¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

ctrl + shift + ? for shortcuts
© 2025 Groups.io
Date

Re: SMD Stencil/Reflow solution?

 

Thanks Greg!? I've been looking for something to measure SMD parts.
dave, n3ds


On Wed, Feb 5, 2025 at 7:50?AM Greg KF5N via <greg.electricity=[email protected]> wrote:
I have the FNIRSI tweezers:

?
Pretty good!? Nice to have on the bench during assembly to double-check things.
?
--
73 Greg KF5N


Re: SMD Stencil/Reflow solution?

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Thanks!? Just bought one.? Looks like a reasonable tool.

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Greg KF5N via groups.io
Sent: Wednesday, February 5, 2025 6:50 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] SMD Stencil/Reflow solution?

?

I have the FNIRSI tweezers:

?

Pretty good!? Nice to have on the bench during assembly to double-check things.

?

--

73 Greg KF5N


Re: SMD Stencil/Reflow solution?

 

I have the FNIRSI tweezers:

?
Pretty good!? Nice to have on the bench during assembly to double-check things.
?
--
73 Greg KF5N


Re: SMD Stencil/Reflow solution?

 
Edited

Sorry, missed your comment... from the usermanual in the Amazon link. They are what they are, but for a ball park figure, perfect.
I'm tempted to makeup a lead so I can use the tweezers with my rather wonderful Bryman BM869s
?
?
--
73
Chris M0YGH


Re: TFT_eSPI Library with STM32F4x1 (STM32F401 or STM32F411) boards i.e Blackpill boards and TFT ILI9341 displays #arduino #bluepill #display #stm32

 

The two boards have a different clock speed (84 vs 72MHz).? It appears the spi frequency for the board can't be set to the 36MHz as is being done at the bottom of Setup32_ILI9341_STM32F103.h. Try setting SPI_FREQUENCY to 42MHz.? I'd try 10.5MHz for SPI_READ_FREQUENCY and 1.3125MHz for SPI_TOUCH_FREQUENCY.


TFT_eSPI Library with STM32F4x1 (STM32F401 or STM32F411) boards i.e Blackpill boards and TFT ILI9341 displays #arduino #bluepill #display #stm32

 

I have been using STM32F103 BluePill boards for several years without any major issues and have them driving ILI9341 TFT displays OK.

I decided to try/experiment ?the STM32F401 and have a bought a Blackpill and a Nucleo64 STM32F401
Boards program fine in most respects except that I can't get any TFT display with a ILI9341 to work.
?
I just get a Grey Screen yet the same code works with a F103 Bluepill.
I have a test jig with a 40 pin ZIF socket so I can swap between a STM32F103 Blue Pill and a STMF401 BlackPill and keep the pin wiring the same to eliminate a wiring issue.
?
I am using https://github.com/stm32duino/BoardManagerFiles/raw/main/package_stmicroelectronics_index.json
and
stm32 mcu BASED BOARDS MANAGER v 2.9.0
I am testing with? the TFT_eSPI examples TFT_Print_Test
?
As there doesn't seem to be a User Setup specific for a STM32F401 and a ILI9341 I am using the closest I can find i.e. Setup32_ILI9341_STM32F103.h
Pin wiring to the default for above.? Bluepill and Blackpill have their SPI on the same pins.
This setup works fine with a BluePill when I select a F103 board.

All I do is change the Board in the Arduino IDE from an F103 to a F401 and re-compile and upload.
No display on the ILI9341 TFT but I also have blink running and its fine.
?
Its got me puzzled.
I also have the same TFT working fine with an ESP32 and on AVR Arduinos.
?
I also have a Nucleo64 STM32F401 board and it behaves exactly the same.

Issue seems to be relate to SPI on the F401 as the F103 is fine.
Anybody got any ideas?
I plan to put an oscilloscope onto the SPI pins and see if there is a difference.
Could the F401 be using a different SPI mode to the F103?
?
Any ideas?
?
73
Dave
GM4NFI


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Ok thanks.? I see what went wrong¡­ that section was copied straight out of the BPF manual and unfortunately not updated.? I can fix that.

