TeensyMaestro

TeensyMaestro V1.028 is now available on GitHub:

***************************** V 1.029 ***************************
 Fixed bug where cleared RIT and XIT retained their old value under certain conditions
 Added support for TSC2007 touch controller (STMPE-610 went unobtanium but is still supported)
 Removed long touch to turn off TX on a slice. Short touch will now toggle TX on/off.
 Expanded Splash touch screen area to include filter graphic area
 Added grayed out Slice letter for unused slice (provides touch target to create a slice)

The big news is that the TSC2007 touch controller from Adafruit is now available. The Bill Of Materials was updated to show that the STMPE610 is no longer available and that the TSC2007 replaces it. The same executable (.hex file) will operate with either touch controller.

@TimothyDilks - How is your build going? Last post your TM looked really good and just needed some of that tedious wiring for the encoders and switches. If you are stuck on anything, let me know and I can do a Skype session with you to help sort it out. If you have an actual life and just haven't had time to work on it, I am probably not that much help... 😁

@David Okay Patton - Yes, it was great seeing you! All that rain slowing your tower build would be welcome here...

A couple of people have recently asked me about the Teensy vs Arduino decision that I made when I created the TeensyMaestro. Here is a chart of relative performance across a bunch of boards from the PJRC.com site:

I started the project with the Arduino Due and ended up with the Teensy 4.1. The Teensy was way cheaper, way faster and has built in ethernet. I used it with the Arduino IDE (development platform) by adding the Teensyduino add-in. It lets you program the Teensy just as if it was an Arduino.

I initially chose the Arduino Due because that is what Enzo, IW7DMH used. He wrote an entire library around the Arduino for the Flex API. Adapting the library from the Arduino to the Teensy was trivial. Even though the Due is fast enough to run the Flex API, the Teensy is so much cheaper and does not burn precious I/O pins with an outboard ethernet adapter that it is a much better choice for this application.

That is it in a nutshell. No big feasibility study - just me saying "Huh... that looks like an interesting gizmo to try...". If you are interested in doing anything like this, you might want to look at the Teensy boards from PJRC.com. You can even use Node Red to code it. I don't know how mature the Teensy and Arduino support is for Node Red, but it is out there and available.

TeensyMaestro V1.031 is now available on GitHub:

***************************** V 1.031 ***************************
 Fixed bug where the red TX indicator circle was always shown on Slice 0 when in MultiFlex

Tiny fix, but I hadn't released it in so long, I thought it was time.

There was interest a while back in creating a PC board for this project. If anyone is interested in creating one, I would be very supportive of the effort. If anyone wanted to be really ambitious and create (and distribute) a parts kit, I would be REALLY supportive! I don't think that a kit would be practical without the PC board.

Is anyone in the process of building one right now? I would love to see pics of any completed or in-progress TeensyMaestros.

Hi Leo,

Thanks for your interest in the project! The Teensy 4.1 with the ethernet function has recently come back to being available in the US at the PJRC.com site. I believe that they are now starting to show up again in Europe, but I don’t know which vendors have them or what the lead times are.

The project could probably be ported to a different platform, but it would not be a trivial exercise. I rely heavily on the libraries that are optimized for the Teensy (especially the Ethernet routines), so all of that would need to be worked out.

The Teensy 4.1 with Ethernet just came available from PJRC.com. They are limiting 2 per customer.

Here is a beta version of the TeensyMaestro firmware with the functionality that Phil, VK4KW requested.

***************************** V 1.032 ***************************
 Added functionality to make the Encoder 9 (CW Speed/Menu Select) control user assignable to 
any of the following functions:
  CW Speed, Mic Gain, RF Power, Tune Power, WNB Level, Mon Level, VOX Level, VOX Delay, Band 

Config file with new option set. This gets unzipped and placed on the SD Card. Edit the entry Menu Encoder: to have the functionality desired. For Example:

Menu Encoder: RF Power ; CW Speed, Mic Gain, RF Power, Tune Power, WNB Level, Mon Level, VOX Level, VOX Delay, Band

If you already have a MMConfig.ini file customized for your use, just copy in the Menu Encoder: line and edit it for your preference.

Unzip this file and load it to the Teensy board using Teensy.exe from the GitHub site. The user manual has instructions on how to do this.

Once this has been out for a while, I will release it to GitHub. For anyone who has built a TeensyMaestro and doesn't use CW much, this will give you several more options to use the CW Speed control for something else.

If you try this beta version, please let me know how it goes. If I can find the energy, I may add a menu item that will let you select one of these nine functions on the fly. I haven't thought that through yet, but off the top of my head, it seems like it will be reasonably straightforward (famous last words... :- ) ).

Sounds good Phil. I have yet another version ready with a menu item that lets you select the function of the control. The config line sets the default and the menu item lets you override that.

I am up in Wyoming on a fishing trip right now, so I won't be able to post it until later next week. In the meantime the version in my previous post should get you by.

Post a pic of your progress when you get a chance, I would love to see how you are getting on!

Hi Bill, sounds good! Let me know if you have any questions or issues. Pictures of progress are always appreciated.

Hi Phil, Lasse is correct, you only want one power connection or the other, not both. I designed the TeensyMaestro to be powered from the USB cable that is used to program it. No additional connection is needed.

The 5 V Vin connection is used in designs that are powered from a source other than the USB cable. Usage requires cutting a trace on the board to prevent backfeeding 5 V to your computer. None of this is necessary with the TeensyMaestro.

Excellent! The little black pop up lets you know that the firmware is loaded and successfully connected to your Flex. The LED on the Teensy board is connected to pin 13 which is one of the display lines, so it is always flickering but doesn't give you much information.

You don't need to buy a big SD Card. The MMConfig.ini file is quite small.

I'm glad you are making progress!

Hi Phil, the SCK and CLK are the same. That is the SPI clock signal. Connect them together and you should be in business.

Hi Phil, I just thought of another common issue. When wiring anything to the Teensy board, you need to pay attention to the pin identifiers printed on the board. The schematic has physical pin numbers that are not referenced anywhere. Very confusing... I wish that I had a better schematic component, but that was all I could find.