nRF5 action!
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I did another sleep current measurement, this time on a Ebyte module that I had mounted to one of my breakout boards. The sleep current measured between 8ua and 9ua. However, it would jump considerably higher depending on whether I was moving or otherwise close to it. I got the lower measurements by positioning myself about 6 feet away (further than that and it gets hard to read the multimeter that's connected to the uCurrent Gold). I've never seen this kind of behavior before in anything other than the nrf52832 boards. Very curious. They're acting almost like proximity detectors. I have no idea what to make of it, but I thought I'd report it in case anyone else here is doing measurements too.
Also, I'm going to avoid exposing the IO pins to voltages that approach Vcc in magnitude. Despite what the datasheet says, they don't seem to handle it well.
What you using for pcb design?
I would like to design something for the waveshare core board to plug into similar to what you just designed for the nrf52832 modules to adapt to 2.54mm pitch headers.
Similar to what you did here but with two sockets on top for the waveshare board.
https://www.openhardware.io/view/436/nRF52832-Breakout-Board -
What you using for pcb design?
I would like to design something for the waveshare core board to plug into similar to what you just designed for the nrf52832 modules to adapt to 2.54mm pitch headers.
Similar to what you did here but with two sockets on top for the waveshare board.
https://www.openhardware.io/view/436/nRF52832-Breakout-Board@rmtucker said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:
What you using for pcb design?
Diptrace.
Very easy to learn. Watch this tutorial series, and in a little more than an hour you'll know enough to use it for doing real work: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWy-YwxbAu8EkNv6iMsfLeH6Yahcwejwx
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@rmtucker said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:
What you using for pcb design?
However, if you have the time to invest, you might want to learn KiCAD instead (http://kicad-pcb.org/). It's open source and free.
My only real concern about Diptrace is that sharing source files is very, very difficult. Eagle is much better for that, it seems. I'm guessing KiCAD is also good with that, but I can't say that I know for sure.
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@NeverDie in KiCAD format, I suppose :D But even if it's not easy at least anyone can download Kicad and open them to at have a look without beeing block if you have more than two layers, or too big board.
I'm still using Eagle at the moment, it's the most common software but the changes made in what you can do with the free licence + limitation of PCB size are annoying. At some point I'll have to be strong and make the move to KiCAD... -
What you using for pcb design?
I would like to design something for the waveshare core board to plug into similar to what you just designed for the nrf52832 modules to adapt to 2.54mm pitch headers.
Similar to what you did here but with two sockets on top for the waveshare board.
https://www.openhardware.io/view/436/nRF52832-Breakout-Boardbefore you design your own board:
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before you design your own board:
@Toyman
Yes i am already running that board at the moment.
But that board consumes around 140uA when sleeping.
It must be the extra electronics like the regulator and uart.
even when feeding the core board with 3.3v directly.
When the core board is on its own it only measures 5uA when sleeping. -
This nRF52832 module looks to be pretty small, and it has both oscillators on it.
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Help needed!! I am trying to program nrf51822 with Black Magic Probe , but BMP is not recognized by Arduino IDE.
I can do everything in gdb, e.g. do mass erase, upload soft device etc, but BMP is simply not listed in programmers' list in Arduino IDE so I can't upload sketches. -
Help needed!! I am trying to program nrf51822 with Black Magic Probe , but BMP is not recognized by Arduino IDE.
I can do everything in gdb, e.g. do mass erase, upload soft device etc, but BMP is simply not listed in programmers' list in Arduino IDE so I can't upload sketches.Could anyone tell me why the waveshare board is pulling 140uA when sleeping with everything unpugged including the usb and all the header jumpers so only 3.3v and ground fed to the header pins so not using the regulator etc.
I have attached a link to the schematic hoping some circuit wiz might be able to explain.
link textIf i unplug the core board and just power that with 3.3v and gnd it only uses 5uA when sleeping.
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Could anyone tell me why the waveshare board is pulling 140uA when sleeping with everything unpugged including the usb and all the header jumpers so only 3.3v and ground fed to the header pins so not using the regulator etc.
I have attached a link to the schematic hoping some circuit wiz might be able to explain.
link textIf i unplug the core board and just power that with 3.3v and gnd it only uses 5uA when sleeping.
Even if you're not using the regulator and the CP2102 usb-serial converter there are some leakage currents which are caused by the output stages of those IC's. For example the output stage of the voltage regulator can draw some even if it's not powered. The CP2102 can draw also through the TXD1/RXD1/SUSPEND1 LEDs and the associated GPIO pins P0.11, P0.09, etc.
So to prove and test that the above it's true you need to:
- Desolder the RT9193-33 or at least its output pin(Vout pin 5)
- Desolder R6, R7, R10
This is what I can conclude by looking at that schematic. Any other opinions?
