HL-2 IO board operation

[James Ahlstrom]

Makerfabs is assembling the IO board and end plates. The testing phase is finished so I am starting a new thread devoted to writing software and using the IO board. This includes protocol additions.

I did some work on the software on github. I replaced the band codes with new band codes based on frequency codes. There is rather complete documentation there.

Now that we have a one-byte frequency code I propose to use it for the Rx frequencies. The HL2 can have up to 12 receivers. So I propose that we allocate 12 registers for the Rx frequencies. The Pico is then in a position to figure out what antenna to use. This is meant to support Spark and other software that skims multiple bands for digital and CW signals.

What to people think, especially Alan.

Jim

N2ADR

[Alan Hopper]

Hi Jim,

this all makes sense to me, thanks.

73 Alan M0NNB

[John Scherer]

Any idea when these will be made available for purchase?

[James Ahlstrom]

I think they should be available in two or three weeks. But it depends on parts availability.

Jim

N2ADR

[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

I uploaded more software to my github site. I added registers for the Rx frequencies, the ADC and a command to reset the IO board to a known power-up condition. I know I am still missing the Thetis antenna selection per band. But is there anything else that should be added?

Jim

N2ADR

[Simon Brown]

Jim,

Does the new board support separate TX & TX antennas, if so is the command to select this option in place? This is essential for me as I always use a separate receive antenna away from the house.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>
Sent: 21 August 2023 18:02
To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

 

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Simon,

The IO board has a Tx frequency and one or more Rx frequencies. It also has a logic input for EXTTR so the Pico knows if you are in Rx or Tx. Take a look at the code in n2adr_basic/main.c. The code sets the Tx antenna for Tx and the Rx antenna for Rx.

The RF input mode control REG_RF_INPUTS can be set to 1 or 2 to make the IO board SMA the only Rx input. Your separate Rx antenna would go to the SMA J9 on the IO board.

But I am not sure that answers your question. It seems that the Pico has everything it needs to set things properly. Let me know if another option is necessary.

Jim

N2ADR

[Reid Campbell]

Hi Jim,

Another register has come to mind:

A register to select what type of band volts. Currently you have Yaesu voltage settings but Xiegu are slight different. I'm sure there are others. It could also be used to select different mappings for band codes if they were consider to be mutually exclusive.

Have you given any more consider the use of the GPIO05_xxx as a transmit inhibit. This would allow the I/O Board to provide protection if a fault condition was detected.

While using the separate rx input, I noticed a double clicking of the R/T relay. Then the rx input in selected the R/T relay is placed in transmit position to isolate the normal receiver input. On the transition to tx, the Pico drops the relay, only for the HL2 to reenergise it, so giving the double bounce. Would it be possible, when separate rx is selected, to always hold the R/T relay in transmit. This would then give a silence transmit as the receive and transmit path are separate.  

Cheers 

Reid
Gi8TME/Mi0BOT

[Simon Brown]

Hi Jim,

Sounds good - I'll just need to know how to set this via the standard API but obviously it can be done. As soon as this board is available I'll order a full HL2 and use it in anger on the air.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

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From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: 21 August 2023 21:26

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Reid,

On Monday, August 21, 2023 at 6:48:04 PM UTC-4 scumballc... wrote:

A register to select what type of band volts.

The IO board user should write their own  band volts function based on ft817_band_volts() and use that in their main.c. The only problem I see is that the maximum voltage is five volts. If more voltage is needed, the fan output can be used. This is driven from an op amp and is scaled to the 3.3 volts from the Pico. It should be fairly accurate, but then you lose the fan.

Have you given any more consider the use of the GPIO05_xxx as a transmit inhibit.

The IO board user can wire GPIO05_xxx to the transmit inhibit. There is no need for an option. They would need to sense the error condition in the Pico somehow.

 

While using the separate rx input, I noticed a double clicking of the R/T relay. 

This should not be happening with the current code. It doesn't happen at my QTH. The Pico holds down INTTR for Rx mode 1 and 2.

