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

[W0MU Mike Fatchett]

Could you use a water cooler for a CPU with the aluminum box? Not that 
water coolers are super cheap or even a big cpu fan.  You would need 12 
volts and a way to hold it down.

W0MU


On 10/5/2017 7:48 PM, N4ZR wrote:
> I mounted a 25mm muffin fan on the *outside* of the plastic case. The 
> worst temperature experienced was 58C.It looks to me likeeither one 
> will do but I think I'll move the fan inside to protect it.
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network
> at <http://reversebeacon.net>, now
> spotting RTTY activity worldwide.
> For spots, please use your favorite
> "retail" DX cluster.
>
> On 10/5/2017 5:08 PM, 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.
>> _______________________________________________
>> Skimmertalk mailing list
>> Skimmertalk at contesting.com
>> http://dayton.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk
>
> _______________________________________________
> Skimmertalk mailing list
> Skimmertalk at contesting.com
> http://dayton.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk