Topic: W3DRM - My Red Build Log - Minden, Nevada

[W3DRM]

This thread will be my activity log as I go through the process of inventorying, building and testing my new RED kit.

Sept 14, 2013 - I finally had some time today to begin inventorying my RED kit. All parts listed in the RED document were received EXCEPT FOR a single resistor. That item is a 10-ohm metal film resistor used in R49 and R51 on the Controller Board. I am now searching for a replacement. Unfortunately, I have no local resources that are close-by so will have to place an order on-line to obtain the replacement resistor. The "Order List" for the Controller Board shows the German resource is from Reichelt. It appears that this resistor is rated at 0.6W and is a 1% metal film type of resistor. Does anyone know of a good US-based resource for this part? I have looked all over and most places have minimum order quantity requirements, if they have the part at all. Richelt has a 10-euro minimum order requirement.

In preparation for the inventory and eventual assembly, I created a spreadsheet where I could check-off the parts as I verified they were in the kit received. I'll post that spreadsheet tomorrow as it is not on the computer I am currently using.

More info to come as I go through this build process...

[tobi]

Hi,

R51 is important for the LCD contrast, R49 is only for brighter LCD backlight.

Happy assembling 

Tobias

[miraculon]

I have had good luck getting parts from the following places:

http://www.mouser.com
http://www.digikey.com

I would recommend either. They have no problem with small orders and everything is nicely labelled and packaged.

One suggestion is with the volume price break, it really doesn't make sense to buy a single resistor. I needed two resistors for a project (the terminator resistors on the Green detector). I bought 200 since it was the same price basically!

Myself and a couple of other guys had the same problem with the missing 10 Ohm resistor. Those were "loose" and not on a paper tape like most of the other resistors.

A small suggestion would be to ohm-out the values on the resistors on the paper tapes. Then write the value on the tape. It eliminates re-checking, squinting at colors every time you need another off the tape.

Greg H.

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

Hi,

R51 is important for the LCD contrast, R49 is only for brighter LCD backlight.

Happy assembling  

Tobias

Tobi is referring to Page 15 of the documentation:
" Close Jumper 1 only if you are using the green display, otherwise, if you are using the amber or blue display, open Jumper 1."  Without R49, your backlight would be much dimmer, same as opening the jumper. How dim? Don't know... keep mine turned off anyway... I'd install R51, not worry about 49... and go on about life... using the 'status' web page, if ambient room lighting didn't allow adequate visual on the LCD.

[gwwilk]

I found workable replacement parts on ebay.  The resistors, 49.9 Ω 1% metal, were military grade without striping, but they worked.  I ordered 5 ea. of the two electrolytic capacitors I destroyed and 100 of the resistors.  Free shipping and surprisingly prompt delivery on all parts.  YMMV.

[W3DRM]

This is what I like about this forum - everyone helps each other! 

I should have looked at the schematic before I made my post about the missing resistors. Since I will be using the recommended default amber display, I really don't need R49. So, it becomes a non-issue for me.

Thanks for the inputs. BTW, I have looked at both Mouser and Digikey and neither of them carry the 10-ohm thin-film resistor in stock.

And lastly, I have measured all resistors and labeled each of them with their values. That will make it much easier to identify during assembly and save me some time. I also plan on separating the components for the Amplifier and Controller boards prior to beginning the assembly. I hope to have the time to begin assembly in the next few days. Of course, that depends on my "honey-do" lists which seem to have priority... 

[Jumpin Joe]

This is what I like about this forum - everyone helps each other! 

I should have looked at the schematic before I made my post about the missing resistors. Since I will be using the recommended default amber display, I really don't need R49. So, it becomes a non-issue for me.

Thanks for the inputs. BTW, I have looked at both Mouser and Digikey and neither of them carry the 10-ohm thin-film resistor in stock.

And lastly, I have measured all resistors and labeled each of them with their values. That will make it much easier to identify during assembly and save me some time. I also plan on separating the components for the Amplifier and Controller boards prior to beginning the assembly. I hope to have the time to begin assembly in the next few days. Of course, that depends on my "honey-do" lists which seem to have priority... 

I broke a cap and found one on eBay from Resistors Direct. Great service and very inexpensive.

I also, marked all of the values for the resistors on the tape and separated all of the parts for each board.  Another trick I am using for the surface mounted parts, like the GPS Module and some of the IC's is to take a small piece of scotch tape and gently tape the component down on one side to hold it still until I tacked a leg or two. I also have the parts list by board on one side of me and the color photo of the completed board on the other and refer to them constantly crossing off each part as I install it.