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Even if you're not using the regulator and the CP2102 usb-serial converter there are some leakage currents which are caused by the output stages of those IC's. For example the output stage of the voltage regulator can draw some even if it's not powered. The CP2102 can draw also through the TXD1/RXD1/SUSPEND1 LEDs and the associated GPIO pins P0.11, P0.09, etc.
So to prove and test that the above it's true you need to:
- Desolder the RT9193-33 or at least its output pin(Vout pin 5)
- Desolder R6, R7, R10
This is what I can conclude by looking at that schematic. Any other opinions?
@mtiutiu said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:
Any other opinions?
Yes. If it really matters that much, RMTucker should buy or make a uCurrent Gold. Otherwise, he'll find hmself chasing phantoms. I have a Fluke 87V, and I don't trust it to do these types of measurements (I've tried, and the results are just wrong when compared to a uCurrent Gold). I would trust a crappy multimeter even less. Been there and tried that already.
Just my two cents.
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@mtiutiu said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:
Any other opinions?
Yes. If it really matters that much, RMTucker should buy or make a uCurrent Gold. Otherwise, he'll find hmself chasing phantoms. I have a Fluke 87V, and I don't trust it to do these types of measurements (I've tried, and the results are just wrong when compared to a uCurrent Gold). I would trust a crappy multimeter even less. Been there and tried that already.
Just my two cents.
BTW, uCurrent Gold is open source. I have an original, but you can buy clones. For instance, LowPowerLab sells a clone. You might get it faster than ordering from Australia.... unless you live in Australia. Dave Jones did a video for me once, and so I thought he deserved the profit instead of somebody else. :)
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@mtiutiu said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:
Any other opinions?
Yes. If it really matters that much, RMTucker should buy or make a uCurrent Gold. Otherwise, he'll find hmself chasing phantoms. I have a Fluke 87V, and I don't trust it to do these types of measurements (I've tried, and the results are just wrong when compared to a uCurrent Gold). I would trust a crappy multimeter even less. Been there and tried that already.
Just my two cents.
@NeverDie said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:
@mtiutiu said in nRF5 Bluetooth action!:
Any other opinions?
Yes. If it really matters that much, RMTucker should buy or make a uCurrent Gold. Otherwise, he'll find hmself chasing phantoms. I have a Fluke 87V, and I don't trust it to do these types of measurements (I've tried, and the results are just wrong when compared to a uCurrent Gold). I would trust a crappy multimeter even less. Been there and tried that already.
Just my two cents.
It just depends on the burden voltage, no ? It's proportional to current in the circuit so in sleep mode when measuring around 10 uA it should be negligible.
Anyway I measure when powered with 3.3V so I'm sure what I measure is higher than what I will get in reality when circuit is powered with a 3V battery. -
For measuring small currents I'm using Texas Instruments EnergyTrace piece of technology and it works pretty well. You just need one of their development boards with energytrace special microcontroller embedded which is very cheap. More infos here: http://43oh.com/2015/09/how-to-measure-an-energia-applications-power-usage-with-energytrace/
It can be used to measure other boards power usage also - you just need to take of some jumpers and plug in your external board.
It gives you real time energy measurements and with plotting too(and battery life estimation is displayed real time too). No need to worry about burden voltage and other external factors which affect the measurements.
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For measuring small currents I'm using Texas Instruments EnergyTrace piece of technology and it works pretty well. You just need one of their development boards with energytrace special microcontroller embedded which is very cheap. More infos here: http://43oh.com/2015/09/how-to-measure-an-energia-applications-power-usage-with-energytrace/
It can be used to measure other boards power usage also - you just need to take of some jumpers and plug in your external board.
It gives you real time energy measurements and with plotting too(and battery life estimation is displayed real time too). No need to worry about burden voltage and other external factors which affect the measurements.
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@mtiutiu
I think maybe the nRF52 DK also has some energy measurement capability, but I haven't looked into it. -
Looks like I was wrong earlier about the voltage reference being Vcc when doing an analog read on a pin. Instead, it seems to be a fixed reference. In any case, I'm getting better results with an expression like this, which is independent of Vcc:
millivolts = (analogRead(PIN)*3000/4095)
What are others here doing in this case?
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Looks like I was wrong earlier about the voltage reference being Vcc when doing an analog read on a pin. Instead, it seems to be a fixed reference. In any case, I'm getting better results with an expression like this, which is independent of Vcc:
millivolts = (analogRead(PIN)*3000/4095)
What are others here doing in this case?
@NeverDie
As mentioned earlier by someone the nrf52 is preset to 0.6v internal ref and a 1/5 divider so 0 - 3v is the max input so your calculation is correct.
The nrf51 is different because the ref can be set to a few different settings but the default is vdd.
