Documentation for using the phaser_prod_tst.py to ascertain the health of the Phaser board.

Hi scott_best@sibersci.com ,

This page may be slightly out of date, but the test configuration is shown here:

https://wiki.analog.com/resources/eval/user-guides/circuits-from-the-lab/cn0566/assy_prod_test#test

Basically, the board tests itself to a large degree. The Pluto has its own production test so we know that it's functional, so if a frequency or signal amplitude is far off, we'll flag it.

The production test script is fairly straightforward - measure the board's supply voltages and current draw from the 5 V supply, make sure the VCO tuning voltage is within range. Then make sure the signal level and phase of all elements is within a fairly wide range. Note that off the shelf, the gain and phase per element can have a wide range - the first thing you do when following the setup and exercises is calibrate the array.

We don't have a fully documented description of what the script prints out and saves. But again, it's pretty straightforward, and it prints quite a bit of information to the terminal.

It does look like the script can be run either directly on the Pi, or on a remote Windows/Linux/Mac, we've got the same construct for detecting where the script is running that we use in the other scripts:

https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/pyadi-iio/blob/main/examples/phaser/phaser_prod_tst.py#L107

Was there a particular problem you were seeing?

-Mark

Dear Mark,

Thanks for the detailed reply to my inquiry.  I found this URL a few weeks ago when my transmitter stopped working, and a few other people also had this problem, and they were directed to disassemble and reassemble the Phaser, which fixed the problem for me.

The phaser_prod_tst.py is an invaluable resource for ensuring the hardware is 100% functional, so I would suggest making a short video of the test procedure so everyone has access to a test procedure if hardware problems arise.  The hardware configuration is not obvious for using phaser_prod_tst.py for the Built In TEST (BIT), so sharing this information with everyone using the Phaser would be invaluable:

Thanks,

Scott

Noted, scott_best@sibersci.com , and thanks for the explanation.

I'll add this to the to-do list (more complete, customer facing diagnostics and documentation on the production test script.)

-Mar

Fun question, the phaser_prod_test.py code is asking the following question:

Please enter serial number of board, then press enter.

Where is the serial number located on the Phaser PCB?

Dear Mark,

I ran the phaser_prod_tst.py program this morning, and received the following Terminal script from the code:

analog@phaser:~/pyadi-iio/examples/phaser $ python phaser_prod_tst.py
Attempting to connect to CN0566 via ip:localhost...
Found CN0566. Connecting to PlutoSDR via default IP address...
PlutoSDR connected.
Using TX output closest to tripod mount, 10.525 GHz for production test.
Reading voltage monitor...
Passes Board temperature: 33.5
Passes 1.8V supply: 1.799316404776
Passes 3.0V supply: 3.007812497536
Passes 3.3V supply: 3.2910156223039997
Passes 4.5V supply: 4.5107604943516595
Passes Vtune amp supply: 13.79355467620032
Passes USB C input supply: 5.00760497636652
Passes Board current: 1.406249998848
Passes VTune: 8.080334466036838
Passes all monitor readings, proceeding...

Setting up Pluto and Getting signal levels...
Loading filter
[0.24160349646597354, 0.2626461022701198, 0.262428478338273, 0.2978474762366246, 0.2731829855112252, 0.2584496561000726, 0.24685198624764343, 0.2207468863223172]
Low signal levels on attempt 0 of 5
Loading filter
[247.6397490163842, 250.113820000086, 257.34241515697954, 253.88912182655173, 285.87454777423466, 279.27555856446173, 291.0621750705172, 285.2198709572301]
Calibrating SDR channel mismatch, gain and phase - place antenna at mechanical boresight in front of the array.

Calibrating SDR channel mismatch, verbosely...
channel mismatch: 1.0325336109253334 dB

Calibrating Gain, verbosely, then saving cal file...
Peak bin at 529 out of 1024
Calibrating Element 0
measuring element: 0
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 277.8223790549068
Calibrating Element 1
measuring element: 1
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 280.80813040991535
Calibrating Element 2
measuring element: 2
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 290.9616068307133
Calibrating Element 3
measuring element: 3
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 285.25996417600675
Calibrating Element 4
measuring element: 4
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 281.012878946653
Calibrating Element 5
measuring element: 5
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 282.3268392611768
Calibrating Element 6
measuring element: 6
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 290.4900766346647
Calibrating Element 7
measuring element: 7
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 280.26897572247253
gcalibrated values: [277.8223790549068, 280.80813040991535, 290.9616068307133, 285.25996417600675, 281.012878946653, 282.3268392611768, 290.4900766346647, 280.26897572247253]

Calibrating Phase, verbosely, then saving cal file...
Peak bin at 529 out of 1024
Calibrating Element 0
Null found at 168.75
Phase Delta to correct: 11.25
Calibrating Element 1
Null found at -180.0
Phase Delta to correct: 0.0
Calibrating Element 2
Null found at -171.5625
Phase Delta to correct: -8.4375
Calibrating Element 3
Null found at -50.625
Phase Delta to correct: -129.375
Calibrating Element 4
Null found at -165.9375
Phase Delta to correct: -14.0625
Calibrating Element 5
Null found at -168.75
Phase Delta to correct: -11.25
Calibrating Element 6
Null found at -154.6875
Phase Delta to correct: -25.3125
Done calibration
Phase cal failure on elements 2 , 3 129.375
Test took 73.48022294044495 seconds.