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of D Solt via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 10:49 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

The assembly manual T41_RF_Board_Assembly_Manual_V12_042324.docx was confusing in the following paragraph which I understood to say, use address "100":? Thanks for all you do on this project.? I am loving it!

?

"2. I2C addressing and switching.
The RF board is controlled via I2C communications from the V12 Main board.? An MCP23017 16 bit I/O expander is used to communicate with a central processor via SCL and ?SDA serial lines brought in through pins 7 and 5 of J3, the ¡°RF CONTROL¡± connector.? The I/O expander has hex address 0x24, and the user can select any of eight chip addresses from ¡°000¡± to ¡°111¡± shorting the solder switches provided (nb. the address of the expander for the T41 V12 primary receiver BPF address is ¡°100¡±¡­ so the solder switch on the board for A2 at JP4 should be filled and the rest left blank).? See the following for more information: ?"

?

On Tue, Feb 4, 2025 at 11:23?AM K9HZ via <bill=[email protected]> wrote:

You are quite welcome Dave¡­ For feedback, which documentation is lacking to help avoid a problem here?

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of D Solt via
Sent: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 8:33 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

That was it!!!! Wrong address. Now all three boards work with varying receiver attenuation.? Now I'm on to calibration.? Thank you all for your help.

dave, n3ds

?

On Mon, Feb 3, 2025 at 6:27?PM K9HZ via <bill=[email protected]> wrote:

The primary RF board (that is the Primary RX and TX) should be set to 0x27 which means that the three address lines A0, A1, and A2 should be set to ¡°111¡± or no shorted jumpers (J15, J16, J17).

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Oliver KI3P via
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025 4:49 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

Bill's right: you do not have the correct address for the MCP23017 chip. The I2C address is set by JP15, JP16 and JP17.

?

?

The command "#define RF_MCP23017_ADDR" sets the address that the code looks for -- make sure the address in software matches the address you set using the solder jumpers.


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

The assembly manual T41_RF_Board_Assembly_Manual_V12_042324.docx was confusing in the following paragraph which I understood to say, use address "100":? Thanks for all you do on this project.? I am loving it!

"2. I2C addressing and switching.
The RF board is controlled via I2C communications from the V12 Main board.? An MCP23017 16 bit I/O expander is used to communicate with a central processor via SCL and ?SDA serial lines brought in through pins 7 and 5 of J3, the ¡°RF CONTROL¡± connector.? The I/O expander has hex address 0x24, and the user can select any of eight chip addresses from ¡°000¡± to ¡°111¡± shorting the solder switches provided (nb. the address of the expander for the T41 V12 primary receiver BPF address is ¡°100¡±¡­ so the solder switch on the board for A2 at JP4 should be filled and the rest left blank).? See the following for more information: ?"



On Tue, Feb 4, 2025 at 11:23?AM K9HZ via <bill=[email protected]> wrote:

You are quite welcome Dave¡­ For feedback, which documentation is lacking to help avoid a problem here?

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of D Solt via
Sent: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 8:33 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

That was it!!!! Wrong address. Now all three boards work with varying receiver attenuation.? Now I'm on to calibration.? Thank you all for your help.

dave, n3ds

?

On Mon, Feb 3, 2025 at 6:27?PM K9HZ via <bill=[email protected]> wrote:

The primary RF board (that is the Primary RX and TX) should be set to 0x27 which means that the three address lines A0, A1, and A2 should be set to ¡°111¡± or no shorted jumpers (J15, J16, J17).

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Oliver KI3P via
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025 4:49 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

Bill's right: you do not have the correct address for the MCP23017 chip. The I2C address is set by JP15, JP16 and JP17.

?

?

The command "#define RF_MCP23017_ADDR" sets the address that the code looks for -- make sure the address in software matches the address you set using the solder jumpers.


