Version 2 of my homebrew controller


 
AH! JD, Check the top of hmcore.h. If USE_EXTERNAL_VREF isn't commented out, comment it out. That really should be defaulted to be commented out because it means you're using an external power source as the reference voltage for the analog inputs. If you don't have a wire hooked to Vref on the Arduino you get - No Pit Probe -

And yes it really does boot that fast. If there's no wifi or USB initialization it takes about 2s. Even less if you're using an Uno with the new bootloader.
 
Ah yes, that is a good point Ed. I'll update my schematic to reflect this so next time I publish it, it will be included.

@JD
Yeah the error is that the default config expects an external Vref. Just comment out #define USE_EXTERNAL_VREF at the top of hmcore.h

I'd publish an update but my codebase has been modified to use the new WiShield contrib branch, which I can't test yet so I don't want to push that out at the same time. My Dad is coming to visit next weekend and bringing his HeaterMeter so I may have some time with it to be able to try it out.
 
yep commenting that out works too. Now I'm trying to parse out what I'll call "display irregularities."

Sometimes I power the system up and everything looks fine, and sometimes what is on the display is garbage. Haven't quite figured out what it is... I reconfigured my breadboard setup so the buttons, probes, and blower are all on one breadboard while the LCD and stuff needed to make it work are on their own separate breadboard. This morning I thought I had a breakthrough but I'm mistaken. I've verified that i've got 0 ohm resistance between the pins on the LCD and the pins after my ribbon cable. You guys have any words of wisdom here? When it works the menus look great! Very simple and straightforward.

I don't have the cap on the shift register either. I need to go back a few pages and read the commentary on the origins of that component.

I
 
The only thing that seems to be a constant is that it looks fine at startup, and over time it becomes garbled.

Once its become garbled, if I disconnect/reconnect power, its still garbled. If I wait a few minutes, I can read it again.

I've now got a 0.1 uf cap on my shift register, but I'm still observing the same issue. hmmm
 
I've finally figured it out! I'm very glad I soldered pin headers to the LCD because it turns out the ribbon cable I'm using is bad.
 
Originally posted by Bryan Mayland:
my codebase has been modified to use the new WiShield contrib branch
Click to expand...

Super, maybe my Yellowjacket will work with it. Is this the version from Asynclabs forums? I looked on GitHub and all I see is the same 1.3.0.
 
Originally posted by RJ Riememsnider:
Super, maybe my Yellowjacket will work with it. Is this the version from Asynclabs forums? I looked on GitHub and all I see is the same 1.3.0.
Click to expand...
Yeah the github still has the same version number on it even though it is internally different. You can tell which one you're using by the disposition of the ssid variable. If it is declared as "char ssid[]" then it is contrib, if it is "const prog_char ssid[]" then it is stock 1.3.0.

To clarify, this is the new base I've been working from.

My version is about 500 bytes smaller and supports using pre-calculated WPA keys which speeds boot time from a minute to a few seconds. It also uses about 100 bytes less of RAM so this can be allocated to the socket buffer which can provide close to a 50% increase in data throughput for delay-ack clients.
 
Alright so I'm going back through some of this thread and making notes about additional parts I need.

I've already got the 0.1 uf ceramic cap wired across the +5v and GND pins of my shift register.

I also see a note about a 330uf electrolytic cap. This should be wired across the +5v and GND coming out of the arduino? right now I'm pulling my 12v from Vin but plan to switch to right off the jack, pulling +5v from arduino
 
hopefully bryan can chime in here.. .on my test setup I'm running 12v through Vin on the arduino (but had plans to go from the jack).

I think his graphs of the sag were the 5v going into the shift register on the LCD...

I'm starting to think I may keep the Vin because my wall wart actually is a little high (close to +14v) so the Vin ends up being +12v
 
Yeah the sag was on the 5V line going in to the shift register. The 330uF cap isn't probably needed at all for standard Arduinos. The reason I was seeing it was because I built my own power supply and had insufficient caps on the 5V line coming out of the regulator. The standard Arduino Uno has 47uF caps on both sides of the regulator and I think I had 47uF on one side and 10uF on the 5V side.

The 0.1uF I'd definitely put on the shiftreg though. I used these MLC which are tiny and only 6 cents a pop. I'm always worried about regular ceramics being fragile but it doesn't matter I'm sure.
 