Jim

N2ADR 

[Reid Campbell]

Hi Jim,

I plan to create the ability within Thetis to allow the selection of the band volts so I need a register on the I/O board to control that. I can modify the Pico code to handle this and it can be pushed back to the basic functionality branch.

As for the aerial changing, I just need one register defined to allow the functionality to be controlled by the I/O Board.

Cheers 

Reid
Gi8TME/Mi0BOT

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Reid,

On the band volts, are you thinking of multiple tables? The current band volts is mostly an example, although I think it is correct for the  FT817. So are you looking for a choice among several known tables of volts for several different rigs?

Jim

N2ADR

[Reid Campbell]

Hi Jim,

Yes, I need the Xiegu mapping and there is the Yaesu one. Icom have one but it's based off +8V and doesn't cover all the bands, seems to be missing the WARC ones. I was also thinking of adding a Custom options so a special mapping could be programmed in the Pico and there would be a selection method in place for it.

So the options would be

No Band volts
Yaesu
Xiegu
Custom

The band codes could be incorporated as well as another item in the list.

Cheers 

Reid
Gi8TME/Mi0BOT

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Reid,

My design goals of the IO board differ from yours. In "Jim world" the user knows what table of band volts she needs and just programs it into the Pico. You seem to want to provide complete control inThetis, and the user does next to nothing. In "Jim world" the SDR software just provides minimal basic info, and real control is programmed into the Pico by the user.

But I don't want to stand in anyone's way. So I propose the following. Registers in the Pico have a byte address, so there are 256 registers. Currently, registers 0 to 30 have a defined meaning, and some have side effects such as decoding the Tx frequency. A polling loop in main.c looks at the registers to see if something should happen.

Now the registers are in a static 256-byte array and reading and writing any register is supported whether or not it is part of the "protocol". Reading a register just returns the last-written value unless Pico code changes it. The polling loop can see all 256 registers and do what it wants. Registers 200 and up are used for features that are optional or unique to an SDR program. All 256 registers are zero at power on, and after a software reset.

So there is no need to ask for protocol registers, and any SDR author can claim a register. Just announce on this group that you are using register 200 for the selection of a table of band volts. Provide documentation so that other SDR authors can implement the register or not.

To avoid stepping on someone else's register, please use registers 200 and up, announce register usage and provide complete documentation for that register.

Jim

N2ADR

[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

Makerfabs informed me that the IO boards should be complete in one week. They still need to test them with the test jig I sent.

Jim

N2ADR

[Colin Larsen]

Great news! I'll be placing an order ASAP

Colin

ZL2FL 

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[Lou Scalpati]

Jim, are they taking pre-orders?  I can't find them on the site.

Lou KI5FTY

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[James Ahlstrom]

No pre-orders. I will announce when they are available.

Jim

N2ADR

[Lou Scalpati]

Thanks Jim

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[Reid Campbell]

Hi Jim,

Sorry, I have been busy this last few of days.

On 26/08/2023 19:39, James Ahlstrom wrote:

Hello Reid,

My design goals of the IO board differ from yours. In "Jim world" the user knows what table of band volts she needs and just programs it into the Pico. You seem to want to provide complete control inThetis, and the user does next to nothing. In "Jim world" the SDR software just provides minimal basic info, and real control is programmed into the Pico by the user.

In my world people have different skills and different interested and I'm trying to cater for that by providing a base level of functionality for the I/O Board. If we make it so you have to know tool chains and C programming, we are appealing to a small user base.

One of the items that I have brought up before is the ability to switch aerials, pretty fundament in most high end radios and amplifiers. There are plenty of hams who are more practical and love to experiment with different aerials. Many times you hear aerial 1, aerial 2 tests on the air. Are you suggesting they should learn to program the Pico and then reload it to switch aerials? That's not their interest.

There are basic functions that the I/O Board can do, band voltage is one of them. I don't think it is unreasonable to assign a register for its control. Not a custom register for one particular SDR program but a defined standard that all SDR program can adhere to if they want to support that functionality.

The same is true of aerial switching and I have already proposed a solution for that which only takes up one byte.   

