Easy/Newbie PCB for MySensors
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thx for your fast reply. i'm in the train right now. so i can't provide you now with any pics. as soon as possible i will do that!
I am using a battery booster (as it seems the same as you use), i have the battery jumpers connected, all the resistors and caps for the battery measurement.
It is just wired that it functions while the nrf24 is powered separately. maybe i got some bad radios?
One more question: the cap just below the booster. is this necessary to reduce the noice for the radio? might that help and if yes what size do you recommend? i didn't solder any cap yet there."Did you by any chance connect both batteries and ftdi Vcc at the same time?"
Yes! I did try this as well. Same results...
I should also mention i got my Arduino Pro mini battery powered hacked. So no more LED and Voltage regulator. But then again i also tried it with a untouched one. -
thx for your fast reply. i'm in the train right now. so i can't provide you now with any pics. as soon as possible i will do that!
I am using a battery booster (as it seems the same as you use), i have the battery jumpers connected, all the resistors and caps for the battery measurement.
It is just wired that it functions while the nrf24 is powered separately. maybe i got some bad radios?
One more question: the cap just below the booster. is this necessary to reduce the noice for the radio? might that help and if yes what size do you recommend? i didn't solder any cap yet there."Did you by any chance connect both batteries and ftdi Vcc at the same time?"
Yes! I did try this as well. Same results...
I should also mention i got my Arduino Pro mini battery powered hacked. So no more LED and Voltage regulator. But then again i also tried it with a untouched one.@helvetian - good, sounds like a good start.
If you have a booster + battery jumper in place this powers the radio separately. The most critical capacitor is the one close to VCC/GND on the Nrf24 radio. What value do you use here? Sometimes it helps to try higher values. I use 4,7 in normal cases but sometimes I either replace it or add in parallel a 47uF as well.maybe i got some bad radios?
This is not uncommon... noice from the booster (also common) combined with a bad radio might do this.
One more question: the cap just below the booster. is this necessary to reduce the noice for the radio?
Yes and No - I dont have any hard evidence (there are caps on the booster itself) but I have had good results with a 0,1 cheramic cap for a node that didnt work. It doesnt hurt to add.
"Did you by any chance connect both batteries and ftdi Vcc at the same time?"
Yes! I did try this as well. Same results...Dont do this - only 1 Vcc allowed :)
When you have the time, upload a picture - it will probably help us more to help you.
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@helvetian looks good! Nice work.
I would start by soldering in/change capacitor on the radio and booster as mentioned. Try some other radio of you have. I have never connected the jumper for irq so just to test of nothing else works you can de-solder the irq jumper. -
ok. thanks for the tips and your promt assistance! such a great community!
i will try to experiment with some caps.
i tested already a couple of different radios. but maybe i will get once a decent one which will work -
get some of these, I am very happy I got them
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-shipping-100PCS-Multilayer-ceramic-capacitor-10UF-106-50V-P-5-08mm/32783039097.html@gohan
just bought them on ali. What would you recommend in the meantime till they arrive here in snowy switzerland? i got a assortement of electrolyt caps.
i got a bunch of 0.1uf ceramics. could i just solder(or test it on a breadboard) 10 of them to try out? -
just a quick update.
i ran some more tests with different radios and a 10uf electroltyte cap on the booster. And some different batteries.
Heureka! It works. For now. It is running now with a 3.7v lipo battery without the voltage regulator. Does anybody know if this is safe in the long run? -
If you bypassed the booster and that works it seems like you have a booster which generates alot of noice. Try bypassing it with 2xaa and see what happens.
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If you bypassed the booster and that works it seems like you have a booster which generates alot of noice. Try bypassing it with 2xaa and see what happens.
@sundberg84 do you experience the same thing when you are using boosters? Some are better than other even tough they are the same model? Same with the radios?
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@sundberg84 do you experience the same thing when you are using boosters? Some are better than other even tough they are the same model? Same with the radios?
@helvetian correct. I can buy a batch with 10 boosters and some works and some don't. Most can work with the right capacitors as support but a few was just impossible.
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@sundberg84 do you experience the same thing when you are using boosters? Some are better than other even tough they are the same model? Same with the radios?
@helvetian when dealing with cheap Chinese stuff, you always have to consider that you may have got a poor quality product and because of this I also bought LiFePo4 batteries that run at 3.3v so no regulator needed making it easy to figure out if it is a power issue or else
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@helvetian - just so you dont miss this. A Atmega328 (Pro mini if you are using EasyPCB) can be run without a booster by reprogramming the fuses/bootloader. This is more advanced but possible. Then you can run the pro mini with a 8mhz or 1mhz internal clock down to the radio minimum 1.9v. This is a better option compared to boosters but harder to achieve.
Controller: Proxmox VM - Home Assistant
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - W5100 Ethernet, Gw Shield Nrf24l01+ 2,4Ghz
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - Gw Shield RFM69, 433mhz
RFLink GW - Arduino Mega + RFLink Shield, 433mhz -
@helvetian - just so you dont miss this. A Atmega328 (Pro mini if you are using EasyPCB) can be run without a booster by reprogramming the fuses/bootloader. This is more advanced but possible. Then you can run the pro mini with a 8mhz or 1mhz internal clock down to the radio minimum 1.9v. This is a better option compared to boosters but harder to achieve.
@sundberg84 said in Easy/Newbie PCB for MySensors:
@helvetian - just so you dont miss this. A Atmega328 (Pro mini if you are using EasyPCB) can be run without a booster by reprogramming the fuses/bootloader. This is more advanced but possible. Then you can run the pro mini with a 8mhz or 1mhz internal clock down to the radio minimum 1.9v. This is a better option compared to boosters but harder to achieve.
No it is not "hard". You just need to copy files in a directory, edit a text file and flash ISP sketch on a nano or uno bard. Easier than dealing with unreliable boosters :p
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@sundberg84 said in Easy/Newbie PCB for MySensors:
@helvetian - just so you dont miss this. A Atmega328 (Pro mini if you are using EasyPCB) can be run without a booster by reprogramming the fuses/bootloader. This is more advanced but possible. Then you can run the pro mini with a 8mhz or 1mhz internal clock down to the radio minimum 1.9v. This is a better option compared to boosters but harder to achieve.
No it is not "hard". You just need to copy files in a directory, edit a text file and flash ISP sketch on a nano or uno bard. Easier than dealing with unreliable boosters :p
@nca78 ... can be discussed. Wiring needs to be right. It's not hard when you know what to do but it's harder compared to a working booster.
Controller: Proxmox VM - Home Assistant
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - W5100 Ethernet, Gw Shield Nrf24l01+ 2,4Ghz
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - Gw Shield RFM69, 433mhz
RFLink GW - Arduino Mega + RFLink Shield, 433mhz -
@nca78 ... can be discussed. Wiring needs to be right. It's not hard when you know what to do but it's harder compared to a working booster.
