Messages posted by: Rick

Hi ntasher,
Thank you for your inquiry.

If you are trying to bootload with the radio installed, the problem you are having is most likely caused by D10 on the RFM radio floating and appearing as a LOW. Thus asserting the SPI radio interface when you're trying to program the CPU. As a result an error is thrown as you have experienced. The solution is to pull-up the D10 input while doing the bootload.
This just happened to me today, as I was needing to bootload some devices that had RFM69xx radios installed. As soon as I pulled D10, it worked fine.
I just submitted a new design in the low power series, and I've added a 100K resister to D10 for this very reason.
Please try this, and let me know if you have further issues in this regard.

Best Regards,
Rick

Hi, thanks for your inquiry.

ReE TLoggerFob:
The TLoggerFob is really just a product I've developed for a few projects that require multiple battery operated Temp sensors which pool results into a GSM bridge, which then relays data to a back end server. These are done in groups of 150-200 loggers. So this one is not really intended for public consumption, but I thought others might benefit. We will introduce one with SMA for public use, and add a few more sensors along with complete gpio access soon. Customers that want this particular one with other frequencies, can simply cut the etch and add a simple 1/4 wave monopole of appropriate length.

Re: MiniWirelessLR:
Thanks. The one I'm going in production with has a much larger supercap, so these things can be hibernating for quite some time and retain data without power. Specifications of which will follow later upon announcement and addition to web storefront.
Price TBD, but close to pricing of the existing MiniWireless line.
The one shown uses a p-channel mosfet, but some designs will have a two stage power switching with level change. Our GPS tracker uses this concept to power the GSM modem.

I'm excited about this deep hibernation, and look forward to bringing forth many more products that will be of good service to customers.
Appreciate your comments and participation.

-R

Greetings everyone,

Just wanted to give a sneak preview of some exciting new products we will be announcing soon.

These are specifically targeted for battery operations, and they feature industry-leading quiescent low power sleep mode of what I believe to be < 50nA.
Unfortunately, all three of my current meters only have uA range with 100nA sensitivity, and all three read 00.0uA when in hibernation. (Will update later with exact numbers as soon as possible).
We're beginning production on these, but here's a pic of some initial prototypes:

TLoggerFob: (Left Image)
Features:
- ATmega328P-AU running 8Mhz
- Digital I2C Temperature Sensor
- Additional Flash Memory (up to 128Mb)
- Digital Temperature sensor (I2C-based)
- HopeRF RFM69W/HW radio with
- built-in etch antenna tuned for 915Mhz
- RTC (I2C) with 256Kb of battery-backed up RAM
- Physical formatted to fit a small dual AAA fob enclosure

MiniWirelessLP-23BP: (Center Image)
Features:
- ATmega328P-AU running 16Mhz
- 3.3V LDO regulator
- MosFet power control
- Additional Flash Memory (up to 256Mb)
- SuperCap for RTC data and clock retention
- RTC (SPI) with 128Kb of battery-backed up RAM
- Tactile Reset Switch
- SMA Antenna Connector
- HopeRF RFM23BP radio

MiniWirelessLP-HW: (Right Image)
Features:
- ATmega328P-AU running 16Mhz
- 3.3V LDO regulator
- MosFet power control
- Additional Flash Memory (up to 256Mb)
- SuperCap for RTC data and clock retention
- RTC (SPI) with 128Kb of battery-backed up RAM
- Tactile Reset Switch
- SMA Antenna Connector
- HopeRF RFM69HW radio (also supports 69W)

We're looking forward to getting these out soon.

Thank you, and best regards,
Rick

Hi obelix662000,

Thank you for your post, I appreciate the feedback(and criticism).

1-second per hour that can't be compensated with calibration register??? In the hundreds of unit's I've deployed, I've not seen this problem, but admittedly, I've also not specifically tested for long-running accuracy against an atomic clock. The intention for this was weighted more at quality at low cost--rather than low tolerance at higher cost. Anyway, the specification states a standard crystal can be used of load capacitance of 6pf - 12pf. The one I chose for this board, is a low-cost typical 20PPM in this range. What value of extra load capacitance are you using? We could use a more expensive lower tolerance crystal for this, but it would also affect price.

Has anyone else out there seen this issue?
I'm always interested and curious to provide the best quality at best price point for our valued customers.

