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Offline PaulCheeseman

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IR Doesnt seem to be working
« on: October 01, 2018, 08:42:15 AM »
Hi

I have just finished the upgrade to my Taigen Panther G. Everything except the IR system seems to be working fine.

However, I cannot get anything on the IR side to work. No visible signs of power to the TX LED, and no apparent register of hits from another Taigen IR system.

I have put a voltmeter across the TX pins and on fire, it shows 0.25v ! This seems way too low. I have set the output to Taigen V1, but also accept hits from V2/3

The setup uses the High intensity flash, the standard Taigen apple (I have early with green PCB and late with red PCB) and the standard Taigen TX LED. The Wires have been moved as per your instruction sheet for adding this unit to the OP board.

What is the best way to test this side of the board? What tests do you recommend I do to verify what is/isnt working?

Regards

Paul

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Offline LukeZ

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Re: IR Doesnt seem to be working
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2018, 12:41:08 PM »
This sounds like something very simple that was overlooked.

The most obvious thing this sounds like is that you are testing with USB power alone, but the IR functions require a battery to be connected. Something I have done many times... but an easy fix if so.

Another simple mistake is that you could have made the changes in OP Config (setting the IR to Taigen), but forgot to write those changes to the TCB.

Also ensure the Fight<->Repair switch is set to "Fight."

I would perform the test with the TCB connected to the computer in Snoop mode. This will let you confirm that your fire trigger is actually working.

To see if an IR signal is being transmitted it can help to look at the IR LED using the screen on a digital camera. The human eye can't see IR but a camera lens will see it as light. Using the voltmeter isn't going to help because the signal is so short it will not register on your meter. You would need an oscilloscope to capture it.

You can also use the camera to check if the Taigen board is sending an IR signal as well. On the receiving end once again it will help to connect the TCB to OP Config in Snoop mode to see what messages it may give you. In Snoop confirm also at the beginning that your settings have been correctly saved by the TCB.

Of course be sure the polarity of the IR LED is correct, as it sounds like you have. If you have a second LED, test with that one.

See if any of this helps, and report back if not.
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Offline PaulCheeseman

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Re: IR Doesnt seem to be working
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2018, 08:20:11 AM »
This sounds like something very simple that was overlooked.

The most obvious thing this sounds like is that you are testing with USB power alone, but the IR functions require a battery to be connected. Something I have done many times... but an easy fix if so.

Another simple mistake is that you could have made the changes in OP Config (setting the IR to Taigen), but forgot to write those changes to the TCB.

Also ensure the Fight<->Repair switch is set to "Fight."

I would perform the test with the TCB connected to the computer in Snoop mode. This will let you confirm that your fire trigger is actually working.

To see if an IR signal is being transmitted it can help to look at the IR LED using the screen on a digital camera. The human eye can't see IR but a camera lens will see it as light. Using the voltmeter isn't going to help because the signal is so short it will not register on your meter. You would need an oscilloscope to capture it.

You can also use the camera to check if the Taigen board is sending an IR signal as well. On the receiving end once again it will help to connect the TCB to OP Config in Snoop mode to see what messages it may give you. In Snoop confirm also at the beginning that your settings have been correctly saved by the TCB.

Of course be sure the polarity of the IR LED is correct, as it sounds like you have. If you have a second LED, test with that one.

See if any of this helps, and report back if not.
Hi Luke

Thanks for the reply. OK, I've been doing some testing, and followed your suggestions above.

I'll run through each question in turn.

First off, the main Iphone camra does not work for IR checking, but the back facing one does! And seems to do it well :)

The testing has been done with a charged battery, not USB, and the OP config file has been uploaded after each change. I completely reset the whole OP settings after updating both the OP config program and the firmware, which wiped both the boards memory and the saved files I had! So after a full reset it still didnt work.

Fight/repair was set to fight. Snoop was also used with nothing showing on fight, but it showed 'repair' when in repair mode.

I found two errors. One on each tank, which caused me to fail every test! It wasnt until I put a third IR system (brand new, ready for a Tiger1 project) together on the workbench that I worked out the issues! Firing at my Panther suddenly destroyed it! (hits set to 1) but I could not hit the other tank. I hate to say, but I had the polarity of the Panther IR TX LED incorrect :( I fixed this but still could not hit the other tank.

Played around a bit and must have swapped apples over cos it suddenly worked! It turns out that one of my apples is faulty also! and I had 1 error each side meaning that nothing worked.

Now I can destroy which ever tank has the good apple on :)

Now to buy a few more ...

On a side note, On this latest version of OP config, I cannot seem to just connect to my tank with the connect button. I now have to go to 'firmware' and snoop, then hit connect. Is this a bug?

Keep up the good work, so far i'm really impressed with the OP setup. I do have a few questions/suggestions but it would probably be better if I did a seperate post for those?

Regards

Paul



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Offline LukeZ

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Re: IR Doesnt seem to be working
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2018, 02:20:14 PM »
Always tricky troubleshooting things when there are multiple problems going on at once, but you got it figured out. Glad to know the TCB was not the cause.

On a side note, On this latest version of OP config, I cannot seem to just connect to my tank with the connect button. I now have to go to 'firmware' and snoop, then hit connect. Is this a bug?
Yes, this is a known issue for some people. For others it is intermittent, for others it never happens. It is listed in the Troubleshooting section of the Wiki and elsewhere. It's definitely an inconvenience and I apologize for those who must deal with it. I've tackled it several times and so far have not come up with a consistent solution.

I do have a few questions/suggestions but it would probably be better if I did a seperate post for those?
Yeah a separate thread would be a good idea so this one remains on the topic of IR.
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Offline PaulCheeseman

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Re: IR Doesnt seem to be working
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2018, 03:03:39 PM »
To be honest, as I know its a problem, I'll just work around it. It doesnt take long to go to firmware, snoop then connect. If/when it gets sorted, i'll do it the other way!

I'll compile a new thread soon, but for now, trying to find a new apple in the UK! (not as easy as I expected)

I have also just ordered my second OP board and fittings, to upgrade my wife's King Tiger :)

Regards

Paul

 

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