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Equipment / Re: So You Want To Build A Beacon - My Gongshow
« on: August 13, 2022, 0239 UTC »
Hi internet,
Well I fixed the keyer issue. And now feel dumb. I guess why I couldn't figure my way through this was because I have a background in old cars. So "Short to ground" means sparks and welding stuff and fried electronics. Turns out in radio, that's exactly what you're supposed to do I guess: short to ground. Solution = wire up the keyer relay as follows:
What happens in the above circuit is every time the Arduino pulses Pin 13, the relay "connects" ground to the 12v coming through the 3.5mm tip. This keys the Forty 9er. I'm sure the real radio guys out there are shaking their heads at my amateur-hour nonsense, but even to a dummy like me, connecting a red wire to a black wire is a strange way to do things...
Anyway, after getting that sorted, I was able to assemble all the various parts I've accumulated and get a test unit built:
Everything appears to do what it's supposed to. Solar controller does its thing, the low-voltage cut-off does its thing. Arduino seems to bang out CW on the correct schedule. So I'd say proof of concept is good to go.
I've got a bunch of stuff to do tonight, so I'll save the full write-up/how to for later this weekend.
Thinking ahead, I'd love to have the Arduino run the back end of a telemetry beacon, but I'm not smart enough to code that. Over on the Raspberry Pi platform, I've assembled enough code to patch together the workings for a telemetry beacon, so that'll be next. The Arduino would be preferable though, as it consumes 1/3 the power that a Pi does. But as that Clint Eastwood dude said "A man's gotta know his limitations."
Well I fixed the keyer issue. And now feel dumb. I guess why I couldn't figure my way through this was because I have a background in old cars. So "Short to ground" means sparks and welding stuff and fried electronics. Turns out in radio, that's exactly what you're supposed to do I guess: short to ground. Solution = wire up the keyer relay as follows:
What happens in the above circuit is every time the Arduino pulses Pin 13, the relay "connects" ground to the 12v coming through the 3.5mm tip. This keys the Forty 9er. I'm sure the real radio guys out there are shaking their heads at my amateur-hour nonsense, but even to a dummy like me, connecting a red wire to a black wire is a strange way to do things...
Anyway, after getting that sorted, I was able to assemble all the various parts I've accumulated and get a test unit built:
Everything appears to do what it's supposed to. Solar controller does its thing, the low-voltage cut-off does its thing. Arduino seems to bang out CW on the correct schedule. So I'd say proof of concept is good to go.
I've got a bunch of stuff to do tonight, so I'll save the full write-up/how to for later this weekend.
Thinking ahead, I'd love to have the Arduino run the back end of a telemetry beacon, but I'm not smart enough to code that. Over on the Raspberry Pi platform, I've assembled enough code to patch together the workings for a telemetry beacon, so that'll be next. The Arduino would be preferable though, as it consumes 1/3 the power that a Pi does. But as that Clint Eastwood dude said "A man's gotta know his limitations."