Sky9x Rotary Encoder Option

[Crucial]

Thanks for the tips. I did manage to remove them all without clipping the legs. I unfortunately have an issue with the directional buttons after getting everything back together. The up and left buttons aren't doing anything and the right and down buttons are both making the menu go to the left. The encoder wheel and the center push button are working as expected.

[Crucial]

I think I realized my stupid mistake. I installed the encoder board in the wrong position. It is spun 180 deg.

And of course there are now 16 attached headers to remove at once instead of 4. I think I am going to have to try and cut all of these pins between the 2 boards. This basically destroys all the work I did today.

[Iksbob]

That was my first suspicion. IIRC, the pads for the encoder should go up (away from the rounded corners of the main PCB) and toward the middle. Flipping it around 180 doesn't work because the directional buttons share a common terminal - you end up with all the button I/O lines tied together.

[Crucial]

I can't tell you how infinitely frustrating this is. I think I am going to have to try and get a hacksaw blade in between the 2 boards. A side cutters won't fit and I am going to destroy this new sky9x board or break off some smd parts trying to remove this as one piece.

[Crucial]

For anyone else that hasn't done this mod yet, the arrow should be pointing up.

[Iksbob]

I think I am going to have to try and get a hacksaw blade in between the 2 boards.

I worry about the stress that will put on the boards. Maybe a dremel with the largest cut-off wheel you can find? The quick-release wheels are bigger than the usual screw-on ones.

[Irish Steve]

Do the mods have a way to send e-mail to members, I've been trying to make contact with Hippo for several days re these boards, and he's not picking up PM's. I don't have the facility to make these boards here at the moment, and I've 3 Ersky's to fit, and a couple of 9X's on stock boards that will benefit from it as well.

[Crucial]

I managed to cut the board off with a dremel cut off wheel and a thin "diamond" coated bit. I think I am done with this mod for my sky9x board. I am going to solder the push buttons back on and call it quits.

[jhsa]

hhmmm, you quit now that you know what the problem was? And the original buttons are already removed. So half me the job is done anyway. I'm also still waiting for Hippo to answer my PM and mail. Don't know if my encoders and boards are already on the way... Just can't wait to start modding

[Crucial]

The stress on the board had already damaged a few of the solder points. I don't want to risk anything more happening to this sky9x board. In any case it's done. The push buttons are back on and it is working so I am happy. I might try and do it again on a stock board later.

[Rob Thomson]

Do the mods have a way to send e-mail to members, I've been trying to make contact with Hippo for several days re these boards, and he's not picking up PM's. I don't have the facility to make these boards here at the moment, and I've 3 Ersky's to fit, and a couple of 9X's on stock boards that will benefit from it as well.

I have emailed him.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Clivew]

Just fitted my encoder. Found the left and down arrows didn't work
I found you need to bridge the lower contacts on each of the 4 directional switches.
Maybe not necessary to bridge all four perhaps, but I did anyway.
They are not bridged on the adaptor pcb. This applies to the ersky board, anyway.
Panic over

[preston91]

Just fitted my encoder. Found the left and down arrows didn't work
I found you need to bridge the lower contacts on each of the 4 directional switches.
Maybe not necessary to bridge all four perhaps, but I did anyway.
They are not bridged on the adaptor pcb. This applies to the ersky board, anyway.
Panic over

can you explain further? maybe a pic?
Thanks

Paul

[Clivew]

Ok, just looked at the original 9X board, so no problem there, the switches are all linked side to side on the
main board, so the problem will not arise.
On the ersky9X, the lower pair of connections on each switch are not, so you need to bridge them
on the back of the main pcb to maintain the connections to the cpu, when you have removed the original
switches and fitted the adaptor board. Hope this makes sense!
I assume you have an ersky9X and the Hippo/Iksbob board?

Clive

[Iksbob]

can you explain further?

