February 2024 - pacsat-dev - mailman.amsat.org

Re: Pacsat dev mtg 2/22/2024
by Burns Fisher (AMSAT) 22 Feb '24

22 Feb '24

Another meeting at 7, so I may be late (or not there depending!) I've sent my Blinky back to Bob along with two programming interface boards that need the connector soldered on, and a case 3D printed for them. (Do you have the file to print these from Bob?) 73, Burns Fisher, WB1FJ *AMSAT(R) Engineering -- Flight Software* On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 4:41 PM Bill via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org> wrote: > Pacsat dev mtg 2/22/2024 > Thu, Feb 22, 2024 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (CST) > > Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. > > https://meet.goto.com/533180525 > > You can also dial in using your phone. > (For supported devices, tap a one-touch number below to join instantly.) > > United States: +1 (571) 317-3122 > - One-touch: tel:+15713173122,,533180525# > > Access Code: 533-180-525 > > Join from a video-conferencing room or system. > Dial in or type: 67.217.95.2 or inroomlink.goto.com > Meeting ID: 533 180 525 > Or dial directly: 533180525(a)67.217.95.2 or 67.217.95.2##533180525 > > > Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts: > https://meet.goto.com/install > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org >

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Pacsat dev mtg 2/22/2024
by Bill 22 Feb '24

22 Feb '24

Pacsat dev mtg 2/22/2024 Thu, Feb 22, 2024 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM (CST) Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone. https://meet.goto.com/533180525 You can also dial in using your phone. (For supported devices, tap a one-touch number below to join instantly.) United States: +1 (571) 317-3122 - One-touch: tel:+15713173122,,533180525# Access Code: 533-180-525 Join from a video-conferencing room or system. Dial in or type: 67.217.95.2 or inroomlink.goto.com Meeting ID: 533 180 525 Or dial directly: 533180525(a)67.217.95.2 or 67.217.95.2##533180525 Get the app now and be ready when your first meeting starts: https://meet.goto.com/install

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Re: PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level
by Jim McCullers 21 Feb '24

21 Feb '24

Power supplies are never easy. Correct words if ever spoken. I have little experience with critical onboard supplies other than getting the pinouts wrong but see it coming. The newer chips are far more critical as to components and layouts which is evident by the increased number of pins. Hope to learn from you. I have to become more observant of the spec sheets. Most of my power supply work is with things that go bang and release much smoke when they go wrong. I will never become accustom to that sound! I have six here that were donated and a few need work. As the to board when it arrives, I’ll get the transmitter output under control and will look in the code for ‘other’ places that might set the value. Then we can talk about testing the PA. Want to take bets on smoke? Again, take your time. Jim I think I see the problem with the 5V regulator which has been bothering me. I just looked at the data sheet and it says the ESR of the output cap must be below 1 ohm. The output cap in this case is about .5 ohms but there is a 3.3uH inductor in series and this has a resistance of 1.2 ohms. So either the inductor has to go or be moved or another 10 uF low ESR cap must be added. The the voltage should come up some. The current rating on the inductor is also too low for this design because we are pulling so much current. Power supplies are never easy. If it's not a voltage issue its noise or heat. Bob On Feb 20, 2024, at 8:46 PM, Jim McCullers via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Bob, I’ll look further. Thanks? Take all the time you need and don’t want to sort out the board to the max before sending it on! Jim Jim, There is another place you may be missing and I will have to find it later and let you know. But the code does this by calling a SPI write routine to the AX device and in this routine the value is truncated down to 0xff. However when I tested other values like 0xe0 the thing just stopped transmitting. I can copy the signal in my lab with 0x0d. Maybe it is increasing power someplace else but I hope not so we can get some more bang. I plane to ship you a board tomorrow. I thought I was going to get it out today but I kept finding issues on the board I had to fix. This board still has a bit of week power source. The 5V supply is running about 4.75 and the 3.3 is a little low like 3.25. May need the additional headroom from 5V. There is a resistor string on the back of the board that programs the level. I noticed today that the board did not come up when I powered it and then I removed power and reconnected and that time it worked fine. The board needs a bit more voltage feeding the preamp on the RX input to get more gain. It is operating with 30 mA and would like to have 60 mA to have full gain. The 3.3V minder chip I thought was set for enough current to feed everything but may need to move the monitor resistor up to allow a full 600 mA. I did not see these issues on a board I just sent to Chris. I am ready to share the fun though and instead of continuing to debug and chase problems I am going to send you a setup tomorrow. I may poke at it a little in the morning but not much. At this point when the board powers up it does transmit and it will receive or at least it will get the rf to the AX5043 inputs. I can see it there. Your call is programmed into the flash so play with it until you get a programmer. I will send you a programmer later. Burns is sending me two and soon as I see them and add a connector I will push one on to you. Bob _____ From: Jim McCullers via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 8:24 PM To: 'Pacsat Dev' <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> > Subject: [pacsat-dev] PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level Bob, Looking at the lastest code I see two places, which is one to many, where the transmit power level is set. They are: ax5043-ax25.c Lines 435-436 TxTask.c Line 63 calls radio_set_power() at line 112 They both set the power level to 0x0020 which is very weak. I don’t see a place that sets the transmit level to 0x0d. Let me know where you found that reference. I would suggest setting both places to 0x0FFF for maximum output (+15 dbm) Jim McCullers WA4CWI ----------------------------------------------------------- pacsat-dev mailing list -- <mailto:[email protected]> pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org View archives of this mailing list at <https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]> https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to <mailto:[email protected]> pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at <https://mailman.amsat.org/> https://mailman.amsat.org

