#oggstreamer – OggStreamer Distribution

We produced a limited number of devices and are now able to distribute those devices. If you are a developer working on related projects or want one device for your Medialab, Hackerspace, School, University or Radiostation.

Don’t hesitate to contact us:

#oggstreamer – Kicad conversion now works

Today I made an effort to get the KiCad Files working (previously there was a need for a special KiCad GOST version)

So now you can donwload the updated KiCad-files here

Tested with the current KiCad 0.201509040901+6154~29~ubuntu14.04.1

#oggstreamer – Repair Series 1 – channel not working / high gain

some weeks ago I had to exchange an OggStreamer because one channel was not working – the user Mike recorded the following video to demonstrate the problem:

If you watch the video closely you can see that the left channel is always amplifying the Audio with a very high gain – and only as he turns the gain up also the right channel appears – actually it is the right channel that is working correctly and the left has an error where it has a very high gain.

Looking at the schematics reveals that a connection error to the Potentiometer (which is in the Feedback loop) could cause such a high gain of the inverting amplifier:

So a loose connector is my first guess. My second guess would be a faulty potentiometer.

Lets take the device apart:

gently push the whole assembly (top and pcb) out of the extruded alluminium case:

A quick look around and touching cables reveals the problem:

because I had a spare contact lying around i soldered on a new contact, but elsewise I could have recycled the orignial one:

Time to put everything to gether and check if it works:

 

both channels work now 🙂 success.

#oggstreamer – UserInterface for optional LEDs

I just added a small but neat feature I want to include in the V1.0 of the OggStreamer firmware – it is a user interface that allows to control the optional LEDs on the right side of the device.

How it works – the main application (oggs_app) is creating a named pipe in the temporary directory, the name of the file is /tmp/userleds

so the following command will set the optional green led on

echo 1 > /tmp/userleds

you can send any parameter from 0 to 7 to /tmp/userleds. The parameter is interpreted as binary representation of the leds. 1 is the GREEN led, 2 is the YELLOW led, 4 is the RED led. 0 is all leds OFF and 7 is all leds ON

this feature unfolds its potential when you combine it with shell scripts – for example – everyone likes blinking LEDs.

#!/bin/sh
while [ 1 ]; do
  echo 7 > /tmp/userleds
  sleep 1
  echo 0 > / tmp/userleds
  sleep 1
done

But also more useful tasks can be done, for example monitoring whether an IPAddr can be pinged.

#!/bin/sh
while [ 1 ]; do
  ping -c 1 $1
  if [ "$?" == "1" ]; then
     #ping did not succed -> display RED Led
     echo 4 > /tmp/userleds
  else
     #ping did succed -> display GREEN Led
     echo 1 > /tmp/userleds
  fi
  sleep 10
done

 

 

#oggstreamer – Firmware Release Candidate 3 – released ;)

it has been a while since there was an official Firmware Update for the OggStreamer – now it is time to release RC3 (maybe the last Release Candidate before V1.0)

Whats new:

• Working WebGUI-Firmware upload (until RC3 you had to use the Command Line Tools)
• Support for MP3 completed
• Patches for AudioDSP are now working (fixes high pitch mp3 issues, and incorrect samplerates)
• Support for DynDNS – Services like FreeDNS, DynDNS and many more
• Support for the ShoutCast (ICY) and legacy IceCast1 Protocol
• Cleaner Code for WebGUI – now using libcgi to be compliant to GPL

Where to get it:

The upload_firmware.sh script and the update-rc3.tgz can be found in the repositories if you want to update from a UNIX like environment

For windows download the updater tool here

Once you installed RC3 on your OggStreamer future updates can be done via the WebGUI 😉

#oggstreamer – Talk about the OggStreamer and OpenHardware @ MediaLab Prado

I had the chance to present the OggStreamer at Medialab Prado and I was also talking about some random thoughts about OpenHardware and the Open Technology Laboratory in Austria http://otelo.or.at

(click on the image to get to the video)

Many thanks to the people at MediaLab who made this talk possible 😉

#oggstreamer – NetIdee 2012 Report

For the last year the OggStreamer-Project was generously supported by the “NetIdee“- Program from the Internet Foundation Austria.

This Support allowed us to push the Software of this Project to “Release Candidate 1”-Status, Release a OggStreamer-SDK and also made it possible to produce a small-series of 54 Devices.

If you are doing OpenSource / PublicDomain / OpenSourceHardware Projects which are related to the Internet and Austria, the NetIdee Project might be a way to obtain some funding – (Their yearly Calls end usually in August)

Thanks a lot NetIdee!