I hope to finish mine in a few days.... doing a little each day.

Best of luck!

Joe 

[W3DRM]

Well, I've changed my mind and have decided that I would like to buy one of those missing 10 ohm resistors for R49. However, after spending a fair amount of time Googling for a "MF0207 FTE52 10 R" resistor, it appears they can only be purchased from European sources. I found one that looked great but then discovered there was a $20+ shipping charge just to get them over here - definitely not worth that...

Does anyone know of a US based source for this particular resistor? They appear to be made by Yageo. Is there an equivalent made by another manufacturer?

Mouser and Digikey do not stock them.

[Maumelle Weather]

Hi Don,

I had bought a Sparkfun resistor kit for the resistors I didn't have off of Amazon (currently unavailable, I just checked). I have 1/4W 10ohm carbon film 5% resistors. I can mail you one, if you like. Like you, I looked at both Digikey and Mouser. No such luck.

John

[miraculon]

Well, I've changed my mind and have decided that I would like to buy one of those missing 10 ohm resistors for R49. However, after spending a fair amount of time Googling for a "MF0207 FTE52 10 R" resistor, it appears they can only be purchased from European sources. I found one that looked great but then discovered there was a $20+ shipping charge just to get them over here - definitely not worth that...

Does anyone know of a US based source for this particular resistor? They appear to be made by Yageo. Is there an equivalent made by another manufacturer?

Mouser and Digikey do not stock them.

What is wrong with these? It doesn't need to be any particular brand, it is not critical. As long as it is the same tolerance, value and power rating it is OK.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-Dale/CCF5510R0FKE36/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu61qfTUdNhG22eGGirbmp9Aqa3Kv7QLJw%3d

Stock:    
12,571    Can Ship Immediately

Greg H.

[W3DRM]

Well, I've changed my mind and have decided that I would like to buy one of those missing 10 ohm resistors for R49. However, after spending a fair amount of time Googling for a "MF0207 FTE52 10 R" resistor, it appears they can only be purchased from European sources. I found one that looked great but then discovered there was a $20+ shipping charge just to get them over here - definitely not worth that...

Does anyone know of a US based source for this particular resistor? They appear to be made by Yageo. Is there an equivalent made by another manufacturer?

Mouser and Digikey do not stock them.

What is wrong with these? It doesn't need to be any particular brand, it is not critical. As long as it is the same tolerance, value and power rating it is OK.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-Dale/CCF5510R0FKE36/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMu61qfTUdNhG22eGGirbmp9Aqa3Kv7QLJw%3d

Stock:    
12,571    Can Ship Immediately

Greg H.

Greg H.,

You are correct, it doesn't matter who the vendor is.

However, what threw me off was the result I got from a search of the Reichelt.com website which is what was on the original order list. It shows "26. Reichelt METALL 10,0 Metallschichtwiderstand 10,0 Ohm 2 0,10€ 0,20€". Unfortunately, they don't show the "power rating" for the resistors. The Reichelt website merely shows a 1/4W listing of resistors. The product details link then shows a "0.600W" rating which I missed. The resulting part number was "MF0207 FTE52 10 R" which is NOT the 1/4W rating desired for this circuit. The correct part number for the desired component is "MF0204 FTE52 10 R". Neither Mouser nor Digikey have that exact part but the item you listed looks like it will work just fine. I have already placed an order for 10 of them.

Thanks for the reference!

[W3DRM]

Hi Don,

I had bought a Sparkfun resistor kit for the resistors I didn't have off of Amazon (currently unavailable, I just checked). I have 1/4W 10ohm carbon film 5% resistors. I can mail you one, if you like. Like you, I looked at both Digikey and Mouser. No such luck.

John

Thank for the offer John. I have already ordered the part referenced by Greg H in this thread.

[W3DRM]

Received the 10-ohm resistor (10 actually) from Mouser. Have installed it in R49 position even though I really don't need it.

