Keyboard Shortcuts
Likes
- Tinysa
- Messages
Search
|
Re: Enhancement Requests: File Management Sort By Name and Rename
I received a couple of PMs requesting the PowerShell script. It is attached. It only reorders the .psr files and leaves all other files alone. All the normal cautions apply:
?
Peter |
|
Re: Input RF switch fault found on TinySA ultra
Greetings,
?
I think the use hot air removal in this case, considering all the near by components, could be risky unless you happen to have the proper size hot air tool hood that fits the chip and contains the heat to the very small area. I would consider just nipping the leads off the chip body and then remove the remains of the leads, one at a time, using a fine tipped soldering iron and tweezers.
?
As the chip package is of the leaded type with just a few leads as shown in the photo, and is known to be defective (thus of no value) you might consider the following approach using at minimum the following list of special tools and supplies:
?
a) Magnification hood with LED headlight illumination that ensures a detailed view of the chip.
b) Miniature diagonal wire cutter plyers.
c) ?Teflon or similar tipped high temperature, low thermal conductivity tweezers.
d) Fine tipped, temperature controlled soldering iron.
e) Very fine solder.
f)? Isopropyl alcohol and Q tips?
?
1) Remove the chip body by using the cutters to snip off all the leads close to the chip body.
2) Using the very fine tipped, temperature controlled soldering iron heat and remove the remaining leads with the tweezers one at a time.
3) Carefully remove the remaining old solder on the footprint pads with solder wick.
4) Using the Q tips clean the footprint area with isopropyl alcohol.
5) Examine the footprint carefully and ensure all the pads are isolated from each other.
6) Whilst ensuring the correct chip orientation solder in the new replacement chip by just wetting the pads using a minimal amount of solder
7) Inspect the install to ensure no adjacent pins have been accidentally bridged with solder.
?
? ? ? I hope this info is found helpful and good luck!
?
73
Tom
VA7TA
?
? |
|
Re: Defect Report: Restore Multi-Band from SD Does Not Restore RBW
Just noting this defect is still open.
?
Also noting that the RBW is saved so if you select RBW on the left info section of the display it will show the correct RBW checked but won't actually be using it.
?
Workaround 1 is just reselect the checked RBW.
Workaround 2 is disable and reenable multi-band and the correct RBW will be applied.
?
Peter |
|
Re: Input RF switch fault found on TinySA ultra
I managed to change U22 in my Tiny SA Ultra. I used an 852D+ hot air soldering station. Used hot air to remove old one and soldering iron and Ersin multicore? 23SWG solder to solder new one. Used a head band magnifier. Not the easiest thing I have ever replaced by far! As a result of my replacing U22 I have purchased a Digital microscope 1200X for the future. Take a shot at replacing it, if it all goes south, you can still get a new one.
On Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 06:59:11 AM PDT, svkirk via groups.io <svkirk@...> wrote:
Hi there,
?
I would second the recommendation to use a hot-air station for this repair.? With some practice beforehand, you can become proficient enough to do it relatively easily.? We have a cheap hot-air station at work and I've been able to do some very intricate work with it once my skills improved.??
?
A second method would be to use low-melt solder and a small soldering iron.? Low-melt solder has a much lower melting temperature than normal solder, so it stays liquified longer.? This allows all leads to be liquified at the same time so that you can remove the chip.? Here's what I'd recommend:? soak each lead with low-melt solder.? You're heating up the lead & "mixing" the low-melt solder with the existing solder on the lead, ultimately lowering the overall melting point.? If you want, you could even wick off the existing solder & then add the low melt.? But once all leads are soaked w/low-melt or the "mixture", move your iron around from lead to lead until all leads are liquid at the same time.? They will stay this way for several seconds, allowing you to remove the chip.? Normal solder won't do this.? As soon as you move to the second lead, the first one solidifies, and so on.? Next, clean the pads with solder braid & IPA - get them looking new so that all the low-melt solder is removed.? Then solder the new chip in place using NORMAL solder (not low-melt).? Low-melt is only for desoldering.
?
A microscope is extremely helpful, but we don't have one at work.? I've done numerous repairs like this with only magnifying goggles/glasses or a headband magnifier - i.e. something you can wear on your head to keep your hands free.? I wouldn't mess around with one of those alligator clip magnifying glasses on a stand, though.? You probably won't be able to see well enough, you only get one spot that's visible, & they're tough to position just right.? So if you don't have a microscope & don't want to invest in one, go with the goggles/glasses and do the repair in a well lit room.??
?
One more thing: use plenty of flux.? Flux is your friend when soldering.? If you don't use it, you'll get hit-or-miss solder joints, bridging, etc.??
