#Flushable - my tiniest nrf52 based node

1484 messages · Page 2 of 2 (latest)

final forge
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3d file?

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Model?

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Nope

neat rivet
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Sad.

final forge
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not tested xd

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as usual lol

bitter moss
final forge
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Kinda figured i guess 😅

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I could maybe modify the footprint to shrink the pad under the nrf52 chip to make space there for vias 🤔

final forge
bitter moss
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Had the Same issue

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Use the 45° or 90° round traces

final forge
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nah thats not the issue

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i had vias on pads

bitter moss
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Yes to get around that issue

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No more vias on the pads of the nrf52840

final forge
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already use .1mm traces

bitter moss
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Then you Can get around the pads

final forge
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the issue is that i just dont have free space for vias 😅

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id have to move shit like alot

bitter moss
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You Can use 0.35mm for the thing around and 0.3mm for the hole

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Thats pretty smol

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No Extra cost on PCBWay

final forge
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that what i have

bitter moss
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Just make the diameter smaller

final forge
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jlc wont be happy

bitter moss
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Why tf do you Need 0.45mm

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Thats giant

bitter moss
final forge
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i use jlc

bitter moss
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Make a Extra Version

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Right Click and new Version

final forge
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im not that dumb

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i preferably would not have 2 different version for different manufacturers

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its too much work

bitter moss
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You do you

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Just trying to help

final forge
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i think i got em all of the pads now

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had to just shrink the heat pad

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or what ever

hollow sedge
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Is it 2-layer?

final forge
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4

hollow sedge
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Ok, so epoxy and capped vias?

final forge
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cost extra

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alot

hollow sedge
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I.e. nice and flat.

final forge
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like 65 usd on jlc irc

hollow sedge
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I just meant does it force that?

final forge
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idk

hollow sedge
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🙃

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Ack, you'll be fine.

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It's standard assembly either way.

final forge
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its like 55€ more 🤣

hollow sedge
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Oof

final forge
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nice and happy

bitter moss
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Why Not use the nrfl1262

final forge
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if i would use, it would be the nrflr1110

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and to why im not using it it cuz it adds so much height

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hmmm

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nvm its not actually that hight

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still

bitter moss
bitter moss
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Idk how to spell it

final forge
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yes and its newer and better

bitter moss
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Sadly you cant use the gps on it right

final forge
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yea its not even gps

bitter moss
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My bad

final forge
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mhm

bitter moss
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Half a mm higher than the sx1262 standalone

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What do you Think of smd gps antennes?

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I am using One

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Or Plan to use one

final forge
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🤷‍♀️

bitter moss
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Mhm interesting

final forge
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#1391420698181898301

final forge
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Seem to have assembled one board so i can confirm if everything is correct

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Im existed to get these eventually

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I like the red pcb xd

final forge
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These Has been shipped

bitter moss
final forge
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Should have these next week

craggy torrent
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Any update? Debating on printing a batch to reinforce my masochistic tendencies lol

final forge
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Stuck in customs unfortunately

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Tracking says clearance event

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Nothing after that yet

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And thats from 6th

frigid nacelle
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What PCB designer do you use guys?

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I use KiCAD 8

final forge
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Easyeda

final forge
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Ummm.... Uhhh..... I never even got the chance to declare it. Gotta contact nextpcb.

Screenshot_20251112_175307_17TRACK.jpg
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I tried but it didn't allow

craggy torrent
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@final forge - have you heard of anyone building a v0.4 yet? I know you're dealing with the shipping headache, but I just wanted to see if anyones attempted yet before I order bare boards only for us to find out there's an issue lol.

final forge
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afaik no

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they have shipped them again and i hope that i can this time declare

craggy torrent
# final forge afaik no

Ok, I might just do the previous revision because I'm not doing PCBA, and I've already tried to attach a raw display to a PCB and failed miserably.

final forge
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Do mind the old one does not have usb c connector

craggy torrent
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The USB pads are all I'd really need. Does 0.4 have the same i2c pads as 0.3? if so, maybe i'll get both lol.

final forge
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It has i2c pads but don't remember where/what type

final forge
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Boards are once again in Finland and can't declare them so messaged dhl

final forge
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Issue resolved, nextpcb might have given dhl my number wrong

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It was off by one number

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Called dhl

final forge
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They had listed the cost as 8usd so i used that 😅

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Should have these hopefully at the end of the week

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Also just confirmed it was mextpcbs mistake