Have also completed the build of the controller board and tried to follow the instructions for installing/upgrading the firmware. Have had the following problems:

• 1- Downloaded and installed the STM32 ST-Link Utility sofware -  successful
• 2- Connecting the USB cable to the Discovery board resulted in an error while the driver was being installed. The driver install failed so I had to manually delete and reinstall it. It says it installed correctly the second time - don't know what happened.I am running on a Windows 7 PC with all updates/patches installed.
• 3- Ran the STM32 ST-Link Utility software and selected the "Firmware_4.3.bin" file. The log shows the flash worked correctly. However, the Red/Green LED on the Discovery board kept flashing in a Red/Green sequence constantly.
• 4- There did not appear to be any reset of the discovery board after the flash so I depressed the "BLACK" button as instructed. Now, the Red LED is on solid. However, the board appears to be cycling in the RESET mode continuously. Unplugging the mini USB connector only stops the cycling. Plugging the USB connector back in results the resumption of the cycling. NOTE: During the cycling there is a beep and then a long buzz with some flashing of the four tiny LEDs near the BLACK reset button. I also pressed the BLACK button again with no change in symptoms or behavior.
• 5- One other thing I noticed on the Controller board when I was doing the initial "First Hardware Check" was that while the Green GPS LED was flashing, it never went into a solid "ON" state. I then plugged-in the external GPS antenna but it still remained blinking. I recycled the power but that didn't change anything. Hope this isn't an indication of a GPS module problem. Should the Green GPS LED go steady during this initial testing phase.

Now what do I do?

Sorry for all of the questions but things don't seem to be going too well a couple of us with recent builds... 

I have not tried connecting the controller board to the network LAN as yet but may do that to see what, if anything happens.

[W3DRM]

Well, just plugged the controller board (without the amp board connected) into the 5V USB power supply along with the GPS antenna and a connection to the router. Here is what I am now seeing:

• The display only has a very narrow line partially across the screen at the bottom. Nothing intelligible seen.
• The larger Red LED on the discovery board just blinks. I think this indicates it thinks it is not connected to the router.
• The Green GPS LED stops blinking after a while and stays off - indicating no GPS signal detected(?)

I'm afraid things don't look so good.

NOTE: I only installed the v4.3 of the firmware because I wanted to try going to v4.4 using the on-line upgrade capability but that doesn't seem to be an option at the moment.

[Maumelle Weather]

Hi Don,

The big green LED for the GPS will blink for up to 1 to 2 minutes, or this happens for me until it gets a lock on the satellites. Once that happens, the green LED next to the external antenna connection will go solid green, as will the tiny green LED on the discovery board.

When using the ST Utility, when you flash the firmware, there is a checkbox that says "restart board after flashing", or something to that effect. Make sure that box is checked, otherwise it will not hold the update. Hope that made sense.

The big red LED on the discovery board does blink continuously while it has power. This LED does blink red/green when connected to the USB on the computer for the utility.

My detector is plugged into an 8 port switch, just as an FYI. I also run Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and have had zero issues.  One thing I DO is I first plug the discovery board into the USB port on the computer and let it recognize it. Once that happens, I start the utility. After I am finished flashing, I click File, Exit" in the utility to close it. Then I right click on the USB connection in the taskbar and tell the computer to "eject" the connection, THEN I uplug the USB cable from the computer.

John

[miraculon]

Received the 10-ohm resistor (10 actually) from Mouser. Have installed it in R49 position even though I really don't need it.

Have also completed the build of the controller board and tried to follow the instructions for installing/upgrading the firmware. Have had the following problems:

• 1- Downloaded and installed the STM32 ST-Link Utility sofware -  successful
• 2- Connecting the USB cable to the Discovery board resulted in an error while the driver was being installed. The driver install failed so I had to manually delete and reinstall it. It says it installed correctly the second time - don't know what happened.I am running on a Windows 7 PC with all updates/patches installed.
• 3- Ran the STM32 ST-Link Utility software and selected the "Firmware_4.3.bin" file. The log shows the flash worked correctly. However, the Red/Green LED on the Discovery board kept flashing in a Red/Green sequence constantly.
• 4- There did not appear to be any reset of the discovery board after the flash so I depressed the "BLACK" button as instructed. Now, the Red LED is on solid. However, the board appears to be cycling in the RESET mode continuously. Unplugging the mini USB connector only stops the cycling. Plugging the USB connector back in results the resumption of the cycling. NOTE: During the cycling there is a beep and then a long buzz with some flashing of the four tiny LEDs near the BLACK reset button. I also pressed the BLACK button again with no change in symptoms or behavior.
• 5- One other thing I noticed on the Controller board when I was doing the initial "First Hardware Check" was that while the Green GPS LED was flashing, it never went into a solid "ON" state. I then plugged-in the external GPS antenna but it still remained blinking. I recycled the power but that didn't change anything. Hope this isn't an indication of a GPS module problem. Should the Green GPS LED go steady during this initial testing phase.

Now what do I do?

Sorry for all of the questions but things don't seem to be going too well a couple of us with recent builds... 

I have not tried connecting the controller board to the network LAN as yet but may do that to see what, if anything happens.

    3- Ran the STM32 ST-Link Utility software and selected the "Firmware_4.3.bin" file. The log shows the flash worked correctly. However, the Red/Green LED on the Discovery board kept flashing in a Red/Green sequence constantly.

I agree with John Sacrey's advice of checking the "reset after fllash" option.

    4- There did not appear to be any reset of the discovery board after the flash so I depressed the "BLACK" button as instructed. Now, the Red LED is on solid. However, the board appears to be cycling in the RESET mode continuously. Unplugging the mini USB connector only stops the cycling. Plugging the USB connector back in results the resumption of the cycling. NOTE: During the cycling there is a beep and then a long buzz with some flashing of the four tiny LEDs near the BLACK reset button. I also pressed the BLACK button again with no change in symptoms or behavior.

The Red LED, is this the same one that alternated red/green during the flashing? If it is steady red after flashing, it will stay on steady in red until a power cycle. I think that this is the USB controller behavior. It will start blinking after a power cycle. It doesn't hurt anything.

However, the board appears to be cycling in the RESET mode continuously.

What behavior leads you to say this?

NOTE: During the cycling there is a beep and then a long buzz with some flashing of the four tiny LEDs near the BLACK reset button.

This could be "normal". If you have the amplifier connected, I think that the default gain is 10x10. The beep might have been due to interference mode. Or, it might have been complaining about the amplifier being disconnected if it wasn't connected.


    5- One other thing I noticed on the Controller board when I was doing the initial "First Hardware Check" was that while the Green GPS LED was flashing, it never went into a solid "ON" state. I then plugged-in the external GPS antenna but it still remained blinking. I recycled the power but that didn't change anything. Hope this isn't an indication of a GPS module problem. Should the Green GPS LED go steady during this initial testing phase.

The GPS might take a while to get a first fix from a cold start. Does the external GPS antenna have a clear view of the sky? (at least in a window)

On the display, what is your USB power supply voltage? There are some known issues with higher voltage USB supplies. Try to use one between 4.7-4.9V. If it is much higher than 5V, this could be the problem.

You will need the display working to get the IP address that is assigned. If you can identify it from the router's DHCP listing, you might be able to connect to it via the web interface.

Greg H.

[W3DRM]

Hi Don,

The big green LED for the GPS will blink for up to 1 to 2 minutes, or this happens for me until it gets a lock on the satellites. Once that happens, the green LED next to the external antenna connection will go solid green, as will the tiny green LED on the discovery board.

When using the ST Utility, when you flash the firmware, there is a checkbox that says "restart board after flashing", or something to that effect. Make sure that box is checked, otherwise it will not hold the update. Hope that made sense.

The big red LED on the discovery board does blink continuously while it has power. This LED does blink red/green when connected to the USB on the computer for the utility.

My detector is plugged into an 8 port switch, just as an FYI. I also run Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and have had zero issues.  One thing I DO is I first plug the discovery board into the USB port on the computer and let it recognize it. Once that happens, I start the utility. After I am finished flashing, I click File, Exit" in the utility to close it. Then I right click on the USB connection in the taskbar and tell the computer to "eject" the connection, THEN I uplug the USB cable from the computer.

John

I'll start with John's reply first since he replied first to my post.

- The big green LED on the Controller board (next to the GPS module) starts blinking as soon as power is applied to the board. It continues to blink for several minutes and then stops blinking. The LED is not lit once it stops.

- The checkbox was "checked" before I started the flashing process. I did not notice any change in the LEDs on the Discovery board once the flashing was completed nor was there any beep or buzz. The beep and then the buzz happened when I hit the black reset button. Then, that cycle of beep and buzzing along with the flashing of the tiny LED on the discovery board kept going for as long as it had power.

- Yes, the big red LED on the discovery board blinks continuously while power is applied. It "was" alternating between red/green when connected to the USB on the computer with the ST-LINK Utility running.

- I'm running Win7 Ultimate 64bit also along with a CISCO wireless router. I'm plugged into one of the ports on the router.

