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Post by eloute on Jan 4, 2021 0:18:44 GMT 2
Hi everyone, I have been assembling my v2 board and when I received my power supply yesterday I was excited to plug it in and see the board light up. Sadly nothing lit up and I came to the forums to do more research. This is most definitely something I did as this was my biggest solder project to date. I did take my time soldering and did what I thought was a pretty good job. Apparently not and now I am requesting help to steer me in the right direction as to what pins to check with my multimeter (and what setting on the tool itself lol). I will give you a rundown on what I did: -Soldered all the resistors as per the list from Albeagle -Soldered the capacitors in the right orientation (if I check the capacitors with my multimeter set at 20v, I get 5.1v reading on all caps) -Soldered the Max chip sockets and 40 pin headers -Soldered the common cathode segment displays -Soldered pushbutton switches -Soldered the encoders -Soldered the power jack and switch One thing I find puzzling is that sometimes when I plug in the power supply, one of the displays light up. I cant figure this out at all. I can flip the power switch off and on and the display will go off and on as expected but then if I unplug the power supply and plug it back it , the display will not power up. Its so strange, I cant duplicate it or anything. Just sometimes it turns on and sometimes it doesn't. Any help will be appreciated. I don't want to abandon this project, it was so much fun to get this far Thanks, Ed ![]()    |
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kklee6
Junior Member
Posts: 87
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Post by kklee6 on Jan 4, 2021 14:52:28 GMT 2
Hi Ed, Have you connected the arduino boards to your PCB? Those 7-segments may not all light up when you connect the 5V power supply but it does not mean that they do not work. The best way to test the PCB is by means of the Mobiflight software. Connect the arduino boards to the PCB and run Mobiflight with my config files. Then you can test all the displays one by one. The config files can be found in this post: flyingforfun.freeforums.net/thread/158/radiostack-v2-display-issuesHope it helps. KK |
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Post by eloute on Jan 4, 2021 17:44:18 GMT 2
Hi Ed, Have you connected the arduino boards to your PCB? Those 7-segments may not all light up when you connect the 5V power supply but it does not mean that they do not work. The best way to test the PCB is by means of the Mobiflight software. Connect the arduino boards to the PCB and run Mobiflight with my config files. Then you can test all the displays one by one. The config files can be found in this post: flyingforfun.freeforums.net/thread/158/radiostack-v2-display-issuesHope it helps. KK Hi, Thanks for your response. I have tried that and then did it again this morning after reading your message. Since I am attempting to build the exact setup you have (even ordered dual encoders), I have been following your posts as it seems that you are the only one who is far into the project. I get no response from my board when it is connected to Mobiflight. Even when the one display is lit up, it doesnt change. I have tested the modules with mobiflight and didnt receive any response from the board Ed |
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kklee6
Junior Member
Posts: 87
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Post by kklee6 on Jan 5, 2021 8:11:20 GMT 2
One more thing.
what 5V power supply are you using?
At the beginning, I used an unregulated power supply and the board did not work.
Then I switched to a USB charger (which should be regulated), the board works fine.
May give it a try.
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Post by eloute on Jan 5, 2021 16:26:45 GMT 2
One more thing. what 5V power supply are you using? At the beginning, I used an unregulated power supply and the board did not work. Then I switched to a USB charger (which should be regulated), the board works fine. May give it a try. Thanks!! I ordered some usb to 5.5x2.1 power cables. I'll try that when they come in. I'm actually using a 5v power supply that I bought off of Amazon |
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kklee6
Junior Member
Posts: 87
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Post by kklee6 on Jan 5, 2021 18:32:55 GMT 2
Here is what happens when I test my PCB. (1) When I connect only the external 5V power supply, not connecting the flat cables from arduino board to the PCB, some LEDs light up and some do not. Like this:  (2) When I connect everything (USB cables, flat cables, external power supply), no LED lights up. (3) Then I test the PCB with Mobiflight. It works like this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q3nFa_vCsE(4) And then I run mobiflight with MSFS. Some LEDs light up and some do not. It is random.  (5) I need to press the active/stby buttons or transponder buttons or turn some encoders, to "wake" up those LEDs. Then everything works fine. Alb did mention that it is a bug of the MAX 7912 IC. Sometimes they do not initialize properly and need to be "waken" up.  Just want to give you some ideas how the PCB would behave. KK |
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Post by eloute on Jan 7, 2021 4:29:02 GMT 2
Hey KK,
Thanks for the help. I received the new power usb cables but unfortunately it still isn't working. I'm kinda at a loss as I don't know what to look at next
Ed
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kklee6
Junior Member
Posts: 87
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Post by kklee6 on Jan 7, 2021 9:16:32 GMT 2
Hi Ed,
You may try unplug all the MAX7219 chips except the first (COM1 active) and check it with Mobiflight.
