Messages posted by: jrbenito

Rick wrote:
Yes, the etch for VBAT (Pin 3) on the RTC runs under the chip, so it is not practical to try and cut the etch. The best way is to unsolder and lift the VBAT pin and wire directly to the lifted pin.
Hopefully it is easily doable for you, but let us know how things work out. Thanks.

Thanks Rick!

Suggestion: next revision, think in left the vbat independent and connected to vcc through a pcb jumper. If one wants to use external battery just cut the jumper (knife) and solder a wire in the jumper pad.

BR

Hi Rick and All,

Is it possible to cut the PCB line connecting RTC VBAT pin to vcc? The idea is solder a wire to a externa battery to keep RTC running while MW is disconnected. The idea is to cut with knife and use the pad to solder the wire but I cannot see path (I guess it is bellow the RTC chip, am I right?)

Thanks.

Hi there,

Just to report I had success burning bootloader to MWs using a Due as ISP (due because it is 3v3 and I have it laying around). Need to pull up D5 and D10 due to CS signal from Flash and RFM69 and reset signal from due did not work when connected to DTR pin on the MW, need to hook it direct to RST pad.

I used Mr. Light version of dualoptibootloader with Wireless programming capabilities. (which also worked very well).

Rick, Papa & All,

I was able to program MW OTA following more or less what Papa had post here. Thanks!

I had to modify target.ino and node.ino from Lowepowerlab examples and also tweak the new RFM69 library to match with SPIFlashA pointed Papa´s post.

Seems difficult but in fact it is very easy.

Hi rrobinet,

What Arduino did you use as ISP? Was it a 3v3 version or a 5v version?

I will try this with a Due that is the only 3v3 available that I have. I think try to use one MiniWireless as ISP to burn bl on the other would not be easy due SPIs on both boards playing around. Am I right Rick?

BRs,
JrBenito

Hi Steve,

stevech wrote:
license for non-commercial use would have to be on a case-by-case basis, after review.

Apologies, but there is just too much theft going on this this world we find ourselves in.

But are you willing to put a price on it for personal use? I would also pay for that since it would save me time when implementing my house nodes.

Thanks
JrBenito

stevech wrote:I don't now know of a way to control non-commercial use of such code - as there are commercial uses now.

suggestions welcomed.

By control you mean avoid the use or forbid it?

To forbid commercial use is a matter of license but to avoid someone from silent ignore your license is another matter.

Anyway I truly believe in opensource and if done right I am sure you would benefit of the community around your code. This, of course, does not interfere with your right of charge by your product (hardware and software).

Regards,
Benito.

Hi Mike,

If by FTDI breakout you mean something like this: https://sfecdn.s3.amazonaws.com/Homepage/ProMiniFTDI-Snap-01.png

You can use a cable or direct connector like:

http://arduino.cc/en/uploads/Main/FTDI_wired_programming.jpg (cable)
http://arduino.cc/en/uploads/Guide/ArduinoProMiniFTDICable.jpg (cable)

Or

https://dlnmh9ip6v2uc.cloudfront.net/assets/9/6/5/5/b/51eec92ece395ffc4b000000.png
http://images.thoughtbot.com/low-power-custom-arduino-sensor-board/ftdi_board_attached.jpg

Just be sure your FTDI and MiniWireless have signals in the same position if you choose direct connect.

Notice how miniWireless has labels on its signals: http://www.anarduino.com/miniwireless/miniWireless69.jpg
This will match most FTDI adaptors out there (but no all) like in this picture: https://dlnmh9ip6v2uc.cloudfront.net/assets/9/6/5/5/b/51eec92ece395ffc4b000000.png

I have two FTDI, one has pinout compatible with miniWireless so I can direct attach it to the board (using the connector provided with MiniWireless soldered in place). The other one has option to be used with Vcc 5V or 3V3 and, in this case I have to wire it to MiniWirless in order to avoid using Vcc 5V pin.

Hi there,

stevech wrote:
But I'm a licensed Ham radio guy so I can go up a few MHz to the ham band and do what I please. Run hundreds of watts if I wanted to.

Nice! I am too and can do more or less the same here.

stevech wrote:
902-928MHz is the unlicensed band in the US and Canada; maybe Mexico (do they have an FCC?) It too has duty cycle restrictions - less severe that 433MHz.

Here it goes from 902 to 927 but that uplink/downlink extension band I told ends on 910MHz and starts again on 927MHz. However, this band is not allowed for Ham anymore due to 2G extension. We lost this right.

stevech wrote:
315MHz in the US is unlicensed and widely used for garage door openers with rolling code encryption.

