Y2K Compliance for the ACC RC-85, 850, & 96 controllers

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Back to Home Year 2000 compliance for the ACC RC-85, RC-96, and RC-850 Repeater Controllers
By By Kevin Custer W3KKC & Rich Reese WA8DBW

The ACC RC-85, RC-96, and RC-850 controllers using the latest firmware versions are not year 2000 compliant. Since I own several ACC 85 and 96 controllers with version 5.x firmware, I decided it was time to set the date back to be Y2K compliant. I did this by setting the date to the current Month and Day, but the year 28 years earlier, i.e. 1971 in 1999. Since the day of the week and leap years track in a 28 year cycle, this allows an additional 28 years of capability for the controller. Since the controller doesn't actually report the year in any announcement, it is not a problem to reprogram the date back. I doubt my ACC's will be in service another 28 years, however they have worked for over 12 so far, so several more don't really seem unreasonable.

This information is pertinent to any RC-85 or RC-96 using version 5 firmware level, or in the case of the RC-850, version 3.xx firmware. Older versions of firmware for the 85 and 96 from V2.0 to 4.2 are already year 2000 compliant as they do not track time. To see what firmware version your controller is running, simply press the Demo prefix and * If the demo prefix is 3, (default) you would press 3* and the controller will report back the model and version in use.

It takes about 30 seconds to reprogram the year in this version of controller. The controller will still function for the most part even if not made Y2K compatible, but it will lose the additional V5 functions if not set back in time. These functions include the female voice, the sound effects, scheduler, HF remote base, and the time of day clock and calendar.

If you have lost the enhanced V5 features, do the programming sequence below.
Just reprogram todays date, but subtract 28 from the year.
Since it is now 2003, program your controller to 1975.

Reprogramming sequence. It can be done remotely.

Key up and enter the secret reset command 9213528835 and unkey.
(Do Not unlock the controller to enter this command)
The controller will respond "OK"
Unlock the controller using your unique 10 digit unlock code, and unkey.
The controller will respond "U-L"
Key up and enter the Month-Day-Year programming sequence with the *4101 command.
I.E. *4101MMDDYY and unkey. Remember to set the year to minus 28 from today (i.e. to 75 for 1975 when it's really 2003).
The controller will respond with only the Month and Day.
Lock up the controller by keying up and entering #, and unkey.
The controller will respond L-O-C-K.

You are now all set for operation in Y2K, and beyond.

Controllers that have no time tracking system should not have a problem rolling over to year 2000. I have several Micro Computer Concepts, and NHRC controllers and they fit into this category.

I hope this information has been helpful, let me know if it has.

Kevin Custer W3KKC
html 12-1999
Revised 8-17-2003

Supporting information on the 850 provided by Richard Reese WA8DBW
Rich's website.