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Re: PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level
by Chris Thompson 21 Feb '24

21 Feb '24

The power level is hard coded in the txtask for testing and can be removed or surround with ifdef DEBUG. The other calls need to read the value from MRAM and should be commandable. That code has not yet been written. Let's keep the value low for testing purposes if we can. I realize it needs to be at a certain level for the PA no doubt. 73 Chris On Wed, Feb 21, 2024, 07:09 Bob Stricklin via pacsat-dev < pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org> wrote: > I think I see the problem with the 5V regulator which has been bothering > me. I just looked at the data sheet and it says the ESR of the output cap > must be below 1 ohm. The output cap in this case is about .5 ohms but there > is a 3.3uH inductor in series and this has a resistance of 1.2 ohms. So > either the inductor has to go or be moved or another 10 uF low ESR cap must > be added. The the voltage should come up some. The current rating on the > inductor is also too low for this design because we are pulling so much > current. > > Power supplies are never easy. If it's not a voltage issue its noise or > heat. > > Bob > > > On Feb 20, 2024, at 8:46 PM, Jim McCullers via pacsat-dev < > pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org> wrote: > > Bob, > > I’ll look further. > Thanks? > > Take all the time you need and don’t want to sort out the board to the max > before sending it on! > > Jim > > > Jim, There is another place you may be missing and I will have to find it > later and let you know. But the code does this by calling a SPI write > routine to the AX device and in this routine the value is truncated down to > 0xff. However when I tested other values like 0xe0 the thing just stopped > transmitting. > > I can copy the signal in my lab with 0x0d. Maybe it is increasing power > someplace else but I hope not so we can get some more bang. > > I plane to ship you a board tomorrow. I thought I was going to get it out > today but I kept finding issues on the board I had to fix. This board still > has a bit of week power source. The 5V supply is running about 4.75 and the > 3.3 is a little low like 3.25. May need the additional headroom from 5V. > There is a resistor string on the back of the board that programs the > level. > > I noticed today that the board did not come up when I powered it and then > I removed power and reconnected and that time it worked fine. > > > The board needs a bit more voltage feeding the preamp on the RX input to > get more gain. It is operating with 30 mA and would like to have 60 mA to > have full gain. The 3.3V minder chip I thought was set for enough current > to feed everything but may need to move the monitor resistor up to allow a > full 600 mA. > > I did not see these issues on a board I just sent to Chris. > > I am ready to share the fun though and instead of continuing to debug and > chase problems I am going to send you a setup tomorrow. I may poke at it a > little in the morning but not much. > > At this point when the board powers up it does transmit and it will > receive or at least it will get the rf to the AX5043 inputs. I can see it > there. > > Your call is programmed into the flash so play with it until you get a > programmer. > > I will send you a programmer later. Burns is sending me two and soon as I > see them and add a connector I will push one on to you. > > Bob > ------------------------------ > *From:* Jim McCullers via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org> > *Sent:* Tuesday, February 20, 2024 8:24 PM > *To:* 'Pacsat Dev' <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org> > *Subject:* [pacsat-dev] PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level > > Bob, > > Looking at the lastest code I see two places, which is one to many, where > the transmit power level is set. > They are: > > ax5043-ax25.c Lines 435-436 > > TxTask.c Line 63 calls > radio_set_power() at line 112 > > They both set the power level to 0x0020 which is very weak. > > I don’t see a place that sets the transmit level to 0x0d. > Let me know where you found that reference. > > I would suggest setting both places to 0x0FFF for maximum output (+15 dbm) > > Jim McCullers > WA4CWI > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org > > > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org > View archives of this mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org > Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at > https://mailman.amsat.org >

