Ultrakeet WNTD WiFi Gateway User manual
WNTD WiFi Gateway –A (very) Quick Start Guide
Introduction
I usually avoid reading User Guides until something catches fire (after which I try and shift
the blame to the supplier and/or manufacturer)
Now I’m the supplier and manufacturer, I have to write the guide, and somehow convince
you to read it.
Shit.
Charging the Gateway
The Gateway comes bundled with a 12-volt Car Charger and 12-volt Wall Charger. Both
attach to a small DC socket next to the power switch.
To charge the unit, plug one of the chargers in while the unit is off, then turn the unit on.
The unit must be switched on for the batteries to charge. Turning the switch off
completely isolates the batteries. A full charge from a completely empty pack will take up to
six hours
The gateway cannot be used while charging is in progress - This is a safety feature,
implemented (in part) due to paranoia after many years of cannabis abuse (also, exploding
batteries give me a bit of a fright)
The current battery voltage is displayed using four ‘Battery Voltage’indicator LEDs –If the
first LED is blinking, the battery pack is critically low and should be recharged immediately.
An animation will be displayed by the battery LEDs if the unit is currently charging. Once the
battery is fully charged, all the LEDs will remain on solid. Ideally, you should place the unit
on charge every couple of days to ensure little downtime.
Please follow all the precautions printed on the front panel of the unit for your own safety;
Keep a spare pair of undies on-hand just in case.
Performing a Self-Test
With the device unplugged from everything (including the WNTD antenna), switch it on.
If the following LEDs are on, the unit has passed its self-test and is ready for use:
Fuse OK (Red or Pink, depending on how I felt at the time)
Power OK (Green)
WiFi Ready (Green)
Battery Voltage (White, at least one should be on solid)
The ‘USB Data’LED may also be on without a USB lead plugged in –As embarrassing as
this is, I forgot to fix this issue before manufacture. It won’t cause any harm, though.
If any of the above LEDs are not on, please abuse email Ahmad@UltraKeet.com.au
Smartphone/Tablet connection (WiFi)
With the device still unplugged from everything, switch it on, and try and connect to it via
WiFi using your Smartphone/Tablet.
You should see it in the list of your available WiFi access points. If you’ve pre-ordered the
unit from us directly, the device ID will also contain your BSA technician code.
Conversely, if we were forced to build your device with zero notice, at gun-point, by Glenn
Brown or Rod Allen, it’ll just show the serial number:
Smartphone/Tablet connection (continued)
Your WiFi Key is printed on an adhesive label, which is attached to the bottom of the Gateway.
We tried to ensure the keys are secure while still being somewhat memorable:
Once you’re connected via WiFi, the WiFi Link LED on the front of your device should turn
blue, and it’s time to launch your favorite Terminal Emulator application. In practice, any
application that supports Telnet and VT100 will work.
The examples below show ConnectBot for Android, which is freeware, and available on the
Play Store. We’ve also tested the device using vSSH for IOS (Iphones/Ipads) which costs
about ten aussie bucks.
We’ve tried reaching out to the creators of vSSH for help in writing a tutorial (potentially
netting them tens of dollars in app purchases), but we’ve yet to hear back from them.
When your App is launched for the first time, you may need to adjust a few settings to ensure
proper connection and display. Again, these examples are for ConnectBot, but should easily
port to vSSH and other apps.
Here is the start page of ConnectBot:
Smartphone/Tablet connection (continued)
Click the three-dots to the top right, and tap Settings from the drop-down menu:
Scroll down to the Terminal Emulation section, and tap Emulation Mode:
Smartphone/Tablet connection (continued)
Select vt100 from the list of Emulation modes, this will ensure data is displayed correctly:
Note: If you have an option for Width and Height on the settings page in your app
(ConnectBot doesn’t, vSSH does), enter 80 for the width, and 25 for the height.
Press the back button on your device to exit, then tap ssh (bottom left):
Smartphone/Tablet connection (continued)
Tap on telnet from the list of protocols:
Tap on the address bar to open the address dialog:
Smartphone/Tablet connection (continued)
Enter the IP Address printed on your device (typically 10.0.0.1), then tap DONE:
The App should connect to the Gateway, and display the following splash screen:
This page is usually displayed when the ODU cable is unplugged or faulty, or if the WNTD
antenna hasn’t sent any data for a while (or occasionally if you’re in a no-signal area).
