SparkFun Forums

[rangua]

Hello. I have set up an automatic pet feeder with microview.

Since i had a pair of RF 433Mhz modules (one transmitter and one receiver) i've set up a raspberry pi i have as media center to send the updated time via RF to the pet feeder..

I have the microview feeded by a stripped usb cable on the VIN pin and i plug the RF module to the +5V pin of the microview.

The problem i have is that if i use poor/mid quality power sources (cheap cellphone chargers, <1A) the clock never updates, but if i use a very good and new cellphone charger (the one i use for my phone, ~2A) the clock updates with no problem.. Also, if i plug the usb cable to my computer, it works ok too.

I have wired also to the VIN pin the servo motor, but while it updates the clock the servo doesn't move..

my guess is that the voltage is too jumpy for the RF module to work correctly.. but then i thought, surely the board has a power regulator for the +5V pin, right?
i haven't tried yet to add a voltage regulator of my own, but it's the next step i'm planning to take..
maybe you have a better idea of why this is happening?

[waltr]

Did you measure the Voltage with the Cheap PS connected? Since this is a lower current PS it's Voltage may droop.

[rangua]

i haven't measured the voltage, but the servo pushes the kibble allright (and the servo draws way more power)
Today i woke up to find that even with the good PS, my RF wasn't updating.. i tried using a different arduino board i had lying around and the RF module worked flawlessly.
maybe the pin is the problem.. for now i just have the damn thing set with a manual time set, so i'll take my time in debugging this. I hope my MicroView is not broken :pray: