On Jan 3, 2024, at 21:49, Gerald Sherman <ve4gks@...> wrote:

?I recently (earlier today) received a V2 that came from an American ham who was selling off his equipment. At first I thought everything was OK, but when I went to plug the official Pi keyboard-mouse combo in I found the Pi had come unplugged as the unit was apparently jarred in transit. I have 4 questions:

1) How do I open the unit?

2) How do I make sure I have the Pi correctly plugged in?

3) I don't know if the display has come unplugged from the Pi. If it has, how do I reconnect it?

4) I am under the impression that the RTC isn't well secured. Any comments?

These may sound stupid, but this is my first encounter with an sBIT, so I'm totally new to it. I hadn't expected to get an sBIT at this time, so I hadn't been following things too closely.

Also, when operating from battery power (which I will often do), how do I know when to recharge the battery. I have a Xiegu X6100, and when it is operating from its internal battery it will shut down when the battery reaches minimum safe charge.

Thanks

Gerry Sherman

Sent by the Windows 11 Thunderbird

Maybe you could send a picture to show how you figured out the pi was unseated?  From your description it’s a little hard to figure out what you’re dealing with. 

The way the display connects to the pi is pretty robust and unlikely to have disconnected.    The raspberry pie is also screwed in so unlikely for it to have disconnected also.  

A photo, especially of the side where the USB connections to the pi are made available, would be a big help, to others here, trying to help you.

73

Gordon Kx4z 

On Jan 3, 2024, at 21:49, Gerald Sherman <ve4gks@...> wrote:

?I recently (earlier today) received a V2 that came from an American ham who was selling off his equipment.  At first I thought everything was OK, but when I went to plug the official Pi keyboard-mouse combo in I found the Pi had come unplugged as the unit was apparently jarred in transit.  I have 4 questions:

1) How do I open the unit?

2) How do I make sure I have the Pi correctly plugged in?

3) I don't know if the display has come unplugged from the Pi. If it has, how do I reconnect it?

4) I am under the impression that the RTC isn't well secured. Any comments?

These may sound stupid, but this is my first encounter with an sBIT, so I'm totally new to it.  I hadn't expected to get an sBIT at this time, so I hadn't been following things too closely.

Also, when operating from battery power (which I will often do), how do I know when to recharge the battery.  I have a Xiegu X6100, and when it is operating from its internal battery it will shut down when the battery reaches minimum safe charge.

Thanks

Gerry Sherman

Sent by the Windows 11 Thunderbird

Photo?? ?Sounds like you may have had some very significant shipping damage?? ?

The enclosed photo was taken during an experiment I was running, but you can clearly see the screws?that hold the Raspberry pi in, and you can also see the many screws that hold the motherboard down.....Units from the factory will have all of those.? ? If your unit was badly damaged in shipping, some or all of that may have been destroyed.? ?If your unit was a "homebrew" from another ham who bought only portions and added their own raspberry,? then it is possible that they didn't take the same care in installation of the raspberry.? ? In which case you will probably want to very carefully reinstall the pi.? ?If the pins are off by one or two, of course the outcome is extreme damage; but the screw holes will NOT MATCH if you are off.? ?I installed mine with considerable care, as I bought one from a fellow without a pi and installed it myself.? ??

The cable to the display is secured at both ends with small plastic clips and they are TENACIOUS so if THAT came loose, you really did have the unit badly transported.? ? Reinstalling is tedious and would require some you-tubing and study.? ?

As far as I know, the unit does not measure the input voltage of the battery, so I don't think it will warn you of a low battery.? ?Careful measurement of the battery voltage with a voltmeter would suffice, or there are really fancy devices on ebay/amazon for about $15 that monitor not only the voltage but also the energy and current if you really want that.? ?It hasn't been one of my priorites, yet.? ??

Congratulations on getting an sBitx -- one of the best teaching laboratories in ham radio!

73

Gordon KX4Z

On Thu, Jan 4, 2024 at 6:33?AM Gerald Sherman <ve4gks@...> wrote:

When I went to plug the keyboard in, the USB connectors aren't lined up with the openings in the case.? They are back about 5 millimeters (1/4 inch) and at an angle, also only 2 of the 4 are visible when looking directly into the case.? The ethernet connector isn't visible.? I can see the Pi sitting at an angle, instead of parallel to the front and back of the case.? I have another Pi 4, so I know what they normally look like.? Another amateur has suggested the Pi "isn't" screwed in, although it "should" be, and his suggestion is almost certainly the truth.

Gerry Sherman

Sent by the Windows 11 Thunderbird

On 2024-01-04 04:48, Gordon Gibby wrote:

Maybe you could send a picture to show how you figured out the pi was unseated?  From your description it’s a little hard to figure out what you’re dealing with. 

The way the display connects to the pi is pretty robust and unlikely to have disconnected.    The raspberry pie is also screwed in so unlikely for it to have disconnected also.  

A photo, especially of the side where the USB connections to the pi are made available, would be a big help, to others here, trying to help you.

73

Gordon Kx4z 

On Jan 3, 2024, at 21:49, Gerald Sherman <ve4gks@...> wrote:

?I recently (earlier today) received a V2 that came from an American ham who was selling off his equipment.  At first I thought everything was OK, but when I went to plug the official Pi keyboard-mouse combo in I found the Pi had come unplugged as the unit was apparently jarred in transit.  I have 4 questions:

1) How do I open the unit?

2) How do I make sure I have the Pi correctly plugged in?

3) I don't know if the display has come unplugged from the Pi. If it has, how do I reconnect it?

4) I am under the impression that the RTC isn't well secured. Any comments?

These may sound stupid, but this is my first encounter with an sBIT, so I'm totally new to it.  I hadn't expected to get an sBIT at this time, so I hadn't been following things too closely.

Also, when operating from battery power (which I will often do), how do I know when to recharge the battery.  I have a Xiegu X6100, and when it is operating from its internal battery it will shut down when the battery reaches minimum safe charge.

Thanks

Gerry Sherman

Sent by the Windows 11 Thunderbird