Here the garage doors use 292MHz and also 315MHz and 433,92MHz. I don´t know about restrictions to 292 and 315, need to research. Anyway, as far as I can tell 315 and 433,92 are more common to garage doors today.

stevech wrote:
There's a band in the US called MURS (multi-use radio service or some such). It's around 154MHz. Limited to 5KHz FM deviation, and for data only. I wish there were HopeRF or other cheap radio modules for MURS - as is, they are pricey. That band propagates better by far than 433 and up. I wonder of other countries allow 154Mhz to be used. that's just above the 2m ham band.

I have to investigate about this. I belive 154MHz here is used by law enforcement forces but not sure.

Meanwhile, any news from Rick?

BR,
Benito

Hi Steve,

stevech wrote:RFM69, which RF band? 433 or 868/915?

Now I have only 433MHz but I am planning to do some work on 915MHz too. Since I live in Brazil these two frequencies I can use here but I cannot use 868. However, we have a GSM band extension that operates with 910MHz upper limit and another extension that starts at 927MHz (not sure, need to check). I heard about some people complaining about interference due to high TX power ERBs nearby but I could not see this by myself, actually I have some Insteon devices around the house and they operate in 900MHz band, some are RF only devices; so far so good I had no noticeble interference.

As far as my knowledge goes 868MHz is only available for Europeans and Africans (ITU region 1) and they can't use 915MHz.

BR,
Benito

stevech wrote:Thank you.

The beta version is compiled for RFM69. What others should I strive for in a beta phase? I have only RFM69 mini-wireless boards.

IMHO, RFM69 and RFM12B maybe.

However I also only have RFM69 therefore enough for me too.

BR,
Benito

Hi Steve,

Thanks for comment, I will do same as soon as I get to lab.

Now I tried it on other boards, same sketch, and they worked well so I tried the defective one again and now it worked:

Some minutes after a reset:
RTC: 2001-01-01 00:11:56 1
Time: 2001-1-1 0:11:56
RTC: 2001-01-01 00:12:02 1
Time: 2001-1-1 0:12:2
RTC: 2001-01-01 00:12:08 1
Time: 2001-1-1 0:12:8

and after adjusting RTC time:
RTC: 2001-01-01 00:13:26 1
Time: 2001-1-1 0:13:26
RTC: 2014-08-30 01:17:06 7
Time: 2014-8-30 1:17:6
RTC: 2014-08-30 01:17:12 7
Time: 2014-8-30 1:17:12
RTC: 2014-08-30 01:17:18 7
Time: 2014-8-30 1:17:18
RTC: 2014-08-30 01:17:24 7
Time: 2014-8-30 1:17:24

I did not modify the sketch but I did changed the power supply. So I put back the other power supply but was unable to reproduce the error. Now I have no idea what happened... I am unable to reproduce and I am even trying the sketch with other node transmitting to this one but now RTC is perfect

BTW, I forgot to post the sketch, here it is: https://github.com/jrbenito/miniWireless/tree/master/rf69_server it is basically the RadioHead RF69_Server test sketch with RTC support added to it.

BR,
Benito

Just for sake of the example I set time and reset the board, the samples below are from the very begin:

2014-08-29 05:31:05 6
RTC: 2014-08-29 05:34:17 6
Time: 2014-8-29 5:31:11
RTC: 2014-08-29 05:37:29 6
Time: 2014-8-29 5:31:17
RTC: 2014-08-29 05:40:41 6
Time: 2014-8-29 5:31:23
RTC: 2014-08-29 05:43:53 6
Time: 2014-8-29 5:31:29
RTC: 2014-08-29 05:47:04 6
Time: 2014-8-29 5:31:35
RTC: 2014-08-29 05:50:16 6
Time: 2014-8-29 5:31:41
RTC: 2014-08-29 05:53:28 6
Time: 2014-8-29 5:31:47

This RTC is traveling faster than Enterprise

Hello,

I can also confirm that RTC is not working properly on, at least some, of the miniWireless boards. I uploaded this simples sketch: ()

The results were:

RTC: 2014-08-29 11:39:30 6
Time: 2014-8-29 11:5:26
RTC: 2014-08-29 11:42:42 6
Time: 2014-8-29 11:5:32
RTC: 2014-08-29 11:45:54 6
Time: 2014-8-29 11:5:38
RTC: 2014-08-29 11:49:06 6
Time: 2014-8-29 11:5:44
RTC: 2014-08-29 11:52:18 6
Time: 2014-8-29 11:5:50

The program is supposed to print time each 5 seconds more or less, "time" from Time library shows that it is happening each 6 seconds. However, each print from RTC show a span of 3 minutes. In other words, on these 5 samples my RTC is of by +12 minutes.

I did not test on my other boards yet, will do it tomorrow. At least on this sample RTC is useless.

BR,
Benito

Hi Steve,

Wonderful work man! Can´t wait to try it here.

Did you release the code already? Github maybe? I can help on this if you find it useful.

Thnaks.