But I don't want to stand in anyone's way. So I propose the following. Registers in the Pico have a byte address, so there are 256 registers. Currently, registers 0 to 30 have a defined meaning, and some have side effects such as decoding the Tx frequency. A polling loop in main.c looks at the registers to see if something should happen.

That sounds fine.

Now the registers are in a static 256-byte array and reading and writing any register is supported whether or not it is part of the "protocol". Reading a register just returns the last-written value unless Pico code changes it. The polling loop can see all 256 registers and do what it wants. Registers 200 and up are used for features that are optional or unique to an SDR program. All 256 registers are zero at power on, and after a software reset.

Yes, above 200 can be real custom features, like turn on the amp at you remote site.

So there is no need to ask for protocol registers, and any SDR author can claim a register. Just announce on this group that you are using register 200 for the selection of a table of band volts. Provide documentation so that other SDR authors can implement the register or not.

I think for basic functionality that the I/O Board would normal be expected to provide, like band voltage and aerial switching, the next registers available should be used and not in the custom section.

To avoid stepping on someone else's register, please use registers 200 and up, announce register usage and provide complete documentation for that register.

It's important to document definition and usage. Should that placed in the HL2 Wiki?

Cheers 

Reid
Gi8TME/Mi0BOT

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Reid,

I will answer your concerns in a few days, but now I am installing a new feature that may help. I have programmed registers 170 to 198 so that they map to Pico GPIO pins 0 to 28. That is, you can read and write any Pico GPIO pin directly without making a program for the Pico. For regular IO pins, you would write 0 or 1 to the GPIO. If the pin is used for PWM, you can write 0 to 255 to control the output voltage. The band voltage is GPIO8 so you can control band voltage by writing to register 178. There is documentation on my github site.

This is meant to be helpful to SDR authors who wish to have more complete control of the IO board. It also enables IO board control by an external program such as Steve's hermeslite.py. It is still important for SDR authors to write the Tx frequency to the Pico because it enables the external program to read the Tx frequency and switch antennas. This moves code from the Pico to code in an external program.

Jim

N2ADR

[Mike Lewis]

Super flexible option, something for everyone.  In my case I have a band decoder drive a stack of microwave coaxial relays, usually pulse latching, in various combinations for some antennas that share a feed to multiple VHF/UHF/SHF amps and the related power coupler switching.  A python desktop program can optionally control things, in this case an easy matter to write to port 1025.

I believe you can read the registers also so can always know the status.

Mike

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
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From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2023 9:33:55 AM

To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

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[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

Someone wrote:

> In my world people have different skills and different interested and I'm trying to cater for that by providing a base level of functionality for the I/O Board. If we make it so you have to know tool chains and C programming, we are appealing to a small user base.

I doubt that there is any base level of functionality that covers every possible combination of amplifiers, transverters, tuners, antennas, rotators,   Iand other remote equipment, and how they are controlled, that some small user base might have or want to use in conjunction with an HL2. I think the scope of this IO board project is not to support all these (unknown!) possibilities out of the box, but to provide a clean protocol that does not exclude the possibility of such support, should any user base find someone who knows how program a pico to support their particular (sub)set of needs.  Just as there a different versions of HL2 gateware for those who want to transmit, and those who want to skim 10 bands, there can be different builds of IO-board-ware for different user bases, put on GitHub, developed by those with that specific set of needs.

73, Ron, n6ywu

[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

The IO board protocol contemplates choosing a Tx and Rx antenna based on the Tx and Rx frequencies. But it lacks a way to choose among multiple antennas for a band. For example, between a dipole and a vertical on 40 meters.

I reviewed prior discussions, and tried to design a protocol that would require minimal SDR changes, provide a simple common denominator and was a single byte. So I propose adding register 31. The high nibble is the Tx antenna and the low nibble is the Rx antenna for the band implied by the frequencies. There are 16 possible Rx and Tx antennas numbered zero to fifteen for each band. The default antenna zero is the first or only antenna for that band. SDR authors could ignore this byte if they don't have an antenna control. Or they could send a new byte when the band changes. Register 31 is only used when there are multiple antennas available for a band.

