Upgrading the T-Deck: GPS Module Installation in the New Slim Case
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- Опубліковано 24 лют 2024
- 3D Print Files:
www.printables.com/model/741124
GPS Modules:
Slim - a.co/d/dNcvwr4 or www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale...
Standard - a.co/d/aHIYweO or www.aliexpress.us/w/wholesale...
Here are a few Etsy links if you want to buy the case. It's not my store, but the quality looks great and their reviews are excellent:
goodsbypratik.etsy.com/listin...
3g3dprinting.etsy.com/listing...
This store is located in the UK:
3dchicken.co.uk/products/lily...
Here’s a technique for removing the Grove connector: • Remove the CardKB conn...
Welcome back to Random Alley Cat, where we blend the art of DIY with the thrill of exploration! In our latest adventure, we're diving into the world of customization and tech upgrades, focusing on the compact and versatile Lilygo T-Deck. This episode is all about enhancing our beloved T-Deck with a critical component for adventurers and tech enthusiasts alike: a GPS module.
Join Alley Cat as she carefully disassembles the old case and introduces you to the new, sleek slim case designed specifically with a cutout for the GPS module. This isn't just about giving the T-Deck a new look; it's about significantly boosting its functionality, making it an indispensable tool for users of Meshtastic and other LoRa applications.
#lora #meshtastic #lilygo #tdeck #offgrid #comms #gps #case #communicator #cyberdeck - Наука та технологія
Just ordered my case! So excited!
Great case! Thank you for making it!
Glad you like it!
Thanks Alley Cat, your cases are great and I've put GPS in all 3 of my t-decks
I’m glad you like them, thanks for watching!
Mine arrives in a couple days and I plan on using your vid as a tutorial. Thanks so much!~
Sounds great! I know I wasn’t super detailed, so let me know if you have any questions!
As an observation, if you're new to GPS devices, the first time they start up, and the first time they start up after being powered down for a fairly long period of time, say several weeks, or months, the GPS module may take upwards of 15 min to get a GPS Lock and report the number of satellites it sees. This is at least in part because the satellites are sending correction information for their orbit elements and with WAAS, they are often including such information for several other satellites. give it time, preferably on power, and in a space with a good view of the sky. (I'm in a house that is sided in stucco. That got applied to a wire mesh, so the walls act as a Faraday cage. Your experience may be better.
Also toasted a non-LoRa t-deck today. Or at least it smelled like it let the magic smoke out when I added a battery pack. The smoke apeard to be being released, while the device was powered off, which suggests that either the connector that shipped with the t-deck either was miss-wired, or I miss-wired it to the battery pack. I'm not going to lay odds on which, but it would surprise me if the cable they shipped was wrong. Powering it up by the USB-C port (w/o the battery) at least boots it into the LillyGo demo screen, which is somewhat different from the t-deck. Ideally I'd like to set that up to be able to take notes that automatically update to my own systems. But since this one may be 'batery toasted' getting all of that worked out may not work out. But I can use it as a demo hand out and don't worry if it comes back broken, device.
It's not a criticism, just an observation as I assembled and re-assembled these today, In addition to being careful about the power switch, be care full with the bottom of the front face. For some reason both of the ones I worked on today wanted to push that on the right side of the device out past the face frame of the front piece and that got interesting to 'correct. I found a small awl that I have on a mini-Leatherman, did a decent job, but be careful as you're going to be putting pressure on it that it shouldn't have. A better plan is to take it back apart and carefully make sure the front drops inside rather than through the opening. That gets extra difficult if you mounted the SMA antenna connector to the case already... you don't have to ask how I know that, do you?
Again, thank you for the great work on this design Alley Cat. Be well, and perhaps see you down the log some day.
That's some good info about the GPS, thank you! Sucks that you burnt out the battery connection at least it still works for testing and demonstration. Maybe you can figure out where the smoke came out and replace the component, sounds like a fun project!
The case is definitely a tight fit, I'm going to make a new video showing more clearly how to assemble all of my cases with the latest updates to them. Thanks for watching!
another dope design from Alley Cat!
Thanks for your support!
Thank you.
Thanks! Followed your tutorial and my T-Deck is now GPS enabled! Def worth a like and subscribe 😁
Awesome! I'm glad it worked, and thank you for watching!
@@randomalleycat why you put the 5v red cable to the TX Pin and the yellow to the Vcc Pin?
