The 'new' 2018 DIY-more "Strong" PCB

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Phil_G
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The 'new' 2018 DIY-more "Strong" PCB

Post by Phil_G »

This PCB is the current version of the 'old' DIY-More board which in turn replaced the Deek_Robot board. Whilst any of these boards are brilliant for encoder projects, they are all slightly different and each can be very slightly modified to make a 'brilliant' board 'perfect' :D
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This describes the mods for the 2018 version (this particular board only) recognisable by the 'servo' headers on 3 edges. Here's where I bought mine:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pro-Mini-ATm ... 2484056646
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Image
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There are a few nice additions to this version, for example it has a 16mhz crystal rather than a resonator, so it will be more accurate and more stable than the previous versions which used ceramic resonators. It has a nice 'power input' header, for which an optional connector shell is supplied. The servo headers are the 'sensible' way around (ground round the outside edges, signals on the inside) and it also has an icsp header (see below). Note that the ebay seller has the header pin colours wrong AGAIN! They should be black on the outside, red in the middle and yellow on the inside. The "neg/pos/signal" screen-print on the PCB is correct, G=ground, V=5v, S=signal. DONT copy the pictures!
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Click to enlarge:
new_larger_diymore_ebay.jpg
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The aim of these mods is to provide a simple 3-pin header for our RF module, carrying neg, battery and PPM, which in the sketch will need to be placed on D0 (also known as RXD). I've traced the layout and found that the 5v input (which we dont need) can easily be isolated by removing the series schottky diode. Here's the board as supplied, note the schottky position above the 5v regulator:
new_larger_diymore.jpg
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Here are the traces, in red, showing the 5v input going to the diode, and 12v input to a capacitor:
new_larger_diymore_mod1.jpg
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So first we remove the diode - its much easier to do this before adding the headers!
new_larger_diymore_mod2.jpg
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Having isolated the 5v input header, we can now use it to provide battery voltage to the RF module.
This is done with a short diagonal strap from the upper diode pad to the lower end of the SMT capacitor:
new_larger_diymore_mod3.jpg
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Heres a closer look:
new_larger_diymore_mod4.jpg
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Now we have battery voltage on what was the 5v input pin, we can add the RF module header - neg, battery and PPM (RX/D0):
new_larger_diymore_mod5.jpg

diymore_power_mod_diagram.jpg

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Programming is via a proper ICSP header, you can either solder in the header pins, or do as I did and just temporarily plug in the usbasp whilst programming:
new_larger_diymore_icsp.jpg

I've tested this before posting and until they inevitably change the boards again, this is gen.
With the mods suggested the new 2018 board is ideal for propo and reeds encoder projects.
Finally I can confirm that they have fixed the A4 & A5 transposition, everything is straight now!


EDIT: I spoke too soon, D0 and D1 are reversed on the silkscreen annotation. Since these were unused in teh original 7ch encoder, this only came to light with the update!


Cheers
Phil
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Wayne_H
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Re: The 'new' 2018 DIY-more PCB

Post by Wayne_H »

Thanks for the updated info Phil ;) Good to see that the boards are continuing to improve for our purposes/applications, and that there is now a proper ICSP header, all in a smaller form-factor.

Typically (for me), having previously run out of boards, I've not long re-stocked with the 'old' DIY-more board :roll: Bugger! :cry:. However, I'm sure the budget can stretch for several of these, for "research purposes" of course! :P
Cheers,

Wayne
Once a Retrobate, always a Retrobate............ ;)
Scott Todd
Posts: 66
Joined: 26 Mar 2018, 23:21

Re: The 'new' 2018 DIY-more PCB

Post by Scott Todd »

I ordered two of these from ebay a month ago and they still show a month out :(

Phil's link won't ship to the US. If anyone finds a better link that will ship to the US, please post it.

I also ordered some of the red expansion boards that need a Nano plugged into them. Those are showing two weeks out also.
Last edited by Scott Todd on 13 Apr 2018, 02:38, edited 1 time in total.
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tiptipflyer
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Location: Germany

Re: The 'new' 2018 DIY-more PCB

Post by tiptipflyer »

Hi Scott,
try this one, they say shipping world wide. I ordered a lot from them. Normal shipping time to Germany is two weeks.

https://www.ebay.de/itm/DM-Strong-CH340 ... b7buYsP8ZQ

Frank
Scott Todd
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Re: The 'new' 2018 DIY-more PCB

Post by Scott Todd »

After running it thru a translate page, it says in red letters 'No shipping to United States'

Edit: After thinking about it, I ordered 6 more from another vendor I found. They still show a month to deliver. It was only about $20 and I have plenty of projects I want to play with so I'll just hang out.