The final report for the OggStreamer/NetIdee Project can be downloaded here (it is in German only).

#oggstreamer – Batch Assembling 40pcs.(3) – Frontpanel assembly

For the OggStreamer frontpanel I needed to come up with a solution to produce light-guides that direct the light from the VU-Meter, Power and On-Air LEDs. The first Idea was to use a 3D Printer and print this light-guides out of transparent PLA. But after trying to imaging how the light-guides would look like, I gave up on this Idea and developed a different process for this. Now I am using the transparent properties of Hot-Glue to act as light-guide and glue the LED-PCB in Place at the same time. The transparent Hot-Glue fills all the space of the CNC-punched holes in the aluminum front-panel. In order to produce a smooth surface I am using a glass plate.

Step 1: You will have to apply a lubricant on the glass plate to form a thin oily film so that the Hot-Glue doesn’t stick to good on the glass – which would make separating the completed assemble from the glass a pain in the a**.  (Notice the broken glass plate from our attempts without lubricant!!) WARNING: You are using a glass plate, which can break and have sharp edges. So be careful and don’t apply excessive force – If your assembly got stuck on the glass plate you can use a Hot-Air-Gun to separate it, clean it and repeat the process.

Step 2: Evenly spread the lubricant – don’t wipe it of the plate, but try to produce a tiny but consistent film on the glass plate, without producing droplets.

Step 3: Fix the aluminum front-panel  with office clips to the glass plate – adjust the office clips in a way so that they will help you aligning the LED-PCB.

Step 4: Wait till your Hot-Glue Gun has reached steady temperature and begin applying the Hot-Glue just over the holes of Power and OnAir LED. Remember to do this and the following steps quickly, because you only have a limited time windows to apply the LED-PCB proper.

Step 5: Do the same for the VU-Meter holes.

Step 6: Once all glue is applied gently push in the LED-PCB – So that the still liquid Hot-Glue is pushed towards the glass plate.

Step 7: The Hot-Glue is still liquid for a few seconds, you can use the time to turn around the glass plate to see if the LED-PCB is properly aligned and if needed adjust its position.

Step 8: Let the assembly cool down – if you are producing more then one unit, you can use this time to prepare the next one.

Step 9: Remove the cooled down assembly gently – you shouldn’t need to much force – as the applied lubricant forms a layer between the HotGlue and the glass.  In any case be careful – you are handeling a glass plate which has the chance to break – The glass plate you see in the picture broke because we were trying to seperate the assembly from the glass plate using a screw driver.

Step 10: Now you can start installing the push button and the potentiometer – We start with the push button first. Take care not to forget about the elastics ring that comes with the push button.

Step 11: Insert the push button from the TOP side.

Step 12: Mount the Pushbutton with plastic Nut – the force of your fingers is enough to mount the plastic nut securly in place

Step 13: Insert the Potentiometer-PCB from the BOTTOM side.

Step 14: Place the washer and the Nut for the Potentiometer from the TOP Side. And gently fix it with the flat wrench.

Step 15: Press the prepared Potentiometer Knob on the the Potentiometer – You might need to use a drill (6mm) to prepare the Knob. Only push the Knob with gentle force.

Step 16: Use the corner of a Table (or something similar) to support the Potentiometer from the backside and apply a bit more force so that the Potentiometer Knob is securely mounted to the Potentiometer.

Step 17: Glue the cable of the push button according to the picture. (optional)

The final result:

Although this process works very well – you need to take into account that gluing the PCB in Place makes it a bit harder to repair or replace. You will need to use a Hot Air-Gun to separate the aluminum front-panel from the LED-PCB, further you will need a little patience to remove the glue residue. But it is definitvly doable.

#oggstreamer – PCB Design Files converted to KiCAD

We proudly announce our KiCad Conversion of the original PCAD2006 Design.

You can download it from the repo here

Note: This version was tested with KiCAD (BZR4213 GOST) – The currently available Windows-Installer from kicad-pcb.org ( KiCad_stable-2013.07.07-BZR4022_Win_full_version.exe ) is known to make Problems parsing the PCB File (Schematics works fine though).

#oggstreamer – Release of OggStreamerSDK-RC1

here is the release of the OggStreamerSDK-RC1 – for the first time we are able to have a whole integrated SDK which supplies all the Files / Applications needed for the complete OggStreamer Firmware.

If you want to experiment yourself I put together the info on the Wiki:

OggStremaer SDK RC1

Note it is RC1 and still has a number of flaws, please have a look at our ticketsystem:

RC1 Flaws Tickets

happy OggStreamer – hacking 😉