Is this OK?

Jim

N2ADR

[Simon Brown]

I'll implement whatever you design.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: 31 August 2023 17:48

To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

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[Reid Campbell]

Hi Jim,

I think this should work fine, Register 31 is the master control and you will also include other registers which are linked to a band selections base on the transmit frequency. If Register 31 is zero the band related aerial selection will be used. If Register 31 is non zero, it takes precedence and antenna switching is performed based on the upper and lower nibbles.

It is worth mentioning that the Pico code should autonomously switch between the receive and transmit aerials based on EXTTR.

The current Thetis Beta-5 has this functionality but I tested it with Register 14, so it should just require a small change to the code.

Cheers 

Reid
Gi8TME/Mi0BOT

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

Makerfabs informs me that the IO board will be available shortly, and the order page is up on their site! I have added more registers and documentation to my github site.

Jim

N2ADR

[John Williams]

Why the green end plates?

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 9, 2023, at 10:08 AM, James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello Group,

Makerfabs informs me that the IO board will be available shortly, and the order page is up on their site! I have added more registers and documentation to my github site.

Jim

N2ADR

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[Simon Brown]

Jim,

I assume I need both the standard N2ADR board and​ the new I/O board?

Will order as soon as you let me know.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: 09 September 2023 16:08

To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

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[Simon Brown]

Hmm,

RTFM: "The board mounts above the N2ADR filter board in the same box as the Hermes Lite 2."

So off I go to order.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Simon Brown <Si...@sdr-radio.com>
Sent: 09 September 2023 16:43
To: James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>; Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>

Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

Jim,

I assume I need both the standard N2ADR board and​ the new I/O board?

Will order as soon as you let me know.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>
Sent: 09 September 2023 16:08
To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

 

Hello Group,

Makerfabs informs me that the IO board will be available shortly, and the order page is up on their site! I have added more registers and documentation to my github site.

Jim

N2ADR

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[Lou Scalpati]

Just ordered 2 boards, thanks everyone for the hard work!

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[Rune Øye]

Hi

Thanks for this information, I will order the board this evening.

73,

Rune LA7THA  

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

>> I assume I need both the standard N2ADR board and​ the new I/O board?

No, you can use the IO board without the N2ADR filter board. I will correct the documentation.

Jim

N2ADR

[Simon Brown]

Jim,

From the documentation on github: "The HL2 main board must be modified by adding three extra header pins". Are these pins included? I've ordered HL2, N2ADR, I/O, Case. None of the pictures show them present.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: 09 September 2023 21:05

To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

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[radi...@mail.com]

I was going to ask exactly the same question (re. three header pins). Also, as per earlier question, will the end plates always be green or is that temporary, or perhaps that's just for the photos and the actual shipped plates are black?

Nice job though. Will be ordering two.

Max

On Sunday, 10 September 2023 at 06:38:51 UTC+1 si...@sdr-radio.com wrote:

Jim,

From the documentation on github: "The HL2 main board must be modified by adding three extra header pins". Are these pins included?

[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

No, the three pin header is not included. Maybe for the next batch.

Jim

N2ADR

[Simon Brown]

Ah,

Lots of options on Amazon, can you provide the spec please?

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: 10 September 2023 13:27

To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

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[KP4RX - Ramon]

MCIGICM 10pcs Male Header Pin, 40 Pin Header Strip (2.54 mm) for Arduino Connector https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PKKY8BX?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_VT1FH9KDPKA6M2TXH9K5 or any 2.54mm pitch, Just snip a set of three and you're good to go.

[Simon Brown]

Many thanks.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

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From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of KP4RX - Ramon <ramo...@gmail.com>
Sent: 10 September 2023 19:12

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Simon,

For the three-pin header you need the same size as the 1x20 header on the main HL2 board. The pin pitch is 2.45 mm. On my HL2, the total height is 11.43 mm with 3.05 mm below the PCB. The pins are square and 0.64 mm on a side. But my HL2 is an old one, so check what size your pins are. The exact height is not too critical.

