If it ain't broke, don't fix it

[signal_line]

When will I ever learn? Actually I was having some issue with the e-receiver. It was on the blink and when I went through it I could not find anything wrong. So I changed a chip and some other parts then things went bad to worse. Panic and desperation set in immediately. I thought I had no choice but to build a totally new unit. Then I saw it--a broken wire from all my messing with things. Wow, what a relief! Maybe I ain't going crazy after all. Okay, maybe just not so much. LOL Yeah, the device is still in the rat's nest configuration and one would hope this will give me a bit of motivation to clean things up.

So, back to the fixing part. I did make some parameter changes in my desperation and like what I came up with (a bit more power, too), so I would call it a blessing in disguise. It's still in it's infancy stage from where I want to take it, so at least I can see a goal marker.

 

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[signal_line]

There are different ways to increase the power. This one I am back to using a USB power source (5 volts). It's minimal amount and I've noticed if I turn down the power on the e-receiver (power amp already at lowest level, actually added more resistance so even lower by five times. Even that was raised from ten times lower which works), it reaches a point where it will not pick up my test target at 75 feet. One of the things I never liked about LRL's is they have too much range. I mean you can't lower the range to only cover a small area (75 feet is really reasonable.) I can always turn up everything and run a higher voltage battery to get up to the 630 volts level. A while back I measured 75 volts at the lower power setting. Now that's on the transmitter side--the e-receiver is nine volts. That's one thing I don't like about those all-in-one hand-held types. You got that thing right in your face. No thanks!

 

[signal_line]

The transmitter and emitter sits on the ground--not near your face.

 

[signal_line]

Sorry for my rambling here. Never even made my initial point which is that I did some more testing yesterday at the higher power level and I like how it responds. Didn't add more battery, just changed parameters.

On the other side, I have not checked to see how short range I can tune it. 75 feet is not the lowest e-receiver gain level, so I just haven't tried to see how low it can go. And I have no idea how far it can go, either. I can bump up the transmitter power by nearly twenty times (even without increasing battery voltage by 20% to six volts) and don't even know how far the e-receiver can increase. But that one will reach a point where it distorts so probably not a whole lot more on that side.

UPDATE: (Monday 6:30 PM) Feel like I made some progress today. Made some parameter changes and getting notably faster lock-on times and without adding extra power. I never know if it is just due to locating conditions until more testing but I'll bet on this one. For those who don't know, faster times are really desirable especially when solar magnetic activity is higher. May not seem like a big deal, but i sure think so.

 

[gudfruit7]

Sorry for my rambling here. Never even made my initial point which is that I did some more testing yesterday at the higher power level and I like how it responds. Didn't add more battery, just changed parameters.

On the other side, I have not checked to see how short range I can tune it. 75 feet is not the lowest e-receiver gain level, so I just haven't tried to see how low it can go. And I have no idea how far it can go, either. I can bump up the transmitter power by nearly twenty times (even without increasing battery voltage by 20% to six volts) and don't even know how far the e-receiver can increase. But that one will reach a point where it distorts so probably not a whole lot more on that side.

No worries brother. You have quite a bit of good knowledge and experience to back it up so your posts are always beneficial. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

[signal_line]

WARNING: Rambling post.

The only proverb I ever came up with--Confucius say: "Man who pats self on back winds up with broken arm." So much for my intact analytical powers. Reminds me of in Third grade, the Nun had everyone sit in a named row depending on how well they did on the last exam. First was the archangels, then the angels, then the saints, finally the last row was called purgatory because "those students could not save themselves." Well, that's me. LOL

I started this thread a few days ago and I finally remembered WTH I am even doing, what my subconscious has been trying to tell me. I have been messing with the e-receiver and after making some changes I tried to use a different frequency and it wasn't working right. So more digging and nothing to show for it. Somewhere in the back of my mind I recall checking the battery voltage and it was low. I have a real nice rechargeable but haven't hooked it up yet. So it reminds me of the cartoon I saw decades ago, these guys in lab coats are scratching the head trying to figure out what's wrong with the huge computer. The janitor is sweeping the floor and sees the problem--it was not plugged in! LOL So to quote Jackson Browne, "After all the times that I've been burned, by now you'd think I'd have learned..." Change the bleepin' battery!!!! Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.

 

[signal_line]

Yeah, i know this sounds ridiculous but not quite so. I had been running a 9 volt for at least a month, probably more than 40 hours and had remarked to myself how long the battery was lasting. After the "fixing" I had done, when I noticed the new frequency wasn't working right I just assumed it was something I had caused or one of the parts I exchanged was not right. I mean it was still working, just not like it is supposed to and the fresh battery feels like I have new life also. So the bad news is the weather is going to take a turn for the worse and we have had bad Winters and hot, miserable Summers. No rest for the wicked. LOL Around here, better get used to it.