nrf51822 : problem on another electronic card

[Martin22]

Hi !

I'm developing a bluetooth low energy service using the nordic evaluation kit and following the ble_lbs example. It works, but when I load the code on an other electronic card using the nrf51822 module too, i can't detect the device with my phone. I have changed the main.c and removed all parts that i can't use on my card such as button and led.. I have changed the PCA10001.h and adapted the PIN declaration.

Did i miss a step to adapte my code ?

[Vebjørn]

Does the other board have the same hardware as the evaluation kit, like an external 16Mhz crystal for example? Did you remember to load the correct softdevice?

[Martin22]

Thx for your answer !

Yes, there is the same hardware (exepted leds and buttons), and I put in the same softdevice than i used for the nrf51822 on the evaluation kit (and it works on it).

I used the command in my main for using the nrf51822 32KHz default crystal : SOFTDEVICE_HANDLER_INIT(NRF_CLOCK_LFCLKSRC_RC_250_PPM_TEMP_4000MS_CALIBRATION, false);

Now the function softdevice_handler_init works ! because this function take in parameter "nrf_clock_lfclksrc_t" "clock_source")

Now when i use the debugger, i stay in the function power_manage(). I obtain the same result with the evaluation kit and my own card using an nrf51822.

The difference : service start on the evaluation kit and i can connect myself with the development dongle, but i discover no device when i used my own card.

Have you a solution to solve my problem ?

thx a lot !

[Nguyen Hoan Hoang]

Try init softdevice using RC oscillator instead of the default 32KHz crystal. See if it makes a difference.

[Nguyen Hoan Hoang]

Well, then probably your antenna does not work. It's very sensitive to component placement and PCB routing.

[Asbjørn]

I think @Ngyuen might be on to something here. Are you able to detect anything if you place the phone on top of the board or vice versa? Do you have an oscilloscope? Could you probe on the power supply on your board and verify that it looks as expected? Does the external 16 MHz start up? You should also scope on the VDD_PA pin on the board. This should go up to 1.8 V when the board is actually transmitting. If there's nothing there, it's not transmitting anything.

How have you implemented the radio and antenna circuitry? Could you upload a screen shot of this part of the design?