[Skimmertalk] Red Pitaya set up with N6TV's instructions

Mark n2qt n2qt.va at gmail.com
Thu Oct 5 20:33:11 EDT 2017


Is there a computational as well as thermal impact if rtty skimming is used in addition to
or instead of cw only?  

Mark. N2QT

> On Oct 5, 2017, at 8:26 PM, Martin Rath <martin.rath at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Reading all this I'm starting to wonder by I bought the more expensive
> aluminium case... the usual temperature around the shack here is about 32c.
> I now have a large 12v fan powered through the 5v usb port. It's run slow
> and quite and the temperature is about 64c skimming 6 bands. The QSR1 next
> to it uses some passive cooling as i just placed a larger heatsink on top
> of it.
> 
> 73's Martin 9V1RM
> 
>> On Fri, 6 Oct 2017 at 05:08, <dd5xx at web.de> wrote:
>> 
>> Thanks for info Bob. I want to share my experience:
>> 
>> I used the aluminium case before and with the help of your script I
>> monitored the temperature. I never exceeded 67° C even after long working
>> periods (several hours!) and while running sdr_transceiver_hpsdr for the
>> use of 6-band-CW-decode. I cannot explain why my RedPitaya was cooled down
>> better than yours. One hour ago I did a test and replaced the aluminium
>> case with the original RedPitaya plastic housing. Under this housing I
>> installed a fan "SUNON MagLev DC5V ~0.55W". The fan sits exactly (!) above
>> the FPGA heat sink, it fits perfect between FPGA heat sink and plastic
>> housing. I want to emphasize, the cooling fan does not sit above/outside
>> the plastic housing but directly on top of the FPGA heat sink. With this
>> setup the maximum temperature achieved was 56° C. The temperature decreased
>> about 10° C. I definitely will stay at this setup, the fan is doing a great
>> job and I am quite happy.
>> 
>> Just wanted to share this information with you.
>> 
>> Best 73
>> Saki, DD5XX
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 05. Oktober 2017 um 02:56 Uhr
>> Von: "Bob Wilson, N6TV" <n6tv at arrl.net>
>> An: dd5xx at web.de, "SkimmerTalk Reflector" <skimmertalk at contesting.com>
>> Betreff: Re: [Skimmertalk] Red Pitaya set up with N6TV's instructions
>> 
>> For Alpine Linux running on the Red Pitaya, try this version of the
>> temperature / voltage display script that I just uploaded (it was modified
>> by Pavel Demin to work in the ash shell):
>> 
>> http://www.kkn.net/~n6tv/xadc-new.sh
>> 
>> According to the FPGA data sheet, 85° C. is the absolute maximum
>> temperature supported by the FPGA.  Of course, heat is the enemy of all
>> electronics (this is why so many un-cooled QS1Rs like mine eventually
>> failed), so the cooler you can keep it, the better.
>> 
>> To cool the aluminum case, I simply mounted a 30mm 5V fan a few mm above
>> the top center of the case, right above the center of the heat sink.  That
>> required drilling and tapping some small mounting holes.
>> 
>> Since there is no room inside, and no cooling holes, it's about the only
>> place to put it.  You can then carefully run two thin power wires into a
>> gap on the left side of the case to bring them inside, then carefully
>> solder or somehow connect those two wires to the power pins next to the
>> Ethernet connector (the positive pin is closest to the center of the
>> case).  This Red Pitaya is currently running 66° C with the ambient room
>> temperature around 24° C.
>> 
>> The Red Pitaya next to it in a plastic case with a similar fan on top is
>> running 58° C.
>> 
>> When the room got very warm on a hot day (28° C.) I saw the temperature of
>> the Red Pitay in the metal case get as high as 78° C., which was too close
>> to the limit IMHO.  After adding the fan on top, the most I've seen is
>> around 70° C.
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