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

You are quite welcome Dave¡­ For feedback, which documentation is lacking to help avoid a problem here?

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of D Solt via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 8:33 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

That was it!!!! Wrong address. Now all three boards work with varying receiver attenuation.? Now I'm on to calibration.? Thank you all for your help.

dave, n3ds

?

On Mon, Feb 3, 2025 at 6:27?PM K9HZ via <bill=[email protected]> wrote:

The primary RF board (that is the Primary RX and TX) should be set to 0x27 which means that the three address lines A0, A1, and A2 should be set to ¡°111¡± or no shorted jumpers (J15, J16, J17).

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Oliver KI3P via
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025 4:49 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

Bill's right: you do not have the correct address for the MCP23017 chip. The I2C address is set by JP15, JP16 and JP17.

?

?

The command "#define RF_MCP23017_ADDR" sets the address that the code looks for -- make sure the address in software matches the address you set using the solder jumpers.


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

That was it!!!! Wrong address. Now all three boards work with varying receiver attenuation.? Now I'm on to calibration.? Thank you all for your help.
dave, n3ds


On Mon, Feb 3, 2025 at 6:27?PM K9HZ via <bill=[email protected]> wrote:

The primary RF board (that is the Primary RX and TX) should be set to 0x27 which means that the three address lines A0, A1, and A2 should be set to ¡°111¡± or no shorted jumpers (J15, J16, J17).

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Oliver KI3P via
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025 4:49 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

Bill's right: you do not have the correct address for the MCP23017 chip. The I2C address is set by JP15, JP16 and JP17.

?

?

The command "#define RF_MCP23017_ADDR" sets the address that the code looks for -- make sure the address in software matches the address you set using the solder jumpers.


T41 and K9HZ-KI3P files

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Just so everyone knows.? Repeating.

?

A few months back, I separated the T41 boards and kits¡­ from the K9HZ-KI3P boards and kits¡­ by placing them is separate GITHUB directories.? I did that because a number of foreign entities were ripping off the GERBERS, making boards, and posting them for sale at exorbitant prices¡­ various places that include eBay.? I would then get by the purchaser thinking I would support someone elses PCBs because MY CALL WAS STILL ON THE BOARD [meaning the criminal didn¡¯t even bother removing my call from the board].

?

To END THAT Behavior, ?I moved K9HZ-KI3P proprietary stuff into a separate K9HZ GITHUB Directory¡­ removed the GERBERS and some schematics from that directory.? The GERBERS and all other documents for etc. for the T41 boards¡­ all versions¡­ are still available in the T41 directory on my GITHUB.

?

Those who want the K9HZ-KI3P stuff can contact me directly to see if that makes sense.? For example, I have authorized certain people to make boards for my 20W PA in the UK/EU because it¡¯s such a PITA for me to ship stuff there (unless they have a shipper here in the USA who will handle the paperwork).? For those of you in the USA¡­ I can¡¯t imagine anyone asking for GERBERS since I can make and sell you the boards much cheaper than you could possibly have them made¡­ and any changes you would make to the boards is easier to start over.

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: Greg Tilford <gregtilford@...>
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025 5:03 PM
To: bill@...
Subject: Re: Private: [AmateurRadioBuilders] LPF Files

?

I'm glad I asked.? I've been working exclusively from this URL:

Thanks!

On 2/3/2025 4:55 PM, Dr. William J. Schmidt wrote:

?

It¡¯s all there¡­

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: Greg, KM5GT via groups.io <GregTilford@...>
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025 4:49 PM
To: K9HZ <bill@...>
Subject: Private: [AmateurRadioBuilders] LPF Files

?

Hi Bill, I don't want to spam the who list ... but all of the files associated with the LPF seem to have disappeared from github.? At least I can't find any of them on my clone or on the site.? What am I missing?

?

