Is my gsm EB066 card defective?

[kennethnilsen69]

Hi just received my new GSM E-Block and I can not get no life in it
My setup is
1. Arduino UNO
1. E-blocks Arduino Uno Shield EB093
1. E-blocks GSM board EB066
1. Vellerman 0-30V 0-5A
1. LCD 2004 20x4 I2C bus
Fowcode v6

I've set it up in Patch config and I use this test file that is adapted to my setup
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/209 ... B1%5D.fcfx
When I connect 14 volts to VPWH, 5 volts to + V and GND to GND terminal so flashes only led light once. thats it just one blink.
The GSM card draws only 0.01 to 0.02 amp

And I get INIT fail 255 in LCD screen.

Should not GSM card try to connect to the GSM network regardless of whether there are errors in the flowcode file.
the former cheap china GSM cards I've tried so has GSM card connected to GSM network as soon card receives power.

[petesmart]

Hi,

I would recommend that you set up the GSM card on a TTL (5volt) rs232 port that you know works... Perhaps a PC with a terminal program would be the simplest option..

From memory you need 9600 - 8 -N -1 config... One you get this set up then use basic AT commands to test your GSM card...

Download the manual - at will have the AT command set plus syntax

Hope this helps

Best

Pete

[Benj]

Hello,

I see you are using UART channel 1 in your program. An Arduino uses UART 1 for it's bootloader reprogramming and FTDI USB connection. Are these still connected or do you have a way of taking these out of circuit?

Also the Prog / Port switch on the E-block adapter needs to be in the port position to allow pins D0 and D1 to connect to the E-blocks port socket.

[kennethnilsen69]

Thank you for your input Peter but my RS232 port is functioning properly and I can log it from my pc. my arduino stops when it tries to initialize the GSM board. it sends the command AT+CMGF=1 over and over again.
No response from GSM board.

but what about this?
When I connect 14 volts to VPWH, 5 volts to + V and GND to GND terminal then the led light flashes only once. thats it just one blink. (there should be more action here or what?)
The GSM card draws only 0.01 to 0.02 amp

Should not GSM card try to connect to the GSM network regardless of whether there are errors in the flowcode file.
the former cheap china GSM cards I've tried so has GSM card connected to GSM network as soon card receives power.

[kennethnilsen69]

Hi Benj yes I use pin 0 and 1 as UART port and which are still connected to the bootloader. is this a problem even if I am not connected with USB port?
my Prog/Port switch on the E-block adapter is in RUN position, which is to be the correct position. I have checked this with my multimeter.

In GSM propeties it is not possible to put it over to software so that I can choose alternative ports. I must use PIN 0 and 1 (Channel1)

but what about this?
When I connect 14 volts to VPWH, 5 volts to + V and GND to GND terminal then the led light flashes only once. thats it just one blink. (there should be more action here or what?)
The GSM card draws only 0.01 to 0.02 amp

Should not GSM card try to connect to the GSM network regardless of whether there are errors in the flowcode file.
the former cheap china GSM cards I've tried so has GSM card connected to GSM network as soon card receives power.

Hello,

I see you are using UART channel 1 in your program. An Arduino uses UART 1 for it's bootloader reprogramming and FTDI USB connection. Are these still connected or do you have a way of taking these out of circuit?

Also the Prog / Port switch on the E-block adapter needs to be in the port position to allow pins D0 and D1 to connect to the E-blocks port socket.

[kennethnilsen69]

Here is a youtube video showing that I only get a very short blink of the LED when I put 14V on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb4RCNhLEOg
I do not know but this does not seem right to me.

Here are some pictures
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/209 ... 230600.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/209 ... 230641.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/209 ... 230654.jpg

[Benj]

Hello,

Sorry for the delay I'll have a look into this for you tomorrow. The led is controlled by an at command so it not being on is probably ok. The GSM also used a low amount of current but spikes high current when communicating. So the low current draw on a multimeter could be normal. I'll see if we have aan Arduino handy and try and recreate your setup. Not sure regarding the ftdi chip when USB is unplugged. Needs investigation.

The boards are reliable and factory tested so for now I wouldn't worry about it being defective.

[kennethnilsen69]

Hey Benj it's ok
I have the whole day working on and it suddenly began pulling little more current. It now draws 0.18A which I imagine is a bit more normal. I the gsm chip also now gets a little hot. but could not get it to work anyway. it now gives 2.8 volts to SIM card so something is begining to happen . After many hours of frustration as I found out that I was going to try it on my ArduinoMega 2560 card. since it has more serial ports then I could test it with one port that is not associated with the bootloader chip.
I now receive more message on the LCD screen and here is the following message I get:
Init Fail 43
+CMS ERROR: 311

Do you know what this means?

Here is the file I use with the AduinoMega card
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/209 ... _Test.fcfx

Hello,

Sorry for the delay I'll have a look into this for you tomorrow. The led is controlled by an at command so it not being on is probably ok. The GSM also used a low amount of current but spikes high current when communicating. So the low current draw on a multimeter could be normal. I'll see if we have aan Arduino handy and try and recreate your setup. Not sure regarding the ftdi chip when USB is unplugged. Needs investigation.

The boards are reliable and factory tested so for now I wouldn't worry about it being defective.

[kennethnilsen69]

and with some googling I found out that error message means
CMS ERROR: 311 SIM PIN required
Hmm so I removed the sim code and valla I am now on the the GSM network and everything works as it should )))))))))))

But if you have time so I really appreciate if you could find a solution so that I can use GSM card with Arduino UNO for it is them I should use.
Can I ask why we can not choose software channel in the GSM component?
This is no problem in Arduino IDE software.



Thanks

[Benj]

Hello,

But if you have time so I really appreciate if you could find a solution so that I can use GSM card with Arduino UNO for it is them I should use.

The solution might be to find a way to sever the TX and RX pins from the FTDI connection, My guess is these are having an effect even when the USB is disconnected. Then obviously you cannot re-program the arduino so maybe a jumper system where you can easily connect and disconnect the signals would be ideal.

Can I ask why we can not choose software channel in the GSM component?

The component uses receive interrupts to increase the reliability of the code. This is why software mode is not currently available as an option.

[kennethnilsen69]

Hello,

Can I ask why we can not choose software channel in the GSM component?

The component uses receive interrupts to increase the reliability of the code. This is why software mode is not currently available as an option.

Will this ever be available? I definitely hope this will come