Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Post by **MikeB** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 11:21 pm

You might consider building one on stripboard. João and I have both done that, and I have min installed and working in a 9X.
If you are interested I can post the build details of mine. This has the advantage it is fully compatible with the firmware.
For the micro SD socket I used a micro to standard adapter and soldered wires to its pads.
Another option, if you can get the PCB made, is the board I designed for through hole components.

Mike.

Post by **jhsa** » Mon Dec 22, 2014 11:24 pm

email the guy that used to make them.. maybe you can convince him to make a few more??

or you could build your own?
You still need the buzzer, or route the buzzer's signal to the voice module's amplifier?
I'd say that the best would to build your own if no more megasound boards can be bought, which is a shame

I just saw Mike's post, and I completely agree..

João

flybabo · Post by **flybabo** » Tue Dec 23, 2014 1:24 am

I emailed the guy

but he replied that minimum order quantity is 30 but he couldn't find enough demand.
Yes Mike, would you post your stripboard implementation?
Thanks.

Post by **MikeB** » Tue Dec 23, 2014 1:09 pm

I'll need a bit of time to get the files togther, but João's stripboard version is shown in this post:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=948&start=1950#p28559.

Mike.

Post by **jhsa** » Tue Dec 23, 2014 1:21 pm

I think that was the first version.. there were some changes made to the project since then.. it has been a while..

flybabo · Post by **flybabo** » Tue Dec 23, 2014 9:14 pm

Thanks Gents,
After some thoughts, I decide to make three PCBs at OSHPARK based on mhotar's design.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=948&start=3300#p48603
I like his design which is small enough to fit into my custom transmitter based on an old ProLine metal box.
His archive does include Gerber files but I sent him a PM inquiring the original layout file for further editing.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=948&start=3300#p48718

mhotar · Post by **mhotar** » Wed Dec 24, 2014 1:29 pm

Hello All,
here are my source files. I used kicad software to design this board layout. It is opensource, so you can use it to open the project and change it or export. Firmware version in the archive had bootloader problems (sometimes did not run the main app at startup), so I did not used bootloader at all. I think Mike fixed this in later versions already, but I never used serial connection as there is AVR_ISP header on the board and the SD is easily accessible.

AudiomegaV2MH_kicad.zip: (6.8 MiB) Downloaded 247 times

flybabo · Post by **flybabo** » Thu Dec 25, 2014 3:38 am

I'm collecting/ordering the parts for the project.
What's the best speaker for the voice card as my Taranis came with a lousy speaker.
Any recommendations?

EDIT: I ordered a 36mm eBay speaker same the one recommended by Hans.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=948&p=31653#p31653

flybabo · Post by **flybabo** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:22 pm

Any benefits running 328 in 5V/20MHz?
I can get a cheap 5V MicroSD breakout board from eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/381103445152

Post by **MikeB** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:55 pm

That should work, but you would need to compile the firmware (and bootloader) to operate from 20MHz instead of 12MHz or the serial baudrates and the voice sample rate will be wrong.

Mike.

Post by **MikeB** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 7:15 pm

I'm working on providing a BACKUP and RESTORE function in er9x, where you can backup a model from the EEPROM to the SD card on the Megasound board, or restore to the EEPROM from the SD card.
As with ersky9x, the file on the SD card will be in .eepm format.
I'm also adding a facility in eepe to allow copying model (.eepm) files between the SD card and eepe over the serial connection. This .eepm copying, using eepe, is generally working, but needs a bit of tidying up.

The original code for the Megasound board uses a cut down version of the file handling firmware (ff.c by Chan), that reads data from the SD card directly to the audio buffer. This is because it was originally written for a processor that has less RAM, so was unable to buffer a whole 512 byte sector. It actually reads each sector twice, once for the first 256 bytes and once for the second 256 bytes.
In order to handle voice file updating I added the full version of ff.c as a self contained item. This is rather wasteful of the flash memory, but as it all fitted and worked I didn't feel it was a problem.
As part of adding this new feature, I have now removed the cut down version of ff.c and it is all working using the full version. Actually accessing the SD card may take a bit longer, but each 512 byte sector is only read once while playing a file. It all seems to be working.
I have a few more minor things to finish and test, but I hope to release a new version of the firmware for the Megasound board soon for testing of these changes.
The actual BACKUP and RESTORE functions will take a bit longer to complete.

Mike.

Post by **MikeB** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:46 pm

Just managed to get a list of backed up model files displayed on the 9X display. Still got a few problems to sort, but the concept seems to work!

Mike.

Post by **jhsa** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:57 pm

Can't wait to test it

João

LTMNO · Post by **LTMNO** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:06 pm

ditto

KAL · Post by **KAL** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:45 pm

And so am I

Post by **MikeB** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 1:21 pm

I still have some things to sort, like you can only see the first 7 .eepm files when trying to restore, but I've just managed to restore a .eepm onto the EEPROM. Backup will be next.

