Serial dongle doesn't pass test, but connectivity is good

by **jsha** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:41 am

I just finished putting together the first blade of my SpokePOV kit - lots of fun! However, when I went to test the serial dongle using the Windows wxSpokePOV 1.2, it failed. The voltage on pin 1 of the header is 2.16 V, rather than the >3V that the test program indicates it should be.

Next I test the voltage on pin 3 of the serial connector. It's 6V. So according to the test program this indicates a problem on the dongle between pin 3 of the serial connector and pin 1 of the header. I traced out the connections and it looks like there's one 4.7k resistor connecting the two, and that's it. Is that correct? I couldn't find a schematic for the serial dongle online, only the parallel one. Anyhow, after unplugging from the computer, I tested the connectivity between the pin 3 serial and pin 1 of the header - it appears that they're connected and have a resistance of 4.7k ohms, as I expected.

Is there anything immediately obvious I'm doing wrong? I can post pictures of the board in the morning if that would help.

I have two other questions:

- When soldering the main board, I screwed up soldering one of the sockets. I eventually got it out by laboriously sucking up all the solder from each of the pins until I could pull the socket free. Is there a better way to desolder a socket?

- Does the kit come pre-programmed with an image? My board passes the power-on self test beautifully - all the LEDs light up in order. If I then wave a magnet near the sensor, sometimes it flashes LEDs in patterns that seem to by trying to render an image. But most of the time, nothing happens, or the LEDs go to some fixed pattern and stay.

Thanks for any and all help! I'm thoroughly enjoying this kit - it's my first time soldering.

by **adafruit** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:45 am

can you read the printing on the diodes off and post them here?

by **jsha** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 9:02 pm

They all appear to read "22" on one line, then "68" on the line below. D3 is a little hard to read because I installed it facing down. I also see an italic capital 'F' above the 22.

by **adafruit** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:20 pm

i think you've got a case of Wrong Diodes due to me, just send an email to support@adafruit.com with your order number and we'll send you new ones

by **jsha** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:47 pm

Awesome, good to know it's not my fault. I'll send that info.

Serial dongle doesn't pass test, but connectivity is good

Serial dongle doesn't pass test, but connectivity is good

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