PicoTuner Hardware

Mike G0MJW has designed a PCB which will host the Serit NIM and Pico board.

PCBs will be made available in the shop during April 2024.

The schematic is available here File:PicoTunerFinal.pdf

Draft BOM is available here: File:PicoTunerADJBOM.xlsx

Construction if straight forwards, best done according to the height of the component being fitted. The LNB supply chip is the most challenging as it is an SMD device and has a pad on the base that needs to be soldered

Programming the Pico

This can be done either before or after the Pico has been fitted to the PCB, it makes no difference. Updating to a new firmware version is done the same way.

1. Locate the latest compiled firmware file 'PicoTuner_vxxx.uf2' which will be found here https://github.com/g4eml/PicoTuner/releases and save it to your desktop.

2. Hold down the BOOTSEL button on the Pico while connecting it to your PC using its micro USB port. The Pico should appear as a USB disk drive on your PC.

3. Copy the .uf2 file onto the USB drive. The Pico will recognise the file and immediately update its firmware, reboot and the PC should recognise a new USB device.