?
I've learned a ton from watching Alex on Northridge Fix's YouTube channel.? He's no-nonsense and he gives great information.? Watch a few of his repair videos - any of them, don't look for "LiteVNA repair" because he hasn't done any.? He uses a hot air station and/or low-melt solder in nearly every video so even if he's repairing laptops, it'll be relevant to you.? If you watch a few of them, it'll help you decide whether to try this yourself.? I'm not associated with him, nor do I get any benefit from recommending him.? I've just learned a lot from watching him.
?
?
There are other good soldering channels out there on YouTube as well.? Mr. Solderfix comes to mind as another good option.
?
I wish you well!
?
Steve
?
?
?
?
|
|
Re: measuring spectrum of a single pulse not feasible with TinySA?
Modern digital o'scopes contain many useful add-ons which are impossible with the older strictly analog approaches.? I'd also suggest capturing the discharge trace on a modern o'scope and using the FFT function to transform your time domain trace into the frequency domain.? Just an alternative to what the designer of the TinySA, Eric, suggested.? However, to capture most of the harmonics, the o'scope must be rather fast.? That can be determined by the time constant of your LC circuit.? Then, assume the o'scope BW must be rated to at least X10 that time constant.? And remember, the spec BW is the -3 dB (power) frequency. Dave - W?LEV On Tue, Apr 1, 2025 at 8:39?AM Erik Kaashoek via <erik=[email protected]> wrote:
--
Dave - W?LEV |
|
Re: Input RF switch fault found on TinySA ultra
Hi there,
?
I would second the recommendation to use a hot-air station for this repair.? With some practice beforehand, you can become proficient enough to do it relatively easily.? We have a cheap hot-air station at work and I've been able to do some very intricate work with it once my skills improved.??
?
A second method would be to use low-melt solder and a small soldering iron.? Low-melt solder has a much lower melting temperature than normal solder, so it stays liquified longer.? This allows all leads to be liquified at the same time so that you can remove the chip.? Here's what I'd recommend:? soak each lead with low-melt solder.? You're heating up the lead & "mixing" the low-melt solder with the existing solder on the lead, ultimately lowering the overall melting point.? If you want, you could even wick off the existing solder & then add the low melt.? But once all leads are soaked w/low-melt or the "mixture", move your iron around from lead to lead until all leads are liquid at the same time.? They will stay this way for several seconds, allowing you to remove the chip.? Normal solder won't do this.? As soon as you move to the second lead, the first one solidifies, and so on.? Next, clean the pads with solder braid & IPA - get them looking new so that all the low-melt solder is removed.? Then solder the new chip in place using NORMAL solder (not low-melt).? Low-melt is only for desoldering.
?
A microscope is extremely helpful, but we don't have one at work.? I've done numerous repairs like this with only magnifying goggles/glasses or a headband magnifier - i.e. something you can wear on your head to keep your hands free.? I wouldn't mess around with one of those alligator clip magnifying glasses on a stand, though.? You probably won't be able to see well enough, you only get one spot that's visible, & they're tough to position just right.? So if you don't have a microscope & don't want to invest in one, go with the goggles/glasses and do the repair in a well lit room.??
?
One more thing: use plenty of flux.? Flux is your friend when soldering.? If you don't use it, you'll get hit-or-miss solder joints, bridging, etc.??
?
I've learned a ton from watching Alex on Northridge Fix's YouTube channel.? He's no-nonsense and he gives great information.? Watch a few of his repair videos - any of them, don't look for "LiteVNA repair" because he hasn't done any.? He uses a hot air station and/or low-melt solder in nearly every video so even if he's repairing laptops, it'll be relevant to you.? If you watch a few of them, it'll help you decide whether to try this yourself.? I'm not associated with him, nor do I get any benefit from recommending him.? I've just learned a lot from watching him.
?
?
There are other good soldering channels out there on YouTube as well.? Mr. Solderfix comes to mind as another good option.
?
I wish you well!
?
Steve
?
?
?
? |
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
This power cycling method is a good way to isolate the interference and determine if it is coming from your property or outside. I would also get a DSP Receiver such as:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
Even if you cannot locate the noise you have a radio to listen to. 73 Mike N2MS On 04/01/2025 4:22 AM EDT G8HUL via groups.io <g8hul@...> wrote: |
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
开云体育Madbrain: ? You are living in a RF hell due to having way, way too many wireless devices. As an amateur radio operator and having deployed some large outdoor wifi networks (2000+ plus devices), I have to fight RF interference on an ongoing basis. Some comments: ?