I did ask Makerfabs to include a 1x3 header when they ship the IO boards, but I am not sure if they can do that on short notice. And I asked them to make black end plates.

Jim

N2ADR

[tmoto...@gmail.com]

Hi Jim –

Might the header be a add to the currently HL2 board build moving forward at some point.

Likely more a Steve question – but might alleviate some of the concerns for those that are not handy at soldering.

 

Food for thought…..

 

Tom – K2TC

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[Simon Brown]

Hi,

Let's see what happens - either way, I'll survive!

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: 11 September 2023 17:21

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

I added the control program n2adr_ioboard.pyw to my github site. Take a look.

Jim

N2ADR

[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

While working with Makerfabs to test the boards, I discovered that the value of C2 in the high pass filter is wrong. It was listed as 1500p and the correct value is 680p. The filter performance is much better at 680p, and so I recommend that current board owners replace C2. To remove the old capacitor, place two soldering irons on opposite sides of the capacitor and lift up. Clean the pads with solder wick and solder down the new 680p C2.

This does not affect the boards made by Makerfabs. They will ship all their boards with the correct C2.

Jim

N2ADR

[Simon Brown]

Hi Jim,

My HL2 order (HL2, N2ADR, I/O, case) has just shipped.

• I'll get the I/O board support available as a matter of urgency,
• I'll double-check C2.

I'll report back when all is working. I guestimate end of September.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: 15 September 2023 18:10

To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Simon,

Thanks for supporting the IO board. There is no need to check C2 if the board comes from Makerfabs. Capacitors don't have a marked value like resistors. To check the value, you would need to attach a signal generator to J9 and check the frequency response of the high pass filter.

Jim

N2ADR

[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

Have any people received an IO board from Makerfabs?  I would like to know if the end panels fit properly with the 55 and 40 mm case. And have people been successful in programming it?

Jim

N2ADR

[Simon Brown]

Jim,

I have it in a 40mm case but the fit is tight. I will later transfer to a 55mm case (I hope). I would like Makerfabs to offer 55mm cases.

All I/O board options program as expected, works well.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: 05 October 2023 14:59

To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

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[KP4RX - Ramon]

Jim, I received the i/o board (2) two weeks ago or so, they program well, haven't tested entirely though. With the 40mm case they are tilted down towards the back so I'm waiting for some modified plates I ordered to transfer evrything to a 55mm case

[Simon Brown]

Ah,

Where did you order the 5mm plates?

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of KP4RX - Ramon <ramo...@gmail.com>

Sent: 05 October 2023 15:32

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[KP4RX - Ramon]

I've modified the available kicad files on github to my liking and ordered from jlcpcb. If they fit fine, I'll have 2 extra sets, if you need one we can arrange to ship it. They'll have my call sign on them but that can easily be scratched off or covered with a sticker or something if you want.

[Simon Brown]

Ah,

That would be great, I'm only after a front panel, I'll buy another 55mm case, I have the 55mm panel that came with the I/O board.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of KP4RX - Ramon <ramo...@gmail.com>

Sent: 05 October 2023 16:00

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[Ramon L. Ramos]

Simon, the plates arrived. They are double the thickness of the stock ones so feels a little sturdier. I forgot to remove the order number from the PCB but it is what it is. Now I just need to figure out or find a shim for heat transfer. I'm using this case from Amazon: JIUWU Aluminum Project Box PCB... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KYFS9S7?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

73 de KP4RX

[Colin Larsen]

Do you mind sharing the design files, that way we could change the callsign and order out own. Great work!

73

Colin

ZL2FL 

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[Ramon L. Ramos]

I can do that. just to clarify, not my design, these are the original plates from the hermes repo and the HL2IO repo and I modified the wording and copied the holes for more airflow. I'll put both kicad files together and share.

73 de KP4RX - Ramon

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[William W3IYJ]

Is there a way we can organize a group buy for the 55mm generic endplates without the callsign? I’m sure there would be a lot of users that would welcome the added space for the additional board.

