Thanks Allen,
my unit is not really a new unit that does not run, it is a homebrewed unit on a what we call "1000 fori" board (a board with holes that you have to wire).
Today I changed Xtal with a 4.433.... and tried the in circuit programming (picprog procedure). Finally, when I understood how the reset button must be used, I succeeded in program the pic. Rs232 communication seems to answer something to the command C+ENTER, but what I receive are characters without sense. At this point I think the only thing wrong is the not exact frequency of my XTAL. No LCD yet.
I add also Howard to email, in case he would be so kindly to comment even on a homebrewed LVB board.
Ciao, Stefano.
________________________________ Da: Allen Fugelseth allen@cruzio.com A: Stefano Simonetti iw1rdz@yahoo.it Inviato: Lunedì 24 agosto 2009, 1:37:19 Oggetto: RE: [amsat-bb] lvb tracker circuit -- xtal?
I don't know. I had a problem with mine not working after I upgraded it. I had an earlier revision and I wanted to upgrade it to the latest and greatest. I sent the PIC and the revised hex file from G6LVB on his web page. to a friend. My friend has the capability to program PICs. He reprogrammed it, but the circuit wouldn't work. It wouldn't oscillate. So I wrote to G6LVB describing my problem and he sent back what I sent to you. In my case I had a working unit, but I broke it with the new upgraded version hex code. G6LVB sent me the additional code as I sent to you. My friend added the code and the PIC worked. I think the main problem was that the oscillator input to the PIC wasn't set. Apparently it must be done in the first four bits sent to the PIC. This gets the PIC clock input receiving the clocking signal and the PIC runs. The PIC can be configured to use an xtal, RC, and one or two other clock inputs. With the xtal the PIC can be configured to provide an oscillator with the 4 MHZ xtal. I could ask my friend what FPW=on is. I am not any kind of an expert here. I have learned all of this by talking with smart people. I had to go to G6LVB. Don't be afraid to email him and inquire. He seems to be a friendly guy and willing to help. I take it that your unit is new and hasn't worked yet. My friend is Harold Hallikainen, WA6FDN. He is at Hallikainen.org. He is another nice guy. He is one of my resources for knowledge of these things. Harold programmed my PIC externally. Howard expected these to be programmed with his software, but I don't remember why I originally didn't program it that way. Maybe I couldn't get it to work for me. Harold priginally programmed my PIC. I believe we also had the configure problem then also. I remember trying diffrent xtals and maybe capacitors. The prblem turned out to be these first four configuration bits. If you take a look at the data sheet for the PIC I think you will find something about these config bits. I/m sorry that I could not have been more help here. 73, Allen WB6RWU -----Original Message-----
From: Stefano Simonetti [mailto:iw1rdz@yahoo.it] Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2009 1:54 PM To: Allen Fugelseth Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] lvb tracker circuit -- xtal?
thanks Allen, I tried now with the configuration you wrote.
In IC-PROG I've set:
Osc: XT Write enable: WRT OFF Fuses: WDT:disable PWRT (Power up timer):enable (this you call PUT) Boden:disable (this is BOD) LVP: disable CPD (code protection data):disable (this is data EE prot) CP (code protection): disable BDM (background debugger mode): disable (this is BDG)
But what is FPW=on ? I could not find in IC-Prog, even if at the end, with this configuration, IC-prog gave the exact config word: 3F31.
Now, the cases are 2:
- there is a big mistake in my circuit, apart the xtal, that I cannot see...
- FPW that I did not recognize in Ic-prog, makes the difference, even if the configuration word is exact (strange I think).
What do you think?
Stefano.
________________________________ Da: Allen Fugelseth allen@cruzio.com
A: Stefano Simonetti iw1rdz@yahoo.it Inviato: Domenica 23 agosto 2009, 0:48:09 Oggetto: RE: [amsat-bb] lvb tracker circuit -- xtal?
I had this problem. The problem was at the begining of the program in the first instruction, the program needs to tell the PIC to use a xtal osc as a clock sourece. The PIC will use maybe four kinds of time bases. RC. xtal, etc. A ham friend was programing the PCI externally for me and I had to go to Howard to get a solution. The following is what he told me. After my friend WA6FDN added some code, the PIC worked fine.