The stock buttons have 4 leads - one at each corner. These leads are connected together internally in two pairs, with the switch contacts between the pairs. The stock 9X board has traces that mirror these internal connections - they're redundant really. Since the stock board has these redundant traces, each encoder directional button can be connected to either (or both) of the appropriate pair of holes.
To simplify PCB routing, I connected each directional switch to only one of each pair of holes.
Since the erSky lacks these redundant traces, it needs each switch on one specific hole, or jumpers installed to mimic the redundant traces. Installing the jumpers on the standoff pins during pin installation would probably be easiest.

[Clivew]

Ok, no big deal I know, you did a great job sorting the board dimensions!
I am just trying to save some head scratching for someone!

Clive

[Rogue3]

could someone perhaps mark up one of the PCB layouts to show the jumpers which have to be installed?

[Irish Steve]

We appear to have a problem, nothing to do with the boards, and everything to do with the source of supply for them.

Originally Iksbob was going to make a batch, then when Hippo got up to speed, the plan changed. I had my name down with Iksbob for some, but when I heard nothing, I contacted him, and he's now not making them.

I sent a PM to Hippo nearly a week ago to try and order some boards, and another a couple of days later, I've got 3 ER boards to fit, and 2 stock 9X after that, but he's not responding to the 2 messages I've sent.

I don't have the facility to make PCB's at the moment, but I also wasn't expecting to have this sort of issue with something that looked very simple, as it seemed that there was plenty of them there, and all it needed was names and details (and payment) for it to happen.

If this rotary is going to work, and go forward, is anyone else going to be making the boards for them, as it seems that Hippo has lost interest, he's collected the messages, but not responded. or am I better to forget the idea of the interface board and make a vero holder and wire wrap the circuitry on to the main boards?

[jhsa]

yep, I pm'ed him as well with the same results.. it would be nice if he would let us know what's going on.. I don't know what to do and really want to start modding my other radio.. I'm sure he will say something soon..

João

[Crucial]

Lets not jump to conclusions too soon. He obviously took the time to buy the raw board and cut them out. I don't see why he would then sit on them and not deliver. It's very possible he has been busy with work or maybe school or maybe some other kind of problem or emergency(lets hope not).

Has there been reports of someone paying and not receiving the items?

[jhsa]

No jumping into conclusions here. Just said it would be nice to have the PM's and mail answered.. Would just like to know if he already sent the stuff or not.. want to be prepared for when it arrives.. Yeah, I payed as soon as I ordered. Let's hope he is ok and no emergencies... Just a little word would be nice letting us know that all is ok..

Joao

[PNaz]

I paid as well for 3 boards with encoders. I have never received any acknowledgement or the items. He was lurking last night on this forum.

Paul

[s_mack]

I'm sure Hippo's just busy and has no intention of taking your three dollars and running laughing to the bank.

But I could point out that this is one small reason why DIY is best left to Y (yourself) and if Y doesn't want to do it, then its best left as a business venture to a business. In between... gets... well, messy.

He's provided the designs so anyone can do it, right? I could take over. But not at $3. That's the only thing stopping me from producing them (I had a conversation with Hippo and he said he'd be relieved if I did)... you guys now think the "cost" is $3. Its no wonder he's not putting full time into it, or even part time... he's quite possibly losing money on it after all is considered. This is why I don't get why some people (Dave, Leo) seem to have a problem with the concept of "profit". Its that profit that ensures things get done. DIY is absolutely fine. DIWSEWTTDGPF (points to whoever figures that one out) isn't so great.

At $3... even if the production was free - and its not - I still wouldn't do it. That's not worth the time and effort to arrange production, physically handle and package the goods, deal with the risk of production mistakes, payment fees, lights in my office, food on my table, etc etc.

What I would be FAR more interested in would be a whole package. Sourcing the encoder in bulk and providing a here-you-go kit. That way I can pull at least some of my profit out of the difference between what I can by them at in bulk and what an individual can buy them at as a single - though that's not much.

Anyway... just some thoughts. I don't know how many would be interested. Maybe everyone who wants to do this has already (to some degree) done it.

In the meantime, give Hippo a break. It could be any number of things that's not allowing him to get your items out as fast as you'd like.

