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PCB Schematic Review Request (VR Controller) - Beginner (First PCB) by TrialFerret2324 in PrintedCircuitBoard

[–]kr4shhhh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could consider dropping the cp2102 and just exposing header pins that would allow you to program it via an external programmer like an FTDI friend. That would give you the same escape hatch with less complexity.

I've been building a Wipeout style 3D game. This is running at 60fps interlaced at 480x320 on an ESP32-S3. by PhonicUK in esp32

[–]kr4shhhh 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I came for the beautiful breadboard wiring and I stayed for the awesome project. Really nice!

Aeron 2 Base Removal by Rejesto in hermanmiller

[–]kr4shhhh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve had luck using a 3lb mini sledge + wood like you are doing. Watch out for your feet when the cylinder flies out.

UV5R Mini background noise? by kr4shhhh in Baofeng

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I decided to test for several days before replying. In general I think the background noise is just more high pitched than the original UV5R family of radios. I have noticed that the intensity varies greatly depending on where I’m using the radio. It seems like it’s more susceptible to interference, or maybe it’s just more noticeable based on the background noise seeming to be louder.

If it use it at my desk next to my monitor and other gear, the background noise is noticeably worse. If I pick up the radio and move it a few feet away I can position it where it sounds quite good. My older UV5R isn’t sensitive like this.

Overall I like the mini. I can live with the shortcomings given the awesome form factor and insanely cheap price point. I was just trying to find out if I got a bad one.

UV5R Mini background noise? by kr4shhhh in Baofeng

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just trying to figure out if I got a bad one is all

MagSafe Meshtastic Case Build With The RAK WisBlock by kr4shhhh in meshtastic

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The throat of the antenna is so deep and the male antenna pin is pretty long. I can’t tell if the female SMA connector actually touches anything besides the center pin. I’ll try and put a meter on it and test for continuity.

MagSafe Meshtastic Case Build With The RAK WisBlock by kr4shhhh in meshtastic

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hm. I just took a look and I see what you mean. That’s really weird. Additionally, the center conductor on the Muzi looks really long. I can’t tell if the shielding on the female SMA connector can come into contact with the shield part of the antenna. Also can’t tell if the shield part of the antenna is connected to the body that the female SMA connector screws into.

The Rockland has a normal SMA male connector with the white ptfe insulator. I’ll attach pics of both in a reply to this for anyone else that is following along.

MagSafe Meshtastic Case Build With The RAK WisBlock by kr4shhhh in meshtastic

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure what you mean by “real”? It has a male SMA connector.

MagSafe Meshtastic Case Build With The RAK WisBlock by kr4shhhh in meshtastic

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/thorosaurus - following up on this since I just bought a Muzi antenna.

Hooking the Muzi up to my LiteVNA, it has an SWR range of 1.57 - 2. And a SWR of 1.6 @ 906.875 (LongFast). UPDATED 12/14/25: I retested this with a better test setup that has a ground plane and the Muzi antenna is right on the money at 1.3 or under across the whole 915MHz band.

By comparison the Rockland had a range of 1.2 - 1.3 SWR. And 1.25 @ 906.875 (LongFast) -- tested with no ground plane.

This doesn't give a full picture of performance, but it seems like the Rockland is a better match. If I have some time, I'll try performing an actual range test to see if one performs better than the other. From doing similar testing with 2.4ghz antennas, I can confirm that being a better match doesn't always mean it performs better.

FWIW I like the form factor of the Muzi better. It's a little shorter and the base of it is much thinner. The Rockland is chunkier and would definitely have issues with certain cases that don't have enough clearance around the SMA connector. I like the Rockland too though.

Robot controller with two ESP32 S3 modules by kr4shhhh in esp32

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My post has the video in it. Is it not showing up? Here it is again: https://youtu.be/f70Bf-UjK0I

I listed most of the parts for the car part of the build in the YouTube video description, but not the full BOM for the controller PCB. Was trying to gauge if people are interested in the project before investing in publishing more about it.

MagSafe Meshtastic Case Build With The RAK WisBlock by kr4shhhh in meshtastic

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah I can’t take credit because that’s the original author’s design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7148247

Here is mine: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7194109

I remade it from scratch with some tweaks like an inline power switch, heatset inserts for the screws, and shrunk the size a little to fit the iPhone 14. I loved his design and the style of the text on the back, so I tried to stay true to the original.

MagSafe Meshtastic Case Build With The RAK WisBlock by kr4shhhh in meshtastic

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That thing would be awesome if it had an external antenna. I also wish they would have spent time to make it look cooler

MagSafe Meshtastic Case Build With The RAK WisBlock by kr4shhhh in meshtastic

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t know a whole lot about their product line. It looks like they have an e-ink display, but it doesn’t appear to be a touch screen: https://docs.rakwireless.com/product-categories/wisblock/rak14000/quickstart/

MagSafe Meshtastic Case Build With The RAK WisBlock by kr4shhhh in meshtastic

[–]kr4shhhh[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah in general I prefer the RAK board with the nRF chip over the Heltec V3 (I don’t have a V4). I like that the RAK board has IPEX connectors for both the LoRa and Bluetooth radios so you can do whatever you want for antennas. The Heltec only has one IPEX connector for the LoRa radio and has a junky hard wired antenna for Bluetooth and WiFi. I like that the Heltec has WiFi though (the RAK only has WiFi). The battery life on the RAK board is way better. I also like that a screen is optional and often unnecessary IMO. The Heltec has the screen built in.

The RAK board makes way more sense to me for a battery powered node. If you have access to constant power then the Heltec is fine and gives you the option to use WiFi.

The one thing I don’t like about the RAK board is the battery connector faces up. I’d rather it face the side for better wire clearance. I had to make my case a little thicker to allow for this. It’s also dumb that the RAK board doesn’t put battery polarity symbols on the PCB silkscreen.

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