Hi Allen.
Normally, you don't program it with a PIC programmer, it is programmed in situ using the picprog.exe program on my website http://www.g6lvb.com/Articles/LVBTracker/PicProg.exe and run from the command line of a Windows PC using a real (not USB emulated) serial port. This sets the correct configuration bits: way back in 2001?? When I originally did the tracker, there was no Hex file example provided by Microchip that included the config bits, so I hard wired them in the programmer.
If you really do want to program the PIC outside of the tracker, then the correct bits to set are:
// Osc=XT, WDT off, PUT on, BOD off, LVP off, FPW on, DBG off, data EE prot off, CodeProt off au16Data[0x2007]=0x3F31;
[stolen form the picprog.c source code!]
I hope this helps you. Allen WB6RWU
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org]On Behalf Of Stefano Simonetti Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2009 2:45 PM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] lvb tracker circuit -- xtal?
Hi, I have problems in making the LVB tracker circuit run.
I have built the LVB tracker ver. PCB v1.2, Firmware v0.7, Programmer v0.2, Documentation v1.9, 7 Dec 2004, by G6LVB.
The firmware was flashed successfully with IC-PROG v 1.06B, a homebrewed interface for LPT, and an old PC with LPT1 running win98.
The LVB circuit requires a 4 MHz XTAL for the PIC 16F876A.
I tried with a 10MHz, and a 3,5795MHz as I haven't a 4MHz. No success. No LCD, no serial communication at all.
Does anybody know if the problem could be in having installed a different xtal (i.e.: does the firmware takes care about the frequency of the clock?)?
Regards, Stefano Simonetti (IW1RDZ) - Italy.
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Hello Stefano,
I experimented with a few crystals on LVB Trackers and got the best results with the one closest to 4.00 MHz. A number of things are run off of timers that are based on having a 4.0 MHz clock, so a 4.4 MHz clock will make 9600 bps communication difficult.
73, Gould, WA4SXM ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stefano Simonetti" iw1rdz@yahoo.it To: "Allen Fugelseth" allen@cruzio.com; amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 2:45 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: lvb tracker circuit -- xtal?
Thanks Allen,
my unit is not really a new unit that does not run, it is a homebrewed unit on a what we call "1000 fori" board (a board with holes that you have to wire).
Today I changed Xtal with a 4.433.... and tried the in circuit programming (picprog procedure). Finally, when I understood how the reset button must be used, I succeeded in program the pic. Rs232 communication seems to answer something to the command C+ENTER, but what I receive are characters without sense. At this point I think the only thing wrong is the not exact frequency of my XTAL. No LCD yet.
I add also Howard to email, in case he would be so kindly to comment even on a homebrewed LVB board.
Ciao, Stefano.
________________________________ Da: Allen Fugelseth allen@cruzio.com A: Stefano Simonetti iw1rdz@yahoo.it Inviato: Lunedì 24 agosto 2009, 1:37:19 Oggetto: RE: [amsat-bb] lvb tracker circuit -- xtal?
I don't know. I had a problem with mine not working after I upgraded it. I had an earlier revision and I wanted to upgrade it to the latest and greatest. I sent the PIC and the revised hex file from G6LVB on his web page. to a friend. My friend has the capability to program PICs. He reprogrammed it, but the circuit wouldn't work. It wouldn't oscillate. So I wrote to G6LVB describing my problem and he sent back what I sent to you. In my case I had a working unit, but I broke it with the new upgraded version hex code. G6LVB sent me the additional code as I sent to you. My friend added the code and the PIC worked. I think the main problem was that the oscillator input to the PIC wasn't set. Apparently it must be done in the first four bits sent to the PIC. This gets the PIC clock input receiving the clocking signal and the PIC runs. The PIC can be configured to use an xtal, RC, and one or two other clock inputs. With the xtal the PIC can be configured to provide an oscillator with the 4 MHZ xtal.
