[GreggWardNZ]

I got my single Tx unit and Rx unit all connected up last weekend, but I have been having comms problems ever since, after only about 6 - 12hrs of operation.

My Tx unit is mounted on the outside of bedroom, which has a mixture of wooden and stucco exterior. The Tx unit is powered by a 12v connection. The Rx unit is in my bedroom, only about 4m away from the Tx unit.

I start my Rx unit with both the USB and power connected and see a regular pulse on the Tx LED, at least every 5 seconds. After 6 - 12 hrs of operation, the Tx LED on my Rx unit is only flashing every couple of minutes. The data showing on the Rx unit LCD does not change.

Whilst the Rx unit is in the state where it does not appear to be receiving the regular updates from the Tx unit, I am able to press the switch connected to the PB pins, to turn on the LCD backlight and show the data. Therefore the Rx unit does not appear to be locked up.

I have tried adding a 17.3cm piece of wire to the antenna connection for the Tx unit's FS1000 board, but after doing this I got no connection at all from the Tx unit. I have tried moving the Rx unit closer and further away from the Tx unit, with no improvement of the problem.

I have resoldered the connections for the antenna connected to the Rx unit and have checked the solder connections to the receiver board, but do not see a problem.

Apart from this communication problem between the Rx and Tx unit, everything else is working perfectly.

Any help or advice as to what to check, would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[werk_ag]

Is the TX led on the TX unit blinking?

If it blinks, I think there is strong possibility, that the FS1000A module is damaged.
As with any RF equipment, don't let it run for long time without an antenna attached, this can burn the output transistor.
At least use 16.5 to 17 cm wire connected to the RF output of the FS1000A

Try to replace the FS1000A module, and please report back.

[GreggWardNZ]

Thanks Werk_AG for getting back to me so quickly. I attempted to remove the FS1000A module, but struck some problems, being amateur at soldering.

So, having bought a second Tx board, I decided to build the second board. I have finished soldering on the components, so will start testing it tomorrow. I have soldered an antenna to the FS1000A module on the new board.

I will let you know how I get on.

[GreggWardNZ]

I have the new Tx board up and running now and the comms seems to be far more reliable and works over a greater distance. Maybe not having an antenna attached to the FS1000A of the first board, caused it to get damaged, as you suggested Werk_AG.

Now everything except for my external SHT10 temperature/humidity sensor, is working correctly on the Tx unit. It is sending through erroneous temperatures i.e. -40C, constantly. I have a second SHT10 sensor that I have hooked up to the Tx board, to test with, which is showing the same issue. I have turned on some debugging in the Tx code and am trying to track the issue down. Maybe a problem with one of the solder joints?

[werk_ag]

Thanks for the feedback.
Regarding the SHT10, please check if there isn't any swapped pins, specially the DAT and CLK pins.

[GreggWardNZ]

Found that my SHT10 problem was due to a problem with R7. I fixed that and the outside temperature and humidity started to be received successfully.

However, I am still having communication problems between the Rx and TX units. After fixing the SHT10 problem, I re-installed the Tx unit outside and powered up the Rx unit using both the power connector and USB connection. The Tx LED flashed regularly (every 5 to 10 seconds) for about 10 minutes and then stopped polling and updating the outside details on the LCD display. The Rx unit had not locked up, as I could still press the PB button to light the LED backlight.

From reading the various posts on the forum, I tried just powering the Rx unit off of the USB connection, which initially looked more successful, but after 2.5hrs, the Rx unit has stopped receiving regular polls and is not updating the outside details on the LCD display. I repowered the Rx unit, with the TX LED flashing regularly for about 5 minutes, but it has stopped yet again. In all cases the Rx unit is still responsive, with the PB button enabling the LED backlight.

I am starting to think maybe the problem is with the Rx unit, as I am seeing the same symptoms from two different Tx units.

The inside temperature/humidity and barometer readings continue to update successfully whilst the problems with Tx unit communication occurs, so the problem must lie in the Tx unit communication area.

I might enable/add some debug code into the RX unit, to try and ascertain exactly where the problem may lie.

[werk_ag]

I really would like to help, but I don't know what to say. Despite the same symptom be happening with two different TX units, I'm still inclined to a problem with the Transmitter units. Hope I'm wrong!
Do you have any picture of the antenna connection?
Which antenna you fitted? If just a wire or a helicoidal antenna, the following note does not apply:
The antenna ground should be connected only to the GND signal on the module, never to any other GND point in the board, also never make the GND of the TX module comum with other GND point of the board. Due to the way I'm supplying power to the module, doing this will prematurely destroy the transmitter module.

Here is a an example for TX v2.50 boards:

[GreggWardNZ]

Thanks for replying Werk_AG and I appreciate it must be very hard to try and solve build problems remotely. I appreciate the help that you are offering me.

I will try and get a photo of the antenna connection, tomorrow, if I get home from work early enough. It is just a wire antenna that I am using.

[Denis Bill]

Hello All,

I am sorry that I did not think of this earley in the discussion.
My fs1000a transmitter boards did not have XD_FST on the side but had 2008-B and I could not get a connection between the TX and RX units. I had 2 FS1000A boards with the same marking and neither would work.
I ended up using the unused transmitter boards that came with the Receiver units after rewiring the connection and all has worked fine since.

Regards,
Denis

Thanks for replying Werk_AG and I appreciate it must be very hard to try and solve build problems remotely. I appreciate the help that you are offering me.

I will try and get a photo of the antenna connection, tomorrow, if I get home from work early enough. It is just a wire antenna that I am using.

[GreggWardNZ]

Hello All,

I am sorry that I did not think of this earley in the discussion.
My fs1000a transmitter boards did not have XD_FST on the side but had 2008-B and I could not get a connection between the TX and RX units. I had 2 FS1000A boards with the same marking and neither would work.
I ended up using the unused transmitter boards that came with the Receiver units after rewiring the connection and all has worked fine since.

Regards,
Denis

Thanks Denis, I will check this out later when I get home.