@@EdIcarus-rl2fp no good reason. I felt like red for RX (on the other end) would help me remember. Yellow for constant voltage is not unreasonable either. Sometimes I’m just random.
the cat logo is the best part!!!
Thanks for all the hard work. I'm planning on opting for the slim case. The slim 706090 battery you linked has the larger JST 2.0 plug, not the 1.25mm. Do you know of a battery that already comes with the appropriate connector? If not, did you de-solder the old wires and resolder the new onto the protection circuit pads, or simply repin the wires into the smaller connectors? Alternatively, do you think a JST 2.0 to JST 1.25 adapter would fit inside the slim case? Have you had any luck with a haptic module in place of the speaker, or perhaps repositioning the speaker on top (for those not using GPS)? Ultimately I'm hoping to put together something with a haptic model, or alternatively a speaker with a kill-switch.
When I got the battery, it came with a separate 1.25 pigtail and heatshrink so you could cut off the end and solder the other leads on. I actually did put a small connector in between in case I wanted to use the battery for something else in the future and it was a tight fit but I was able to squeeze it into the case.
After I finish a couple other projects I do plan to revisit this case and make some more options for speakers and GPS and switches and all that.
Great video. Thanks for sharing how to mount it. Will both the gps modules you link to in the description fit in the unit ? The mini gps in the desciption is currently no longer available so I wonder if I could order the other one and if it will fit as well ?
Do you also have a link to the battery ? I want one which fits perfectly like the one in the video.
PS! Would soldering the gps module directly to the PCB work as well as placing it in the top of the case ?
Take a look at the printables page linked in the description. I put links to the GPSs based on which case they fit with, the one that says it's for the standard case won't fit the slim case. The links for the exact batteries I purchased are on there as well.
If you can fit the GPS module in the space next to the battery, it's fine to solder it directly. Someone posted a pic I believe where they use a separate patch antenna and it seemed to fit fine.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Just found this one and it looks like the same design as the other one: a.co/d/1wPri50
Awesome design! Any reason why you didn't add the hole for an external antenna like you did with your first design?
Well...I answered my own question. I wasn't paying attention and hadn't noticed you mentioned there is one available with the SMA opening.
It’s all good, I probably should have shown both versions. I’ll get better at this UA-cam thing, I promise! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing. Really nice design. I just finished adding the "standard" GPS module. I made the case clear so I could keep tabs on all of the lights. The GPS has a blinking red, and solid blue light, but I keep getting the no GPS notification. It's been raining all day, and now it's just misting. When the weather is bad do you get the same no GPS/GPS not present notification? This would make sense because the GPS got lost in the mail, and I have been staring out the window the past several days waiting on it.
Did you make sure to have the TX and RX wires swapped?
I did. I also tried switching from alfa to the current stable version of firmware. I can't seem to get it to work in the web client either.@@randomalleycat
Join us on the Meshtastic Discord if you aren’t on it already, you can get a lot better help there. I did notice it’s a little buggy, but the devs are continually making updates.
Well thank you for getting back with me. I may do that if it doesn't work after the next firmware version. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.@@randomalleycat
@@masondawson4061 If I figure anything out I'll let you know. When mine didn't work I just turned it off for a while and when I turned it back on it worked. 🤷🏻♀
Thank you for sharing this. I like your slim design with the 706090 Lipo battery and am wondering which charger you use to charge the battery? I'd really appreciate getting this right (and safe) the first go around.
I've been charging it from my laptop through the USB port on the T-Deck. If you just charge it with a standard (reputable) USB charger, I think it will be fine. If you're thinking of charging it outside of the device, I'd try to avoid that if you don't have a specific device meant to charge these batteries. Thanks for watching!
@@randomalleycat ah ok, I did not realize you could charge it through the USB port. Problem solved. Thanks!
It's probably not the fastest, but I think it's the safest and easiest!
@@randomalleycat I agree.
I have printed the case and it looks great. I have attempted to find a 12mm M10 GPS and the one you linked shows out of stock. Nothing that size is available in my neck of the woods. However, there is a selection of 18mm square units. I took my calipers to the GPS module slot you have created and it is almost (not quite) wide enough, but there is technically enough room to resize that width in cad without hitting the M3s. I measure ~18mm to the very back surface of the case from the bottom of the front slot, so the only solution would be to thicken the wall of that back part and create a notch on that back plate, or maybe use the fat back..? Regardless, the width of the slot won't work for 18mm GPS modules. So close. Dang!
What about the 15mm Mini M100?
What AWG are you using for the GPS module?