Newsflash: We'll be introducing a new low power series of miniWireless which features an overall <50nA (yes nano-amps) quiescent sleep mode. We currently have three designs so far which we've completed testing, and now in production. They'll be offered for sale soon. This new design uses a different RTC, and we are using one of the specific manufacturer suggested crystal for it. We're also happy to report, the accuracy of this new version is much improved.

Update: New Low Power Product Series Intro: http://forum.anarduino.com/posts/list/0/15.page#40

All the best...
-Rick

Thanks, I'm glad you mentioned that.
I need to update that page, because it only shows schematic and module pinout of the earlier B/CW version.

Hi SadE,

It seems I must not have been clear, but when I mentioned programming with a 5V FTDI, the Miniwireless has a built-in LDO regulation which lowers this to 3.3V. Only 3.3V is applied to the radio, MCU, Memory, RTC. This is because all the newer miniWireless boards all have the FTDI connector power pin as VIN (not VCC)--Therefore, all the newer miniWireless can be used by either the 5V or 3.3V FTDI. Only the older MiniWireless B/CW (which is the one for RFM12B / RFM69CW) has the FTDI coming in as VCC, so ONLY that first version of the miniWireless has this FTDI 3.3V requirement. Hope this helps clarify a bit. Please let me know if you have further questions.

I'll follow-up with another post introducing the new miniWireless series. I've just completed testing on the first two types, which are for the RFM69HW/W and RFM23BP radios.

All the best...
-Rick

Greetings,

Thank you for your comments and concerns...

BootLoader / Programming:
All miniWireless and Mini boards are preloaded with the Duemilanove bootloader AND all are 100% tested prior to shipping.
If you are using the Arduino IDE, you would choose Duemilanove with ATmega328P 16Mhz. Just hook it up to a standard FTDI<>USB interface, and it should be fine.
If you're running an older RFM12B or RFM69CW type MW, they use a 3.3V FTDI. Otherwise, you can use 5V FTDI. More details are on the miniwireless webpage.
If you have issues with our devices, then please contact us, and are happy to help and honored to be of service.

Over-Clocking:
Yes it is true that the device is overclocked at 16Mhz, according to the Atmel spec. ...as are many other low cost units out there on the net, like jeenodes, lowpowerlab and tons of others.
Not sure where you saw 90%, but that is not my experience with these. Even when I was at an Atmel low power seminar in Boston, their own application engineer told me the spec was "overly conservative".
My own experience with these are as follows... I've run over 500 units of HVAC wireless controllers, which are overclocked and have been running for over three years(wide temperature swings between winter and summer) with ONE failure due to a lightening strike. I've also run hundreds of other wireless nodes out there which have sensed, monitored and worked 24x7x365 with no detected issues. I have to admit, it does disturb me to overclock these things; however, if the modules are being used for testing and evaluation purposes, then for all practical purposes it's a non-issue--especially considering the price-point. On the other hand, if it is a production mission critical project, then either lower the clock to 8Mhz, look ~ pg. 34 in the datasheet about register settings on slowing down the MCU, or simply do a design with level shifting. We are also happy to provide these at 8Mhz, as we have done so per request on several occasions.

I would like to pose a question.... Would any of you like for us to do a miniWireless that runs 5V internally with level shifting? I've actually been considering this for some time, but I'd like to hear back from you...

Thank you everyone for participating in the Forum. This is just the beginning stages, but I hope this can be a useful and thoughtful place for collaboration and value add.

Have a great day, a kind regards,
Rick

Hi John,

Thanks for your suggestion, and I definitely concur on the ram...also on flash program memory.

I would like to introduce such a product line as well, but realistically, it might be several weeks before I can allocate the time to launch it.
Others have made similar suggestions, and I hope to be able to move it up sooner.

Cheers,
-Rick

Hi Tom,
Thank you for your inquiry.

Here is a library for the RFM92W: https://github.com/anthonywebb/RFM92
I've tested this on the miniwireless LoRa with RFM92W-915Mhz, and it works.

Here is a library for the RFM95/96/97/98: http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/RadioHead/RadioHead-1.23.zip
RadioHead Library Portal Page: http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/arduino/RadioHead/

I highly recommend the radiohead library. Good quality, well written code, solid demos, and active development. I use this library for quite a few things.

We generally average about 50 units in stock for the LoRa. Lead time for Q20 is 1-day. Q100 1-3 days (depending on workload).

We are working on an exciting new generation of miniWireless, which is specifically for low-power battery operations. Total quiescent current during hibernation is < 50nA. (yes, nano-amps). We are in production now on these, and will announce them soon. We intend to build these in the thousands, so stock will be substantial over the entire product line. Our first ones coming out now, is for the RFM69W/HW and RFM23BP, but all the others will soon follow.