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My number is Correct in my account details

final forge
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Probably will have these boards tomorrow

hollow sedge
final forge
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Tho my screens are still out there somewhere on their way to me heh

final forge
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I thought they would have assembled all of them but oh well

20251129_181022.jpg 20251129_181057.jpg cc6ab7c0-642d-4fcc-b373-e34b2a17e000.jpg
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oh

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u think that was my fault

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not like its a big of an issue

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yea my mistake

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its fine tbh

hollow sedge
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Oh, 5 sets of 4 boards, but only 5 sets of 1 built?

final forge
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20 boards and 5 assembled

hollow sedge
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That was intentional? It feels like forever since you ordered them.

final forge
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i did intend to get all 20 but might have missed a dropdown

hollow sedge
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Ah, I wasn't sure if this was another sample batch.

final forge
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this was the sponsor heh

hollow sedge
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Aha!

final forge
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will flash tomorrow

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im really wondering if i should just switch to the other nrf package and make my own variant

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would be easier to solder

hollow sedge
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The bga?

final forge
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qfn

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oh

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the 48 one

hollow sedge
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Ah, that the one without usb?

final forge
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oh was it

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shit

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ah shit yea it doesnt

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ummm

hollow sedge
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Can't remember who was making their own one...

final forge
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kinda dont want to add a serial converter

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argh

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but also i want easier solderable ic

hollow sedge
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-# modules

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Or another aio one?

final forge
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the chip currenly i have since it has usb

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but i want one that doesent have the connections under it

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i want em on the side

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but also usb

hollow sedge
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What's the price of the current chip?

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Vs a holyiot or whatever

final forge
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idk

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4.29 usd

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3.73eur

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per chip

final forge
hollow sedge
final forge
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thats cheper

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and out of sock

hollow sedge
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Yeah, old prices I think

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But yee, modules are easier.

final forge
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yeeee

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6usd

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would simplify the pcb tho

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like alot

hollow sedge
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Yeah

final forge
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maybe ill make a run atsomepoint

craggy torrent
# final forge maybe ill make a run atsomepoint

They're pretty good with communicating directly and they've reached out to me a few times asking about upcoming projects so they may be even able to give you a discount directly through them. I've only ever ordered on their AliEx store then they messaged me directly. From my experience with the minew modules they've been rock solid. (ME25LS01 & MS24SF01)

final forge
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Node works fine

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Screen doesn't show anything

final forge
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im pretty sure i messed it up 😅

steady prawn
final forge
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Still 31.8x31.8mm pcb

final forge
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@hollow sedge didnt u make the seed wio footprint? or was it someone else

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sx1262

hollow sedge
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I did in std

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Why?

final forge
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i had an issue where the seed did have a footprint but i found it lol

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it did export it

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but maybe make it in pro too?

hollow sedge
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Can do

final forge
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pcb size will remain the same but the antenna does stick out unfortunetly

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i'm too lazy to deal with the antenna so this will do

gilded idol
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hey, i remember you said you used 10k resistors for the leds on your design, right?

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could you be able to show a picture of the leds on to see how bright they are?

final forge
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The led closet to my thumb is powered only when usb plugged in

rn_image_picker_lib_temp_3b5f18d7-a24c-457f-ac98-01fb3660061b.jpg
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It's the chargers leds

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So won't be on if not plugged in

final forge
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same errors shows up no matter what settings i change

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any ideas?

hollow sedge
final forge
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ye

hollow sedge
final forge
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It boots fine sees tcxo voltage

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What else could be?

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Promicro firmware

hollow sedge
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@deft mist if you're available

gentle ridge
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@final forge I wonder what's your thought about HT-RA62 over the seeeds sx1262 that you chose. You can get HT-RA62 quite cheaply from aliexpress

final forge
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its huge compared to seeds

dull crystal
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The only way to make this smaller I think is by using the SeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeedStudio stacking boards and go 3D I think...

final forge
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could add more stuff to the bottom

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theres space

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like for example lora

dull crystal
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Well yeah, but then assembly at home will be a pain in the arse

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Because suddenly you can't hotplate half of it

final forge
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its pain alredy cuz the nrf52 module

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and this already has stuff on both sides xd

dull crystal
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Ah...

final forge
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there is a version that has only on one side

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but are u ready to ball and solder the nrf chip

dull crystal
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No lmao

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Out of curiosity, why is it BGA

final forge
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so doesent matter anyway

dull crystal
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Did Nordic wake up and choose violence or is the not-BGA larger

final forge
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well.... promicro firmware 😅

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wanted to use that

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and this has usb

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the one that has the connections on the side does not have usb

dull crystal
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Weird

hollow sedge
final forge
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no usb

hollow sedge
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BGA is the pro way to do it.

