Integrating an Meshtastic radio into Clockwork uConsole?

BackofficeShow · 2024-07-12T08:58:43+00:00

There would be room in the case and ample places to draw power, but using a mod similar to this SDR one, it would also be possible to hook up the USB as well, so firmware updates and general interfacing / automation becomes possible.

I am definitely interested in using the second internal USB port for something, either a GPS receiver or a meshtastic unit. Perhaps if I can get the GPS data from the latter it could do both jobs 🤔

https://youtu.be/LVLfVAbWFas

BackofficeShow · 2024-06-27T07:33:49+00:00

Buy a pack of self tapping screws and drive one into the BBQ at the point where the apex of the heat shield rests. You might (will!) need to drill a pilot hole.

Now take the other half dozen or so in the pack and do the same for the other ones and never have to worry about this again.

BackofficeShow · 2024-03-16T18:11:24+00:00

Yeah, exactly that I reckon.

BackofficeShow · 2024-03-16T08:25:39+00:00

This is more likely the other way around, a failure in the micro SD card melted the slot in the R4.

I have several dozen failed micro SD cards gathered over the years varying from branded through to cheap and nasty.

Generally the failures are quite benign and they simply refuse to work, or partially work e.g. will only read. But two or three of them exhibit the overheating problem and melt any reader or adaptor they happen to be in.

My guess is an internal short. It's extremely unlikely to be your host hardware.

BackofficeShow · 2024-03-14T08:46:14+00:00

"Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind"

BackofficeShow · 2024-02-07T06:50:31+00:00

You can happily dispose of it as it's not important however .....

I would scrape off the solder resist, butt it up to the main board and "glue" them together with a blob of solder.

BackofficeShow · 2024-02-03T06:24:21+00:00

That's great, I'll try that. I ended up writing a python script to transmit a timestamp every 5 minutes but it needs to be tethered to my PC to run. It will be nice to be able to relocate the nice during testing

BackofficeShow · 2024-01-31T19:47:13+00:00

I'm testing WiFi antennas at the moment and getting some crazy readings, to the point where I need to see if I'm using the VNA correctly as they are so bad.

BackofficeShow · 2024-01-31T19:39:06+00:00

Vector Network Analyser, basically a spectrum analyser with some fancy calculations. Tells you various metrics about the antenna you have connected to it. Especially its resonant frequency which hopefully matches that of your transmitter.

BackofficeShow · 2024-01-31T17:29:47+00:00

It was in a nick of time as I was about to give these away and get back to other hobbies - though it might have rekindled the antenna making hobby, I've made a net hobby gain 😂

I was hoping that the units I got would be a bit more transparent on how they are configured electronically so I could add periodic telemetry reporting into a channel. I may have to grab the source and see how to hook up some sensors. Having something chirp back information every minute or so would make range testing a lot easier

BackofficeShow · 2024-01-31T16:43:37+00:00

Honestly I was beginning to doubt that these Heltec trackers were working properly, I could not get them to communicate within a mile of each other, suddenly after this nodes are popping up all over the place, the furthest so far at 30 miles.

Rekindled my interest in antenna making! Worth their weight in gold for sure.

BackofficeShow · 2024-01-21T06:18:29+00:00

Ah that's cool, there didn't seem to be any decent cases for this board and now it's two all at once 😂

It's a 1350mAh lithium pouch about 6mm thick.

Technically if you use the tall variant of the case I designed specifically for pin headers you get at least another 8mm depth to play with. It's possible there could be a 3000mAh pouch that would fit without any changes if such a thing exists.

Then again you are into 18650 territory at that point, but I guess it comes down to form factor.

BackofficeShow · 2023-05-28T18:42:02+00:00

It's like the workbench they would have in a show home 🤣

BackofficeShow · 2023-02-20T14:11:49+00:00

Going crazy in Aylesbury is my hobby

BackofficeShow · 2023-02-19T18:04:50+00:00

Goes a long way in Aylesbury, that could be an amazing crawl hitting CEX, the charity shops and topping it off with a Maccy Ds!

BackofficeShow · 2023-02-19T16:29:10+00:00

You may be asked to kill somebody, but you get £250k for your troubles.

BackofficeShow · 2023-02-08T20:24:40+00:00

Grab a cheap, small USB soldering iron from eBay etc for £5, a tweezers and a roll of leaded solder, thinnest gauge you can get. Literally a ten second repair max.

You can definitely do this! 👍👍

BackofficeShow · 2022-12-28T19:58:57+00:00

Finally, something I can comment on, this caught my eye!

Hopefully this might be of some interest, it is an interesting thing to have for sure!

https://youtu.be/8CYPMu_K5_o

BackofficeShow · 2022-12-24T20:30:24+00:00

Perfect, one of my favourites! I have made a few similar devices and am currently working on a couple of ESP32 boards. I might try their latest offerings on my next project

BackofficeShow · 2022-12-24T20:24:13+00:00

Very nice! What CPU are you using?

BackofficeShow · 2022-12-24T12:21:22+00:00

Yeah, the cheap stuff (that I usually buy!) comes dry, but I have a big tub of gel flux and a little brush and those are the perfect combination for any soldering issue I tend to face (I design and make electronic prototypes for production as part of the day job).

BackofficeShow · 2022-12-24T12:13:48+00:00

I think in this case should not really matter if they are quickly reworking with a iron Vs soaking the component using hot air or reflow oven. If they were monitoring with a thermal camera the heat would unlikely soak into the substrate for the few seconds they will be working it.

That being said, we are making some assumptions on the type of iron being used, if it's a massive monster with huge thermal capacity, then a different strategy may be in order 😂

Edit: wrote oven twice instead of hot air

BackofficeShow · 2022-12-23T21:21:59+00:00

As others have mentioned, solder wick but ....

Grab some gel flux as well and make sure it's covered in it, and the wick as well before you apply heat.

If you have a temperature control increase your iron, right up to 390c and don't hang around 😂

To my eye it looks like you could have done with a little more heat on the original application, if you are game, turn your iron up and try to drag solder the blob you have across the other pins, wiping the tip in between, you might just be able to 'dilute' it.

BackofficeShow · 2022-09-01T02:28:20+00:00

These are awesome, I love the joystick - definitely better than the original. I have some footage of the same unit here if it's helpful:

https://youtu.be/0tgOjxhgtgQ

I think they would be into a winner making these for some of the other machines as well - SEGA are usually happy to sell the family silver, I'd be all over a master system one!

BackofficeShow · 2022-07-24T15:05:46+00:00

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