Author Topic: Regulator board & ARF Board  (Read 60568 times)

FlyingMick

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #15 on: September 01, 2015, 11:17:59 pm »
I'd like one too (just waiting for some parts to arrive) - I'm curious to get this stuff working

Thanks
Mick

JCurtis

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #16 on: September 02, 2015, 09:07:33 am »
JCurtis,

Were you planning on placing a screening can over the ARF and regulator board assembly?

It's possible that we may see some self interference effects with digital noise injecting into the radio (with it being so close and not screened at all)..  Tests so far seem to suggest this is ok , but it wouldn't surprise me if at some point some performance degradation is seen due to digital noise coming off the Raspberry PI PCB.

Self interference can sometimes be a bit of a difficult animal to track down (can be intermittent and also vary from unit to unit).  A screening can over the radio would be a good idea.

rgds
Andy

I was looking at just making the Pi shield with voltage reg to power the ARF, so people would still need to attach that as described before (I would supply the pin headers etc.).  It just does away with all the wiring and makes it easier to mount. 
Naturally I could also include a mounted ARF unit too which would save people getting out the soldering iron.

Once I have some bits here I can do some EMI tests to see if there is anything going on which may impact the performance.  The problem with using cans is finding an off the shelf one of just the right size, and then I would have to also make the shield with ARF as a prebuilt module.

I also noticed that within the ARF documentation on the website it says "The ARF is not 5v tollerant, use 3.3v logic and power", so I might also look at adding a logic level shifter to go between the 5v logic of the Pi and the ARF, just to keep everything within spec.
Designer and maker of charge4.harkwood.co.uk, smart universal USB chargers designed for aviation.  USB Type-A and USB-C power without the RF interference. Approved for EASA installs under CS-STAN too.

Admin

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #17 on: September 02, 2015, 09:51:36 am »
Quote
I also noticed that within the ARF documentation on the website it says "The ARF is not 5v tollerant, use 3.3v logic and power", so I might also look at adding a logic level shifter to go between the 5v logic of the Pi and the ARF, just to keep everything within spec.

5v tolerant ?
My understanding is that the RPi GPIO pins are 3.3v , not 5v.
Where have you seen that the GPIO is 5v ?
Thx
Lee

JCurtis

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #18 on: September 02, 2015, 10:02:34 am »
Quote
I also noticed that within the ARF documentation on the website it says "The ARF is not 5v tollerant, use 3.3v logic and power", so I might also look at adding a logic level shifter to go between the 5v logic of the Pi and the ARF, just to keep everything within spec.

5v tolerant ?
My understanding is that the RPi GPIO pins are 3.3v , not 5v.
Where have you seen that the GPIO is 5v ?
Thx
Lee

Scrub that, yep they are 3.3v reading the Pi documents.  I might have been remembering doing things the other way round, using a 5v logic device on the Pi and popped in a level shifter.

I'll stop thinking about it until the bits arrive and I can have a play with them  ;)
Designer and maker of charge4.harkwood.co.uk, smart universal USB chargers designed for aviation.  USB Type-A and USB-C power without the RF interference. Approved for EASA installs under CS-STAN too.

Kevin W

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #19 on: September 02, 2015, 10:52:14 am »
Custom board sounds great, what price point are you thinking?

Thanks
Kev

JCurtis

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #20 on: September 02, 2015, 08:00:34 pm »
Custom board sounds great, what price point are you thinking?

Thanks
Kev

A fair bit depends on the size of PCB, so when everything arrives I will have a better idea of what is needed.  Naturally it's cheaper the more PCB's I order, so that's also a factor.
Once I've worked things out I'll update this thread.
Designer and maker of charge4.harkwood.co.uk, smart universal USB chargers designed for aviation.  USB Type-A and USB-C power without the RF interference. Approved for EASA installs under CS-STAN too.

Moffrestorer

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #21 on: September 02, 2015, 08:31:32 pm »
Hi Jeremy,

Could you put me down for 1 off Pi shield/ARF regulator PCB also.

Many thanks,

Chris

iang

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #22 on: September 03, 2015, 12:26:10 pm »
It sounds like a great idea to me as well - put me down especially now I have located a raspberry pie

Iang

Steve6443

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #23 on: September 04, 2015, 12:50:28 pm »
JCurtis: As per my PM, the less I need to do with a soldering iron, the better, so an integrated unit with Regulator and ARF in one would be my preference.....let me know what you want for it and put me down for one.....

ianfallon

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #24 on: September 05, 2015, 07:46:20 pm »
Potentially interested in 1 too

payman

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #25 on: September 06, 2015, 05:22:19 pm »
Please I will have two of you.I  can not find any ARF Shield - Digole 5v-3.3v regulator board anywhere can you tell me where to buy one from or does your board would have this built in ?
pn

JCurtis

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #26 on: September 06, 2015, 06:07:47 pm »
Please I will have two of you.I  can not find any ARF Shield - Digole 5v-3.3v regulator board anywhere can you tell me where to buy one from or does your board would have this built in ?

WirelessThings have the ARF in stock.... https://www.wirelessthings.net/arf-high-power-radio-transceiver

I was discussing over mounting options with Lee today (*waves*), and it would be a neat solution to design.  I am currently mulling the ability to mount your own ARF board and to supply them with the ARF close coupled to it - so people can do which ever they feel is most suitable.

People were asking about cost, I think it would work out ~£10 (£12 with the VAT) + P&P, might be cheaper depending on total numbers etc.

Either way I'll probably order up a small batch of boards this week, I have the other bits 'in stock' as I use them on other projects.
Designer and maker of charge4.harkwood.co.uk, smart universal USB chargers designed for aviation.  USB Type-A and USB-C power without the RF interference. Approved for EASA installs under CS-STAN too.

Kevin W

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #27 on: September 08, 2015, 11:50:33 am »
Please I will have two of you.I  can not find any ARF Shield - Digole 5v-3.3v regulator board anywhere can you tell me where to buy one from or does your board would have this built in ?

Payman, see my post here for stock of Digole / other options:  http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,38.msg454.html#msg454

Thanks
Kev

JCurtis

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #28 on: September 14, 2015, 10:47:14 am »
Ordered a batch of ARF Pi Shield PCB's, should take about a week to arrive plus a day or so to run them through assembly and test.

These include everything to mount the ARF unit and include a heartbeat LED so indicate it is running.
Also on the board is the barometric sensor that Lee mentioned in another post.

The design permits them to be fitted to the Pi inside the case Lee mentions in the build document.

Looks like they will end up at £12.50 ex VAT (£15 inc VAT) inc P&P.  Might be slightly less depending on where I source a couple of the bits I don't have in stock.

I'll probably put them onto the Charge2 website as it's easier to process things then.
Designer and maker of charge4.harkwood.co.uk, smart universal USB chargers designed for aviation.  USB Type-A and USB-C power without the RF interference. Approved for EASA installs under CS-STAN too.

rg

Re: Regulator board & ARF Board
« Reply #29 on: September 14, 2015, 10:52:29 am »
sounds good. will you post a link here when you have it online?