Mike.

Post by **jhsa** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 1:34 pm

No rush.. I'm very busy zapping 9x radios with battery voltage and see if they still work afterwards

Don't ask

João

bob195558 · Post by **bob195558** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 5:06 pm

jhsa wrote:I'm very busy zapping 9x radios with battery voltage and see if they still work afterwards
Don't ask
João

Hi João,

Your post reminds me of when last year upgrading the 5-volt regulator in a 9x Radio and made the error of installing,
by mistake, a 12-volt regulator (viewtopic.php?f=95&t=3819&start=60#p71276)
which Smoked the 9x mainboard.
The 3S battery output was 11.6 volts and when troubleshooting and replacing some of the damaged parts,
it still did not revive to working order. It's now a parts board as I think the CPU must be Smoked.
I had another 9x mainboard that out of ignorance I had freeze-brick the Atmega Chip and was not able to understand how to unfreeze-brick it.
Using the ChipQuik-Kit, replaced with the ATMEGA2561-16AU CPU Chip, which save an RC member's 9x Radio
(viewtopic.php?f=95&t=3819&start=120#p74105).
I also had to replace the TelemetrEZ board as it had been Smoked too.

Hope to here what you are trying to find out with zapping 9x radios with battery voltage to see if they still work.

Edit update: Go to (viewtopic.php?f=95&t=2974&p=91959#p91938) to see more about this subject.

Bob B.

Post by **jhsa** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 5:44 pm

Ok, this is off topic but here it goes. I have been trying to replicate Flaps30's work replacing the pots with a hall effect sensor and a magnet.. It works fine but it just gives me terrible centering. I don't know if the problem are the 9x gimbals, the sensor that doesn't return to the same value for the exact same point of the magnet, or both

for the throttle stick that difference is irrelevant but for control surfaces it is too much error.
Anyway, the stock regulator doesn't put out enough juice for handling the radio plus 4 sensors as each of them takes about 11mA. so I replaced the stock 78L05 with a AMS1117-5.0
I must have shorted something while measuring because after a while I started seeing voltages of about 7.5V on the pots and sensors, and also a center voltage of over 3,5V. At first I got completely confused. But then noticed that the radio screen was blank. Ouch.. measured the voltage and it was 10.5V when it should read 5V.. Double ouch... The regulator was putting battery voltage on the output.. So, I've learnt that this reg doesn't have short circuit protection.. Removed the reg. and connected 5V directly to the board, DEAD. Triple ouch..

So, I removed the board and was preparing myself to replace the chip with a brand new Atmega 2561 (I have m128 at the moment), but decided to hook the board to the computer as a confirmation that it was really completely dead. well, I managed to read the eeprom, then flashed the board and it did without errors.. checked the fuses, they were ok, but decided to program them again.. All ok..Went back to the workbench connected 5V, and the bugger was alive.. I couldn't believe, I still can't. After zapping it with over 10V for many seconds this radio is still working without problems as far as I can see.. Time will tell if there is some kind of brain damage

I'm very disappointed with the magnetic sensors mod though

João

andrewju · Post by **andrewju** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 6:46 pm

João,

Is there a link to Flaps' mod?

Just a few days ago I found an interesting article on a local forum. In fact, the article was written 2 years ago - at that time there was no Taranis (yet), so 9x sticks were a problem for some of the users. So a guy engineered and produced a gimbal from scratch: aluminum body, high-precision ball bearings and Hall effect sensors instead of regular pots - in simple words, it's an eternal gimbal!

Well, the result looks amazing:

This was a hobby project for a person with access to the tools and materials necessary to build this. The mass production was discussed as well - but, as far as I understand, the biggest concern was the price...

P.S. This is way off-topic for this thread. Perhaps, we should move it elsewhere if we decide to continue...

Post by **MikeB** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 6:56 pm

Concept now proven! I can:
Backup a model from the EEPROM to the SD card.
List (the first 7!) models on the SD card and select one to restore.
Restore the selected model from the list.
Use eepe to list the models on the SD card (all of them!)
Using eepe, read a model from the SD card to the PC.
Using eepe, write a model from the PC to the SD card.

I want to add the ability for eepe to delete a model from the SD card.
At the moment, once you do anything with the SD card, the voice doesn't work, and the left vertical UP trim is disabled, until you power off and back on. I'm working on that at the moment.

The files on the SD card are in .eepm (XML) format.

This is all being tested using the Megasound board I built using through hole components in a PCB I had made. I'll need to test with the one from HC1969.

For this all to work, you need to connect pins 27 and 28 of the processor to the Megasound board. I'll try to get round to detailing exactly where. What I did for the processor connections was to glue a small piece of stripboard, two strips about 5 holes long, to the main board, then use some kynar wire (solid core) from the two processor pins to one end of this stripboard. Now I can connect the other end of the stripboard to the Megasound board without worrying about the processor connections any more.

