Easy/Newbie PCB for MySensors

[gohan]

I am using 2 10uF ceramic caps both on booster and radio side, so I strongly recommend to get a bunch of those as they are working better than the electrolics and can be used in many ways.

[sundberg84]

@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.

[helvetian]

here are some pics form my pcb board!

[sundberg84]

@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.

[helvetian]

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

[gohan]

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

[helvetian]

@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?

[gohan]

try adding first one on the booster and see what happens

[helvetian]

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?

[gohan]

I wouldn't do it if I were you. You are going to fry the radio

[sundberg84]

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.

[helvetian]

@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?

[sundberg84]

@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.

[gohan]

@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

[helvetian]

Thanks for clarifications

Awesome forum!

[sundberg84]

@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.

[Nca78]

@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

[sundberg84]

@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.

[gohan]

This post is deleted!

[sundberg84]

@gohan - sorry, didnt understand?