Forgive me for turning this into a personal blog - but get set:
The Telit GM862 PCS is a great little device. The additional Agilent ADCM2650 camera is a cool little add on as well.
We’ve been trying to get the interface working for quite some time. Because of limitations with the datasheet, limited support, and an absolutely $%#^ed example schematic (GM862 hardware description page 60) - the camera has not worked. Until now!
The new GM862 eval boards (GM862 EVK v1b) should be available April 5th, 2005.
What where the problems you ask?
Online photos and datasheets of the agilent camera have the white dot (pin 1 indictor) located on the right side. These cameras are shown with a thicker ribbon. The camera modules that Telit sent use have a much thinner ribbon (http://www.sparkfun.com/images/Cellular … mera-0.jpg) with the pin 1 indicator on the opposite side. The pin1 on the left side is correct.
The schematic on page 60 of the GM862 hardware datasheet is reversed. Pin 1 on the camera is GND, pin 2 is MCLK, pin 17 is VCC (2.8V).
Page 44 of the GM862 hardware datasheet describes pin 50 of the GM862 being connected to pin 2 of the camera (VCC Main of 2.8V). Well this is truly screwy. VCC is actually pin 17 on the cameras being shipped. Furthermore, the GM862 pin 50 cannot source enough current to power the camera directly - so you must connect pin 50 to the enable pin of a 2.8V regulator as shown in the schematic on page 60 (remember the one with reversed pins?).
So we have all sorts of reversed descriptions and pin outs. I imagine it’s really Agilent’s fault for changing the camera design. But Telit should have noted all of these changes and updated the datasheets accordingly.
Finally is my beef with Round Solutions Support Forum - the support forum linked to from the official www.gm862.com website. They look like they are the technical support from Telit. Really it’s just a guy named Harald and a batch of other users. Much like SFE and Olimex, Harald runs Round Solutions and sells Dev boards specifically for the GM862. He’s not Telit. And he repeatedly tries to sell his dev boards onto users who report problems with the Telit device or datasheets - rather than trying to help them : http://www.modem-gsm.de/forum/showthread.php?id=1135
I am glad the Round solutions support forum is at least there. We were able to diagnose a few problems we were having. However, when I posted a topic last night describing the new VB script that I created to download a picture from the GM862 module, the topic was deleted by morning. I had to develop the program because the test software by roundsolutions/telit simply corrupts the image during every download. Harald can’t stand the heat.
The SFE Take Photo VB program including the VB source is available here : http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorial/GM862-TakePhoto.zip. We wanted to share a decent example of how to control the GM862 using AT commands as well as fixing the download glitch found in the Round Solutions test program.
Hi sparky, I’m sure that you used to sell the ADCM-2650 cameras separate from the GM862, no? Assuming that I’m not mistaken, why was this changed? I’m looking for a tiny high-quality camera to interface to a uC, and they sound perfect (except for the whole no-data-available thing…).
Telit can only sell as many of the ADCM cameras as we buy GM862 modules. Something to do with the NDA with Agilent. So we cannot sell 100+ cameras and leave the GM862 users without any cameras to use.
We will let you know if things change - but right now you can only get a camera if you order it with the GM862 module.
Man, I ran across this site after surfing for a GMS camera based system and this has got me drooling. I have a killer ap in mind right now for it and will probably be putting in an order for the GSM and camera module this week! But I have one question that maybe someone can answer. I really would like to use a camera module with a lower lux rating and even a black and white CMOS module. Does anyone else make a module besides agilent that will work with this device? I also noticed Agilent no longer has the camera on their website. Will there be a steady supply of these cameras available in the near future??? Sure would hate to develop a system only to find I cannot get a camera for it!
I’ve since calmed down a bit over the Round Solutions thing. They are tightly in bed with Telit so there is nothing we can do but continue to provide better and cheaper Telit evaluation boards. Herald pointed out that he has engineers to pay. So do I, but I’m a bit younger and don’t know what it’s like to be college-debt-free yet…
Telit has many new toys coming out including the GM862-GPS. Samples available 3Q '05 and production in 1Q '06. I can’t wait!
I really like working for SFE. It’s been a blast! I only hope our attitude doesn’t scare away too many customers. We got an order from the CIA yesterday so either someone didn’t do their homework or we are really starting to make it.
Online photos and datasheets of the agilent camera have the white dot (pin 1 indictor) located on the right side. These cameras are shown with a thicker ribbon. The camera modules that Telit sent use have a much thinner ribbon (http://www.sparkfun.com/images/Cellular … mera-0.jpg) with the pin 1 indicator on the opposite side. The pin1 on the left side is correct.
The schematic on page 60 of the GM862 hardware datasheet is reversed. Pin 1 on the camera is GND, pin 2 is MCLK, pin 17 is VCC (2.8V).
Page 44 of the GM862 hardware datasheet describes pin 50 of the GM862 being connected to pin 2 of the camera (VCC Main of 2.8V). Well this is truly screwy. VCC is actually pin 17 on the cameras being shipped. Furthermore, the GM862 pin 50 cannot source enough current to power the camera directly - so you must connect pin 50 to the enable pin of a 2.8V regulator as shown in the schematic on page 60 (remember the one with reversed pins?).
So we have all sorts of reversed descriptions and pin outs. I imagine it’s really Agilent’s fault for changing the camera design. But Telit should have noted all of these changes and updated the datasheets accordingly.
-Nathan
Only the pin numeration of the ZIF CF21181V0RP is reversed compared to the camera pin numeration. The signal meaning is OK.
This means that if you design your board following the manual’s guidelines the PIN2_VCCMAIN (CF211) will be connected to PIN17_VCCMAIN (camera flat cable).
The schematic on page 60 of the GM862 hardware datasheet refers to the ZIF connector, not the camera flat cable and there is a unique sense of insertion for the camera flat cable (metallic strips are on the bottom side of the cable).
http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorial/Exampl … -Photo.jpg
http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorial/TakePhoto.jpg