It’s the wires that came with the module, I’m guessing maybe they’re 24.
Thanks, I didn’t see that there were wires included….
What SMA connector do you recommend for an external antenna?
Something like this would be perfect: a.co/d/hVqEtv5
@@randomalleycat Thank you. That's what I was assuming, but wanted to make sure!
Sadly chalk another up to the "tried this but still getting No GPS" - love the case designs printed both a fat and slim for my 2 tdecks! Now I just need to figure out how to debug this GPS issue. I also noticed since installing the GPS module I can't get the web-based serial tools (flasher. or client.meshtastic) to connect. Guess I need to jump on the discord :)
That's frustrating. It's been a little buggy for me too, but it seems to work better if I have it in a location that gets a good signal when I turn it on, but that could be a coincidence. Specifically the 10 series ublox chips are having issue with meshtastic, so I'm really hoping that the issue and they will fix it soon because the T-Beam Supreme also uses the 10.
@@randomalleycatSo I had to manually set the GPS Rx and Tx pins in the position config to 44 and 43 respectively for the t-deck and set GPS to "Present" and then 2-3 reboots later it's started working pretty consistently!
@@BryanSawler That's good info to know, thank you!
My T-Deck is different than yours. Mine has a socket where yours is just the board where you soldered the wires. Any advice on what I should do to attach the gps module???
Mine had that connector, I removed it, but you should be able to just solder the wires without removing it if you’re careful.
Is there a connector that fits the socket on T-Deck instead of removing the socket???
I could also solder the wires to the backside of the socket
@@Ammed_KN6STX It's a Grove connector, so you can try to find one that you can solder or crimp to the wires and then you'd need to modify the case to fit but I don't recommend it. It's a lot easier to just solder the wires and it's not like you're going to be removing it often.
@@Ammed_KN6STX Yeah, soldering to the backside is what I meant when I said to solder without removing it.
Fantastic! Have you tried printing in tpu? Meow
I haven’t, but I think someone on the Meshtastic discord did. I think I have a spool so maybe I’ll try it.
No link for the GPS module?
They’re in the video description!
@@randomalleycatoops I missed it!
No worries, thanks for watching!
This is great, but I need the speaker to get notified of a message. Perhaps there is an alternative speaker somwehere.
I agree, and I’m looking for a speaker that will fit. I’m also looking into using a vibration motor instead. In the mean time, you can still use the standard case with the GPS which still has room for the stock speaker. Thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching!
Your designs are the best, I am now printing a second case of your design. I also appreciate a lot that you make these available for free and listen to feedback for upgrades
@@kai_jokela Thank you for being supportive and understanding!
Enjoyed the video and the case looks great. Sounds like I need to resurrect my ender and spit out some of these.
@@randomalleycat I received some really tiny speakers from Aliexpress, and in Prusaslicer I made a round hole for the tiny speaker, next next to screws. It fits there nicely.
Have you found a li ion battery that will fit instead of the lipo? Hot car, exploding lipo and singed whiskers! Meow
With the fat back you can fit 18650s or 21700s!
I have "GPS disabled by button" and "GPS disabled" messages on my T-Deck. the GPS mode does not stay in ENABLED, after boot it's allways DISABLED. I have tried all known pin numbers 43, 44, 47 & 48 but no success
My best suggestion would be to do a full erase and reflash of the T-Deck firmware, and then power it on as is and make sure it is in a spot with a good GPS signal. Let it sit there for at least 15 minutes, and then see if it works. If not, turn it off for another 15 minutes and turn it back on.
If that still doesn't work, I would suggest hopping on the Discord for Meshtastic because there are a lot os super helpful people much more knowledgeable about the firmware than I am! Sorry you are having trouble!
Thanks for quick reply and suggestions.
After triple clicking roller ball button the error message is "no GPS module". I'll now try flashing the device.
@@randomalleycat With your advices it started working! After some waiting the postitioning started to show on map, but for a long time GPS status messages on T-Deck screen showed "No GPS", until it changed to simply stating "Fixed GPS". No satellite lock count. I did not cross RX/TX wires by the way.
@@kai_jokela Awesome! I'm glad you were finally able to get it working! It's a bit tricky initially, but eventually it does work. Thanks for the feedback, I'm going to do a little bit of testing and I'll be making another video.
O boy, it does not work. "Fixed GPS" means that the position set manually in the app. I had accidentally flipped that switch.
Didn't know you had a youtube after talking on the discord
It isn't much, but it's mine!😊
it still says GPS not present why ?
it`s not working ?