I could ask my friend what FPW=on is. I am not any kind of an expert here. I have learned all of this by talking with smart people. I had to go to G6LVB. Don't be afraid to email him and inquire. He seems to be a friendly guy and willing to help. I take it that your unit is new and hasn't worked yet.
My friend is Harold Hallikainen, WA6FDN. He is at Hallikainen.org. He is another nice guy. He is one of my resources for knowledge of these things.
Harold programmed my PIC externally. Howard expected these to be programmed with his software, but I don't remember why I originally didn't program it that way. Maybe I couldn't get it to work for me. Harold priginally programmed my PIC. I believe we also had the configure problem then also. I remember trying diffrent xtals and maybe capacitors. The prblem turned out to be these first four configuration bits. If you take a look at the data sheet for the PIC I think you will find something about these config bits.
I/m sorry that I could not have been more help here.
73, Allen WB6RWU -----Original Message-----
From: Stefano Simonetti [mailto:iw1rdz@yahoo.it] Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2009 1:54 PM To: Allen Fugelseth Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] lvb tracker circuit -- xtal?
thanks Allen, I tried now with the configuration you wrote.
In IC-PROG I've set:
Osc: XT Write enable: WRT OFF Fuses: WDT:disable PWRT (Power up timer):enable (this you call PUT) Boden:disable (this is BOD) LVP: disable CPD (code protection data):disable (this is data EE prot) CP (code protection): disable BDM (background debugger mode): disable (this is BDG)
But what is FPW=on ? I could not find in IC-Prog, even if at the end, with this configuration, IC-prog gave the exact config word: 3F31.
Now, the cases are 2:
- there is a big mistake in my circuit, apart the xtal, that I cannot
see... 2) FPW that I did not recognize in Ic-prog, makes the difference, even if the configuration word is exact (strange I think).
What do you think?
Stefano.
________________________________ Da: Allen Fugelseth allen@cruzio.com
A: Stefano Simonetti iw1rdz@yahoo.it Inviato: Domenica 23 agosto 2009, 0:48:09 Oggetto: RE: [amsat-bb] lvb tracker circuit -- xtal?
I had this problem. The problem was at the begining of the program in the first instruction, the program needs to tell the PIC to use a xtal osc as a clock sourece. The PIC will use maybe four kinds of time bases. RC. xtal, etc. A ham friend was programing the PCI externally for me and I had to go to Howard to get a solution. The following is what he told me. After my friend WA6FDN added some code, the PIC worked fine.
Hi Allen.
Normally, you don't program it with a PIC programmer, it is programmed in situ using the picprog.exe program on my website http://www.g6lvb.com/Articles/LVBTracker/PicProg.exe and run from the command line of a Windows PC using a real (not USB emulated) serial port. This sets the correct configuration bits: way back in 2001?? When I originally did the tracker, there was no Hex file example provided by Microchip that included the config bits, so I hard wired them in the programmer.
If you really do want to program the PIC outside of the tracker, then the correct bits to set are:
// Osc=XT, WDT off, PUT on, BOD off, LVP off, FPW on, DBG off, data EE prot off, CodeProt off au16Data[0x2007]=0x3F31;
[stolen form the picprog.c source code!]
I hope this helps you. Allen WB6RWU
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org]On Behalf Of Stefano Simonetti Sent: Saturday, August 22, 2009 2:45 PM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] lvb tracker circuit -- xtal?
Hi, I have problems in making the LVB tracker circuit run.
I have built the LVB tracker ver. PCB v1.2, Firmware v0.7, Programmer v0.2, Documentation v1.9, 7 Dec 2004, by G6LVB.
The firmware was flashed successfully with IC-PROG v 1.06B, a homebrewed interface for LPT, and an old PC with LPT1 running win98.
The LVB circuit requires a 4 MHz XTAL for the PIC 16F876A.
I tried with a 10MHz, and a 3,5795MHz as I haven't a 4MHz. No success. No LCD, no serial communication at all.
Does anybody know if the problem could be in having installed a different xtal (i.e.: does the firmware takes care about the frequency of the clock?)?
Regards, Stefano Simonetti (IW1RDZ) - Italy.
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (2)
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Gould Smith -
Stefano Simonetti