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sadly

dull crystal
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I wonder if JLCPCB could mount the BGA...

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hmm.

final forge
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yes, yes they can

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i cant use the crystal for ble

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it just seems to fail

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its disabled by default in the promicro variant anyway

hollow sedge
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I think we disabled it because it wasn't reliable on the promicro

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Or at least the ones vaRDas had.

final forge
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got it

hollow sedge
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Does it work without?

final forge
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with lf it works

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also the ble antenna thingy isnt perferct

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like meter apart and -79

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i bribg it bext to my phone -42 at lowest

hollow sedge
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Hmmm

final forge
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its me and my i dont care about rf

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its come to bite me in the ass

dull crystal
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Ehehe

final forge
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or it just could be the chip antenna tbh

dull crystal
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Chip antenna are terrible

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I have about eight ESP32/C6s with chip antenna, and ten feet from the 30 dB 2.4 GHz AP they only get -60 dBm

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They also can't do BLE more than about four feet, and Zigbee is a shitshow

final forge
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so then this is expected got it

dull crystal
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Thankfully I have dead laptops I can steal tuned mid-fed dipoles from with IPEX on them

final forge
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not like this node is meant to be somewhere far xd

dull crystal
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Ehehe

final forge
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well i did add ipex as an switchable option if one desires

dull crystal
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Honestly, with the difficulty of getting 2.4 GHz IPEX antenna cheaply I'd prefer the modern tiny ones

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WiFi hasn't used IPEX in about fifteen years

final forge
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@hollow sedge okay not it didnt give me -707 and reboot after removing tcxo optional but it started to smal busytx and now it gave milion error 8 and rebooted lol

hollow sedge
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Busytx is something else.

final forge
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so, is this a good or bad thing i fixed -707 😅

hollow sedge
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Is this definitely following promicro pinout?

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Busypin defined as TXEN can be like that.

final forge
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i dont remember changing the pinout after the first batch that is definetly working

hollow sedge
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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 🧐

final forge
hollow sedge
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Yeee

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Do they all not work?

final forge
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havent tried all of them

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but i think 2 dont atleast

hollow sedge
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Seeeeⁿd wio def has TCXO, too.

final forge
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yea lol

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but yea -707 disapeared when i removed tcxo optional definition

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also massively fucked this up

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was just following this

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didnt pay attention to the lables

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so yeaa.... fun

hollow sedge
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Oooooooooooooooh

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That's a big short circuit.

final forge
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do i need to make a bodge fixer again 🤣

hollow sedge
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Wait, no

final forge
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and re arange all of these xd

hollow sedge
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You could probably cricut something for that.

final forge
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we love bodge fixers xd

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i like have these fliped 180

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i think

hollow sedge
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Cricut plus some copper tape might be sufficient for a test.

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Not that I have a cricut

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Nor you

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But I've been looking at Xmas presents

final forge
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the thing is, i tried to flip the screen 180 and it still didnt work so idk

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okay i think the number 1 i have on the board is in correct spot

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so it should work

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flipped 180 and now its corrext

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so i didnt fuck anything up

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I think i was thinking it would go like this

20251206_194051.jpg
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Flip ontop of the gps and usb

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cuz it should be correct now but it still didnt work

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might be cuz i have external ldo that can be enabled and disabled?

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could that be

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i guess it does not get enabled 🤔

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cuz prob forgor something 🤣

hollow sedge
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Could also be related to the radio thing...

final forge
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it is connected to p0.13 so it should be enabled

hollow sedge
final forge
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seems so

hollow sedge
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Ok

final forge
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oh now i got -707

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tried to change a setting

final forge
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also something i realised

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i vss_pa connected to ground

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😅

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oopsy

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wait

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no

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it does connect

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nvm

final forge
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this could be why screen no worky

final forge
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Screen works after touching pin 19 with my scope

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Persists pressing reset but full power cycle clears something

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And it is only pin 19 i need to touch

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Atleast it looks like it

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Yea

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Only pin 19

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Also scope has to be fully on for it to work

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i wonder if the probe adds some capacitance or something

final forge
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Idk if it works

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Nope

bitter moss
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But I have way more components than you

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For the screen

final forge
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What do i have then?