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Re: PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level
by Bob Stricklin 21 Feb '24

21 Feb '24

I think I see the problem with the 5V regulator which has been bothering me. I just looked at the data sheet and it says the ESR of the output cap must be below 1 ohm. The output cap in this case is about .5 ohms but there is a 3.3uH inductor in series and this has a resistance of 1.2 ohms. So either the inductor has to go or be moved or another 10 uF low ESR cap must be added. The the voltage should come up some. The current rating on the inductor is also too low for this design because we are pulling so much current. Power supplies are never easy. If it's not a voltage issue its noise or heat. Bob On Feb 20, 2024, at 8:46 PM, Jim McCullers via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Bob, I’ll look further. Thanks? Take all the time you need and don’t want to sort out the board to the max before sending it on! Jim Jim, There is another place you may be missing and I will have to find it later and let you know. But the code does this by calling a SPI write routine to the AX device and in this routine the value is truncated down to 0xff. However when I tested other values like 0xe0 the thing just stopped transmitting. I can copy the signal in my lab with 0x0d. Maybe it is increasing power someplace else but I hope not so we can get some more bang. I plane to ship you a board tomorrow. I thought I was going to get it out today but I kept finding issues on the board I had to fix. This board still has a bit of week power source. The 5V supply is running about 4.75 and the 3.3 is a little low like 3.25. May need the additional headroom from 5V. There is a resistor string on the back of the board that programs the level. I noticed today that the board did not come up when I powered it and then I removed power and reconnected and that time it worked fine. The board needs a bit more voltage feeding the preamp on the RX input to get more gain. It is operating with 30 mA and would like to have 60 mA to have full gain. The 3.3V minder chip I thought was set for enough current to feed everything but may need to move the monitor resistor up to allow a full 600 mA. I did not see these issues on a board I just sent to Chris. I am ready to share the fun though and instead of continuing to debug and chase problems I am going to send you a setup tomorrow. I may poke at it a little in the morning but not much. At this point when the board powers up it does transmit and it will receive or at least it will get the rf to the AX5043 inputs. I can see it there. Your call is programmed into the flash so play with it until you get a programmer. I will send you a programmer later. Burns is sending me two and soon as I see them and add a connector I will push one on to you. Bob ________________________________ From: Jim McCullers via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 8:24 PM To: 'Pacsat Dev' <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]>> Subject: [pacsat-dev] PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level Bob, Looking at the lastest code I see two places, which is one to many, where the transmit power level is set. They are: ax5043-ax25.c Lines 435-436 TxTask.c Line 63 calls radio_set_power() at line 112 They both set the power level to 0x0020 which is very weak. I don’t see a place that sets the transmit level to 0x0d. Let me know where you found that reference. I would suggest setting both places to 0x0FFF for maximum output (+15 dbm) Jim McCullers WA4CWI ----------------------------------------------------------- pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org<https://mailman.amsat.org/>

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Re: PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level
by Jim McCullers 21 Feb '24

21 Feb '24

Bob, I'll look further. Thanks? Take all the time you need and don't want to sort out the board to the max before sending it on! Jim Jim, There is another place you may be missing and I will have to find it later and let you know. But the code does this by calling a SPI write routine to the AX device and in this routine the value is truncated down to 0xff. However when I tested other values like 0xe0 the thing just stopped transmitting. I can copy the signal in my lab with 0x0d. Maybe it is increasing power someplace else but I hope not so we can get some more bang. I plane to ship you a board tomorrow. I thought I was going to get it out today but I kept finding issues on the board I had to fix. This board still has a bit of week power source. The 5V supply is running about 4.75 and the 3.3 is a little low like 3.25. May need the additional headroom from 5V. There is a resistor string on the back of the board that programs the level. I noticed today that the board did not come up when I powered it and then I removed power and reconnected and that time it worked fine. The board needs a bit more voltage feeding the preamp on the RX input to get more gain. It is operating with 30 mA and would like to have 60 mA to have full gain. The 3.3V minder chip I thought was set for enough current to feed everything but may need to move the monitor resistor up to allow a full 600 mA. I did not see these issues on a board I just sent to Chris. I am ready to share the fun though and instead of continuing to debug and chase problems I am going to send you a setup tomorrow. I may poke at it a little in the morning but not much. At this point when the board powers up it does transmit and it will receive or at least it will get the rf to the AX5043 inputs. I can see it there. Your call is programmed into the flash so play with it until you get a programmer. I will send you a programmer later. Burns is sending me two and soon as I see them and add a connector I will push one on to you. Bob _____ From: Jim McCullers via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 8:24 PM To: 'Pacsat Dev' <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org <mailto:[email protected]> > Subject: [pacsat-dev] PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level Bob, Looking at the lastest code I see two places, which is one to many, where the transmit power level is set. They are: ax5043-ax25.c Lines 435-436 TxTask.c Line 63 calls radio_set_power() at line 112 They both set the power level to 0x0020 which is very weak. I don't see a place that sets the transmit level to 0x0d. Let me know where you found that reference. I would suggest setting both places to 0x0FFF for maximum output (+15 dbm) Jim McCullers WA4CWI

