standards regarding this
requirement.

Finally you are asked if the programmed data should be stored in the beacon
database. Always select YES if you are not doing a dummy or demonstration
programming.

PR40: PROGRAMMING MAIN WINDOW 7

When the data is stored in the database, it can later be retrieved for viewing or
printing. Also, the “local” database on each programming station is used to report
programmed beacons to Jotron Electronics as.

• Read button

The Read button retrieves data from the EPIRB for viewing or printing. After pressing
the read button, a similar form that is shown for the programming shows up, and it is
the same procedure to start the actual read back from the EPIRB.

When reading is completed, you are prompted to preview or print directly the
programmed data.

• Report button

The Report button lets you preview / print a report without actually programming the
beacon. This can be useful to generate a report when the data in a beacon is already
programmed but the printout is missing.

PR40: PROGRAMMING MAIN WINDOW 8

4. Programming beacons

• Beacon information

The top of the beacon information field shows the

currently selected beacon, in this example a Tron40S
is selected. To select another beacon, click Beacon
on the main menu to bring up a list of available
beacons.
1. Version information is the characters on the
beacon placed before the serial number. The version
information is used to track revisions made on the
beacon and should be entered correctly.
Serial number consists of up to 5 digits and is the production sequence number of
the beacon. It is essential that the serial number is entered correctly. The unique
identity of the 406MHz message (Hex message) is composed of this serial number
among other data, when serial user protocol is programmed.
Label: The label field is formed automatically from the Version and Serial number
fields, and should be the text that is marked on the Serial no field on the EPIRB.
Replaces beacon: This field is used when the beacon that is programmed is a
exchange for an old beacon. It is important that this field is filled in with beacon type
and serial number if known; this will ease the credit process for exchange units.

When the list of available beacons shows up, the currently

selected beacon (in this case Tron40S) is marked with a •.

Select a different beacon by clicking the menu.

• Bracket information

The top of the bracket information field shows the

currently selected bracket, in this example a manual
MB4 bracket is selected. To select an other bracket,
click Bracket on the main menu to bring up a list of
available brackets for the currently selected beacon.
Version information is the characters on the bracket
placed before the serial number. The version
information is used to track revisions made on the
bracket and should be entered correctly.

PR40: PROGRAMMING BEACONS 9

Serial number consists of up to 5 digits and is the production sequence number of
the bracket.

When the list of available brackets shows up, the currently selected
bracket (in this case MB4) is marked with a •.
Select a different beacon by clicking the menu.

• Battery expiry date

The battery expiry date is normally 4 years from the

programming date on a new beacon. If a beacon with
an old battery is reprogrammed the battery expiry
date must be set according to the current battery
marking.

• Vessel Information

In the vessel information box the following data

should be entered:

Call Sign: Enter the call sign of the vessel. The call
sign is printed on the programming report and
transmitted on homing transmitter if the 121.5 MHz
call sign transmission is enabled.
EX Call Sign: Enter the previous call sign of the
vessel if the beacon is reprogrammed and the vessel
has changed identity. Leave blank if the previous call is unknown or the beacon
being programmed is not reprogrammed because of this.
The ex call sign is used to track beacons when vessels have changed identity.
VESSEL NAME: Enter the name of the vessel that will be written on the
programming report.
EX VESSEL NAME: Enter the previous name of the vessel if the beacon is
reprogrammed because the vessel has changed identity. Leave blank if the previous
call is unknown or the beacon being programmed is not reprogrammed because of
this.
The ex vessel name is used to track beacons when vessels have changed name.
IMO NUMBER: Enter the IMO or Vessel ID number of the vessel. Leave blank if it is
unknown.

Tip:
Various (searchable) information about vessels, call signs and IMO numbers can be
found on this WEB link:
http://gold.itu.ch/cgi-bin/htsh/mars/ship_search.sh

• MID / Country code

PR40: PROGRAMMING BEACONS 10

The countrycode is the first 3 digits of the ships 9 digits MMSI Code and must be
identical to these digits when coding with MMSI numbers.
Note that the country shown in text next to the 3 digit
number in the countrycode selection is only
displayed as a guide and may be wrong if ITU has
reassigned some of the numbers. It is the 3 digit
number that is coded in the beacon and not the text
showing the country.
When coding with Serial User Protocol it is normally the first countrycode shown in
the list that should be used.