? An EMI detector will be of little use as all it will tell you in the RF spectrum is saturated which you already know. Start cleaning up the RF environment. ? Hope this is helpful. ? Don ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of madbrain
Sent: Tuesday, April 1, 2025 12:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [tinysa] Help ! Calling Ghostbusters. ? I have a large home on a hill in a fairly isolated peri-urban area, which I wouldn't expect to be subject to massive interference. However, I also have >500 electronic devices, either plugged-in, on battery or hardwired. Many of them wireless devices, and are experiencing intermittent connectivity problems, on all kinds of frequencies. I know that after living 15 years in this haunted house, I am long overdue for the purchase of an EMI detector. I am trying to figure out which to get, and how to use it. The tinySA Ultra seems like it might be up to the task, but I'm still not sure how I would proceed with the investigation. ? Here are some of the devices/bands I experience problems on. ? - Various frequencies - smartphones cell networks have never worked properly indoors with any operator, despite the coverage map. They work in some outdoor locations but not others. This is probably on the operators just lying through their teeth with their coverage maps, and not interference. But our current phones dance alternately between no signal, GSM, 2G, 4G, LTE, 5G. It's essentially impossible to make any cell calls and not have them drop. We have to use Wifi calling. ? - 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz Wifi devices have lots of problems, especially 2.4 GHz IoT devices. The 9 APs are Ubiquiti Unifi. Two of them are wired, 7 meshed. Many clients don't connect for a long time or at all, a bunch connect to very distant APs, some have elevated packet loss, and some have very high ping times - I have seen as high as 10 seconds. There are now about 300 total Wifi 2.4 GHz clients with the recent addition of 220 Philips Wiz bulb in the last few months. I don't currently have any 6 GHz APs (Wifi 6e/7). I have a couple 6e capable clients (one phone, one laptop). There are only 9 5 GHz clients in the house - two phones, two laptops, two Raspberry Pi 3B+ used as controllers for my 2 Carrier Infinity HVAC, and 3 Enphase solar gateways. ? - 1.9 GHz - Panasonic DECT 6.0. This generally works pretty well, but the handsets sometimes don't connect to the base when pressing "Talk", and needs to be put into OFF mode and back ON . Likely a device bug, but I have only seen it happen with distant handsets, and not the one in the room closest to the base, so I can't rule out interference completely. ? - 923 MHz : Yolink devices sometimes lose connectivity, especially distant ones. That's the case intermittently for the water leak sensor at the bottom of one of my water heaters, for instance. And the door and temperature sensor in my garage freezer. My other 12 Yolink devices work very well. But I'm not adding any more until they have a local hub. ? - 912 - 920 MHz : my 30 Z-Wave LR devices have many problems. Many nodes go "dead" frequently in Home Assistant/Z-Wave JS UI and randomly become unusable. Some are distant, but others not so far. I have switched every single LR device to non-LR so the devices don't lose signal altogether.? The traditional Z-Wave mesh seems to work much better (or not as bad, see below). This could be device bugs due to LR implementations still being relatively recent. ? - 908 MHz : Z-Wave non-LR devices often have very long reaction time as well. Again, I have seen 10 seconds response time, just like for Wifi devices. Unfortunately, there are also lots of outright transmission failures, especially when communicating with several devices consecutively, such to turn off all light switches in the house. Many switches don't turn off, and require a second attempt. Currently, there is a total of about 70 Z-Wave devices. ? - 433 MHz : Simplisafe v3 . I have one distant door sensor and keypad that randomly drop out of range of the base station. All 3 are stationary, and I don't quite understand why this happens. I could relocate the keypad, but can't relocate the door sensor. There are not many options for me to relocate the base that won't cause other devices to go out of range. I'm looking for some kind of wall or ceiling mount for the base station in order to improve this, but there is nothing available off the shelf. There are about 20 Simplisafe devices. I wonder if something else is interfering that could be moved./removed. ? If I had to sum it up, wireless signals just don't work reliably in my home overall. The only wireless signals that I don't believe ever failed are some Safeguard ERA-DCRX and ERA-VPRX doorbell transmitters that operate at 433 MHz. ? So, my questions are : ? 1) is the tinySA Ultra device suitable to pinpoint the source of all these wireless issues ? 2) is there any guide that I could read about how to proceed with the use of the device before purchasing it ? Preferably in written form, not video. 3) has anyone else previously been in my shoes, and been able to resolve most or all of these problems ? ? |
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
Wow. Just wow. You have created what we call RF Hell. You will inevitably have a high rate of signal collisions. Also the combined signal level of all your transmitters and EMI generators across all bands will be very high which will create strong signal overload of the receivers, both in-band, harmonic, and fundamental overload. Receiver overload causes distortion and even more interfering mixing products are generated. With fundamental overload a strong signal out of band blows through the front end filtering of a receiver so yes, devices in different bands can interfere with each other. You are effectively trying to put a swimming pool into a 5 gallon bucket. If you do buy an SA you will also need some attenuators so you don't overload it as well.
