[moolight0551]

Great to see the project is alive and well and new software updates are being published. Congratulations. My station has been running for many months now with very few problems.

I have just started to upgrade to v2.0 b011 and found the Tx upgrade went well and I am receiving data on my Rx v4.03 board with a TFT display running Rx 013 b015. (Getting no outside temp readings and a crazy rainfall reading of many mm of rain but not too worried until I get the Rx board software upgraded)

I do not have an EPROM installed. Can I continue to use my TFT SPI display or must I change to an LCD I2C? I have disabled the logger in the config file but not getting anything on the TFT display with the new Rx v2.0 b011.

Thanks Dave

[werk_ag]

Great to see the project is alive and well and new software updates are being published. Congratulations. My station has been running for many months now with very few problems.

Hi Dave
Is good to know that. Thank you.

I do not have an EPROM installed. Can I continue to use my TFT SPI display or must I change to an LCD I2C? I have disabled the logger in the config file but not getting anything on the TFT display with the new Rx v2.0 b011.

RX v4.03 boards don't have the external EEPROM, but this don't cause any problem, the software will use the EEPROM existent in the RTC module. Just don't forget to set in the user configurable options that your RX board is a version 4.

Code:

// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
//   Hardware settings
// --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// ---- Define your RX board, main version number
#define Board_Version    4     // 6 for all RX boards v6.xx, 5 for all RX boards v5.xx, 4 for all RX boards v4.xx

Regarding to the display, as stated in the change log, the support for 1.8" TFT display was removed. v2.0 software only supports LCD I2C displays.
We are recommending to use only LCD displays, at least since one year, mainly because a TFT display requires a lot more memory resources than an LCD, and those resources could be better used to improve the functionality and stability of the whole system.

Until you get and LCD display, maybe it is better return to v1.5 software. Don't forget to do a factory reset (pressing the push button for 5 seconds) after reprogramming the RX unit.

[moolight0551]

Thanks for that. I had a LCD I2C display in my spares box and have it connected and it has worked successfully. However I now have another problem in that the Tx unit does not transmit anymore. The Tx LED flashes OK and I have changed the 433MHz transmitter and the antenna but no progress.

I have a 433MHz sniffer that I built recently which has a piezo sounder that lets me listen for 433MHz signals but I hear nothing when the Tx LED flashes. I have another Oregon Scientific weather sensor close by and hear a burst of data whenever it transmits so I know my 433MHz sniffer works OK. I do not know what to check next. Could it be that the 2N7000 has failed? Any ideas.

[werk_ag]

Could it be that the 2N7000 has failed?

If the TX led blinks, the 2N7000 is working.

However I now have another problem in that the Tx unit does not transmit anymore.

How this happened? Suddenly?

[moolight0551]

Yes. It occurred when I was updating to the new software. I had unplugged the Nano several times and at one time had inserted the Nano incorrectly and powered it up(one pin offset). The 7809 got very hot but seems to have survived as it still produces 8.96V on a multimeter. I have changed the 433MHz TX to two new ones and also tried a new Nano but still does not transmit. All my solder joints look OK. It must be something very basic.

[werk_ag]

Take the board schematics, and with a continuity checker try to find any fault. Also check continuity between all the top Arduino pins and correspondent pin at the bottom of the board. The problem could be the Arduino socket (this already happened to me).

Put a multimeter between VCC and GND on the TX module pins, and check if you get a 9V reading when the TX Led blinks. With some multimeters, the power pulse may be to brief to allow a reading, but at least you know that the TX module is being powered, before transmitting.

[moolight0551]

Thanks for your suggestions. Will put some effort into tracking down the problem. Also might set up a 433MHz transmitter on a breadboard and an Arduino and get it to transmit so I know for sure the transmitter is working and I can hear it on my receiver/monitor.

[moolight0551]

Everything seems to check out., however I am puzzled by the Gnd of the RF_Tx connector(Tx v2.4) It does not connect to the other Gnd points or the backplane of the circuit board. Does the Tx module only power up momentarily when the Nano has data to send? Is this the role of the 2N7000?

Is there a schematic online of the Tx2.4 board. I can only see the later versions.

I can see the 9V if I connect a multimeter between the DC ground and the 9V pin on the Tx module connector but have difficulty in getting a stable reading if I connect the multimeter between the RF_Tx Gnd connector and the RF_Tx 9V pin.

[werk_ag]

Everything seems to check out., however I am puzzled by the Gnd of the RF_Tx connector(Tx v2.4) It does not connect to the other Gnd points or the backplane of the circuit board. Does the Tx module only power up momentarily when the Nano has data to send? Is this the role of the 2N7000?

Yes, it acts as a switch cutting the TX GND pin. The TX module is only powered some milliseconds before it starts to transmit data.

Is there a schematic online of the Tx2.4 board. I can only see the later versions.

I will add it soon.

I can see the 9V if I connect a multimeter between the DC ground and the 9V pin on the Tx module connector but have difficulty in getting a stable reading if I connect the multimeter between the RF_Tx Gnd connector and the RF_Tx 9V pin.

The power pulse is brief, so it may be difficult to get a reading with a multimeter, but at least you know that the TX module is being powered when required.

[zitoune]

Let's start with the good news
I recently move to a new place and thus build a new strong big pole and upgraded all my Fine Offset sensors with an Inspeed e-Vane 2 and an Inspeed Vortex, digital 8 pulse revolution anemometer. The tipping bucket is also upgraded to a Davis 7857 and the temperature remains the same SHT21.
I wanted to modify my existing TX but eventually decided to built the TX v3.12 and loaded it with the v2.0 software. No issue.
I also upgraded my RX v4.0 with the v2.0 software – no issue.

Now, when powering the RX and TX I cannot get the 3 digits of the welcome message set to 1 altogether. Rather I see 110, or 011, and it takes ages to get those values! It never happened before..

I have 9V between the TX module GND and the TX module VCC pin, only when the TX LED blinks; while 9V is always present between the same VCC pin and the TX board GND.
I have about 2.5V between the TX GND and the TX module DATA pin, only when the TX LED blinks.
So I think the emitters works fine; as those values are expected.
By the way I am using the same TX transmitter as with my previous board (PCF10) instead of the one mentioned, so the pairing with the receiver of the RX board remains the same. I just had to swap DATA and VCC as this differs. The antenna is connected.

I can measure a variable voltage coming form both the wind vane and the anemometer on the RJ12 socket. Same from the tipping bucket (0 or 5V) every time the switch is activated. I have also GND and 5V present for the 2 Inspeed devices.
I mounted the Philipps I2C extender with the 2 additional resistors.

I remember reading somewhere that the TX would not work if the Temp sensor of the RX was not working? maybe I should change my Temp sensor?
The RX LED is always ON by the way.

Once (I did not pay attention!) it left the auto reboot message (so I assume I had 111, and went to the next message - do not start the software yet), but them remained with 000.. I am really puzzled because my RX and TX are 2 meters apart; and before it was working very well..
Any help is greatly appreciated !