The 121.5 MHz morse code option can be checked if the beacon should send its call
sign as morse code on the 121.5 MHz homing transmitter.
This is an option, and is not mandatory. If any doubt - leave unchecked!

• Protocol information

The protocol information field will vary depending on the protocol being programmed.
To change the protocol for the ongoing programming, click the Protocol menu item
on the main menu. Then select the right protocol from the list of
available protocols.
Only protocols that are enabled in the Option|Program/Reports are
available from the menu.
The type of protocol that should be used will vary with different
countries. You must check with the national authorities or with
Jotron Electronics if you are in any doubt of which protocol to use for a particular
country.

When the correct protocol has been chosen, the protocol field will show different
information depending the protocol type. On some protocols, some information must
be entered in the protocol field to complete the necessary program information.

Maritime User Protocol with MMSI number is the protocol being used by most
nations. Using this protocol, the following fields must be filled in:
MMSI / Callsign: The
last 6 digits of the 9
digit MMSI number is
entered in this field.
(The 3 first digits is the
country code and is
programmed in the country code field). A call sign consisting of up to 6 characters /
numbers can also be programmed, but most authorities requires that the MMSI
number is used. If call sign should be used and the actual call sign consist of 7
characters, Radio Call Sign User Protocol should be used instead.
Beacon number, the beacon number field is used to separate several beacons on
the same ship from each other. Default this field will always show 0, but if more than
one beacon is programmed for the same ship, the following beacons must be
programmed with increasing numbers, i.e. 1, 2, 3 etc. Separation of the different
EPIRBs by different numbers are important, in order for the satellites to distinguish
the beacons from each other.

PR40: PROGRAMMING BEACONS 11

In the default Serial User Protocol (not UK or USA), a serial ID code must be
entered. This ID code can either be the beacons serial number, or it can be a
sequence number given
by the national
authorities, check or
uncheck the checkbox
accordingly.
The C/S approval
number is changed automatically when a different beacon has been selected. This
number is a fixed certificate approval number issued by the Cospas/Sarsat
organisation.
The beacon category is automatically generated, based on the beacon type and the
bracket type.

For UK country code and serial protocol the following field will show up:
In this case, all the
serial data are
generated
automatically. The
sequence number is a
number from 0 to 8191
based on the serial number of the beacon. The MTI number is a fixed number based
on the bracket and the beacon type and is an approval number issued by the UK
Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Category is generated based on the beacon and
bracket type.

For USA country code and serial protocol the following field will show up:
Also here, all data are
generated automatically.
The Manufacturer
number is a number
issued to Jotron
Electronics from the US
coast guard. The
Beacon ID is Jotron’s own ID for the currently selected beacon. The product version
number is Jotron’s version number for the beacon; the version number is increased
for every 4192 beacons, based on the serial number. The sequence number is a
number from 0-4191 based on the serial number. The beacon category is generated
based on the beacon and bracket type.

• Additional information

The additional information field is used

for miscellaneous information; the
information is not coded into the
beacon.
The field consists of free text that is
printed on the programming report and
stored in the database.

PR40: PROGRAMMING BEACONS 12

5. Other program options

• Options | Program / Reports

In the program options dialog box the following options can be selected:

ID Check [Programming]
Enable the checkbox to
perform ID check when a
beacon is about to be
programmed. The ID
check search through a
file of previously
programmed beacons and
gives a warning if the
protected message is
equal to a previously
programmed beacon. If
for example two beacons
are programmed for the
same ship with maritime
protocol, the two beacons
must have separate beacon numbers to have different protected messages. If in this
case the two beacons are programmed with the same beacon number, the program
will give a warning if the ID check is switched on.

Protocols Allowed
The protocol that appears in the protocol menu can be selected here. If a
programming station only programs the Maritime User Protocol, this protocol can be
selected and the other left unselected. Now only the Maritime Protocol appears in the
protocol menu.

Print graphic [Reports]

This selection enables / disables graphics on the output report. If a slow printer is
used graphics should be disabled.

Beacon History [Reports]

The beacon history selection enables or disables information on the programming
report that shows the date and serial numbers of the two previous program sessions
for this beacon.

