[time-nuts] Tbolt and iCruse readout problem - any ideas?

Thu Aug 19 12:28:09 UTC 2010

1 in 400 have a problem, so assuming that he had at least one other complaint would seem to imply that he sold as many as 800 units at least? That sounds somewhat high, but if true, good for him :)

Didier

------------------------ 
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless thingy while I do other things...

-----Original Message-----
From: David Bobbett <d.bobbett at tiscali.co.uk>
Sender: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:20:17 
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement<time-nuts at febo.com>
Reply-To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
	<time-nuts at febo.com>
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Tbolt and iCruse readout problem - any ideas?

  Further to my messages regarding this problem, I contacted Bob (aka 
fluke.l) who replied almost immediately, saying that this has happened 
to around 1 in 400 iCruse units and he is working on a fix. Sort of a 
relief that there really is a problem and not some strange combination 
of events.

On 19/08/2010 08:22, David Bobbett wrote:
>  Hi Brooke,
>
> I know what you are thinking! Sadly the supply is 12.1v so there's 
> plenty of regulator headroom, very interesting page though.  I'm 
> beginning to think that Didier's suggestion of corrupted firmware in 
> the iCruse is the most probable explanation.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> David
>
>
>
> On 18/08/2010 16:58, Brooke Clarke wrote:
>> Hi David:
>>
>> What power supply voltage are you using?
>> http://www.prc68.com/I/ThunderBolt.shtml#iCruze
>>
>> Have Fun,
>>
>> Brooke Clarke
>> http://www.PRC68.com
>>
>>
>> David Bobbett wrote:
>>>  Hi Didier,
>>>
>>> No - the display reads "DAC V: 0.0000" on the iCruse LCD, all the 
>>> other data (including temperature) displays normally and correctly. 
>>> So it is only that part of the data which doesn't seem to be decoded 
>>> and displayed correctly. The really odd thing is that the DAC V 
>>> value can be seen in Tboltmon.exe, although I realise that that 
>>> particular program also sends data to the Tbolt, which the iCruse 
>>> does not.
>>>
>>> The reference to the RS232 resistors was in the context of the 
>>> discussions regarding whether the values in the iCruse are correct 
>>> -  but of course if all the other data is being received correctly, 
>>> there doesn't seem to be any logical reason why the DAC data would 
>>> be any different.
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks for the reply, but I'm still puzzled!
>>>
>>>
>>> David, G4IRQ
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 18/08/2010 12:33, Didier Juges wrote:
>>>> When you say "will not display the DAC V value", do you mean the 
>>>> display is
>>>> blank, or it displays garbage?
>>>>
>>>> Interestingly, the code that displays temperature and DAC voltage is
>>>> essentially the same, the only difference being which part of the data
>>>> string received from the Thunderbolt is processed, so it is hard to 
>>>> imagine
>>>> why one would work and not the other, unless the data received from 
>>>> the TB
>>>> is corrupted in the part that should contain the DAV value, and the
>>>> conversion routine fails.
>>>>
>>>> If you have doubts that the serial interface may not be working (I 
>>>> am not
>>>> sure about what missing resistor you are talking about), fix that 
>>>> first and
>>>> try again.
>>>>
>>>> Looking at the serial stream with a scope may help diagnose such 
>>>> problem.
>>>>
>>>> Didier KO4BB
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com 
>>>> [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
>>>> Behalf Of David Bobbett
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 4:23 AM
>>>> To: time-nuts at febo.com
>>>> Subject: [time-nuts] Tbolt and iCruse readout problem - any ideas?
>>>>
>>>>    Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Having struggled in vain to solve this problem, I thought I  would 
>>>> make a
>>>> plea for help as my first posting to Time Nuts . . . so here goes!
>>>>
>>>> I have a Tbolt with v3.00 firmware which works fine with the 
>>>> Tboltmon.exe
>>>> V2.60 and Lady Heather software. It also works fine with the iCruse 
>>>> Tbolt
>>>> LCD monitor - except that the monitor will not display the "DAC V" 
>>>> value,
>>>> all the other values are displayed without a problem.
>>>> The iCruse is the later version which has had the PIC voltage 
>>>> conversion
>>>> done, but not the RS232 input resistor mods.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I have two questions really:
>>>>
>>>> 1) Is there a setting which I need to change in my Tbolt using 
>>>> Tboltmon.exe
>>>> to get this to work?
>>>>
>>>> 2) Does anybody on Time Nuts have an iCruse which shows a negative 
>>>> value for
>>>> the "DAC V"?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> As far as I can see, there are 3 options: a) there is a configuration
>>>> problem, b) the iCruse doesn't display negative values for DAC V, 
>>>> c) my
>>>> iCruse is faulty. I've pretty much run out of ideas on this one, so 
>>>> any
>>>> suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>> David Bobbett, Milton Keynes, UK.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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