hi to all, i need some empegINFO:

1) different features empegTUNER vs PatrickTUNER
2) where i can get a new front PCB ( board +VFD) and it's costs
3) different features Kernel V2 b13 vs V2 final

thanks for any reply

1.
Original empeg tuner is smaller as it uses surface mount components. Patrick's tuner is all throughhole components which are easier to solder but bigger.
Original empeg tuner has sockets which are flush mounted on the casing. Patrick's tuner has them on the end of a lead.
Original empeg tuner has a dial to set the tuner ID. Patrick's tuner has jumpers inside to set the tuner ID.
Patrick's tuner has the ability to later add an IO expansion board. Original empeg one doesn't. The expansion board hasn't been made yet though.

That's about it really. The main difference between the original empeg tuner and Patrick's one is that Patrick's one is bigger. All of the other differences aren't that major.

2.
Ask Rob probably. Not going to be cheap though.

3.
Nothing major. Just adds support for the poll syscall on the audio device.

- Trevor

1) different features empegTUNER vs PatrickTUNER

Essentially none. Patrick's tuner is functionally identical to the factory tuner.

There are a few extra features, but none of those feature have been implemented in software yet. If you are very very clever, you might be able to write software to take advantage of these features, but no one else has done this yet. Examples of new features:

1) Weatherband capability in the tuner chip. Is this even used in Europe (NT2000 is in Italy)?

2) Additional input points on the tuner PCB for sensing voltage or pulses on a wire. For example, speed sensor input or temperature sensor is one of the things they talked about if I recall correctly. Or maybe a second serial port. Not sure.

Edit: He just told me in ICQ why he wanted to know this. It's because his factory tuner doesn't get good reception and he's hoping Patrick's tuner will be better. I explained that the problem wasn't in the tuner design, it was either one of the things listed in the FAQ or that his original tuner was bad.

2) where i can get a new front PCB ( board +VFD) and it's costs

You can only order one from Support. It would be expensive I'm sure, but I don't know how much.

Note to everyone else: NT2000 is asking about the display board and VFD display because he wants to do an extension display. He contacted me in ICQ about it. I tried to explain this and this to him, but I'm not sure he's completely clear on what's going on since English isn't his native language. Do we have an Italian/English interpreter on the board?

different features Kernel V2 b13 vs V2 final

Pretty much just all bug fixes. Some pretty serious ones fixed, so I highly recommend you upgrade. Why do you need to know this?