Welcome to the first blog in my series dedicated to roadtesting the Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 PRO Gen 2 Starter Kit, starting with an unboxing video:
The box contains the RedPitaya board, a SD card, SMA male-male cables and SMA to BNC adapters. It also provides a RJ45 cable and the power brick needed to properly feed the board via the dedicated USB-C port. There is no case to protect the board itself, there are 3D models available on model sites if you feel like printing one.
A good point is that all padding in the box is made of cardboard. No foam, polystyrene or corn flakes that are hard to recycle.
Element14 added a pair of oscilloscope probes and the eMMC module. This one should allow not using a SD card at all by storing the OS in the eMMC chip, but most prominently it brings better power management via ACPI-like behavior which helps with the Linux OS on/off sequences and should ensure longer SD card life.
I replaced the nylon legs with longer brass “spacer” legs that I had from a previous project, it gives more room on the bottom for air to flow and reduces the risk of any metallic debris touching the underside components and traces.
Installing the eMMC module is quite straightforward, but there was no M2 screw with it. I used one of the scavenged screws from taking apart HDDs, one more proof that yes, I can’t get rid of this “junk”. I double checked the packaging the screw was nowhere to be found, despite being mentioned on the RedPitaya shop product page: https://redpitaya.com/product/qspi-emmc-module-gen2/3
I immediately updated the SD card operating system image by following those instructions: https://redpitaya.readthedocs.io/en/latest/quickStart/SDcard/SDcard.html#
First power on takes a bit of time, but after that it is quite fast, in the order of 10 seconds from unpowered state.
Note that you will need a toothpick or match to push the power on button on the eMMC module, it is VERY tiny and definitely not fit for human fingers past 7 years old. Add to this that you need to press it for at least one second to be registered and you get a recipe for frustration.
Using one of the nylon legs is a possibility even if it’s still difficult to get it right.
There is a red LED that flashes on that module when power is present, but the board is not turned on. Sadly, the documentation does not mention its existence, let alone its functionality, but considering it turns solid green when the board is turned on, it at least is a power indicator.
The default image runs a mDNS server which allows for using the rp-abcdef.local name on any computer that knows about that kind of name resolution. This is the default with recent Windows and Linux systems so it makes it very easy to connect to the module, no need to look in the router tables for the IP it has received from DHCP.
Note that the web interface does not require any authentication, and that the SSH server uses a default root/root password, so, please, do not ever connect it to a network where untrusted devices may be able to reach it.
This blog is part of 7-part series for my Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 PRO Gen 2 Starter Kit roadtest:
Blog 1 – Unboxing the Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 PRO Gen 2 Starter Kit
Blog 2 – First contact with the Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 PRO Gen 2
Blog 3 – Oscilloscope application in the Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 PRO Gen 2
Blog 4 – Logic analyzer application in the Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 PRO Gen 2
Blog 5 – Software defined radio with the Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 PRO Gen 2
Blog 6 – Developing for the Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 PRO Gen 2
Red Pitaya STEMlab 125-14 PRO Gen 2 roadtest report