Mike.

Post by **jhsa** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 7:04 pm

andrewju wrote:João,

Is there a link to Flaps' mod?

Here:
viewtopic.php?f=95&t=2974&start=120&hil ... net+gimbal

Yes, I would like to find a way to make this work well on the 9x gimbals, so I 'm very interested in ideas because I'm running out of them

The metal gimbal looks great by the way.

João

Post by **jhsa** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 7:17 pm

MikeB wrote: What I did for the processor connections was to glue a small piece of stripboard, two strips about 5 holes long, to the main board, then use some kynar wire (solid core) from the two processor pins to one end of this stripboard. Now I can connect the other end of the stripboard to the Megasound board without worrying about the processor connections any more.

Mike.

That is exactly how I have it too.. I copied your idea when we were still testing the Megasound board..

I have also the encoder connections on the little stripboard.

João

Daedalus66 · Post by **Daedalus66** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 8:06 pm

jhsa wrote:Ok, this is off topic but here it goes.
Time will tell if there is some kind of brain damage

João

To radio or operator?

KAL · Post by **KAL** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 8:32 pm

MikeB wrote:... I'll need to test with the one from HC1969.
For this all to work, you need to connect pins 27 and 28 of the processor to the Megasound board. I'll try to get round to detailing exactly where. ...

Am I right that the wiring is as shown in István's schematic of Megasound 9X?
Pin 27 of Atmel to pin 8 (RX) of Megasound 9X
Pin 28 of Atmel to pin 7 (TX) of Megasound 9X

Klaus

Post by **jhsa** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 9:49 pm

Daedalus66 wrote:
jhsa wrote:Ok, this is off topic but here it goes.
Time will tell if there is some kind of brain damage

João
To radio or operator?

Both

Post by **MikeB** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 11:57 pm

KAL wrote:Am I right that the wiring is as shown in István's schematic of Megasound 9X?
Pin 27 of Atmel to pin 8 (RX) of Megasound 9X
Pin 28 of Atmel to pin 7 (TX) of Megasound 9X

Yes, that looks correct.

I think it is all working (apart from only displaying the first 7 files on the SD card).
I have the voice resuming after a backup or restore and I can delete a file from the PC.

I may not get much time tomorrow to do anything.

Mike.

Post by **MikeB** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 6:32 pm

OK, I've gone for it! On the er9x test versions post I have added er9x (standard, frsky, 128 and 2561), eepe and amod_last.hex, all in the er9x_restore.zip file.

Please backup your EEPROM, and make sure you have the original amod_last.hex available in case you need to revert.

Make sure you have the two processor pins connected to the Megasound board. With these connected, check the left vertical trim still works in both directions. I haven't wired my Megasound board in yet, I've been testing with my own PCB layout board as that is the one I have in my M64 9X. I wanted to be sure the code fitted in the M64 as this is the one most in need of this feature.

I suggest, first, update the Megasound board and make sure your voice output is all still working.
Next, try eepe connected to the serial of the Megasound. Find (or create) a .eepm file, go into the Burn|SD serial menu, browse to the .eepm and select it in the top window. Then click on the Send button. eepe should write the file to the SD card (actually in a /MODELS directory). Now click the "List Models" button and the top window should show this .eepm file. You could then select it in the top window, select a receive directory, then click on the "Receive" button. The file should be read back from the Megasound board.
Delete file works, but doesn't update the top windw (yet), so after any delete, click on "list models" again for now.

If all this works, flash er9x. Make sure you have the SpeakerMode set to Megasound, or backup and restore are not available.
Go to the model select menu, highlight a blank model and the popup should include RESTORE. Select this and the models on the SD card should be listed (probably only the one you put there above"). With this highlighted, press MENU and it should be restored to the empty slot.
The popup on an existing model should include BACKUP, selecting that should back it up to the SD card.

After a backup or restore operation, voice should be working again, and also the left vertical up trim should be working. Note, all trims are disabled from use while the Backup or Restore menus are displayed to prevent the serial data causing trim changes.

More than 7 files on the SD card should be displayed now. It is a little bit difficult as I don't know how many there are altogether. It displays the first 7, and if you go past these, it tries to read the next 7 etc. It actually reads 8, so it does know there is at least one more for the next 'page'.

I'm sure there will be some problems, but it seems to be working for me!

Mike.

Post by **jhsa** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 6:53 pm

Thank you Mike.. I'm not sure I have the latest binary for the sound module.. can I make a read from the m328 and save it using the serial connection?

Thanks

João

KAL · Post by **KAL** » Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:32 pm

It's been a while that I dealt with so I don't remember well
but I found 2 batch files (just fill in the appropriate com port).
They should work if you have the bootloader on Megasound.

Klaus

openrcforums

Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB

Re: Audio (voice) - Stock 9X PCB