You might need to check the settings using the Meshtastic app to make sure that it’s active. Also, double check that your TX RX lines are crossed, and when you turn it on, let it sit in one place that has a clear signal for at least 15 minutes. I think the firmware is still a little finicky for GPS on the T-Deck but it definitely can work!
The.links are out of stock
Try just doing a search for "FlyFishRC M10 Mini" on AliExpress, there should be other sellers who still have it in stock.
I updated the links to just do a search on AliExpress so that should make it easier.
Half of my pcb pads left with the connector. Be careful..
Oh no! Were you able to salvage it?
No recovery, no. The two pads just floated off. No remnant to attach to.
Maybe you can strip a little solder mask off a trace and solder to that?
@@randomalleycat I will dig around when patience accrues. It doesn't look promising. OTOH it can live without it. Replacement is cheap, but I may need new SMT tools. This is just the start. There will soon be a replacement. Actually, it was a dual disaster: the AliExpress 18650 battery holders were too small. RIdiculous. Thank you.
@@stanleyjungleib650 These things were clearly designed to keep us tinkerers busy!
Very nice case but there are some mistakes I would correct. This small antenna shown in video is very ineffective, the antenna cannot be attached as the person in this video does very close to the main board with its entire surface, this is very wrong, the antenna should radiate a signal like as far as possible, so screw it into the hole in the upper part of the case further from the board so that the signal from the antenna is not attenuated by the board itself.
This is just an example of using a small antenna which comes with a RAK lora board and is indeed designed for 915mhz, and does work perfectly fine for short ranges. For example having a node on my roof to repeat the signal, this antenna works fine. Of course for people who need longer range, they can easily use an external antenna with this case.
Also, the bigger the better is not true in this situation. Your best option for a handheld device like this is a half wave antenna. The purpose of this video was not about getting the best range, but about showing the design of the case and the ability to fit the GPS module inside. There are plenty of resources to learn about RF theory.
So it wasn't a mistake, it was a choice. Not everyone has the same use case, and that wasn't the point of the video. Everyone is free to use whatever antenna that works for their application.
@@randomalleycat
I know that at such a high frequency the antenna is very short and when I said the longer the better I meant that you chose the antenna with the worst characteristics that can be found for this frequency range.
I don’t accept the argument that you don’t need to transmit a signal over long distances., all other people buys this devices in the event of an apocalypse, where there will be no other connection except our own radios, so it is important for all of us that this devices works as far as possible
and repeaters are a waste of energy, which will be in short supply when there will not be any source of energy
@@vwestTube Well it's working fine for my current purpose. Maybe in the apocalypse I will swap the antenna out for an external one if I have to leave the area. Either way, other peoples messages will repeat from my rooftop node, so the community is covered as well. That is unless my house is destroyed, the sun is blocked out, or a nuke EMPs my node.
Anyway, thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching and commenting!
What battery requirements does the TDeck need?
I have spare 18650 batteries like crazy.
Can I use them?
What board would I need to use with them etc?
You could use 18650 batteries if you use the fat back, but the main issue is that the T-Deck is designed for only one cell, so if you want to charge the batteries in the device, it would be a good idea to get a pack that has a BMS of some sort to keep the batteries balanced.
Check out the Printables link in the description, I put a lot more info about the batteries I used and which batteries work with different configurations.
@@randomalleycatWhat type of hours do you get from the 8,000mah battery?
@@randomalleycatSo I see in your link that you have a case design for (3) 18650 batteries.
Firstly, that's awesome that you've done this much work for yourself & shared it with everybody. Thanks for that!
Does the case with the (3) 18650 include the battery mgmt system room for a particular setup?
Do you know of one or had 1 in mind with this design?
@@ClickClack_Bam I haven't really tested the battery life, and setting, connection, and usage are going to make it vary a lot, but I expect with 8000mAh it will last as long as an average cell phone.
@@ClickClack_Bam Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to do anything with that, I made it compatible by request, but my personal favorite configuration is the slim case with 706090 lipo.
If I were going to use 18650, I'd try to find a pack that has a BMS if there is one. Personally I think it's overkill, and I really like the compactness of the slim case.
Can you use the GPS module:
GY-NEO6MV2 New NEO-6M GPS Module?
That setup is probably a little too bulky to fit, you're better off with the ones I linked on Printables, with the benefit of getting the 10th gen ublox module. If you already have that one and want to use it, you can probably make it work if you use the fat back and do some custom mounting.