Thanks and 73, Greg, KM5GT


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

The primary RF board (that is the Primary RX and TX) should be set to 0x27 which means that the three address lines A0, A1, and A2 should be set to ¡°111¡± or no shorted jumpers (J15, J16, J17).

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Oliver KI3P via groups.io
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025 4:49 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

Bill's right: you do not have the correct address for the MCP23017 chip. The I2C address is set by JP15, JP16 and JP17.

?

?

The command "#define RF_MCP23017_ADDR" sets the address that the code looks for -- make sure the address in software matches the address you set using the solder jumpers.


Re: Not Displaying the Frequency....

 

ah yes. That mythical prototyping standard ...

MIL TFD 4.1

"Make It Like The F***ing Drawing, For Once" !

On Mon, Feb 3, 2025 at 09:10 PM, jerry-KF6VB wrote:

*** Yeah, the military is a different world. LOADs of paperwork before
you write a single line of code. Time card audits...


Re: Toroid Winding

 

I'm not in a position to try this, being more of a theoretical than a
practical person (still not started on my T41) but musing, I wonder if one was
to wind the wire loosely around a pencil or something of a slightly larger
diameter than the cross section of the toroid and then to screw the wire
onto the toroid and then fettle it to tighten the turns?

On Sun, Feb 2, 2025 at 06:01 PM, jjpurdum wrote:
I'm winding the toroids for a new LPF board. Because the filter might be used
with Bill's 100W PA, the wire size is increased to #20 gauge for winding on
T68 cores. Because of the thicker wire and relative small cores, the Crochet
Hook method suggested in the QST article doesn't work very well and runs the
risk of kinking the wire. Therefore, I'm back to "hand-winding" the toroids.
FWIW, I've found that after I've threaded the wire through the center of the
core, placing the wire between my thumb and forefinger, with the forefinger
"on top" of the wire and gripping tightly and pulling the wire taught with my
thumb "under" the wire tends to curl the wire that makes threading it through
the center for the next turn much easier.
The curl thus formed is in the direction of the next turn and makes kinking
less likely.
Jack, W8TEE


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

Bill's right: you do not have the correct address for the MCP23017 chip. The I2C address is set by JP15, JP16 and JP17.
?
?
The command "#define RF_MCP23017_ADDR" sets the address that the code looks for -- make sure the address in software matches the address you set using the solder jumpers.


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

The control MC23017 is not recognized on the board so its not gonna work no matter what. ALSO MAKE SURE THAT THE .CPP and .H FILES FOR RF CONTROL ARE PRESENT IN THE FILE YOU ARE COMPILING. If they are not, there is no RF control software.


Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

Owner - Operator
Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC
Staunton, Illinois

Owner ¨C Operator
Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ
Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.
Rent it: www.VillaGrandPiton.com

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.
Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

email: bill@...

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of jerry-KF6VB
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025 3:46 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: D Solt via groups.io <davesolt@...>
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

On 2025-02-03 13:32, D Solt via groups.io wrote:
I wonder if my problem with the attenuator is related to software.
You can scope the control wires going to the attenuators. They're just DC levels.
For the receive attenuator, the signals are U21 pin 21 ( .5dB ) through
U21 pin 26.
High = near 3.3V,
Low = near 0V.

- Jerry, KF6VB



All 3 of my boards behave the same. They receive well, but the levels
never change when I adjust the receive attenuator. Maybe I have an
earlier version of the software or the I2C addresses are not right.
My Bit Report shows:
0x21 Front Panel
0x24 BPF
0x27 FR MC23017 NOT FOUND
0x6F RF
0x25 LPF
0x29 LPT
Does this look correct? I'll download the latest version of the SW
tomorrow.

dave

On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 6:14?PM Oliver KI3P via groups.io [1]
<oliver@...> wrote:

Here's one way to test it.

Load the latest code onto the Teensy. It has an option under the RF
set menu to change the input attenuation.

Then, put a 10 MHz (or whatever) signal into the RF_in SMA connector
and hook an oscilloscope or spectrum analyzer to the output side of
the attenuator bypass jumper.

