Hi,
I'm very pleased to join this Forum. I'm a newbies using Ardupilot APM 2.0 and after a long long weeks awaiting my board, I have received it, 2 weeks ago !!! Ordered on january.
I have discovered problems on JP1 PIN weldind and 3.3 Volts CMS not correctly welded too and 2 Ground PIN's on GPS piggy back board not welded too.
It seems working correctly too, but what about the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) on the future ?
I have corrected the JP1 Pin not welded, but 3.3 V G3.3 128 CMS is too difficult to manage with my fingers ... I leave as it the 2 Ground Pin's (seems always not welded).
Firmware Arducopter 2.4.5 and Mission Planner 1.1.75 loaded yesterday night.
Voltages with USB : 4.88 Volts on 5V rail and 3.62 Volts on 3.3 V pinout ! Seems ok but a little under or over the normal status.
Do you have experienced same problems on reliability ?
GPS seems instable on 3DFIX too on Mission Planner (inside my home near a windows).
Any information about it too ?
Thanks for feedback,
Rosario
Replies
I too am seeing unstable GPS, but that's the GPS signal, not anything electrical
3.62V is nothing to worry about. Unless you have a calibrated Fluke brand, I wouldn't even consider it accurate enough to worry about. That's roughly the 10 percent margin anyway. USB is always low voltage so not bad as mine sags to about 4.78V!!!
Also, nothing is "welded", that's solder
On the GPS ground pins picture-they don't solder those because they are not "required" electrical connections. In the unlikely even you want to take the daughter board out, those are a real PITA to desolder. The pins are there for "location" purposes only. In other words, every board they send out the door doesn't have those pins soldered on purpose. You can solder them it you want, but also remember that with boards stacked, that can lead to stress between the boards.
While I agree the chip isn't soldered square, that's also the 8u32 which is what gives you the USB connection and the solder joints look solid. If it was bad, then you couldn't connect via USB. Being how hard these boards are to get, I would live with it and not get too strung out. The solder joint for the power jumper was not optimal but again, likely passes the test.