I think I will go back through the flash process to make sure I do it correct now that I have your step-by-step details. I'm not sure I did it exactly as you did so it's worth a try. Will do that shortly and let you know what happens. I do remember exiting out of the utility and noticing that "something" changed but I don't remember exactly what that "something" was at the time. That was before I realized I had a problem.

Thanks for the suggestions...

[W3DRM]

Don, Before all this, you did do the check out after build with the discovery board and display removed?

Received the 10-ohm resistor (10 actually) from Mouser. Have installed it in R49 position even though I really don't need it.

Have also completed the build of the controller board and tried to follow the instructions for installing/upgrading the firmware. Have had the following problems:

• 1- Downloaded and installed the STM32 ST-Link Utility sofware -  successful
• 2- Connecting the USB cable to the Discovery board resulted in an error while the driver was being installed. The driver install failed so I had to manually delete and reinstall it. It says it installed correctly the second time - don't know what happened.I am running on a Windows 7 PC with all updates/patches installed.
• 3- Ran the STM32 ST-Link Utility software and selected the "Firmware_4.3.bin" file. The log shows the flash worked correctly. However, the Red/Green LED on the Discovery board kept flashing in a Red/Green sequence constantly.
• 4- There did not appear to be any reset of the discovery board after the flash so I depressed the "BLACK" button as instructed. Now, the Red LED is on solid. However, the board appears to be cycling in the RESET mode continuously. Unplugging the mini USB connector only stops the cycling. Plugging the USB connector back in results the resumption of the cycling. NOTE: During the cycling there is a beep and then a long buzz with some flashing of the four tiny LEDs near the BLACK reset button. I also pressed the BLACK button again with no change in symptoms or behavior.
• 5- One other thing I noticed on the Controller board when I was doing the initial "First Hardware Check" was that while the Green GPS LED was flashing, it never went into a solid "ON" state. I then plugged-in the external GPS antenna but it still remained blinking. I recycled the power but that didn't change anything. Hope this isn't an indication of a GPS module problem. Should the Green GPS LED go steady during this initial testing phase.

Now what do I do?

Sorry for all of the questions but things don't seem to be going too well a couple of us with recent builds... 

I have not tried connecting the controller board to the network LAN as yet but may do that to see what, if anything happens.

After the initial after build check, when you reinstalled the Disc bd and display,
Did you connect to amp, and network?
I'd go back and repeat all that from scratch, just as if you'd only now completed the build.

When you were upgrading the firmware,
You removed the main USB power, and just used the discovery board mini?
Reset happens quickly, and it may cycle, as I remember, mine cycled like that... using the direct upgrade before removing the
Disc bd mini, and reconnecting the main usb. That's the long buzz and flashing, best I remember.

The GPS may take up to a minute...

Go back and glance at the PDF notes (mine's JUL 24) pages 14-26

Mike,

- Yes, I did perform the "First hardware check" as outlined in the Blitzortung manual (Aug 23, 2013 edition) page 15 step 1.3.10. With everything removed (the Discovery board & the Display board), I connected the 5V USB pwr sup to the controller board. The green GPS LED immediately began flashing for about 1 to 2 minutes and then shut-off. I then attached an external GPS antenna to the SMA connector on the controller board and repeated the above test. There was no change in the results. MY REAL QUESTION ABOUT THIS IS THIS: Should the green GPS LED switch to a steady state once a GPS lock is attained? I've never seen or read an explanation as to what is supposed to happen when a GPS lock happens. My GPS LED just goes out after 1 to 2 minutes. One curious thing I do note is that (with the discovery board and the display installed) when the green GPS LED goes out, there is a very tiny green LED on the Discovery board that comes on at the same time and stays on. Does this indicate a GPS lock? I also see a tiny blue LED on the discovery board that is blinking at about a 1PPS rate. Is this the 1PPS indicator? If so, doesn't that mean that the GPS module is working and receiving good satellite signals? I guess I should really read the discovery board technical manual although those LEDs on it may be controlled by whatever the flash program is telling them to do. I also can see a green LED lit steadily on the LAN connector as well as a continuously blinking yellow LED on the other side of the connector.

-  I have not connected the Amplifier board at any time into the circuitry as yet. I am waiting for the delivery of my shielded patch cable to arrive. Can I use an unshielded cable in the meantime for troubleshooting?

- Yes, the USB min cable (power) was connected to the discovery board during the flashing process.

