[Skimmertalk] Weird malfunction

[Bob Wilson, N6TV]

Pete,

Sorry to hear this.  I assume that you've tried to power cycle the QS1R,
then start Skimmer Server, in that order.  If you don't see the "FPGA
loading" message, or it repeats, it probably means a component in the QS1R
has failed.

See
http://dayton.contesting.com/pipermail/skimmertalk/2014-December/001323.html
.

But you're seeing a different symptom it seems.

In my case, it was the 1.2V voltage regulator, an LD1117 (rated for 800 ma)
that failed.  This is common if you add no extra cooling or heatsink and
use the recommended "Universal" 5V 2A power supply required for running
Skimmer Server.

You can measure the input and output of this component with a voltmeter to
see if that's the component that failed.  See the pin diagram (labeled
"DPAK"):

http://www.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/pdf/22690/STMICROE
LECTRONICS/LD1117A.html

At my request (16 months ago), N8VB replaced the failed voltage regulator
with a LD1117A (rated for 1000 ma), and also glued a big copper tube to
that component, which acts as a large heat sink.  No other components were
affected.  My QS1R has been running fine ever since, but since I'm using no
fans or additional cooling, heat will eventually take it's toll and it will
probably fail again some day.  The box still becomes quite warm, so I'm
careful to leave plenty of space around it, nothing stacked on top.

As you may know, others like DL9GTB have gone through extensive
modifications to the QS1R to add additional heat sinks and cooling fans.
See

http://torsten-ernst.de/modules.php?name=Gallery&file=categories&cat_id=47&page=1

73,
Bob, N6TV

On Sat, Aug 13, 2016 at 2:15 PM, Pete Smith N4ZR <n4zr at contesting.com>
wrote:

> Yesterday, I was testing my QS1R, which has run like a train for years but
> not been used since May, at a new QTH.  It seemed to run fine at first, but
> the next time I restarted it.  Now Skimmer Server seems to start normally
> and then cycles every few seconds between SDR receiver OK and a repeating
> error - "SDR FailureUSB_control_msg failed".  I can't get it back to normal.
>
> Device Manager says the QS1R driver under libUSB is working properly, but
> the event viewer for libUSB shows "Warning    8/13/2016 4:58:59 PM
> DeviceSetupManager    123    None"
>
> Any ideas?
>
> --
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> Download the new N1MM Logger+ at
> <http://N1MM.hamdocs.com>. Check
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>
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