Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A LiPo

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fgnievinski
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by fgnievinski »

adafruit_support_rick said:
Don't use the LOAD port of the solar charger. Use the battery output pads (B+ and gnd) to connect to your FONA
"B+" in the v2 solar charger seem to correspond to "lipo" pad in the v3 solar charger. give it a try, see if it fixes the problems faced.

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summitsurf
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by summitsurf »

AH got it! and it works! But my code doesnt seem to be updating the Adafruit IO feed. Standby

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summitsurf
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by summitsurf »

I think the watchdog timer is resettig it at some point. I see the blue light go out for a second on the fona and then it starts back up. The red light is flashing every 300ms when the blue light is on though. Is there enough amperage to power the fona from the solar charger? I was only thinking it was struggling when it tried to send data. Any luck on your end @fgnievinski?

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fgnievinski
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by fgnievinski »

we managed to send data using a 4400mAh battery and plugging it in parallel to the main board (M0 Adalloger) and the SIM800.

we also found useful this library to upload raw data files (like, hourly data chunks) to a regular FTP server (such as drivehq.com):
https://github.com/carrascoacd/ArduinoSIM800L

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summitsurf
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by summitsurf »

Have a schematic? That is a helpful library. Thanks

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fgnievinski
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by fgnievinski »

here's the schematic for the simplest "zeroth version" that worked for us starting with a fully charged battery:
opt0_bb.png
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fgnievinski
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by fgnievinski »

here's a sixth schematic that we'll try tomorrow:
opt6_bb.png
opt6_bb.png (210.17 KiB) Viewed 383 times
it's based on the following wiring:
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-fon ... -1635331-1

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fgnievinski
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by fgnievinski »

we tried the sixth schematic but it didn't work:
IMG-20211112-WA0011.jpg
IMG-20211112-WA0011.jpg (97.46 KiB) Viewed 377 times

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fgnievinski
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by fgnievinski »

maybe I'd need a voltage boost, between the solar charger and the FONA?
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4654

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summitsurf
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by summitsurf »

I have the voltage booster but I havent had any luck either.

So the FONA has a built in charging circuit through the micro USB connector. I'm thinking I hack a micro usb cable to plug into the Lipo and GND pins on the solar charger board and plug the other end in to the usb on the FONA. Then have the battery plugged straight into the FONA like adafruit says it needs to be.

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fgnievinski
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by fgnievinski »

something like this (seventh schematic)?
opt7_bb.png
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summitsurf
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by summitsurf »

I was thinking something like this. hope to try it out today.
Attachments
Brotel-solar_batterytoFONA_bb.jpg
Brotel-solar_batterytoFONA_bb.jpg (367.01 KiB) Viewed 358 times

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fgnievinski
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by fgnievinski »

Some additional thoughts:
- the BAT pin on the Itsy is only for output from the internal regulator; for input, you'd want to use the USB pin instead.
- the 5V pin on the FONA is the same as the USB connector
- the LIPO pin on the solar charger would be for a battery input; wouldn't it be better to connect the FONA to the OUT pin (regulated load output) instead?
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-bq2 ... -3071583-2

Here's an eighth schematic:
opt8_bb.png
opt8_bb.png (269.61 KiB) Viewed 356 times
hopefully a kind soul from adafruit will come down and enlighten us before we try out all the wrong wiring possibilities..

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summitsurf
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by summitsurf »

Ah I thought the bat pin was input. And the 5v pin "hole" was output. Anyone from adafruit listening?

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summitsurf
 
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Re: Powering Itsy Bitsy, FONA and sensors all with the 1.5A

Post by summitsurf »

I ended up going with a Particle Boron board. Amazingly simple to setup and get working!

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