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

[Martin Rath]

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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