- Steven

[jhsa]

S_mack, you're right, I was just saying that a PM or a post here would be nice

[Irish Steve]

Lets not jump to conclusions too soon. He obviously took the time to buy the raw board and cut them out. I don't see why he would then sit on them and not deliver. It's very possible he has been busy with work or maybe school or maybe some other kind of problem or emergency(lets hope not).

Has there been reports of someone paying and not receiving the items?

Not jumping to conclusions, just under pressure as I have a customer who wants his 9X back with the ERsky board fitted, and the other mods done. I was originally going with Iksbob's plan, but I'm now over 2 weeks down the line with nothing changed, and probably at least another week if not longer before I can start work on the transmitter, as the Iksbob plan has gone, so I'm trying to get back on track, with no success at the moment, and I can't just sit here and hope that it might happen,

I've had very good experiences with all the other people here, like Skynorth, and S-Mack, both of whom have been very up front with their communications and actions, and I'm slightly upset that despite 2 PM's, which was the way Hippo said he wanted people to contact him, there's not even been a response yet to say if he's got any stock, let alone how much they are and when he can ship.

Yes, I know it's early days with some of these things, but a quick "thanks, get back in a few days" takes all of 10 seconds, and at least sets up the contact path. I don't think that's being unreasonable, given the level of committment we've seen from the developers here. If Hippo hadn't been here, OK, but the log shows he's been here a good few times, and it was several days before he even picked up the PM's. That's slightly worrying given that's the contact method of his choice.

[Crucial]

I don't disagree that he should have posted a quick update since we know he was online and browsing the forums. I've emailed him as well asking if there is anything going on and if he had info that I could relay if he can't/won't. Once you take money and don't deliver I think the expectation of providing at least some form of info is increased dramatically.

[iwik]

Hey Guys,
Lets give Hippo a bit of breathing space. He probably got a lot more orders than he realised he would get and is possibly overwelmed. DIY and hacks usually
dont come neatly packaged like normal transactions. Ive ordered 3 sets and have heard nothing but im not uptight as im just grateful some people are
so generous with there time and willing to help.
My 2 cents worth.

Les

[s_mack]

Hmm... well, if I pay you your 2 cents today, will it ship tomorrow?

[Irish Steve]

wOW, looks like I've lit a firestorm, which wasn't the plan. all I really wanted to do was find out what's happening, in that it takes 10 to 14 days at times for things to get over to Ireland from the States, and I've lost a couple of weeks due to the change of plan.

Steven is right in the comments he's made, there are 2 options, a fully funded commercial enterprise, making them as part of a complete set of parts for a specific modification, and realistically, this could well become an option for someone going forward, and the other option is for a cottage industry type of service to develop that also produces the necessary part, but then they are bought and shipped in isolation to the rest of the items that may be needed.

I don't really care which I work with, my plan was to get some when the offers started appearing, in order to get into the system at the start, and my follow up today is in frustration that despite trying to do that, it hasn't worked, and I still can't tell my customer when he's going to get his ER9X equipped radio,

Hopefully, we'll all hear something useful before too long, and things will be back on track. Food for thought for the longer term though, my own 2C worth is that once the word spreads about the rotary mod, quite a few 9X users could be coming in to have a look, as if it's properly programmed, it will make the menu and settings options a lot easier, and that's without all the other goodies that the ER card offers.

Time will tell

[Hippo]

Hey guys. Sorry to be out of touch for so long. I've been traveling for work for nearly 3 weeks now.

Looks like a lot of people have been trying to reach me, so I thought I'd post here first.

Everyone who ordered only boards should have them now. The only holdup was the mouser order. So many kept asking for encoders that I delayed the order. Unfortuneately it didn't arrive until after I had to leave. It's waiting for me at home now, and when I get back this weekend I should be able to pack up the remaining sets to go out early next week.

Sorry for the trouble. This is getting to be a time consuming hobby. Now I really feel for the software developers they're extremely dedicated. I'll make as much time as I can, and will probably be doing a second set of boards, but I don't think I'll be ordering more encoders, it's a lot to keep track of.

Thanks for your patience, I'll pm each of you when your package has gone out.

If its any consolation, I haven't even had time to install the board in my own radio yet either.

Dan