Topic: RED is down

[Jumpin Joe]

Discovered that my RED is inoperative this morning. The display has a solid black line through the center of it. Resetting, powering the unit on and off, does not correct the problem.

Anyone know what the issue may be?

Thanks,
Joe

[miraculon]

Are any LEDs on? Which ones?
Is the GPS fix LED on (or cycles after power up, depending on your RED vintage)? Power LED?
Can you get to the RED via the GUI from a PC? If so, and it is just the display, what is the 5V supply showing for voltage?
There are known issues with the display at high 5V rail voltages.

Greg

[Jumpin Joe]

I just plugged it back in and now it is working just fine. I did notice that there was an error message when I started it back up that said HARD FAULT ERROR and then it went to normal operation  before I read anything else that was on the display. Very strange.

Joe

[miraculon]

It seems that both Cutty Sark and John Sacrey have had the hard faults in the past. I haven't seen one myself, but I am in the habit of clearing  interference mode with a reset* every so often. I probably don't get a very long "run time" on RED myself.

* my default gains were saved based on avoiding interference mode during moderate noise

[Jumpin Joe]

Greg,

Is it possible to get an email or text notice when a station is in interference or goes offline for after a certain amount of time?

Thanks,
Joe

[miraculon]

There is an option for that in your settings on Blitzortung.org, but they also say that it isn't implemented yet.

Notification:   Send an email after  hours of inactivity (0 hours turns off, not implemented yet, coming soon)

It has been "coming soon" for a while now...

Greg

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

Joe, What kind of wall wart are you using to power Blitzy?

[Jumpin Joe]

Mike,

Using a cell phone charger.

Joe

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

I had misc. issues with various chargers... issues went away when I got hold of a regulated supply instead...
http://www.powerstream.com/AC-1898.htm  locked to 5v (you'll have to fabricate a mini usb and hardwire)
some of the little chargers have strange characteristics...

[miraculon]

Joe,

Remember this?

http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=20043.0

I have had good luck with this supply. It runs typically around 4.7V.

Greg

[W7DRM (old call was W3DRM)]

Another source for 5v power comes from Adafruit.com. I purchased the 5v USB power supply from them and have had no problems with it. I also purchased one of their USB cables (USB A / Mini-B, 3ft). If you look at their website they mention the supply is designed to produce an output of 5.25v which supposedly offsets the loss in the wiring. I see an input voltage to my controller board (as indicated in the status display) of between 4.95 and 4.97v.

Links to both products are shown below:

• 5v 1A USB Pwr Supply: http://www.adafruit.com/products/501/
• USB Cable - A/MiniB - 3ft.: http://www.adafruit.com/products/260/

[Jumpin Joe]

Thanks guys,

If it acts up again, I will order a new one.

Joe

[Jumpin Joe]

Joe,

Remember this?

http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=20043.0

I have had good luck with this supply. It runs typically around 4.7V.

Greg

Placed my order Greg... I keep getting the "Hard Failure" error.

Thanks,
Joe

[Jumpin Joe]

Joe,

Remember this?

http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=20043.0

I have had good luck with this supply. It runs typically around 4.7V.

Greg

Placed my order Greg... I keep getting the "Hard Failure" error.

Thanks,
Joe

Don  Greg,

New power supply arrived today. Hooked it up and Red ran fine for an hour or so....... RED is down again... display has a scrolling line in it and is not lit up. Blue light is solid, upper left red light is blinking, upper right red light is solid.

 Is my problem the display or the discovery board or something else.

Thanks,

Joe

[W7DRM (old call was W3DRM)]

Have you measured the voltage being delivered to your board? I'd start there to see if your problem is power related, or not.

[Jumpin Joe]

Yes,  4.9 ...... appears that my only issue at this time is that the display is not functioning. Guess I'll have to order a new one.  I believe that I read somewhere that others have had bad displays as well.  I wonder if it has a warranty...?

[miraculon]

Measure the 3V, 3V3 (3.3V) and 5V power supplies. If you don't have a DMM, what does the GUI report?
Get the voltages during this failure mode if you can.
5V comes from the USB. There is a regulator on the RED board that supplies 3V3 and another one that provides 3V on the Discovery board. You can measure it on one of the STM board pins.
It might be something that is thermally intermittent after heating up a while.
If you let it cool off for a while, does it work again until it warms up again?
What does the GPS indicate? Does it have lock? The steady blue LED is disconcerting.

Greg

[miraculon]

Yes,  4.9 ...... appears that my only issue at this time is that the display is not functioning. Guess I'll have to order a new one.  I believe that I read somewhere that others have had bad displays as well.  I wonder if it has a warranty...?

I believe that there is an adjustment pot inside the power supply. Disconnect the RED before you start adjusting... Don't want to fry something with a turn of the old screwdriver...
You might be able to tweak it down a little. I think that there was a little manual that came with the power supply that shows this, IIRC...
Greg

[W7DRM (old call was W3DRM)]

I missed his comment about the blue light being on solid. That led should be blinking at a 1 pulse per second rate. Also, the small green led near it should be on solid too. Sounds like you may have more than display problems...

[Jumpin Joe]

Everything is working well EXCEPT for the Display, it is totally out.  Nothing was included with the power supply.

 

[Jumpin Joe]

Would anyone know if the display for RED is available in the US?

[miraculon]

How about Mouser?

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ELECTRONIC-ASSEMBLY/EA-DIP122-5NLED/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsrXwDbvcTu4MzmrfVyCFej




Greg

[Jumpin Joe]

Thanks Greg.

[Jumpin Joe]

   Installed a new display and RED is back to normal.   

Joe

[miraculon]

 
That's great!
What color did you get? (standard green, amber or blue)
I thought about the the blue one since it looks cool, but I think for reducing the noise it is best to shut off the backlight.

Greg