Spacedoggys WB Build Diary

[spacedoggy]

ok.

You are right, C2 was shorted with the melted remains of IC1
luckily I ordered 3 spare IC1s and replaced it today.

Power up, no high pitched sound after 10 mins continuous use, so far, so good...

I also got my hands on an analogue oscilloscope and can get a better view on what's going on here


28V -> +52V settles to +27V stable after about a minute (taken across C18)
VCC -> +3V stable (taken across C5)
Vin -> +4V stable (taken across C1)
12V -> +12V stable (taken across C14)
6V - > +12V settles to +5V eventually , it occasionally jumps to 12V though. is this a concern? (taken across C10)

SD

[TheFallen]

Sounds great. The +6V rail spiking to +12V, any chance of a picture? The important question is how long a spike lasts, as the 5V rail supplies the PAs and the buffer LM358 and that's about it.

[spacedoggy]

it gradually settled down to 5V so I went ahead with the next step, attached the led and atmega88PA chip

Then i unpacked my avrisp mkII and installed the software... I see why ladyada made her own programmer, this thing doesn't work with avr dude

it also doesnt like windows 7, ubuntu. i got it working in XP but only with AVR studio.

can i still make and run the test files in avr studio or should i be converting my arduino into an alternative programmer?

more pics comming soon, gotta dig out the camera

SD

[spacedoggy]

ok, programmer fixed, got it working using libusb-win32 on XP, happy days.

-got the light blinking, but noticed it was blinking irregularly and some times stopping,
but this seemed to stop when I disconnected the programmer...

-next PWM test... ok

-next res, cap filter, sweeping up and down... ok

-next saw tooth... jaggy, blur, jaggy, blur... er, ok (looks the same)

-now.. I'm at the potentiometer test

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op4psDbKiuk

basically, it shows a drop in voltage that is not on ladyada's test... but her vid was short, I'd like to know if this is normal and if i can carry on...
also to keep this image focused, I had to slowly turn the HOLD dial on the scope to keep in sync, it's old and not as fancy as ADAs one though.

-finally, I'm once again getting high pitched tones coming from the power supply area. this still worries me, as i fear the thing might catch fire again.
I had it connected to the scope a couple of times when this was happening, in both cases, the sharp lines turned very fuzzy. is there a chance of this output damaging the VCOs or PLL later along the line?

[Mictronics]

Might be the same problem but here is what I noticed during my test's:

During test's I powered my WB by an adjustable PSU with current limit set.

Finally while testing the potis I always got an uC reset and high current drawn from the WB always when the potis change over.
I traced the problem down to what appears to be a result from abruptly changing polarity of capacitors in the VCO tuning path. (in WB2010 this are C29 and C30).

The onboard step-up converters are able to deliver the current during the spike, but I found my PSU was not. The problem solved when I powered the WB from a LiPo battery.

[spacedoggy]

thanks for your input mike.

I did some more testing to try pin this down.

-I ran the saw tooth test again, and indeed found the signal disrupted probing the 3rd top pin of the potentiometer IC when the high pitched tone is audible.

-I tried using the AA battery board as I don't have a LiPo battery or PSU around, same thing.

-then i reconnected the LiOn board and connected to a USB, same result again.

-I probed the 4.0V input power from the board during sound, and found it to to wobble rapidly between 4.0V and about 3.5V

-whatever this sound is, it is draining the power source and massing up the signal, the sound comes from the power supply section and sounds like a cameras flash charging up

I dont want to add the expensive VCOs until I'm sure the signal is stable and safe.
I'm on holidays in the morning, but as always appreciate ideas on suggesting for further testing, special thanks to mike and fallen for their patient help on this.

[spacedoggy]

ok, 10 months later, I have won the banned and have time and money to work on this.

I replaced the 3.3 and 5v regulators, and tested using bench supply for power, and signals stabilised, happy days, added VCOS and other components over the last week and finished the build today...

...again sorry for quality from webcam...



Note: Q2 and Q3 I replaced SXA-389B with GALI84 chips, but left all surrounding components the same...

I fire up putty and look at the terminal
here is some of the output I'm getting hassle defining range for VCO 2

Code: Select all

---------------------------------
=> d
1 programs in memory
---------------------------------
Program #1 of 1

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 700 -> 710 (5, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> a
VCO1 start: 0
end: 0
VCO2 start: 500
end: 510
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> t
1 programs in memory
---------------------------------
Program #1 of 1

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 500 -> 510 (0, 0)
---------------------------------
PLL for RF freq 505MHz & prescaler 8: B=63 A=1
IF VCO range is too high!
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> d
1 programs in memory
---------------------------------
Program #1 of 1

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 500 -> 510 (5, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> a
VCO1 start: 0
end: 0
VCO2 start: 1
end: 2
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> t
1 programs in memory
---------------------------------
Program #1 of 1

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 1 -> 2 (0, 0)
---------------------------------
PLL for RF freq 1MHz & prescaler 8: B=0 A=1
IF VCO range is too high!
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> d
1 programs in memory
---------------------------------
Program #1 of 1

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 1 -> 2 (5, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> 1
Bad command
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> d
1 programs in memory
---------------------------------
Program #1 of 1

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 1 -> 2 (5, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> a
VCO1 start: 0
end: 0
VCO2 start: 0
end: 0
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> t
1 programs in memory
---------------------------------
Program #1 of 1

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> a
VCO1 start: 0
end: 0
VCO2 start: 0
end: 0
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> t
2 programs in memory
---------------------------------
Program #1 of 2

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
---------------------------------
Program #2 of 2

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
p> Display progs
a> Add prog
d> Delete prog
t> Tune prog
q> Quit
---------------------------------
=> q

---------------------------------
Program #1 of 2

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
1Wavebubble v1.0
keypress..
---------------------------------
Program #2 of 2

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
1Wavebubble v1.0
keypress..
---------------------------------
Program #1 of 2

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------
1Wavebubble v1.0
keypress..
---------------------------------
Program #2 of 2

VCO 1: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
VCO 2: 0 -> 0 (0, 0)
---------------------------------
---------------------------------


even turning off VCO 2 and only using VCO1 to block the range: 2400-2483MHz all my bluetooth and wifi G devices work unhindered with the device in direct contact.

As always I welcome any enlightenment the community can provide?

regards,
SD.