- Do you have a pointer to the notes (July 24 PDF) you are referring to? I can't seem to find them.

Thanks,

[miraculon]

Section 2.2 of the Red Blitzortung PDF says:

Green LED
The green LED starts blinking when the controller receives data sentences from the GPS, it
will keep glowing, when the controller receives "active" data sentences.

Blue LED
The blue LED flashes every time the controller get a 1PPS signal.

Orange LED
The orange LED flashed every time the controller receives a signal from the amplifiers that
reaches the adjusted threshold.

Red LED
The red LED will be blinking constant and slowly if the system has entered the interference
mode. If signals can not be send, i.e. because there is no network connection or no valid GPS
signal, then the red LED blinks at the same time as the orange LED.

The green LED near the GPS module goes steady green once the GPS has a fix.

Greg H.

[W3DRM]

Received the 10-ohm resistor (10 actually) from Mouser. Have installed it in R49 position even though I really don't need it.

Have also completed the build of the controller board and tried to follow the instructions for installing/upgrading the firmware. Have had the following problems:

• 1- Downloaded and installed the STM32 ST-Link Utility sofware -  successful
• 2- Connecting the USB cable to the Discovery board resulted in an error while the driver was being installed. The driver install failed so I had to manually delete and reinstall it. It says it installed correctly the second time - don't know what happened.I am running on a Windows 7 PC with all updates/patches installed.
• 3- Ran the STM32 ST-Link Utility software and selected the "Firmware_4.3.bin" file. The log shows the flash worked correctly. However, the Red/Green LED on the Discovery board kept flashing in a Red/Green sequence constantly.
• 4- There did not appear to be any reset of the discovery board after the flash so I depressed the "BLACK" button as instructed. Now, the Red LED is on solid. However, the board appears to be cycling in the RESET mode continuously. Unplugging the mini USB connector only stops the cycling. Plugging the USB connector back in results the resumption of the cycling. NOTE: During the cycling there is a beep and then a long buzz with some flashing of the four tiny LEDs near the BLACK reset button. I also pressed the BLACK button again with no change in symptoms or behavior.
• 5- One other thing I noticed on the Controller board when I was doing the initial "First Hardware Check" was that while the Green GPS LED was flashing, it never went into a solid "ON" state. I then plugged-in the external GPS antenna but it still remained blinking. I recycled the power but that didn't change anything. Hope this isn't an indication of a GPS module problem. Should the Green GPS LED go steady during this initial testing phase.

Now what do I do?

Sorry for all of the questions but things don't seem to be going too well a couple of us with recent builds... 

I have not tried connecting the controller board to the network LAN as yet but may do that to see what, if anything happens.

    3- Ran the STM32 ST-Link Utility software and selected the "Firmware_4.3.bin" file. The log shows the flash worked correctly. However, the Red/Green LED on the Discovery board kept flashing in a Red/Green sequence constantly.

I agree with John Sacrey's advice of checking the "reset after fllash" option.

    4- There did not appear to be any reset of the discovery board after the flash so I depressed the "BLACK" button as instructed. Now, the Red LED is on solid. However, the board appears to be cycling in the RESET mode continuously. Unplugging the mini USB connector only stops the cycling. Plugging the USB connector back in results the resumption of the cycling. NOTE: During the cycling there is a beep and then a long buzz with some flashing of the four tiny LEDs near the BLACK reset button. I also pressed the BLACK button again with no change in symptoms or behavior.

The Red LED, is this the same one that alternated red/green during the flashing? If it is steady red after flashing, it will stay on steady in red until a power cycle. I think that this is the USB controller behavior. It will start blinking after a power cycle. It doesn't hurt anything.

However, the board appears to be cycling in the RESET mode continuously.

What behavior leads you to say this?

NOTE: During the cycling there is a beep and then a long buzz with some flashing of the four tiny LEDs near the BLACK reset button.

This could be "normal". If you have the amplifier connected, I think that the default gain is 10x10. The beep might have been due to interference mode. Or, it might have been complaining about the amplifier being disconnected if it wasn't connected.


    5- One other thing I noticed on the Controller board when I was doing the initial "First Hardware Check" was that while the Green GPS LED was flashing, it never went into a solid "ON" state. I then plugged-in the external GPS antenna but it still remained blinking. I recycled the power but that didn't change anything. Hope this isn't an indication of a GPS module problem. Should the Green GPS LED go steady during this initial testing phase.