You should see the signal amplitude change when you adjust the RF
input attention setting in the RF menu.

-------- Original Message --------
On 1/31/25 9:46 AM, D Solt via groups.io [1] wrote:

How do I tell if the receive PE4302 attenuator is working. I can't
tell any difference in received signals at whatever settings or when
I jumper it out. I have two RF boards built up and they behave the
same. Before I swap the chips out, I wanted to get some inputs. I
haven't gotten to testing the transmitter circuits yet.
dave, n3ds


Links:
------
[1]
[2] /g/SoftwareControlledHamRadio/message/32563
[3] /mt/110916510/243852
[4] /g/SoftwareControlledHamRadio/post
[5] /g/SoftwareControlledHamRadio/editsub/243852
[6]
/g/SoftwareControlledHamRadio/leave/10484476/243852/1
943518115/xyzzy


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

No¡­ looks like the control is not talking on the RF board.?

?

Here is a list of the reserved addresses (NOTE DON¡¯T get hung up on 1st receiver or Second receiver¡­ they could be either by changing some definitions in the software) :

?

??? <- open the I2C address assignments spreadsheet. ??Column ¡°G¡±

?

?

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ 8P6HK ZF2HZ PJ4/K9HZ VP5/K9HZ PJ2/K9HZ VP2EHZ

?

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch ¨C K9ZC

Staunton, Illinois

?

Owner ¨C Operator

Villa Grand Piton ¨C J68HZ

Soufriere, St. Lucia W.I.

Rent it:

?

Moderator: North American QRO Group at Groups.IO.

Moderator: Amateur Radio Builders Group at Groups.IO.

?

email:? bill@...

?

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of D Solt via groups.io
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2025 3:32 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [SoftwareControlledHamRadio] T41 receive attenuator working?

?

I wonder if my problem with the attenuator is related to software.? All 3 of my boards behave the same. They receive well, but the levels never change when I adjust the receive attenuator.? Maybe I have an earlier version of the software or the I2C addresses are not right.? My Bit Report shows:

0x21 Front Panel

0x24 BPF

0x27 FR MC23017 NOT FOUND

0x6F RF

0x25 LPF

0x29 LPT

Does this look correct?? I'll download the latest version of the SW tomorrow.

?

dave

?

On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 6:14?PM Oliver KI3P via <oliver=[email protected]> wrote:

Here's one way to test it.

Load the latest code onto the Teensy. It has an option under the RF set menu to change the input attenuation.

Then, put a 10 MHz (or whatever) signal into the RF_in SMA connector and hook an oscilloscope or spectrum analyzer to the output side of the attenuator bypass jumper.

You should see the signal amplitude change when you adjust the RF input attention setting in the RF menu.



-------- Original Message --------
On 1/31/25 9:46 AM, D Solt via wrote:

How do I tell if the receive PE4302 attenuator is working.? I can't tell any difference in received signals at whatever settings or when I jumper it out.? I have two RF boards built up and they behave the same.? Before I swap the chips out, I wanted to get some inputs. I haven't gotten to testing the transmitter circuits yet.

dave, n3ds


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

On 2025-02-03 13:32, D Solt via groups.io wrote:
I wonder if my problem with the attenuator is related to software.
You can scope the control wires going to the attenuators. They're just DC levels.
For the receive attenuator, the signals are U21 pin 21 ( .5dB ) through U21 pin 26.
High = near 3.3V,
Low = near 0V.

