<wpwrak>
the chip doesn't look so sexy, though. GFSK.
<DocScrutinizer05>
what's wrong with GFSK (or any modulation as long as RX and TX understand it)?
<wpwrak>
yes, finding a suitable peer
<wpwrak>
you're deep in non-standard land there
<DocScrutinizer05>
those chips are not meant to be compatible to anything else
<wpwrak>
yeah. that's why i find them somewhat unsexy
<DocScrutinizer05>
and as long as the few uA in standbymode-1 are actually for idle RX with wakeup, I'm all fine with that
<DocScrutinizer05>
I'm rather wondering what's RL range such a pair of transceivers can do
<wpwrak>
the at86rf231 needs 20 nA in sleep
<wpwrak>
1/45 of the 900 nA bonfire that nordic chip produces ;-)
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<DocScrutinizer05>
mhm
<DocScrutinizer05>
sounds good, indeed
<wpwrak>
and it can blast the neighbourhood at a full +3 dBm
<DocScrutinizer05>
and sleep means it's listening?
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<DocScrutinizer05>
dang, I'm so out of hw business
<wpwrak>
btw, there's now a lower-cost variant, the 232
<wpwrak>
no, sleep means it's sleeping :)
<DocScrutinizer05>
meh
<wpwrak>
listening only to the I/O line that tells it whether to sleep or wake
<DocScrutinizer05>
I'm only interested in receivers to actually *receive* and still need only uA or nA
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<DocScrutinizer05>
no use in an actor that's only listening 0.01% of thime
<DocScrutinizer05>
time*
<DocScrutinizer05>
I need RF that can operate actors from let's say 3V 1000mAh for months
<wpwrak>
listening equals receiving
<wpwrak>
so, 12.1 mA in your nordic chip
<DocScrutinizer05>
that's awful
<wpwrak>
11.8 mA in the at86rf232. also here, atmel wins :)
<DocScrutinizer05>
I wonder what those FS20 / homematic are using
<wpwrak>
the at86rf231 burnt 12.3 mA, losing by a narrow margin. guess marketing had to have that fixed :)
<DocScrutinizer05>
I mean, my doorlock works a year from 4 AAA
<DocScrutinizer05>
and it opens instantly when I press the button of the key transmitter
<wpwrak>
make the transmitter send a continuous burst. wake up every ~50 ms, bring up the receiver (at86rf231: 380+110 us), listen for a few 100 us, go back to sleep
<wpwrak>
there you are, 2% duty cycle, and it's still "instantaneous"
<DocScrutinizer05>
anyway, need to have a walk to next postpox, sending out some PAR414 "backup battery" 0.06F capacitors to guys who wanna fix their phones' RTC
<wpwrak>
you even have enough time to miss a few transmissions
<wpwrak>
;-)
<wpwrak>
interest timing for going postal :)
<DocScrutinizer05>
air is better now
<DocScrutinizer05>
you know, here it's summer
<DocScrutinizer05>
in daytime it's been unbearable
<DocScrutinizer05>
can the RX start up in such short time, to full operation and sensitivity?
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<DocScrutinizer05>
well, probably it should, considering the number of full sine waves at e.g. 680MHz
<wpwrak>
32 C *snicker*
<DocScrutinizer05>
even 4 times as many on those chips we discussed
<DocScrutinizer05>
I know, you need gloves and a thick jacket to survive such low temperatures
<wpwrak>
110 us from sleep to xtal up, 380 us from that to receiving, yes
<DocScrutinizer05>
mhm
<DocScrutinizer05>
0.5ms
<DocScrutinizer05>
well
<DocScrutinizer05>
fair enough
<wpwrak>
those chips have other issues, but rf slowness is not one of them
<DocScrutinizer05>
then we're actually at 100some uA
<DocScrutinizer05>
plus overhead for the controller
<wpwrak>
yeah
<DocScrutinizer05>
I'm looking for chips that have such duty cycle powersaving integrated
<DocScrutinizer05>
a simple carrier detect was already fine, of course a MAC addr decoding even better
<wpwrak>
there's a problem with the MAC protocol. it requires CSMA, so you get a hefty extra delay you can't control. this means that you effectively have to stay on the air a bit longer.
<wpwrak>
but you can play tricks, e.g., see if there's a carrier, even if you missed the beginning of the frame
<wpwrak>
if you see a carrier, then stay up a bit longer
<DocScrutinizer05>
that's what I meant
<wpwrak>
if you really want to go primitive, only check the RSSI and make the sender emit a constant wave (it can do that in test mode) ;-)
<wpwrak>
of course, all your wlan-loving neighbours will hate you ... ;-)
<DocScrutinizer05>
I hate that idiot spider that always checks path /b/c/d when somewhere it finds an URL /a/b/c/d
<DocScrutinizer05>
spams my server logs each night
<DocScrutinizer05>
ooh, nevermind, it's just a silly lightgreen silkscreen printing
<DocScrutinizer05>
btw those guys are real hackers :-) they dualuse LED3 (red, upper right, charge-LED, PIO1_11) as ambient light sensor. Feels almost like one of my original designs