Hello, everyone. I’ve already searched the forum but couldn’t find anything that would give me any answers. For several years now, I’ve been using the Wixel as a serial bridge for ground operations of a jet turbine to transmit telemetry data to the PC. After a break of several months, I reactivated the system and tried to get it up and running, but I noticed that although the two Wixels appear to be connected to each other but transmits no I2C data from the turbine controllers to the PC terminal for any reason. The Wixel on the PC is in mode 1 (USB to Radio), and the Wixel on the jet engine ECU is in mode 2 (UART to Radio). Device Manager recognizes the Wixel with the Pololu driver. Both Wixels are on the same channel and baud rate. I checked the driver and tried different COM ports; everything looks fine. When I launch the terminal software on the PC, the COM port must be selected. While the telemetry software is searching for the correspinding COM port, the yellow LED on both Wixels flickers as if communication is being established, but it still cannot find the COM port. The entire system works perfectly when connected via cable to the COM port. I think it’s a simple mistake, but I just can’t figure it out. Maybe someone has a good suggestion… Thanks in advance! Jules
Hello.
The Wireless Serial App does not work with I2C, it is designed to use UART signals. If you try using UART signals and it is still not working, you might try removing the Wixel and doing a loopback test to verify the expected data is getting sent. You can perform a loopback test by connecting your TX and RX pins together, sending some bytes, and verifying that it gets echoed back. Also, could you post more details about the app you are running and why you need to search for a COM port (the COM ports are shown in the Device Manager)?
Brandon
Hi Brandon, yes, that’s right—the ECU communicates externally via UART and uses I2C only as an internal bus; I overlooked that (I’m not a programmer…).
I adjusted the ECU signals accordingly from 5V to 3.3V for the Wixel, and it has been working that way for years.
My PC telemetry application always starts by checking the COM ports, that´s why I need to select the COM port first.
I did the loopback test and it was good echoing my signals. I found that the UART Wixel is getting a little hot while being powerd up but found no wiring problem causing this. I have odered another wixel and will report how it is working with the new one.
If any component is getting hotter than usual, chances are high that there had been an overcurrent fault. I think you have taken the right decision by ordering a new one.