Hello guys, I just wanted to chime in a say you have sucked another person into this project. I started bbq/smoking last summer with a cheapo brinkmann and then for christmas my wife bought me a much larger offset brinkmann. After doing many mods to the brinkmann I still have had trouble maintaining a constent temperature. After doing some googling I stumbled across the commercial ATC's but knew that they were way out of my price range. Then someone mentioned a homebrew ATC and gave a link to this thread. Well after a lot of reading I went ahead and ordered an arduino, and all the parts listed on the parts list. After a lot of trial and error and my dads help I was able to get the lcd working on a breadboard, now I'm transfering that over to a PC board. Once I get the LCD working on PC board I will start working on the rest of the circuits.

The only thing I wasnt able to buy was the WiShield. I'm going to get it up and running without it for now but does anyone know if asynclabs will be getting any more of them in stock. I emailed the guy but never heard back from him.

Again, this is an awesome project and it has been tons of fun so far.
 
Originally posted by Ben B.:
The only thing I wasnt able to buy was the WiShield. I'm going to get it up and running without it for now but does anyone know if asynclabs will be getting any more of them in stock. I emailed the guy but never heard back from him.
Click to expand...
Welcome! This is kinda funny because I emailed him myself last night. I've been checking their site just about daily since Christmas time and they're killin' me with this lack of stock.

The wifi component is only $30 though, plus about $2-3 worth of voltage regulator, resistors, and caps so I'm considering just building one myself on breadboard.
 
I have most of the project bread boarded and I have a 20X4 with the Shift reg and display up (kinda). I can "hellow world", I can read ambient thermister and print ADC values to serial monitor so I loaded up r69, it is stable sometimes and sometimes it scrolls through what looks like the menu items. the buttons stop the scrolling temporarily.

I am fighting several battles.
1) learning Arduino interface , remembering C from 15 years ago.
2) learning and building electronics.
3) soldering.
4) dealing with a 4 line vs. 2 line display.
this is too much to handle.
So here is my plan, A) go back to dealing with hardware only,
make sure that raw inputs from thermisters, probes and buttons are correct.
any thoughts?
 
Originally posted by Bryan Mayland:
The wifi component is only $30 though, plus about $2-3 worth of voltage regulator, resistors, and caps so I'm considering just building one myself on breadboard.
Click to expand...

Oh man, that is an even better option, if you do please share your schematic and instuctions.

This is my first adventure into electronics but I am having a blast. I showed a friend who is currently in school for electronics and he was like "man that is way better than the projects I do for class, this actually does something!"
 
Originally posted by Bryan Mayland:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ben B.:
The only thing I wasnt able to buy was the WiShield. I'm going to get it up and running without it for now but does anyone know if asynclabs will be getting any more of them in stock. I emailed the guy but never heard back from him.
Click to expand...
Welcome! This is kinda funny because I emailed him myself last night. I've been checking their site just about daily since Christmas time and they're killin' me with this lack of stock.

The wifi component is only $30 though, plus about $2-3 worth of voltage regulator, resistors, and caps so I'm considering just building one myself on breadboard. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

What about adding flash to the Yellowjacket?
 
Originally posted by Bryan Mayland:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Ben B.:
The only thing I wasnt able to buy was the WiShield. I'm going to get it up and running without it for now but does anyone know if asynclabs will be getting any more of them in stock. I emailed the guy but never heard back from him.
Click to expand...
Welcome! This is kinda funny because I emailed him myself last night. I've been checking their site just about daily since Christmas time and they're killin' me with this lack of stock.

The wifi component is only $30 though, plus about $2-3 worth of voltage regulator, resistors, and caps so I'm considering just building one myself on breadboard. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh, and is this really necessary if we're migrating to serial comm with a WRTG type device?
 
Originally posted by RJ Riememsnider:
What about adding flash to the Yellowjacket?
Click to expand...

I wasnt able to find a yellowjacket in stock anywhere either. And the WRTG method was still a little vague on how to go about making it all work.
 
Originally posted by Ben B.:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RJ Riememsnider:
What about adding flash to the Yellowjacket?
Click to expand...

I wasnt able to find a yellowjacket in stock anywhere either. And the WRTG method was still a little vague on how to go about making it all work. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I see that now. The 'Notify me' option wasn't showing up on the arduino product page but does on the yellowjacket specific page. Looks like we may have to get going on our own shield or serial.
 
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