TTGO ESP32-Paxcounter LoRa32 V2.1 1.6.1

Development Hardware
#1

Hi, I just got my TTGO ESP32 LoRa32 V2.1 1.6.1 with Paxcounter preinstalled. Seems to work flawlessly.
I now wanted to replace Paxcounter with Meshtastic and have a few questions - as I am afraid of frying the hardware.

First of all I compared the pinout with the one from V1.6 - they have the same labels so this should be fine for external hardware.

Does anyone know if the interal pin connection is the same for the V1.6 and V1.6.1?
From what I understand it then should be firmware-tlora-v2-1-1.6-1.x.x.bin as stated on the hardware support page?
If pin connections should be different - could I destroy the module with flashing the wrong version?

Also I read in an article on TheThingsNetwork that with the V1.6 there are some versions which tend to “explode a connected battery”
The article should contain some pics to find out if the board is affected but unfortunately they are no longer there.

I added a screenshots of my V1.6.1 board - if anyone could tell me if the problem seems to be fixed there I would appreciate that. (I have five pictures ready but am only allowed to post one - I’ll try to add the others in seperate postings).

The pictures also may help @eriktheV-king for his sheet at replace with https)://www.dropbox.com/s/gly6z21qqps7uvc/espMeshtasticBoards_ev01.xls?dl=0 (only two links allowed for me, as I’m a new user, so text only reference) to serve as a new hardware. My hardware looks different from the V1.6 which is shown on the Lilygo product page (see link above).

So any help would be appreciated.

Best Gulpman

TTGO-ESP32-LoRa32_V2.1-1.6.1-front
TTGO-ESP32-LoRa32_V2.1-1.6.1-front1920×2560 317 KB

#2

Here’s the back of the board:

TTGO-ESP32-LoRa32_V2.1-1.6.1-back
TTGO-ESP32-LoRa32_V2.1-1.6.1-back1920×2560 298 KB

#3

This is a close-up of the electronic section for the power management:

TTGO-ESP32-LoRa32_V2.1-1.6.1-front-power_electronics
TTGO-ESP32-LoRa32_V2.1-1.6.1-front-power_electronics1920×2560 371 KB

#4

V1.6.1 seems to be pin compatible for external pins as can be seen from this close-up:

TTGO-ESP32-LoRa32_V2.1-1.6.1-front-pin_labels
TTGO-ESP32-LoRa32_V2.1-1.6.1-front-pin_labels1920×2560 361 KB

#5

That’s annoying that the photos have disappeared form the TTN website! That being said, I suspect yours should be ok given that yours is model 1.6.1, and the offending model was 1.6, certainly the power section looks rather different from my 1.6 model anyway.

#6

I have the same board version and it seems to be ok as what comes to charging a battery. It also runs meshtastic

#7

Use the Meshtastic Flasher GUI. I have the same board, works fine. After the initial flashing that overwrites the the PAXcounter firmware, remember to check the update only box under advanced options when doing future updates. When attaching a battery, double check the polarity matches the board.

Meshtastic Flasher GUI
Meshtastic Flasher GUI983×532 42.1 KB

#8

Sorry for the late reply, but when Murphey can strike, he strikes… My Laptop died and I had to order a new one. :face_with_diagonal_mouth:
Saying that - I now used the flasher GUI and it flashed Meshtastic flawlessly. Good job - very user-friendly! :+1:
Thank you guys for your help! Really appreciate it.

#9

Anyone knows how to navigate screens on this board (v1.6) with meshtastic 1.2.64?
There is only a reset botton and a power.

#10

You can connect external switch between IO12 and GND

#11

Nice. It works :slight_smile: Thanks