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Re: PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level
by Bob Stricklin 21 Feb '24

21 Feb '24

Jim, There is another place you may be missing and I will have to find it later and let you know. But the code does this by calling a SPI write routine to the AX device and in this routine the value is truncated down to 0xff. However when I tested other values like 0xe0 the thing just stopped transmitting. I can copy the signal in my lab with 0x0d. Maybe it is increasing power someplace else but I hope not so we can get some more bang. I plane to ship you a board tomorrow. I thought I was going to get it out today but I kept finding issues on the board I had to fix. This board still has a bit of week power source. The 5V supply is running about 4.75 and the 3.3 is a little low like 3.25. May need the additional headroom from 5V. There is a resistor string on the back of the board that programs the level. I noticed today that the board did not come up when I powered it and then I removed power and reconnected and that time it worked fine. The board needs a bit more voltage feeding the preamp on the RX input to get more gain. It is operating with 30 mA and would like to have 60 mA to have full gain. The 3.3V minder chip I thought was set for enough current to feed everything but may need to move the monitor resistor up to allow a full 600 mA. I did not see these issues on a board I just sent to Chris. I am ready to share the fun though and instead of continuing to debug and chase problems I am going to send you a setup tomorrow. I may poke at it a little in the morning but not much. At this point when the board powers up it does transmit and it will receive or at least it will get the rf to the AX5043 inputs. I can see it there. Your call is programmed into the flash so play with it until you get a programmer. I will send you a programmer later. Burns is sending me two and soon as I see them and add a connector I will push one on to you. Bob ________________________________ From: Jim McCullers via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org> Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2024 8:24 PM To: 'Pacsat Dev' <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org> Subject: [pacsat-dev] PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level Bob, Looking at the lastest code I see two places, which is one to many, where the transmit power level is set. They are: ax5043-ax25.c Lines 435-436 TxTask.c Line 63 calls radio_set_power() at line 112 They both set the power level to 0x0020 which is very weak. I don’t see a place that sets the transmit level to 0x0d. Let me know where you found that reference. I would suggest setting both places to 0x0FFF for maximum output (+15 dbm) Jim McCullers WA4CWI

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PacSatSW - Transmitter Power Level
by Jim McCullers 21 Feb '24

21 Feb '24

Bob, Looking at the lastest code I see two places, which is one to many, where the transmit power level is set. They are: ax5043-ax25.c Lines 435-436 TxTask.c Line 63 calls radio_set_power() at line 112 They both set the power level to 0x0020 which is very weak. I don't see a place that sets the transmit level to 0x0d. Let me know where you found that reference. I would suggest setting both places to 0x0FFF for maximum output (+15 dbm) Jim McCullers WA4CWI

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Re: Power coming out of AX5043
by Bob Stricklin 17 Feb '24

