💬 MySensors Stable Node

[yury]

@ahmedadelhosni said:

Is soldering it more difficult than soldering the atmega as they are not the same package type ?

3 steps process:

1. tin-plating the board contacts
2. tin-plating the chip contacts
3. apply flux-gel and place chip on the board and heat it with soldering Heat Blower - pre-heat-wait-heat-wait . Like standard soldering profile http://www.renesas.eu/products/lead/specific_info/rt/heatproof/index.jsp .

also need to have a good ayes ))) the flux-gel should be the one you do not have to remove after.

[Sander Teunissen]

You make some... I'll buy some... great work!

[yury]

Alfa testing:

Checking radios as various nodes. Currently working as 2 relay nodes, DHT 22 temperature node and gateway.
All is good . Range 1-2 meters less than NRF24 with big antenna in apartment surrounding.
Digital pins cheeked like in the video: https://youtu.be/00fy9amZnt4
Analog pins tested with generic arduino light sensor. So radios and pins are OK.

[yury]

@Sander-Teunissen said:

You make some... I'll buy some... great work!

So far still negotiating\finding reliable PCBA. First batch of 17 boards Koresh and me we were not impressed.

[Sander Stolk]

Keep me posted!
Will order when board comes soldered and ready to use!

[GertSanders]

Congratulations !!! Best hardware project indeed !

[shabba]

I would be all over this (would get a dozen!) if using RF69. Should be handy enough to modify? I better start watching those KiCad tutorials!

[Koresh]

@GertSanders Thanks! :)

@shabba I've almosted completed new ultrasmall radionode based on rfm69. I'am very busy now but I hope to finish all tests in a week. I will post board asap :)

[scalz]

@Koresh wow looks promising :) I can't wait!!! I thought that sub Ghz antenna is bigger than 2.4ghz??

[shabba]

I would think we would solder on out own antenna.

[scalz]

oh maybe I didn't understand well, I thought that semtech ic (rfm69) would be onboard?? because if we wire our antenna, I don't see well why not use rfm69 module instead. In case of pcb antenna trace, ic onboard makes more sense imho. but maybe I'm wrong..I thought to give a try to this sometimes ago but had this reflexion,..and good design of pcb antenna trace for 433-915mhz is a lot bigger than 2.4ghz nrf. and smaller trace, lower range..+ need to be tuned for each design (in theory, I'm not expert)
that's cool because koresh is skilled at this :) lot of thing to learn! so I can't wait to see or try one board!

[Slorf]

@Koresh

Hi,

I got all the parts, but I think the NRF24L01 is the normal version and not the + version, there is no + to be found on the chip.

Would the older NRF24L01 ( without plus ) work on the board ?, or do I have to use the R1 resistor ?
( Resistor 1M ( which package size ) - unnecessary element (R1 can be mounted for backward compatibility with nRF24L01, nevermind)

Alex

[Koresh]

@Slorf It depends on crystal. If oscillator starts and works correctly some days you can omit it.

[Slorf]

@Koresh

Ermm... how do I know it works correctly ?, and if it doesn't work correctly which 1M resistor do I have to use ?

Thanks for your help !!!

Alex

[Koresh]

@Slorf NRF oscillator can work or not (or could stop after some time). If problems appear use any 1m resistor (0402 or 0603 if you can solder it). Do not worry. It is the last stage (after nrf soldering and atmega programming).
Can you provide link to your nrf chip(where you buy it)? I want to check it.

[Slorf]

@Koresh

Sorry for the late reply, our second son was born just 2 weeks ago.... no sleep anymore :-)

It looks like this one, except mines it labelled: 0935VI, the one on the link 0935VJ

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/NRF24L01-QFN20-24L01-SMD-chip-new-original-SDQYS/1823911_32468479303.html

[sundberg84]

@Slorf said:

@Koresh
our second son was born just 2 weeks ago.... no sleep anymore :-)

Congrats!!! :baby: :sleeping: :smiley:

[yury]

@Slorf said:

reply

Congrats and enjoy ))

[Sander Teunissen]

@koresh Just created a light sensor from one of the boards I bought from you. It works great !
I had to do some tweaking with the serial monitor speed from my arduino IDE (I had to double the speed which was set in the code or something)
I also had to press the reset button just before uploading of the sketch started.
Apart from that: Great !
Thanks !

[Koresh]

@Sander-Teunissen
Thanks to your responce.
I'm sorry to hear you faced some hardware problem. Of course the board must restart itself. It may be couse of low quality of mounting first boards or it was damaged during delivery :(
May be you used incorrect usb-ttl converters boards without correct dtr line? I faced them year ago.. it was bad surprise )