[Colin Larsen]

Places like JLCPCB are so cheap I doubt if it's worth a large group buy. A few colocated members may benefit from reduced postage, but the panels will likely only be a few dollars each anyway.

Colin

ZL2FL 

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[Simon Brown]

Hi,

Sounds excellent - may I buy a pair from you?

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: Ramon L. Ramos <ramo...@gmail.com>
Sent: 06 October 2023 22:16
To: Simon Brown <Si...@sdr-radio.com>
Cc: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>

[KP4RX - Ramon]

Simon, I can give it to you for free, you just take care of the shipping costs. Fact is I only needed 3 sets but the minimum order is 5. Don't want to hoard or send them to waste. Send me your shipping address and I'l tell you how much it costs. My email is (myfirstname)@(mycallsign).com

73 de KP4RX - Ramon

[Ian Watson]

I have gathered the parts to build my own I/O boards, I had a problem getting hold of the female header as per the BOM (at reasonable cost in UK). I did find something very similar but with 11mm insulator, the one quoted on BOM has 13.6mm insulator. I decided adding 2.5mm insulator from male 0.1" header would work.

When I assembled the PCB dry with the header pin the 13.6mm of insulator seemed too high, indeed the one I ordered from aliexpress at 11mm insulation was perfect. The 13.6mm insulator held the I/O board at an angle to the filter board. This is using a 40mm rear panel.

I wonder if someone with 40mm rear panel and board from makerfabs could measure the insulation thickness of the header.

best 73,

Ian MM0GYX

[Martin Hertkorn]

Good Evening,

I received today my I/O Board from Makerfabs, habe assembled and tested, 

everything is fine, at the moment I use only the RX1 Port additional and it works fine with Thetis.

I want to thanks the Builders and Designers for this Board for there hard Work.

73

Martin

HA3AN

[Jean-Baptiste GALLAUZIAUX]

Martin, do your kit have the three extra header pins?

73 - Pierre - FK8IH

[Martin Hertkorn]

Pierre, it isn't in the package, i soldered out and in from an old board what was still in my spare parts box.

73, Martin, HA3AN

[Jean-Baptiste GALLAUZIAUX]

Martin, I had a look to e-bay: they sell 10 pieces of 40 pins each male header pins at a price of US$5.99 (postage not included), which means one 3 header pins would cost less than 5 cents.  I still do not understand why these extra 3 header pins is not included in the kit.

73 - Pierre - FK8IH

[Martin Hertkorn]

Pierre, anyway it is a low budget Projekt with a lot of enthusiasm from the developers,

Jim already asked Fabmakers to put it in the package, maybe later it will be there.

Once again respect for the developers and supporters for this project.

73 de Martin, HA3AN

Von meinem iPad gesendet

Am 12.10.2023 um 10:34 schrieb Martin Hertkorn <martin....@gmail.com>:

Pierre, it isn't in the package, i soldered out and in from an old board what was still in my spare parts box.

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[Dustin - KD9QGP]

So I received my IO board from Makerfabs and it is really beautiful. I am having an odd issue where when dragging the main.uf2 to the Pico it then disappears from the folder after connecting 13.8 volts to the Hermes Lite 2. I also don't see an LE on the Pico flashing as mentioned on Jim's Github. I do have 3.3 volts on the Pico and my Windows PC is picking it up so I'm not sure what to try next.

Any ideas?

[Jean-Baptiste GALLAUZIAUX]

Martin, I have followed the development of this project and I fully respect the developpers for the awesome task they have performed. My only question is why Makerfabs sells a kit without one component.

73 - Pierre - FK8IH

[KP4RX - Ramon]

I'm having a small confusion on the RF3 pin state. Can anyone clarify, Does the pin has to be high to enable RF3 or low?

Thanks in Advance

73 de KP4RX

[James Ahlstrom]

RF3 must be high to use J9 as the Rx input.