• Options | Beacon / Bracket

In the Beacon / Bracket options dialog box the following selections are available:

PR40: PROGRAM OPTIONS 13

Beacon and Bracket serial numbers
These switches sets the way the program updates the serial number fields for the
beacon and bracket.
Three options are available:

Always blank: After a beacon

has been programmed the serial
number fields are blank.

Increment by 1: Increments the

serial number by 1 after a
beacon has been programmed.
Leave unchanged: The serial
number fields are left unchanged.
Beacons allowed
Enable the beacons that can be
programmed by your
programming station.
Only the beacons that are
enabled will be available from the
beacon menu.
This feature is used to limit the operators’ choices in the beacon menu, to reduce the
risk of selecting a wrong beacon.

• Options | Countries..
There are two selections in the
country list option dialog box.
If the default country list is
selected, all country codes
defined by ITU are available in
the country select combo box.
If the custom country list is
selected, only a list showing the
countries selected by the user is
available. If a programming
station only programs beacons
for UK and Norway, UK (232)
and Norway (257,258,259 and
260) should be added to the
custom country list below. Now
only these countries will be
available in the main program window.

Countries may be added to the custom country list by selecting them in the main list
and click the right arrow.
Countries may be deleted from the custom list by selecting them in the custom list
and click the left arrow.

PR40: PROGRAM OPTIONS 14

6. Database

• View database (Beaconlist).

By clicking the View database menu item, a list of all previously programmed
beacons shows up. The various fields in the list are: Beacon type, Version, Serial
number, Battery expiry date (month), Programming date, Country code, Abbreviation
for protocol type (MM=Maritime with MMSI, MC=Maritime with Callsign, SP=Serial
Protocol, RC=Radio Call Sign Protocol), ID code that show the MMSI number for a
beacon programmed with the Maritime protocol and the serial ID for a beacon with
Serial Protocol. Next is the Radio Call sign of the vessel and the vesselname.

The list can be sorted by any column by clicking on the column heading. Clicking the
heading once more, sorts the list in the opposite direction.

PR40: DATABASE 15
• Beacon TAB, database

A specific beacon can be selected by double-clicking a beacon in the database list.

Now a more detailed window is available for that particular beacon.
From this window the programming details can be viewed, and clicking the Report
button may print a program report.

Clicking the Erase button from this window erases the beacon – use with care!

PR40: DATABASE 16
• Import / Export TAB, database

Selecting the Import/Export TAB in the database view will bring up the following
window:

In this window it is possible to import beacons from a Jotron Report file. The Jotron
Report files are generated from the main menu: Database|Jotron Report.
Selecting the directory where the Jotron Report files are located and then click on the
Import button will start the import process. If the report files are stored in several
subdirectories, the include subfolders checkbox must be checked.
When importing files the program will look through all files starting with D and with
the file extension .JOT . The program will automatically skip all beacons that are
already in the database, with similar or newer data. That is if you first generate a
Jotron report from a PC and then try to import the file on the same PC – nothing will
be imported since the data are already there.
You may use this option if you program beacons on a laptop computer and want to
import the data into your desktop computer. Then generate Jotron reports to a
diskette from your laptop, then import them from a diskette into your desktop
computer.

PR40: DATABASE 17
• Database – Jotron report (generate)

By selecting this menu item on the main menu in the program, reports that should be
sent to Jotron, or that can be imported on other computers, is automatically
generated.

The files that are

generated will be
automatically named,
starting with a D, then the
year, month and day, a
sequence letter A,B,C,
etc. if more than one
report is generated for a
day. The file extension is
always .JOT.
The files may be
transferred to Jotron
automatically if your
computer has email
capabilities. Otherwise the files may be copied to a diskette and transferred from an
other computer. If they are sent “manually” the files should be sent as attachments to
an email addressed to: [email protected]

PR40: DATABASE 18
CONTACT JOTRON:

JOTRON electronics a.s.

P.O. box 54
N-3280 Tjodalyng
NORWAY

Telephone (switchboard): +47 33 13 97 00

Fax: +47 33 12 67 80

Email: [email protected]

WWW: http://www.jotron.com

PR40: CONTACT JOTRON 19