It’s been a while since I posted here. I took a (LONG) break from things electronic and HAB. However, I have gradually gotten back into things. I have designed an minimal Arduino™ board, minDUINO, design files available on ProjectAVR. This is an educational board designed for my friends daughter to build and learn about micro controllers.

Meanwhile, here I have identified an issue with VAYU-NTX v1.04. I tried to add an option for two different styles of SMD crystal. The normal HC49 size and the much smaller 5032 size. Unfortunately, I misunderstood how the connections were laid out resulting in a completely unusable set of pads for 5032 type crystals. Luckily, this doesn’t affect the HC49 crystals.

VAYU-NTX-v1.04 and v1.05 Comparison

I have also made a few other changes. I’ve added a potentiometer on the relevant MCU line to facilitate Anthony Stirk M0UPU‘s Domino code. This also has an associated jumper to use the payload in RTTY mode. I also broke out the TXD and RXD connections on the MCU for troubleshooting purposes, added labels for the battery input and tried to give the breakout header, J2 a little more room.

I’m currently working on a re-flow oven conversion for soldering SMD boards. Once this is finished, I will order some VAYU-NTX v1.05 boards and try the oven out. I will then publish all the design files.