The Davis VP2 consoles come in different versions for different regions. Taking official documentation into consideration, these differences seem to be required mainly due to variations in which RF frequencies are available for low-power ISM applications. But just HOW different are the various console versions? Do they all utilize the Texas Instruments CC1021 transceiver, as found in US versions of the console? The CC1021 seems to cover all relevant frequencies, no matter which ISM band is used (
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/cc1021.pdf).
My main VP2 setup, consisting of original EU-market devices, transmits data between the ISS and the console on 868 MHz. Interestingly, a US console - with a little tweaking - can be set to receive the transmissions from an ISS configured for the EU market. It can also, when used as a repeater, be set to re-transmit received packets on 868 MHz. Entering the console TEST mode (TST 1) allows for setting the BAND. BAND 0 is the US version. BAND 1 is the EU version. BAND 4 is for NZ. Exiting TEST mode (TST 0) followed by rebooting the console will reveal the "active region" after the welcome/FW version message. Be warned that this functionality is not officially documented by the manufacturer and additional changes may also be required for proper operation (we didn't break anything yet, though, and in our rather remote and underground test location we won't worry too much about low-power RF transmissions on the wrong frequencies). There are a few other commands, too, which are possibly related to configuring the CC1021 RF module: DOMAIN, CHAN, TXTEST, RXTEST, TX and RX, some of which take numeric arguments. There's also a dump command to retrieve the configuration settings from the CC1021. It will take some more effort to fully get to grips with it all, but with people and facilities in place it's just a matter of time. Unless someone already has it all covered, so that we can move on to other projects.
Sneaking into a lab with relevant RF shielding and equipment to carry out some comparisons of spurious RF from the original EU console and the US console configured for EU operations is on the agenda. If there are no significant RF leaks, that's an interesting indication that the equipment isn't THAT different after all. It does indeed make sense that the production process is the same and it boils down to an after-production matter of configuring and labeling the devices for their intended region of operation.
Anyone having relevant information to share?