Jim

N2ADR

[KP4RX - Ramon]

Thanks Jim! Just to make sure if I understood correctly, during TX, RF3 GPIO needs to be high to use the Pure signal sma port for Pure Signal sampling input? I'm trying to port most of the functionality to micropython as I'm more familiar to it than C.

73 de KP4RX

[KP4RX - Ramon]

Ignore my last Message Jim, I get you now, What I'm looking is to use J10 for Pure Signal on TX. By looking at your code and some board posts I understood it, to connect J10 to RF3 on HL2 Pin 2 (GPIO02_RF3) needs to be low on TX

[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Ramon,

Regarding your port to micropython, are you able to replace i2c_slave_handler.c? That is, can you write an interrupt service routine in micropython that is fast enough?

Jim

N2ADR

[Ramon L. Ramos]

Hi James, I've should better explained myself, I'm working on my specific needs with Micropython (It helps me to excel at something when I have a specific goal). While I'd love to contribute a base code for the community to work on, that's way out of my skills as of today.

73 de KP4RX

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[Poisson]

Hello  KP4RX,

Was this the kicad you used to base your design off of? https://github.com/softerhardware/Hermes-Lite2/blob/master/hardware/enclosure/endcaps/kf7o/hl2_55f/endcap.kicad_pcb

[KP4RX - Ramon]

Yes, for the front that was it. For the back the one that is on the HL2IO Board repo.

[Jean-Baptiste GALLAUZIAUX]

I ordered my IOboard yesterday and it already arrived in Thailand today. I guess this will be a nice addition to what has become my main station now since the HL2 is such an awesome product, I only hear nice appreciations from the OM contacted about the nice SSB modulation and the DX realised with FT8 mode are amazing, I still have to try CW with my prefered softwares: SparkSDR and Quisk.

73 - Pierre - FK8IH

[Jean-Baptiste GALLAUZIAUX]

I received my IOBoard this morning. Included in the box there were two sets of extra header pins, each one with 10 pins. Nice... and a fast delivery by DHL: ordered on the 27th and delivered on the 30th.

73 - Pierre - FK8IH

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

Sometimes I have to ask dumb questions because I can't seem to find simple information.

Where in the documentation on GitHub or in the HL2 wiki page on Software Protocol or Memory Map does it say whether the I2C bus at ADDR 0x3c or at 0x3d is to be used to communicate with the HL2 IO board?  I suppose I could dig some address out of the source code on GitHub, but I should be able to confirm that in the documentation somewhere.

Thanks, Ron, n6ywu

[James Ahlstrom]

The documentation for the IO board is https://github.com/jimahlstrom/HL2IOBoard.

Jim

N2ADR

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

The information that I could not find (maybe it's hidden in the documentation for the  IO board somewhere) is that SDA and SCL on the IO board are connected to SDA2 and SCL2 on the HL2 main board.  I2C signals SDA2 and SCL2 on the HL2 board are connected to the EEPROM according to the HL2 schematic.  And the EEPROM is documented in the HL2 Protocol document to be accessed via the I2C bus at the USB_Protocol_V1-address of 0x3d. (The Versa chip is on another I2C bus at alternate address 0x3c).  So I assume that address 0x3d is to be used to communicate with the IO board.  Is that correct?

73, Ron, n6ywu

------

[KP4RX - Ramon]

The I/O Board listens on 2 addresses, 0x41 (read-only) to return hardware version on register 0, and 0x1D to control the board. Below a screenshot from Jim's Github repo. Information is there...

73 de KP4RX

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

What's confusing is that the I2C address of 0x1d for the Pico is only 1 of the (at least) 4 addresses required.  To talk to the Pico, you need the HL2's IP address, then you need the address of where in the HL2's Protocol 1 memory map is the desired I2C bus (the FPGA is programmed to support at least two software visible I2C buses, one for the Versa clock chip 0x3c, the other for the EEPROM and bias DAC, 0x3d), then you need the address of the I2C device on that bus (i0x1d), then the address for the software defined IO board register within the Pico.  It took some digging to determine what I think is the 2nd of these 4 addresses needed to control IO on the IO board.