Your only cure is to shut everything down, clean up the EMI/RFI sources, and rebuild the system with careful planning possibly with the aid of an RF consultant. Even then you will still have issues. My former employer sold coaches wireless systems to the NFL some years back and throughout the life of the system we sent engineers to the Super Bowl every year to babysit the radios and manage interference. It was a job that I would not have wanted to do. On Mon, 31 Mar 2025 22:06:25 -0700 "madbrain via groups.io" <groups_dot_io@...> wrote: Here are some of the devices/bands I experience problems on. -- 73 -Jim NU0C |
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
Hehehehe!? Well done!? Your problem is not even close to the President's Executive Order to eliminate the Amateur Radio Service!? He hints that the IRS is next...
--
Middleboro MA
|
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
开云体育Hi. Let me conclude:? ?? that what is running over WiFi). ? Phones (1900 MHz) are relatively similar in behavior, but running on other band, so the same thoughts apply there (partially) too. ? ? I installed many WiFi networks in my life, but I would never go above 30-40 clients on one Access Point (AP). More clients may work, but with huge impact on throughput, but it is also possible that the accesspoints cannot handle that number of MAC addresses. I know that there are standards like 802.11r.? Such routers/APs support mesh radio (so they transparently hand over moving clients.? But a warning, I (still) have a few WiFi cameras in use that do not support that. Even worse, the cameras do not connect to this Mesh-WLAN and I had to define a separate VLAN without "r" especially for them.?? I doubt that every little smarthome device will smoothly support Mesh WLANs. ? So I would start with having a close look on number and location of APs to not have too many devices connected to a particular AP. In worst case you need to add more APs and lower their signal level to make radio cells smaller. And use copper backbones (connect every AP to the LAN switch by an individual LAN cable). Copper is LOTS faster than WiFi, and this way you also eliminate concatenated APs/Repeaters. This is how I would start with. ? Hope this helps you locating possible weak points. ? Rainer ? Am Dienstag, 1. April 2025, 12:14:34 CEST schrieben Sie: > What do you call close proximity ? This is a 4600 sq ft home on 3 levels > indoors. There are many smart bulbs outdoors as well. The devices are not > all close to each other. There is a fair amount i can turn off, but without > flipping breakers it's not likely go to much below 150 count. > > As I listed in my OP, the various devices operate in a variety of bands. > They should not interfere with devices in the other bands. My theory is > that some of them may have defective radios and interfere with bands they > aren't supposed to operate in. I suspect this especially because many of > the devices were bought used, not new. Some of the smartbulbs for example > don't have working BLE, only Wifi, even though they are supposed to have > both. This makes them difficult but not impossible to setup. I have been > removing these half working bulbs. But there could be other sources of EMI. > There are 2 EV chargers, 70 solar panels, 70 micro-inverters. Any of them > could have an effect on EMI. I am not an EE, and I just don't know to what > degree and at what distance. I thought a tool like the tinySA could help > map where interference might be coming from location wise at least , if not > device wise. > > > |
|
Re: Input RF switch fault found on TinySA ultra
Kindly suggestion: never use a graphite pencil as a pointer to components on a PCB. One might inadvertantly create a conductive path on the board without knowing it. This is just a general rule of thumb. DaveD KC0WJN On Tue, Apr 1, 2025 at 04:36 pete verrando via <pverrando=[email protected]> wrote:
|
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
How much metal is part of your home's costruction? Roof, exterior walls (metallized insulation, wire mesh under stucco, etc.), interior walls (are the studs wood or metal?), etc., etc. DaveD KC0WJN On Tue, Apr 1, 2025 at 04:22 G8HUL via <g8hul=[email protected]> wrote: >>I have a large home on a hill in a fairly isolated peri-urban area, which I wouldn't expect to be subject |
|
Re: Input RF switch fault found on TinySA ultra