Hope that helps. Thanks, and have a great day.

Best Regards,
Rick

Greetings, and thank you for your post.

There is a brand new optiboot rewrite now in the works, and it is nearing the final testing phase.
It will also include new tools for doing wireless distributed remote reprogramming. As soon as this is available, I will post both here in the Forum AND on the miniwireless website portal page.

Best Regards.
Rick

Hi Stefan,
Thanks for posting, and appreciate your positive comments. We're doing our best to provide a good quality service to others.
I like your ideas, and think there may be many others who also need this kind of accuracy, so it merits hardware to support it.

I've been also evaluating another RTC, which has very interesting characteristics, and I've just designed two products to use it.
After we finish testing these products, we will announce, manufacture a batch of them, and post the product for sale.
After all this hoopla, I'll be able to step up and take action on your suggestions. Thank you.

Regards,
Rick

Yes, I have tested these and they most definitely work.

Also, we have a miniWireless board designed to support all HopeRF LoRa radios (RFM92W, 95W, 96W, and 98W).
These can be purchased from our website, at the following link: MiniWireless Webpage

There is an Arduino library out there on github, which I have also tested. It's located here:
RFM92W GitHub Arduino Library

Let me know if you have further questions, and thank you for participating in our Forum.

Best Regards,
Rick

Hi, Here's a followup...
The document for the register settings and description is located here:
RFM23BP Register Settings and Descriptions

Have you checked out the Datasheet?
I know there are register information and settings therein.
Datesheet: http://www.anarduino.com/docs/RFM23BP.pdf

It may contain what you're looking for. Let me know.

I know some devices have a spreadsheet available, so I'll ask Hope about it, and follow-up with another post.

Regards,
Rick

Hi,

The RFM23BP module runs at 5V. However, the gpio and spi control interface reportedly must ONLY be run at 3.3V

Option 1) VCC on the RFM23BP module should be 5V, and VCC on your CPU should be 3.3V.
Don't supply 5V on the SPI pins on the RFM23BP.

Option 2) Power both CPU and RFM23BP with 5V, BUT use level shifting to only supply 3.3V on the RFM23BP interconnect pins.

You might find option 1 easier (just make sure to use separate VCC, and common GND)

Please note the datasheet says the following:
power of the unit, VDD range is 3.3 to 6V
Pins (including SPI control pins) are spec'd at: –0.3, VDD + 0.3
------- I don't believe this is correct, but I should double check with Hope Engr. and post a follow-up -------

Hope this helps.

What SPI mode and clock rate are you using?

Many people have asked this question.

As a distributor for HopeRF, the end-of-life rumor is just that, a rumor.

Interestingly, the rumor was started because Hope wanted to push their new flagship RFM69 product line at the time.
The RFM69 offers higher performance at lower cost, so it makes good business sense for HopeRF in this regard.

The truth is, the RFM12B has moved to their tier-4 manufacturing status, which means there is a 1K pcs minimum order requirement (MOQ), paid in advance, with 4-6wk lead time.
We have many hundreds in stock, and as long as customers need them, we will continue to stock them.

Best Regards,
-Rick

The RFM69HCW and RFM69HW are functionally equivalent, however they DO differ in both module size and pinout.

See http://www.anarduino.com/productCompare.jsp for a comparison of various of the ISM band FSK radios.
(the PDF link on the far right is where you will find the datasheets for these radios.)

HCW - module size is: 16 x 16 mm
HW - module size is: 16 x 19.7 mm

More information:
The RFM69 class radios are considered by Hope to be a "flagship" product, so they try to promote these devices.

The intent of HopeRF is for the HCW to be be an upgrade path for the RFM22B radio. (size/pinout campatibility)
The RFM69HW is a standalone product, and it has the same footprint as the RFM69W (the lower power version).

and while we're talking about upgrade path, the RFM69CW (functionally equivalent to the W) is intended to be an upgrade path for the RFM12B.
The 69CW has improved performance over the 12B, and has about 30% more range.

Greetings,

The initial version of the Anarduino miniWireless uses the MCP7940N RTC, which is fairly inexpensive and works well.

What are your favorite Real Time Clock? Would you prefer to see a different one in the miniWireless design?

Thanks in advance for any comments, suggestions, or insight you might have in this area.

Best Regards,
-Rick