Then add one IC at a time to see if it works.
If it does not work even with the first, there may be some problems with your wiring and components.
Troubleshooting electronics need a lot of patience.
May also try switch the Arduino boards or reload the Arduino board config files.
Good luck.
KK
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Post by eloute on Jan 8, 2021 1:48:24 GMT 2
Hi Ed, You may try unplug all the MAX7219 chips except the first (COM1 active) and check it with Mobiflight. Then add one IC at a time to see if it works. If it does not work even with the first, there may be some problems with your wiring and components. Troubleshooting electronics need a lot of patience. May also try switch the Arduino boards or reload the Arduino board config files. Good luck. KK Hi KK, Thank you once again. I have pulled all the chips and tried every single one in Com 1 without luck. I also used another Arduino and flashed its firmware. Its clear I did something wrong so I am tracing my steps backwards but cant find anything that looks off. I pulled out the multimeter and placed it on the positive and ground on each max socket. Every single one of them is showing me 5.05v, same goes for all of the capacitors. every one of them as well. My led segments are all common cathode but with only 13 pins, is this the same for you? My 6 digit and 14 segment displays are the only ones with the proper amount of pins. I also checked all my resistors to make sure I put them in the right places Ed |
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kklee6
Junior Member
Posts: 87
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Post by kklee6 on Jan 8, 2021 7:10:02 GMT 2
Hi Ed, Really sorry to hear that. Well, there are two more things you can check: (1) the 40-pin header connection and the flat cables from your photo, I believe the headers are soldered correctly on your PCB. How about the arduino shields? There are different version of flat cables. Make sure that you use the correct one (the first one) as shown below:  |
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kklee6
Junior Member
Posts: 87
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Post by kklee6 on Jan 8, 2021 7:12:11 GMT 2
(2) Secondly, you can also check if your 7-segments are those correct ones. Here are those I used:    |
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kklee6
Junior Member
Posts: 87
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Post by kklee6 on Jan 8, 2021 7:13:20 GMT 2
two more:   Hope you can identify the problem soon. KK |
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Post by eloute on Jan 8, 2021 22:38:51 GMT 2
Hi KK,
Thank you. I can confirm that I am using the same displays and correct ribbon cable. I'm not sure what action to take at this point. I paid almost $200 just for the board and arduino shield and I only have one. I'd like to order straight from Jlcpcb but the gerber files don't display the drill holes. I wanted to do this and have them assemble the resistors and capacitors. I am struggling also on writing up the bom for that service. json files would be nice, but they don't exist so I cannot use the automated service that helps with the creation of the bom.
As much as I don't want to, I may have to abandon the project and move on. I'm glad I didn't install the dual concentric encoders yet.
Ed
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kklee6
Junior Member
Posts: 87
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Post by kklee6 on Jan 9, 2021 1:18:39 GMT 2
Hi KK, Thank you. I can confirm that I am using the same displays and correct ribbon cable. I'm not sure what action to take at this point. I paid almost $200 just for the board and arduino shield and I only have one. I'd like to order straight from Jlcpcb but the gerber files don't display the drill holes. I wanted to do this and have them assemble the resistors and capacitors. I am struggling also on writing up the bom for that service. json files would be nice, but they don't exist so I cannot use the automated service that helps with the creation of the bom. As much as I don't want to, I may have to abandon the project and move on. I'm glad I didn't install the dual concentric encoders yet. Ed About the PCB, I ordered mine directly from JLCPCB and they worked perfectly. I did not intentionally read the gerber files and they just said the upload was successful. Maybe you can try upload the files again. BTW, what dual encoders did you order? They are quite expensive. KK |
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kklee6
Junior Member
Posts: 87
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Post by kklee6 on Jan 9, 2021 1:34:40 GMT 2
 If it shows this, I think it is good to go. |
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