I have a bunch of cheap, older ebay radios that I want to convert and give to friends to try to talk then into playing :) I found if you look and pick up the dingy dirty ones for $20 or less, they usually clean up pretty nice. Quite often the boards are overcome with corrosion but the boxes and gimbals are usually in good shape after some work. I'm going to start a 'square box' trend with a S/C button on them ;)

Imagine a flight line full of Krafts', Ace, and EK's all trying to keep foamies in the air with rudder only...
Scott Todd
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Joined: 26 Mar 2018, 23:21

Re: The 'new' 2018 DIY-more PCB

Post by Scott Todd »

I'm having trouble with this board. Maybe someone can offer some advice. I built two and get the same results.
Confirmed Phil's sketch uploads and works fine on the Nano 'redboard'.

Using Arduino as ISP programmer.
Blink uploads fine.
Modifying Blink confirms its uploading.
Phil's code seems to upload with no errors.
Changed PPM to 0. Same result. Changed it back to 13 and put analyzer on pin 13. Same results.

I get the 2nd screen shown (with Pulse:302). It pulses at about 1 hz. It tries to fill in the channel info and then recycles. I can see it flash the PPM word where Pulse is but it happens too fast to get a photo. Pressing the Reset button sometimes gives me the photo showing 15 channels.

Uploading Blink again works fine. Change speed and it changes. So this tells me the board is getting the sketch. Could there be something in Phil's code that doesn't play well with this board? Has anyone else got one working? Did you do anything different that what Phil says in the other forum?

I also uploaded a 7 second video that seems to play.

More Info: Pressing the Reset button changes between the two modes described above. If its doing the 1hz cycling, a press of Rest switches it to the 15 channel photo. Another press starts the 1 hz cycling again.

I had it in a radio completely hooked up and it did the same thing. I put a Nano redboard in TX to verify everything was hooked up correctly and working.
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Phil_G
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Re: The 'new' 2018 DIY-more PCB

Post by Phil_G »

The tester is confused Scott because I'd guess the board isnt running at 16mhz, so the timing is way out.
The tester has only a small tolerance outside 'conventional' RC timing values and if these are exceeded either way, ie too fast or too slow, it just goes nuts.
In the Arduino menu, make sure the board, processor & speed settings are right then try 'burn bootloader' , followed by a reset and try the 7ch sketch again. This would normally restore 16mhz operation.
Unless, could it be that you bought 3v3 8mhz boards like Jay's by mistake?
There was a similar thread a short while ago, same symptoms for the same reason Image
Cheers
Phil
Scott Todd
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Joined: 26 Mar 2018, 23:21

Re: The 'new' 2018 DIY-more PCB

Post by Scott Todd »

I thought I read all the threads but didn't remember the same symptoms. I'll go look again.

I thought I bought 5V ones but will double check that. The other 5 I ordered from a different vendor showed up too. I'm using a 2S supply so I'll check the VCC when I get home tonight to verify what boards they are.

I'll try your suggestions. I didn't think to try different board types. I actually thought about trying the bootloader but I was long into it by then and needed a break. I didn't reason why to try the bootloader other than to try it...

Thanks again for the response. I'll post back when I learn something :)

Scott
Scott Todd
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Joined: 26 Mar 2018, 23:21

Re: The 'new' 2018 DIY-more PCB

Post by Scott Todd »

Progress!

I was using the 5V setting on the loader instead of 3.3 at 8MHz. Works good now :) I tried it with a USBASP set to 3.3 and Arduino Uno as ISP programmer. Both seem to work.

When I use the USBASP loader, does it overwrite the bootloader? I haven't tried on wired up radio yet.

I'm still a bit confused about when the bootloader is used. I thought by using the Arduino Uno as a programmer, this overwites the bootloader. Is this correct?
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Phil_G
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Re: The 'new' 2018 DIY-more PCB

Post by Phil_G »

So your boards are like Jays Scott? 3v3 and 8mhz? No problem as long as you know.
Re the bootloader, the reason its bad is because of the delay it introduces before your
encoder starts sending pulses. It lives in a reserved area of memory which remains
reserved, so we dont gain any memory, but it no longer runs. None of my stuff is big
enough (ooh er, missus) to worry about lack of memory but it is possible to recover the
reserved memory to make more room for big programs, to find out more have a read of
Mikes paper which explains everything really well, theres more discussion here.
Cheers
Phil
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