17 Feb '24

I just spent some time trying to increase power and it does not like anything but 0xd for power level. I see where this is passed to a ax5043 register write routine and the value is AND with 0xff then passed on. I am going to give up on this and move on for now. I want to work on other task to prepare for shipping. Bob On Feb 17, 2024, at 8:53 AM, Chris Thompson via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org> wrote: Also, out issue tracker for the software is here: https://github.com/AMSAT-NA/PacSatSW/issues I just added this one, but if you see other problems then feel free to add them or as me to add. Future ideas should be logged as enhancements. We can group all of these into 'projects' if we want or as 'milestones' so it is very flexible and allows a large number of issues to be filtered to just the right ones for an objective. Note that some of the issues are actually closed and I need to do a pass through to clean them up. One other 'rule' that Burns and I have used in the past is that the person who raises the issue is the person who closes it, once they are happy. 73 Chris On Sat, Feb 17, 2024, 09:28 Chris Thompson via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Hi all, The power setting commands were never ported over from Golf. As Bob said it is currently hard coded to a minimum level for testing in the shack. We will want this to be commandable in the future, at least to a couple of levels as Burns said. 73 Chris On Sat, Feb 17, 2024, 09:18 Burns Fisher (AMSAT) via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: A couple thoughts (and these are based on memory, not looking at code since I am not in my shack) First, Jim, remember that any changes that I made are all on the git branch that starts WB1FJ... And that branch will not work on the launchpad. This branch came off "MAIN" so anything in any other branches is not included in WB1FJ... Second, I did not explicitly mess with anything relating to power in my last round of changes, although most of the calls into the AX5043 code I had to change to include an argument to say which chip to use. For something transmit-only, though I'm not sure. And finally, the way power works on Golf (and I probably did not change this when I originally ported it to Launchpad, although someone else may have): There is a high power and a low power. The values for high and low are either constants or in MRAM. But the commands are essentially to set it to high or low power. On Golf, there is a high/low pair for both normal mode and safe mode, but there are no such modes on Pacsat of course. Since that must have been ripped out at some point--probably that original port, or by Chris later--I'm not sure just how the power works at this point. Sorry, I'd look at more of this, but I have a busy weekend prepping for and teaching a ham radio class. 73, Burns Fisher, WB1FJ AMSAT(R) Engineering -- Flight Software On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 12:20 AM Jim McCullers via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: I did some housekeeping last weekend on the files and it appears I went one step to far and don't have the latest version of the software. I'll pull it down tomorrow. The version I have sets the 0x0020 which is very low. Max power is 0x0fff. Remember the range is not linear. Congrats Jim One more point… Max power 16 dB would with 5V and we are using 3.3v on the AX5043. > On Feb 16, 2024, at 9:25 PM, Bob Stricklin via pacsat-dev <pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > I did test a board today and found it was transmitting every 30 seconds with a power level of about -28 dBm. > > I spent some time looking at the code and found where the power level is set to ox0d in a config file and get AX reports this value. > > I see in the data sheet for AX5043 where power should range from -10 dB to 16 dB and uses a 12 bit value to set the level. Possibly we are just adjusting upper 8 bits. > > We will also be losing power in the differential to single ended converter and shaping circuit. I will probe on this a little more tomorrow but likely just leave it alone and move on for now to be sure and ship boards Monday. > > I also see the 30 second interval in the code and some other comments about setting power but does not seem like this is being used. > > I could not get a continuous tone and I did not spend time setting up a tight loop to transmit. > > I did change the call sign in the configuration to mine. > > Bob > > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> View archives of this > mailing list at > https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> Manage all > of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org ----------------------------------------------------------- pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org ----------------------------------------------------------- pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org ----------------------------------------------------------- pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org ----------------------------------------------------------- pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org<mailto:[email protected]> Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org ----------------------------------------------------------- pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org

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Re: Power coming out of AX5043
by Jim McCullers 17 Feb '24

17 Feb '24

Bob, Attached is a power analysis done by OnSemi that I discovered after doing one of my own when I discovered the power output was not linear as the programming manual implies and several project samples utilize. As is was copyrighted material I did not believe it was appropriate to put on github. My analysis was in line with the document. They also did an output to voltage analysis which leads me to believe your 3.3 volt power supply is not a factor in the low output. 0x0fff is the eleven setting. Crank it up! Jim I did test a board today and found it was transmitting every 30 seconds with a power level of about -28 dBm. I spent some time looking at the code and found where the power level is set to ox0d in a config file and get AX reports this value. I see in the data sheet for AX5043 where power should range from -10 dB to 16 dB and uses a 12 bit value to set the level. Possibly we are just adjusting upper 8 bits. We will also be losing power in the differential to single ended converter and shaping circuit. I will probe on this a little more tomorrow but likely just leave it alone and move on for now to be sure and ship boards Monday. I also see the 30 second interval in the code and some other comments about setting power but does not seem like this is being used. I could not get a continuous tone and I did not spend time setting up a tight loop to transmit. I did change the call sign in the configuration to mine. Bob ----------------------------------------------------------- pacsat-dev mailing list -- pacsat-dev(a)amsat.org View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to pacsat-dev-leave(a)amsat.org Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org

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