Interpreting the 48-Digit Hexadecimal Output from ^G

Solution “How do I interpret the 48-digit code that prints when I perform a ‘^G’ command,” you ask?

First, it’s important to have a basic understanding of hexadecimal coding. In hexadecimal, or “hex” for short, you have values of zero through nine, each with a value of itself, and A through F, with A having a value of 10, B of 11, C of 12, D of 13, E of 14, and F with a value of 15. So hex code has a total of 16 values, from zero through F. Makes sense so far, right?

Now, let’s look at the 48-digit conglomeration that gets expectorated when the magic command “^G” is issued. Each six-digit block represents one Relay Driver Board and its 24 Loads. Therefore, each two-digit group represents eight Loads. The mathematical logic goes like this:

If all 24 Loads are off: 000000
If all 24 Loads are on: FFFFFF

Take only the first two digits. If Load 1 is on and all seven others are off, you see: 010000
01 indicates that Load 1 is on. Each digit represents the status of four Loads. The right-most digit of each two-digit group represents the first four Loads, and the left-most represents the second four. The math goes like this:
00 is your starting point, so 0 (the right-most 0) plus (2 raised to the power of 0) equals 1, since (2 raised to the power of 0) equals 1, so 0 plus 1 equals 1. Therefore, you get 01.

Now you activate Load 2, with Load 1 already on. The math goes like this:
01 is your new starting point, so 1 plus (2 raised to the power of 1) equals 3, since (2 raised to the power of 1) equals 2, so 1 plus 2 equals 3. Therefore, you get 03.

Now you activate Load 3, with Loads 1 and 2 already on. The math goes like this:
03 is your new starting point, so 3 plus (2 raised to the power of 2) equals 7, since (2 raised to the power of 2) equals 4, so 3 plus 4 equals 7. Therefore, you get 07.

Now you activate Load 4, with Loads 1, 2, and 3 already on. The math goes like this:
07 is your new starting point, so 7 plus (2 raised to the power of 3) equals 15, or F in hexadecimal format, since (2 raised to the power of 3) equals 8, so 7 plus 8 equals 15. Therefore, you get 0F.

Now you start over with the FIRST digit of the two-digit group. You activate Load 5, with Loads 1 through 4 already on. The math goes like this:
0F is your new starting point, so 0 plus (2 raised to the power of 0) equals 1, so 0 plus 1 equals 1. Therefore, you get 1F.

Now you activate Load 6, with Loads 1 through 5 already on. The math goes like this:
1F is your new starting point, so 1 plus (2 raised to the power of 1) equals 3, so 1 plus 2 equals 3. Therefore, you get 3F.

Beginning to see a pattern? I think you get the idea.

Load 1: 2 raised to the power of 0: 1
Load 2: 2 raised to the power of 1: 2
Load 3: 2 raised to the power of 2: 4
Load 4: 2 raised to the power of 3: 8

Load 5: 2 raised to the power of 0: 1
Load 6: 2 raised to the power of 1: 2
Load 7: 2 raised to the power of 2: 4
Load 8: 2 raised to the power of 3: 8

So, taking each two-digit group:
01: Load 1 is on, since Load 1 equals 1
02: Load 2 is on, since Load 2 equals 2
03: Loads 1 and 2 are on, since 1 plus 2 equals 3
04: Load 3 is on, since Load 3 equals 4
05: Loads 1 and 3 are on, since 1 plus 4 equals 5
06: Loads 2 and 3 are on, since 2 plus 4 equals 6
07: Loads 1, 2, and 3 are on, since 1 plus 2 plus 4 equals 7
08: Load 4 is on, since Load 4 equals 8
09: Loads 1 and 4 are on, since 1 plus 8 equals 9
0A: Loads 2 and 4 are on, since 2 plus 8 equals 10, or A in hexadecimal format
0B: Loads 1, 2, and 4 are on, since 1 plus 2 plus 8 equals 11, or B
0C: Loads 3 and 4 are on, since 4 plus 8 equals 12, or C
0D: Loads 1, 3, and 4 are on, since 1 plus 4 plus 8 equals 13, or D
0E: Loads 2, 3, and 4 are on, since 2 plus 4 plus 8 equals 14, or E
0F: Loads 1, 2, 3, and 4 are on, since 1 plus 2 plus 4 plus 8 equals 15, or F

If your first group of six looked like this: 440000
You could see that Loads 3 and 7 were on, and so on for each group of two after that. The first two digits correspond to Loads 1 through 8, the second two to Loads 9 through 16, and the third two to Loads 17 through 24.

Therefore: 214188
Would tell you that Loads 1, 6, 9, 15, 20, and 24 were on (remember to read the second digit first!).
Take the first two: 21
The 1 is from your first four Loads, therefore Load 1.
The 2 is from your second four Loads, therefore Load 6.
Take the second two: 41
The 1 is from your third four Loads, therefore Load 9.
The 4 is from your fourth four Loads, therefore Load 15.
Take the third two: 88
The second 8 is from your fifth four Loads, therefore Load 20.
The first 8 is from your sixth four Loads, therefore Load 24.

So, 13254F
Would tell you that Loads 1, 2, 5, 9, 11, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 23 were on.
Take the first two: 13
3: Loads 1 and 2
1: Load 5
Take the second two: 25
5: Loads 9 and 11
2: Load 14
Take the third two: 4F
F: All Loads, 17 through 20
4: Load 23

Simple, isn’t it?

Now that you know how to interpret the code, the “^G” command can tell you the status of every single Load in your system. Happy decoding!

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Article ID:	739
Category:	Knowledgebase
Date added:	2011-04-20 18:29:27
Views:	1522
Rating (Votes):	(113)

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