- Jerry, KF6VB



All 3 of my boards behave the same. They receive well, but the levels
never change when I adjust the receive attenuator. Maybe I have an
earlier version of the software or the I2C addresses are not right.
My Bit Report shows:
0x21 Front Panel
0x24 BPF
0x27 FR MC23017 NOT FOUND
0x6F RF
0x25 LPF
0x29 LPT
Does this look correct? I'll download the latest version of the SW
tomorrow.
dave
On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 6:14?PM Oliver KI3P via groups.io [1]
<oliver@...> wrote:

Here's one way to test it.
Load the latest code onto the Teensy. It has an option under the RF
set menu to change the input attenuation.
Then, put a 10 MHz (or whatever) signal into the RF_in SMA connector
and hook an oscilloscope or spectrum analyzer to the output side of
the attenuator bypass jumper.
You should see the signal amplitude change when you adjust the RF
input attention setting in the RF menu.
-------- Original Message --------
On 1/31/25 9:46 AM, D Solt via groups.io [1] wrote:

How do I tell if the receive PE4302 attenuator is working. I
can't tell any difference in received signals at whatever settings
or when I jumper it out. I have two RF boards built up and they
behave the same. Before I swap the chips out, I wanted to get
some inputs. I haven't gotten to testing the transmitter circuits
yet.
dave, n3ds
Links:
------
[1]
[2] /g/SoftwareControlledHamRadio/message/32563
[3] /mt/110916510/243852
[4] /g/SoftwareControlledHamRadio/post
[5] /g/SoftwareControlledHamRadio/editsub/243852
[6]
/g/SoftwareControlledHamRadio/leave/10484476/243852/1943518115/xyzzy


Re: T41 receive attenuator working?

 

I wonder if my problem with the attenuator is related to software.? All 3 of my boards behave the same. They receive well, but the levels never change when I adjust the receive attenuator.? Maybe I have an earlier version of the software or the I2C addresses are not right.? My Bit Report shows:
0x21 Front Panel
0x24 BPF
0x27 FR MC23017 NOT FOUND
0x6F RF
0x25 LPF
0x29 LPT
Does this look correct?? I'll download the latest version of the SW tomorrow.

dave


On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 6:14?PM Oliver KI3P via <oliver=[email protected]> wrote:

Here's one way to test it.

Load the latest code onto the Teensy. It has an option under the RF set menu to change the input attenuation.

Then, put a 10 MHz (or whatever) signal into the RF_in SMA connector and hook an oscilloscope or spectrum analyzer to the output side of the attenuator bypass jumper.

You should see the signal amplitude change when you adjust the RF input attention setting in the RF menu.



-------- Original Message --------
On 1/31/25 9:46 AM, D Solt via wrote:
How do I tell if the receive PE4302 attenuator is working.? I can't tell any difference in received signals at whatever settings or when I jumper it out.? I have two RF boards built up and they behave the same.? Before I swap the chips out, I wanted to get some inputs. I haven't gotten to testing the transmitter circuits yet.
dave, n3ds


Re: Not Displaying the Frequency....

 

On 2025-02-03 12:34, james jones wrote:

My work at Rockwell-Collins (now Collins Aerospace) focused on
determining how comm systems worked on various military aircraft.
Mostly V/UHF radios but with some HF systems. Dealing with customer
and corporate ¡°rules¡± could be frustrating.
*** Yeah, the military is a different world. LOADs of paperwork before
you write a single line of code. Time card audits...

WRT airplanes - according to the guy at the local FSDO ( FAA shop ), I was
the second owner on the West Coast to self-install a GNS430 Nav/Comm/GPS unit.
Testing stuff was fun; I wrote a program to generate VOR audio from my laptop's
sound card.

I write lots of posts because I enjoy sharing what I'm doing. The family isn't
interested.

We have gone far beyond the original T41 project and now are hearing
about FPGAs. Collins had some really smart guys regarding that
technology. My question has always been whether you keep the FPGA or
transplant the functions into a less volatile and cheaper device.
*** OH, keep the FPGA, for sure. There just isn't the volume to justify
the NRE for an ASIC. I am attempting to learn about FPGAs. I got a little
tryit board at a hamfest a few years ago. ( www.webfpga.io )

Reading free info on the Internet,
just bought a book on Amazon. Might buy a second tryit board that goes along
with the book.
( )
( )

- Jerry, KF6VB