开云体育Hello. ? I don't know your soldering shills, but this definitely is on higher level. Forget soldering irons in this case. There are super-fine T12 soldering irons, but the size is still very small. Such parts are usually replaced by use of a hot-air reflow workstation, fine tweezers and a huge magnifying glass or microscope (for looking from bigger distance of 20cm or more).?? If you don't have that equipment, skills and a very steady hand, don't even try it. You can possibly contact a repair center for smartphones or laptops, if they would do an exception and replace the part, but I guess this will cost more than a new tinySA. And another thought:? Is it sure that _only_ this part is the problem and everything else is 100% ok? Otherwise you burnt money and still have a not working device. I talk from my own experience, I am not bad in reflow soldering, but I wouldn't touch that. Am Dienstag, 1. April 2025, 09:11:55 CEST schrieben Sie: > Based on the "fault finding" tab at tinysa.org ( > https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftinysa.org%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0 > bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2cSIhlkkxbkDzVcVvtqIq8v4xw9TAitngOiNPESHlhJhwvBopXUijC2xI_aem_ > auyC7fts-GLRVFjrACZsBQ&h=AT0MOG0yHNy_ltOKHUiQHDjJqBmA7dxZnSbs0lHlG1mgZK0GV-Q > CSbDEujtxji7d2-BBrLq3QfKJU4k30WF4wk2yzQeqDleo7UtWx3txE5uoRjR5QdRoDIq5ww-hw6q > T42Kzvod9_06a3kywLBOx_Uf89GzXXztetww&__tn__=-UK-R-R&c[0]=AT2FJKoKQPKKDfoy0bK > SvTFphlJXzXviJGcLtUyTxjYjK58ncIURXA3e1BjyNH8-FMIGjbdE70ykwz-e0mMrbGJqnwhV434 > PKPd5y_6AxhoiLkU-Qpdjmvixo9XwDiIcT2cjfaEaL3LDxIZWC2WWeGLvAdXNIIGvyd0Hfe7UGkN > SYn2X3pA3wDSTTaHc1-S7faKMUU33goZB2JGfqaZxLRwJ2eI3 ) , my SA ultra's input RF > switch chip U22 (AS179-92LF) has failed. This chip is so tiny it seems > there is not a soldering iron or tweezer small enough to replace it. It's > like a microscope-dependent repair! Has anyone had success with this > repair, or is it just smarter to buy a whole new SA Ultra? > > > -- ? mfg ? ? Ing. Rainer Hantsch ??? (Firmeninhaber) ? ------------------------------------------------- ?ING. RAINER HANTSCH - Hardware & Software ?Khunngasse 21/20 ?A-1030 Wien ?*** Austria *** ? ?Tel.: +43-1-7988538-0???? Fax : +43-1-7988538-18 ?Mobil: +43-664-9194382??? Signal-Messenger (kein WhatsApp) ? |
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
Within radio range of each other.What do you call close proximity ? Jeff |
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
What do you call close proximity ? This is a 4600 sq ft home on 3 levels indoors. There are many smart bulbs outdoors as well. The devices are not all close to each other. There is a fair amount i can turn off, but without flipping breakers it's not likely go to much below 150 count.
?
As I listed in my OP, the various devices operate in a variety of bands. They should not interfere with devices in the other bands. My theory is that some of them may have defective radios and interfere with bands they aren't supposed to operate in. I suspect this especially because many of the devices were bought used, not new. Some of the smartbulbs for example don't have working BLE, only Wifi, even though they are supposed to have both.
This makes them difficult but not impossible to setup. I have been removing these half working bulbs. But there could be other sources of EMI. There are 2 EV chargers, 70 solar panels, 70 micro-inverters. Any of them could have an effect on EMI. I am not an EE, and I just don't know to what degree and at what distance. I thought a tool like the tinySA could help map where interference might be coming from location wise at least , if not device wise.
?
?
?
? |
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
It is most likely that your problem is that you are just swamping the spectrum with so many devices. You are just overloading the capacity. There will not be just one problem so a spectrum analyser will not help.
You cannot expect 500+ devices to work in close proximity to each other. They will block each other. You need to manage your expectations. Regards Jeff ________________________________________ From: [email protected] on behalf of madbrain Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2025 09:53 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [tinysa] Help ! Calling Ghostbusters. That's really impractical for the hardwired devices, which are many. Flipping some of the 50 breakers works, but cannot isolate a single device such as a switch or bulb.I can turn off power to entire lighting circuits, but not to smart switches or individual bulbs.?I'm posting here because I'm hoping there is a tool that can help me with pinpointing the source(s) of the issues. Can tinySA really not help ? |
|
Locked
Re: Help ! Calling Ghostbusters.
That's really impractical for the hardwired devices, which are many. Flipping some of the 50 breakers works, but cannot isolate a single device such as a switch or bulb.
I can turn off power to entire lighting circuits, but not to smart switches or individual bulbs.
?
I'm posting here because I'm hoping there is a tool that can help me with pinpointing the source(s) of the issues. Can tinySA really not help ?
? |
Jim Shorney
Dan Heather