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Cuz u don't need alot

gentle ridge
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I like how you attempted to bodge a fix, ah well if it didn't quite work out

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Did you get them to assemble for you or did you assemble it yourself?

final forge
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They were assembled

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I did solder the screen tho

final forge
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Lets fucking go

20251227_195614.jpg
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Thx @modest dew I guess 🤣

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Team work xd

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stupid me put both resistors on i2c address selection

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Tho its shifted lil bit

20251227_200214.jpg
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still have the busytc issues

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and this when trying to save settings

hollow sedge
final forge
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For screen yea

final forge
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just gotta figure out the busy tx and the -707 error

final forge
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The fact is that i didn't change the lora part lol

bitter moss
jade valley
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so... are these designed to be flushed after using :)?

final forge
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No, not at all

gilded idol
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sorry to bother, but what are some of the major mistakes you made and design considerations i should take into account? designing a node almost very similar to yours and im just wondering so hopefully i dont have to buy second rounds

final forge
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First version without usb port 😅

bitter moss
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What bootloader do you Flash?

final forge
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i think i used the adafruit one

final forge
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i have great news

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the new one works

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the old and the new doesent work without the battery aparently

final forge
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gps is detected but doesent have a lock hehe

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cuz inside

bitter moss
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@final forge what Bootloader do you have on your PCB?

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I am trying to Flash One Right now

final forge
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Promicro bootloader, why?

bitter moss
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Took some time

IMG_7596.jpg
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Took me about 5h to get to this Point and idk why but the Chip is Factory looked @final forge

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Do you know how to unlock it

final forge
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by erasing it 😅

bitter moss
final forge
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what utility are u using to flash?

bitter moss
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With J-Link

final forge
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try googling then

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there must be some guides

hollow sedge
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You're into serious debugging territory once you're using a segger.

bitter moss
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Forgot to Read the datasheet

IMG_7599.png
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Finally works

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Took me solid 8h

bitter moss
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Apparently datasheet Are Not just here to Annoy you

final forge
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no shit

hollow sedge
final forge
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hah yea

final forge
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just so i can put thes on github

final forge
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Sooo... What have i done to fix the screen 🤣

20260322_141146.jpg 20260322_141128.jpg
hollow sedge
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Bridged a spare via to some other pins?

final forge
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I know i cut a trace

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Thats sda

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Well 2 but then why did i connect it back.

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That I don't understand

final forge
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Okay, i cut sda and the screen works

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So uhhh....

hollow sedge
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Dodgy clocking?

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Too much bias?

final forge
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🤷‍♀️

hollow sedge
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Does scl go to another pin on the screen?

final forge
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Yup

hollow sedge
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Or controller chip?

hollow sedge
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Or providing 3.3v for biasing?

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And the original schematic omitted the resistor?

final forge
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Uhhh.... Idk

hollow sedge
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Idk either

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Guessing hard.

final forge
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I have resistors on i2c

hollow sedge
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Does the NRF even need them, if it's a pull up input?

final forge
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No clue tbh

hollow sedge
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Maybe it saves power to use bias resistors vs. driven pins?

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I know several of the bq chargers do cmos control even though i2c uses bias

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Which, incidentally, drives the 3.3v supply of you're not careful

final forge
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maybe it needs higher i2c pullups

hollow sedge
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Which one did you cut?

final forge
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sda

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completly

hollow sedge
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Which sda?

final forge
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all

hollow sedge
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Huh?

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Where's it getting the data from?

final forge
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uhhh

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yea idk

hollow sedge
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I wonder if it's just getting the signal through the bias resistor?

final forge
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I cut it after the resistor

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So its not even getting 3.3

hollow sedge
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The one next to it is still connected

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Under the silkscreen

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I need to check the gerbils

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What's that diagonal trace on the other pin?

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Wait...

final forge
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hmmm

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nvm

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its still connected

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maybe it didnt have good contact before

hollow sedge
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I lost...

final forge
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idk anymore

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forget it

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ill have add screen to all of these boards and test them again

final forge
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it just looks like its connecting

hollow sedge
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Ok, I'm going with the ribbon wasn't connected properly to start

final forge
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ill solder all of the screens to the rest and ill have to test

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currently at our maker space tho so cant do that

final forge
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idk

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this is weird

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they work