D'oh! BOARD FAILS!

Phase cal failure on elements 2, 3, delta: 129.375

Please enter serial number of board, then press enter.
18

The Phase Cal Failure for Elements 2 and 3 is an interesting problem, so is this a real issue that I need to address?  If so, what can I do to correct the problem?

I attempted to run phaser_prod_test.py a second time to verify the results, but I received the following ERROR codes for voltage issues:

analog@phaser:~/pyadi-iio/examples/phaser $ python phaser_prod_tst.py
Attempting to connect to CN0566 via ip:localhost...
Found CN0566. Connecting to PlutoSDR via default IP address...
PlutoSDR connected.
Using TX output closest to tripod mount, 10.525 GHz for production test.
Reading voltage monitor...
Passes Board temperature: 43.0
Passes 1.8V supply: 1.799316404776
Passes 3.0V supply: 3.007812497536
Passes 3.3V supply: 3.287353512932
Passes 4.5V supply: 4.5107604943516595
Passes Vtune amp supply: 13.798425281665079
Passes USB C input supply: 4.9537597615668805
Fails Board current: : 1.6308593736639998
Passes VTune: 8.20209960265584
Fails one or more supply voltage tests. Please set board aside for debug.

It is interesting that the current sensor is detecting a current increase of 230 mA after 5 minutes of operation for the Phaser.  This value for current is a constant after more than 30-minutes of operation for the Phaser.

However, if I cycle the power off and then turn it on again, the code runs again without the current error, but I still have the Channel 2 and 3 Phaser error as shown here:

analog@phaser:~/pyadi-iio/examples/phaser $ python phaser_prod_tst.py
Attempting to connect to CN0566 via ip:localhost...
Found CN0566. Connecting to PlutoSDR via default IP address...
PlutoSDR connected.
Using TX output closest to tripod mount, 10.525 GHz for production test.
Reading voltage monitor...
Passes Board temperature: 38.25
Passes 1.8V supply: 1.799316404776
Passes 3.0V supply: 3.007812497536
Passes 3.3V supply: 3.292236325428
Passes 4.5V supply: 4.5107604943516595
Passes Vtune amp supply: 13.798425281665079
Passes USB C input supply: 5.000262447075659
Passes Board current: 1.3586425770119999
Passes VTune: 8.114428704290159
Passes all monitor readings, proceeding...

Setting up Pluto and Getting signal levels...
Loading filter
[0.35392264634822174, 0.3926604078423146, 0.3365584694503831, 0.2896056558418845, 0.3292108791228966, 0.33495417231093405, 0.3555392043823857, 0.38330623007622794]
Low signal levels on attempt 0 of 5
Loading filter
[243.27091784303823, 245.41926747373503, 252.39118464291073, 248.99828213912517, 278.9178066078198, 279.7484660197247, 283.0954859121417, 277.1240895853924]
Calibrating SDR channel mismatch, gain and phase - place antenna at mechanical boresight in front of the array.

Calibrating SDR channel mismatch, verbosely...
channel mismatch: 0.8052686711452801 dB

Calibrating Gain, verbosely, then saving cal file...
Peak bin at 529 out of 1024
Calibrating Element 0
measuring element: 0
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 241.11691345029246
Calibrating Element 1
measuring element: 1
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 243.00722182952677
Calibrating Element 2
measuring element: 2
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 250.9369445651752
Calibrating Element 3
measuring element: 3
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 247.57796659794118
Calibrating Element 4
measuring element: 4
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 277.0681140683575
Calibrating Element 5
measuring element: 5
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 277.76856868566773
Calibrating Element 6
measuring element: 6
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 281.04349236827704
Calibrating Element 7
measuring element: 7
Measured signal level (ADC counts): 275.45330834090976
gcalibrated values: [241.11691345029246, 243.00722182952677, 250.9369445651752, 247.57796659794118, 277.0681140683575, 277.76856868566773, 281.04349236827704, 275.45330834090976]

Calibrating Phase, verbosely, then saving cal file...
Peak bin at 529 out of 1024
Calibrating Element 0
Null found at 168.75
Phase Delta to correct: 11.25
Calibrating Element 1
Null found at -180.0
Phase Delta to correct: 0.0
Calibrating Element 2
Null found at -171.5625
Phase Delta to correct: -8.4375
Calibrating Element 3
Null found at -53.4375
Phase Delta to correct: -126.5625
Calibrating Element 4
Null found at -165.9375
Phase Delta to correct: -14.0625
Calibrating Element 5
Null found at -168.75
Phase Delta to correct: -11.25
Calibrating Element 6
Null found at -154.6875
Phase Delta to correct: -25.3125
Done calibration
Phase cal failure on elements 2 , 3 126.5625
Test took 73.41785979270935 seconds.

D'oh! BOARD FAILS!

Phase cal failure on elements 2, 3, delta: 126.5625

Please enter serial number of board, then press enter.
18

Hence, do I have a problem that I need to address and repair on the Phaser PCB, or is this a problem with the phaser_prod_test.py code?

Thanks,

Scott

The serial number is arbitrary, and used as part of the log file name. So you can type in anything, "ABCD" for example.