73, Ron, n6ywu

[KP4RX - Ramon]

Ron, think I understand your position better now, thought the questions were coming from a regular end user standpoint. You should check https://github.com/jimahlstrom/HL2IOBoard/tree/main/software, Jim wrote a script to control the I/O Board that rides on top of Steve's hermeslite.py which sends data to the i2c bus using port 1025 UDP, maybe the answer to your questions are on those 2 scripts. If I'm not mistaken, from the sdr software perspective at the most basic form you just need to send the frequency code registers (https://james.ahlstrom.name/frequencycodes.html) to the I/O Board. Obviously for a full blown solution like Reid has implemented on Thetis, more Registers would be needed.

73 de KP4RX - Ramon

[ron.ni...@gmail.com]

I found the answer by cross referencing the schematics for the IO board with the schematics for the HL2v9 (but where the pinouts on the connector between the two boards are labeled and numbered completely differently on the two schematics).  The Pico's SDA and SCL on the IO board connect to SDA2 and SCL2 on the HL2 board, for which the documentation has the proper protocol address to use.  I prefer to work from documentation, and not to reverse engineer source code, if at all possible.

73, Ron, n6ywu

[d b]

Hi all:

I am trying to get Pure Signal to work with my HL2 and have a -12dBm RF sample from my LDMOS amp feeding the N2ADR IO card PURE RF SMA input. In testing there is no signal showing in the Thetis PS FB meter. I think I need to set the register REG_RF_INPUTS to 0, but do not know how to do that.

Any other settings to check?

Thank you!

Dan

W1DAN

On Monday, August 21, 2023 at 4:26:19 PM UTC-4 jah...@gmail.com wrote:

Hello Simon,

The IO board has a Tx frequency and one or more Rx frequencies. It also has a logic input for EXTTR so the Pico knows if you are in Rx or Tx. Take a look at the code in n2adr_basic/main.c. The code sets the Tx antenna for Tx and the Rx antenna for Rx.

The RF input mode control REG_RF_INPUTS can be set to 1 or 2 to make the IO board SMA the only Rx input. Your separate Rx antenna would go to the SMA J9 on the IO board.

But I am not sure that answers your question. It seems that the Pico has everything it needs to set things properly. Let me know if another option is necessary.

Jim

N2ADR

On Monday, August 21, 2023 at 1:51:40 PM UTC-4 si...@sdr-radio.com wrote:

Jim,

Does the new board support separate TX & TX antennas, if so is the command to select this option in place? This is essential for me as I always use a separate receive antenna away from the house.

Simon Brown

https://g4eli.com

https://sdr-radio.com

---

From: herme...@googlegroups.com <herme...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of James Ahlstrom <jah...@gmail.com>

Sent: 21 August 2023 18:02

To: Hermes-Lite <herme...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: HL-2 IO board operation

 

Hello Group,

I uploaded more software to my github site. I added registers for the Rx frequencies, the ADC and a command to reset the IO board to a known power-up condition. I know I am still missing the Thetis antenna selection per band. But is there anything else that should be added?

Jim

N2ADR

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[Mike Lewis]

The default should be 0. You can set or check the state manually using the N2ARD IO board Control program.    Here my value is 1 since I use split RF.

 

 

11

REG_RF_INPUTS

The receive input usage, 0, 1 or 2.

REG_RF_INPUTS determines how the SMA receive input J9 and the Pure Signal input J10 are used. Mode 0 means that the receive input is not used, but the Pure Signal input is available. Mode 1 means that the receive input is used instead of the usual HL2 input, and the Pure Signal input is not available. Mode 2 means that the receive input is used for receive, and the Pure Signal input is used for transmit.

 

For Thetis, make sure your HL2 IO board is enabled

 

 

I do not use PS so have no further Thetis specifics for you.   I suspect if you have the IO board enabled and the basic firmware installed (not the test firmware) the RF switching should just work.  There are some more Thetis settings on the Option tabs and else where you need, you can find some setup in in various forum posts and PS setup docs.

 

• Mike

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