Suggestions and Ideas for custom Omega2 Docks
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@Matthias-Nowak said in Suggestions and Ideas for custom Omega2 Docks:
i think it would be better to put some general prototyping space on the full board so that f.ex. you could solder a SN75176BP in there (RS232 to RS485 converter) because it really seems like a thing just a handfull of people would use then
That's an interesting concept. The challenge is finding controller components having a similar pinout so that designing and producing a universal PCB is more cost effective than designing several single purpose ones. The solution that manufacturers often opt for is to design a carrier board with 'standard' mezzanine modules. All the distinct features are packed into those mezzanine modules.
An area where there is actually a void at this time, and a potential of growth because of its usefulness is cellular controllers for data communication. Up to this day, I found two manufacturers having huge family lines because of all the cellular frequencies around the world. So, the idea of just soldering a relevant parts kit on a 'universal' PCB to get cellular services is very appealing to me.
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First part of the PCB is done! next thing is to look if its possible to route everything out.
if not, then i guess i'll have to drop the PPoE part
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Aaaand routing is done
I will now do some work to make it look a bit nicer, but man this is packed.
I sadly had to drop the 4 GPIO headers on the right side, because it wasnt possible to route them out. But only two are wasted because the other two are connected to the charging circuitry and change their state when the battery is nearly empty (20%) or when the battery is fully charged.
But it still has the micro USB for connecting to the Omega2, the USB Host port, the LiPo connector, the Ethernet jack + Passive PoE and all of the GPIO on the left side, so yeah, still a beast
Gonna work the Bill Of material and the approxamite price out.
~Matthias Nowak
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Soooo....if anything goes right in the first run, this board should retail for only 20-25ā¬!
So only thing left is to revisite the schematic and tripple check everything, making the pcb fancy-er and then order everything
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Aaand some nice renders of the board!
All of these things are in the github repo, + some PDFs of the board and schematic
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@Matthias-Nowak said in Suggestions and Ideas for custom Omega2 Docks:
So only thing left is to revisite the schematic and tripple check everything...
Yes, indeed !!
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@Calavero-. Got to wait now. I heard that they changed something in the pinout and yeah. Gotta wait until they update it.
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Nevertheless the circuit should be double checked.
i.e. values and connections around C6, R4 and R5 . The Borg would say "Resistance is futile" :upside_down:
Ī£ R1//R15//R24 ā 3.3K
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@Calavero-. thanks for pointing all that out, dont know what i thought about those extra resistors on the poweron-rail.
and also didnt noticed the wrong values on the 3v regulator. changed the values to fit the datasheed (150K and 680K) although C6 is alright.got some time this weekend to recheck everything.
Corrected, thanks again
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@Matthias-Nowak said in Suggestions and Ideas for custom Omega2 Docks:
ā¦ although C6 is alright ā¦
almost - - 22 pF instead of 22nF
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@Calavero-. ok, im blind
1h sleep isnt enough lol thanks again.
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While we're at changing things,: i will maybr consider changing the lipo charger to something that can deliver a bit more current. 500mah seems a bit low for me. Like 1A would be more than enough.
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Soooo, just to update stuff:
Didnt worked on it bcs its still not known if the pinout has changed now or not, messaged them on KS though
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Matthias
Great work!
Questions:-
Do you think MT7688's Ethernet controller is using 3.3V in its DC bias?
I know Omega 1's using 2.0V bais, while many commercial SoC /CPU or standalone Ethernet MAC are using 1.8V.
MT7688 datasheet as Onion linked does not have enough info on this. -
Even it's using 3.3V, probably you've already know this, Omega 2's Vout (Net_POW) pin is left open.
There are two reserved spaces on PCB backside probably for 0 ohm resistor as jumper. But none populated.
Also AFAIK, Omega 2 does not have 1.8V or 2V output lead exposed/available.
Your comment is appreciated.
ccs_hello
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Hey, havent been here for a few days and received my onions latery.
Yeah, it really isnt connected, so im really wondering what theyre doing (still waiting for their schematic).
But ive noticed that the LinkIt Smart 7688 also doesnt need a center tap voltage.
And as you said, the Datasheet also doesnt give any indication.
Makes you really wonder why, but seems like it works
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Yeah, that design is (on facing MT7688 side) tying both the transformer magnetics Tx's CT and Rx's CT together, then thru 100 nF bypass capacitor to Gnd. No extra DC bias is applied. If that is the working design, it begins to make sense that
Omega 2's Net_PWR output lead is left floating, since there is no DC voltage needs to be supplied.
In another word, it's not 3.3V nor 2.0V DC bias.ccs_hello
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My suggestion is a dock that holds a bunch of AAA batteries to power the thing. Maybe an on/off switch to go with it.
Also, there should be a video out option. I know the official line is that the Omega2+ isn't powerful enough to output video, but that's horse hockey. That's thinking like a Millennial who only knows HDMI and 1080p.
If the Atari 2600 could output composite video in 1977 with 128 BYTES of RAM running at 1MHz, then the Omega can do at least as good as a Commodore VIC-20.
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@WayneL said in Suggestions and Ideas for custom Omega2 Docks:
If the Atari 2600 could output composite video in 1977 with 128 BYTES of RAM running at 1MHz, then the Omega can do at least as good as a Commodore VIC-20.
Apples and oranges. It wasn't the MOS 6507 on the Atari directly driving the composite-output, it was controlling the TIA, which did the actual driving of the analog signal. On the Omega2 there is no analog output at all and certainly nothing to drive a composite-output or the like at all; on the Atari 2600, the game-logic was running on the MOS and video-rendering and signal-driving happened on the TIA -- the CPU-speed is irrelevant wrt. video-output in such a setup.
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@WereCatf But we're talking about building docks here. It doesn't matter what the Omega lacks, you add it in with the dock. Or its modern equivalent. That's the point.
People have built entire Atari 2600's in form factors as small as an Omega2 dock before. Since the Omega can handle some parts of it, like power, it's far from impossible.
So many Negative Nellies on the internet these days. Everything's a "no" before it's even been tried.
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@WayneL said in Suggestions and Ideas for custom Omega2 Docks:
Everything's a "no" before it's even been tried.
Sorry, but nobody is really interested to do researches for you. If your lack of knowledge lets you believe everything is possible do it! Develop your own Hardware based on Omega2. Hard & software is open-source. Then you can also make your own request about your Omega2 based Hardware with Atari Display output
