Frequency settings for worldwide usage

wheelsailor 2014-11-21 09:21:40 UTC #1

Hi
I am looking at developing a timing board here in New Zealand, but it will be used in the US for an event (And other countries hopefully). I am considering using Flutter to link multiple timing boards - I need 500m range from the start/finish line to spectator area.

I noted in your update you don't need a hardware filter anymore, so will Flutter be switchable for different locations?

I am then also concerned about shipping the finished timing boards to the US.
I shipped a PC to US for work with a WiFi antenna card and US customs asked for a FCC 740 Form (pdf) Statement regarding the importation of RF devices capable of causing harmful interference to be filled in. I had to go the WiFi manufacturer's website and include their FCC attestation.
I assume you will get one of these from your testing that you have just completed.

Fortunately I can do a lot of the software and hardware development on standard Arduinos so I can afford the time to wait for Flutter to be publicly available.

Cheers

taylor 2014-11-25 03:07:57 UTC #2

Hellooooo!

Yes, Flutter will be identical hardware in the US and NZ. Changing the frequency will not by default be part of the main codebase for regulatory compliance reasons, but we will provide a separate Arduino sketch that can be run to change the frequency. We're using one of the 16 eeprom slots in the security chip to specify the region and operating parameters, so I can safely release the source code without irresponsible people opening the provided library file and fiddling with carefully regulated performance parameters. The application to change the region will be open source and all information on changing the frequency is publicly available in the radio's datasheet, but I'm basically not allowed to make changing the frequency as easy as uncommenting one line and commenting out another. Which is fine, I don't want to cause any problems. It will be painless for those who know how to go to github and download a sketch, but will make it hard for people to blindly hack at code and make things do bad stuff.

wheelsailor 2014-11-25 06:54:45 UTC #3

Hi Taylor,
thanks for your response. Sounds like a good plan. As an Electronics Engineer I appreciate what the FCC and RF regulations are there for.
Will it be possible to read only the location setting from a sketch? I could this being useful for validation.
(& I have an LCD I could display "Location: US").

Thanks

JustAGuyInAustralia 2014-12-08 10:13:34 UTC #4

That's a relief. I wouldn't want to have to trim an antenna down to length