That is pretty impressive. Breaking that out to 0.1 header is going to seem silly. 
Will there be a standard antenna connector? I could scavenge a number of antennas from older laptops if the connector was the same.
20 Aria’s on order…
@senger I suffered for years with cheap irons until buying a nice Hakko this year. I used it to solder all the parts on a number of Ambers. Well worth the investment IMHO… makes soldering fun (sometimes).
I guess 20 pins will be a good thing. I was just looking at the Vanessa code, and it looks like most of the 12 pins are completely used. I’d really like to eventually add an epaper display to my thermocouple temp monitoring project. It could be really small with the new Imp… or at least not much larger than the epaper display.
@Hugo “Oh, for that you’re gonna want our newest module. Won’t be available for a bit, and you need to add your own antenna, but it’s 10% of the size of imp002”
Hugo will the new imp require the user to perform their own FCC certification since they are providing the antenna?
I believe I have the imp soldered down. I think my iron is probably ok but I was apparently starting on ground pins. I had also chosen the smallest tip I had which probably did not have enough mass at the end. Preheating the board a little also helped. The biggest difference however was changing solder. I had been using a 63/37 solder. When I switched to older 60/40 solder I probably got at Radio Shack 20 years ago it started to work properly - touch the pad with the iron, add a little solder to the tip and bingo. I had been liberally using a flux pen before switching solder. This kind of work is new for me so before I descend into the realm of superstition is this expected?
My problem is now at blinking-up. I have blinked-up several imp001 on april boards and an imp002 that was pre-soldered to a breakout board from SmartMaker with external opto elements. After applying power I get the slow red flash. When the blink-up starts the led goes out. After the blink-up finishes I get a single green flash and then it returns to flashing red. This does not seem to correspond to any of the blink-up codes at http://electricimp.com/docs/troubleshooting/blinkup/
This behavior is enough to make me believe that the imp is at least operating. Suggestions as to where I should be looking.
By the way, I find these imps incredibly interesting and I desperately want to start designing my own boards.
Never mind on the blink-up question - it is now working. Apparently, IT people changed something since the last time I did a blink-up - should have guessed this first.
I am puzzled about the 10K resistor going around the red side of the led as mentioned above. The board I had made does not include this yet it appears to be working. Does it just produce a more consistent behavior?
That resistor allows the imp two make either common anode or cathode LEDs work, depending on what you populate… one is likely to work without it, the other isn’t.
@autolibearth we’ll do some approvals testing with an example antenna (or maybe a couple of types) which, if you stick to the recommendations, should still allow you to take advantage of our modular approval in the US/Canada - just like people do who use the TI wifi module.
@brandon Where did you source that Cyntec choke coil from? I’m not finding a US supplier quickly…
We actually sourced it directly from Cyntec. There are a bunch of recommended parts in the TPS62172 datasheet and any of the 2.2uH ones should work. You’ll have to find one that has a similar footprint though.
I ran into this same Cyntec problem yesterday trying to order parts for the TPS variant on the amber board. I decided to order a TDK VLS252012-2R2 which electrically looks the same. It’s dimensions are listed as 2.5x2.0 mm while the Cyntec is listed as 2.0x2.5 but as best as I could tell the contacts are at the end of the long axis on both of them so I’m hoping it is a fit - all of the others on the TPS datasheet seem to be significantly different sizes.
I emailed a Cyntec rep about the part… hopefully they can help. Where did you source the TDK part?
@jwehr It is available from Digi-Key.
Hmmm… that was my first search… guess I should look again.
Cyntec can only sell a complete reel, though they did offer to send samples. I guess I’ll go with the TDK part.
Which is this one…
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/VLS252012T-2R2M1R3/445-3670-1-ND/1856638
or
Hi everyone!
heh, dont know where to begin, so i got imp001 and imp002. my plan is to use 001 to practice and 002 for final product, the only problem i face is that pcb for 002 is crazy expensive… is there a cheaper solution? im planing to get around 20-30 002 for my house, and i need cheaper pcb… or should i just go with 001? Thanks in advance
What do you mean by ‘crazy expensive’? What are you comparing for boards between the 001 and 002?
Have you checked out <a href=https://oshpark.com/">OshPark for boards? Their pricing for small qty. hobbyist boards is quite reasonable.
Another option is imp002 dev boards from;
I also use oshpark when I want to make one or two of my own boards and I highly recommend them.
20-30 per house is a lot!
I don’t think www.themakedeck.com is selling just the boards for 002, first i though its a 40$ for just a board, but i guess its with the imp. I have few 002 laying around, so i just need a board and im still new at this, not experienced enough to make my own board. The reason i need so many is because my wife wants to have all of our blinds open in the morning and close in evening, etc. thank you guys a lot!
EDIT
you gents just made my day! found 3 boards for 16$ on oshpark, awesome!