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  • Author Author: ForcisConnect
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Waterproofing marine equipment - 03 - Unboxing the kit

ForcisConnect

Yesterday morning I finally received my Demo Kit! Hurray!  Here are a few pictures of the kit and my first impressions:

 

When I started opening the packet it felt like a Matryoshka doll: a box inside a box inside a box! It certainly was well packed, maybe even too well.

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The final plastic case really got my attention. It is a nice transparent case. Once opened, we find the following content protected by foam:

 

  • Transmitter Module
  • Receiver Module
  • Load
  • 1.2A 5V power adapter
  • 3 Jumpers
  • A pair of tweezers!
  • Usb Cable
  • User Guide

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In general, it feels like a quality kit where effort has been put into. Great!

 

And I really like the detail that the case is also a part of the kit, allowing us to power the transmitter while inside. Therefore they have made a small cutoff on the front panel where the usb-cable can go through. On the top we find a drawing indicating where to place the receiver. Plug the adapter in and voila: the leds light up. It’s a nice detail that really increased the wow-effect when I showed it to my family.

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A funny thing I noticed is that, while transmitting power, the kit makes noises. They are very soft and probably, if the whole thing was in a PCB not loud enough to be noticed. Nevertheless I would like to know the source of it and if it’s normal.  I have attached a small audio file to this post.  You might need to turn up your volume to hear it.

 

I already started taking some measurements and did some tests, but still without a clearly defined plan and it’s too early to draw any conclusions. More on testing next week!

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  • Until you wrote about it, I didn't recognize this noise. But I listened closely again, and can hear it to.

    My informal investigation says it comes from C14+C15 on the receiver board: take a sheet of paper (about 10x10cm), hold it at one edge with tweezers, touch some components with the opoosing edge and listen where it gets louder (it helps when the paper bows a little to have firm contact). Works only with the LED board taken off, obviously.

  • in reply to hlipka

    You might be right. I wasn't able to reproduce the trick with the piece of paper, but looking closer I noticed the led blinking at the same frequency as the sound (more  or less). As the led is connected to the same line as the capacitors you mentioned, I hooked up a probe and took the following screenshot: (Probe connected at TP12, AC coupled)

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    I really think that this is the same frequency as the sound: six long beeps and two shorts. ¿Does your board make the exact same noise?

  • in reply to ForcisConnect

    Yes, it sounded like in your file. This seems to be the Qi back-channel - the receiver tells the transmitter its current status. Its called "backscatter communication" - basically the receiver creates a defined and pulsed load on the receiver coil, which can then be decoded by the transmitter. This should be 4 times per second, which matches what you see. See also the intro by Ti. It seems this places mechanical stress on the caps of the receiver board, which causes audible oscillations...

  • in reply to hlipka

    Not having my kit yet, but I wonder if you can add some silicon to 'glue' the two caps together.

    Normally its inductors that sing but it is High Frequency and quite short duration pulses.

     

    Mark

  • in reply to mcb1

    At least for me its barely audible, and the receiver will be inside of an enclosure. So I don't think that I need it (and I think Eduardo won't either).

  • in reply to mcb1

    Yeah, it's more a curiosity than an issue. And I don't want my nice shiny EVM filled with silicon...not for now at least. image

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