The GPS might take a while to get a first fix from a cold start. Does the external GPS antenna have a clear view of the sky? (at least in a window)

On the display, what is your USB power supply voltage? There are some known issues with higher voltage USB supplies. Try to use one between 4.7-4.9V. If it is much higher than 5V, this could be the problem.

You will need the display working to get the IP address that is assigned. If you can identify it from the router's DHCP listing, you might be able to connect to it via the web interface.

Greg H.

Greg H.,

As for the 5V USB power supply. I have two different units. One was from ADAFRUIT. It has an output voltage of 5.00volts dc. The other one is the one I power my Samsung Galaxy SIII with. The output of that one is 4.99volts. I see no change in the display with either one of them.

I am going to reflash this evening and will post the results here a little later - dinner is calling!!! 

[W3DRM]

Okay, started from the beginning and reflashed making certain the "reset" option was checked (it was). The load and reflash seem to go okay without any indicated errors. However, I did not see anything that looked like a refresh automatically take place after the process completed. I've attached a screen of what the reflash results looked like. I performed the reflash twice with no change noted.

I "exited" out of the utility program and then "safely removed" the STLink device before unplugging anything.

I am still getting no GPS lock indicated nor is the display working at all other than a very thin line at the bottom of the display.

Power supply voltages run between 4.9 and 5.0 volts with two different supplies giving similar readings.

Should I try Firmware_4.4.bin?

[miraculon]

One thought that came to mind in regard to the display:

The sockets for the display are 10 pin, but the PCB and display itself have only nine. I didn't chop the plastic, I cut a pin on each socket.
I almost inserted the display "one pin off" back when I had to remove the Discovery board and display.
Maybe you could carefully check that this didn't happen. (this might be a good "gotcha" item for the documentation)

Other than that, there shouldn't be any difference between 4.3 and 4.4 for the problems you are having. It might be good to have the latest regardless.

Are you doing a "Target>Connect" before flashing, and "Target>Disconnect" after? I have been doing that all along.

Greg H.

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

-  I have not connected the Amplifier board at any time into the circuitry as yet. I am waiting for the delivery of my shielded patch cable to arrive. Can I use an unshielded cable in the meantime for troubleshooting?

Sure, the amp'll get a 'working' ground from the Cat5...  

- Yes, the USB min cable (power) was connected to the discovery board during the flashing process.

I was just wondering if you had both connected while trying to flash...

Do you have a pointer to the notes (July 24 PDF) you are referring to? I can't seem to find them.

They're the July 24 build notes from the main BT site... I just didn't print off a later dated set, and had them handy... the page numbers might be off compared to the current doc dated Aug 23.

Keep plugging! You'll get it!
You might also go on and post your conclusions and issues on the main Blitzortung forum???
Mike

[W3DRM]

One thought that came to mind in regard to the display:

The sockets for the display are 10 pin, but the PCB and display itself have only nine. I didn't chop the plastic, I cut a pin on each socket.
I almost inserted the display "one pin off" back when I had to remove the Discovery board and display.
Maybe you could carefully check that this didn't happen. (this might be a good "gotcha" item for the documentation)

Other than that, there shouldn't be any difference between 4.3 and 4.4 for the problems you are having. It might be good to have the latest regardless.

Are you doing a "Target>Connect" before flashing, and "Target>Disconnect" after? I have been doing that all along.

Greg H.

Greg H,

That is a great suggestion - however, I already checked both the display and the discovery board for bent pins. All look good. Cutting the pin off rather than snipping the socket might be a better way of doing it so you don't run the risk of cutting too much off the connector. I almost did that myself but it didn't damage the socket - thankfully.

As far as ensuring that you don't install board off one pin, you could always stick a piece of toothpick in the hole so you couldn't get the board in the socket. You still run the risk of bending a pin if you try to force it in though.

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

Cutting the pin off rather than snipping the socket might be a better way of doing it so you don't run the risk of cutting too much off the connector. I almost did that myself but it didn't damage the socket - thankfully.

As far as ensuring that you don't install board off one pin, you could always stick a piece of toothpick in the hole so you couldn't get the board in the socket. You still run the risk of bending a pin if you try to force it in though.

If you score with a sharp knife between the pins, all around, the whole section will snap right off without an issue. Or if you've got real sharp, small dikes, just cut between them. Now, I did have a bit of trouble with these tired ol' eyes finding the #1 pin locations when I inserted the display...  
Mike