FreeCalypso update

[Rafael Diniz]

Dear Michaela,

I really appreciate the recent FreeCalypso developments, and I'm really
looking forward for the first free/libre mobile phone on Earth! I don't
think Brazil or other underdeveloped countries will move away from GSM
that fast... I'll certainly at least want one phone for myself, apart of
my work with GSM access networks. Of course the new Caramel2 board is
amazing, but I already have a fully working fcdev board.

Cheers and hasta la victoria, Siempre!
Rafael

On 11/12/20 8:19 PM, Mychaela Falconia wrote:
> Hello FC community,
> 
> Although our Caramel2 boards are not in the state of final assembly
> yet, I do have a picture of a partially assembled C2 board which I can
> share:
> 
> https://www.freecalypso.org/members/falcon/Caramel2/c2-partially-assembled.jpeg
> 
> On this partially assembled board the Tango module and the RF plumbing
> piece sit loosely (they aren't soldered like they will be in the final
> assembly), and the microcoaxial end of the RF plumbing pigtail is not
> connected to the Tango module like it will be in the finished product:
> this particular board is intended to serve as a programming station
> for "bare" Tango modules, thus it has no functional RF plumbing.
> 
> Finished Caramel2 boards will differ as follows: the SMA end of the RF
> plumbing piece will be secured to the board with soldered legs, the
> microcoaxial end of the same pigtail will be snapped onto the UMC
> antenna connector on the bottom of the Tango module, and then that
> Tango module will be mounted on the C2 board and also permanently
> secured with soldered legs.  The Calypso chipset on the Tango module
> lives in the 2 mm vertical space between the top surface of our C2 PCB
> and the bottom surface of the Tango module PCB, and the mated
> microcoaxial connection will also be contained in the same 2 mm
> vertical space, permanently clamped in its proper place by the
> soldered attachment of the Tango module to the carrier board.
> 
> I will be taking our current partially assembled C2 boards back to
> Technotronix for final assembly next Tuesday (Nov 17), and I was told
> to expect about one more week of turnaround time from that point -
> thus hopefully we will get fully assembled C2 boards toward the end of
> November.  Assuming that they pass all of the tests to which they will
> be subjected (including RF tests on our CMU200 station in all 4 GSM
> frequency bands), these boards will then be made available to the
> public.  Assuming that we don't get bit by any yield issues, the prices
> will be the same as announced earlier: $150 for a basic kit consisting
> of a Caramel2 board, a power supply and an antenna (you have to provide
> your own 2.8V or 3.3V UART adapter), or $220 for a full kit including
> the above plus our DUART28 adapter and interconnecting ribbon cable.
> 
> And here are some pictures of our Luna LCD and keypad add-ons:
> 
> https://www.freecalypso.org/members/falcon/Caramel2/lcd-board.jpeg
> https://www.freecalypso.org/members/falcon/Caramel2/keypad.jpeg
> 
> The ribbon cables that come out of the LCD board and the keypad board
> connect to the 56-pin expansion interface on our Caramel2 board
> (unchanged from iWOW's DSK board to which these Luna add-ons originally
> connected); the LCD board also has a separate pair of wires connecting
> backlight power - Caramel2 has a dedicated 2-pin header for this bl
> power connection as well.  The LCD displays TI's original 176x220 pixel
> color UI in its full glory when the board runs our FC Tourmaline
> firmware.
> 
> In physical terms the keypad is a fully generic 5x5 matrix of rows and
> columns, devoid of any logical function; the only feature of our keypad
> board that assigns logical functions to buttons is my choice of PCB
> silk screen labels - these "silk" labels assign logical functions to
> keypad buttons, and they have been assigned to match the buttons on
> TI's D-Sample handset.  The Pirelli DP-L10 also happens to have
> exactly the same set of main keypad and side buttons as D-Sample, thus
> our Luna keypad can also be thought of as equivalent to Pirelli's, for
> anyone who prefers to view it this way.
> 
> Hasta la Victoria, Siempre,
> Mychaela aka The Mother
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