External power supply

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blartin
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2018 4:52 pm

External power supply

Post by blartin »

Hi all, it was not so easy to find the polarity needed for the external power supply connector but I finally managed to find it.

Now a question arises, and it is "is there any indication (namely led or legend in bladerf-cli) that confirms that the board is being powered externally?

Thanks!
bglod
Posts: 201
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2015 6:10 pm

Re: External power supply

Post by bglod »

Just in case anyone else has trouble and comes across this post, the relevant information is in our bladeRF Accessories Wiki article: https://github.com/Nuand/bladeRF/wiki/b ... l-dc-power

Unfortunately, the bladeRF has no way of knowing whether it is being powered over the USB bus or an external DC supply. If the software really needs to know, you could make a small circuit on a proto board that toggles an FPGA input based on the presence of VDC. It would still be up to the user to change the jumper configuration to select the power source.
Electrical Engineer
Nuand, LLC.
blartin
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2018 4:52 pm

Re: External power supply

Post by blartin »

Thank you, indeed that article is what I was referring to when talking about polarity.

Do you have a hint on how to implement that approach you are suggesting? I mean sample code or similar.

I have a doubt because when plugged via usb, then the LED is on, but when plugged the DC connector with usb disconnected, the LED is off.

Thank you again,
bglod
Posts: 201
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2015 6:10 pm

Re: External power supply

Post by bglod »

It sounds like you didn't move the jumper position to change the power source.

https://github.com/Nuand/bladeRF/wiki/b ... figuration

I admit it's not the best description of the correct jumper settings. I made a note to update the description and add pictures.
Electrical Engineer
Nuand, LLC.
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