This page will also only appear when connected via WiFi and not via USB!
Smartphone/Tablet connection (continued)
If the data on the page appears to be garbled (ie: not quite fitting on the screen, or wrapping
onto multiple lines), you may have to adjust the display size.
In vSSH on IOS, this is done by changing the Width and Height parameters to 80 and 25 in
the settings menu, as discussed previously.
In ConnectBot, simply tap on the menu (three dots to the top right), and tap Force Size:
If you’re asked for Width and Height numbers, enter 80 for the width and 25 for the height
–These should already be the default settings.
You can now plug the WNTD antenna into the gateway, and after about a minute of boot-
up garbage, the RF Qualification page will load:
Smartphone/Tablet Troubleshooting
Occasionally, you may drift out of WiFi range, or receive interference from nearby signal
sources (ie: the WNTD antenna itself, if you’re standing in front of it)
If you start to see garbage data being displayed on the screen, or missing headings/text,
move a little closer to the gateway, and simply wait approximately 20 seconds for the page
to completely refresh. The gateway will try and recover from broken connections and buffer
overflows on its own.
If you notice the page stops updating for more than ten seconds, check to see if the WiFi
Link LED on the gateway is still blue. If not, you may need to disconnect and reconnect WiFi
on your smartphone, then restart your App.
If the WiFi Link LED is blue and you’re still not receiving page updates, you may just need
to restart your smartphone application. Occasionally the apps shit themselves if too much
data is received in a short period.
In the unlikely event the firmware on the gateway has crashed, simply rebooting (power off
for ten seconds, then back on) will resolve the issue. The gateway will always revert to the
splash screen within 30 seconds of data inactivity via WiFi, a good way to check for a crash
is to unplug the WNTD antenna and wait for the splash page (this should be very rare)
Try a USB connection if all else fails. USB should always work, as the data shit out by the
WNTD Antenna is essentially passed onto the USB port unmodified. Please email
Ahmad@UltraKeet.com.au if you’re able to connect via USB, but not WiFi.
The most common issue so far is the plastic ‘key’on the RJ12 connector breaking, such that
the connector doesn’t lock into place and falls out of the WNTD antenna. We’ve done our
best to have the unit gracefully recover from other issues.
USB/Laptop connection
The preferred means of connecting to the gateway is via USB –Data from the WNTD antenna
is passed-through to the USB port unmodified, such that it should always work without issue
(unless you have a Mac, in which case, sucked in)
Honestly though, the WiFi option only cost ~$20 extra in parts to implement. The majority
of the unit cost is in the power supply and protection circuitry, followed by assembly labor
(up to 5 hours per unit) and classy subscription porn.
The unit will appear as a virtual communications port in Windows/MacOS/Linux. Most modern
operating systems have all the required software drivers built in. All you require is an
application like TeraTerm (preferred) or Putty (also works)
The following examples will assume TeraTerm is being used, however the instructions should
easily apply to other programs.
USB/Laptop connection (Continued)
To connect via USB, plug the mini-USB cable (supplied) into both the USB port on the front
of the gateway, and a free USB port on your laptop. The WNTD antenna should not be
plugged in at this point.
The USB Link LED on the front of the unit should be blue, and the USB Data LED may flicker
yellow for a few moments.
Note: Try to use the same USB port on your laptop each time, otherwise the port numbers
(explained later) will keep on changing.
Start your Windows Application (in this case, TeraTerm):
Click on the Setup menu, then Terminal:
USB/Laptop connection (Continued)
Ensure that your settings match the following screenshot, then click OK:
Now, click Setup, then Serial Port:
USB/Laptop connection (Continued)
Select your Port from the drop-down list, ensure the remaining settings match the
screenshot below, then click OK.
Your port number will likely be different to the one in the screenshot; If there’s more than
one port in the list, pick the highest number:
Plug the WNTD antenna into the RJ12 socket on the front of the gateway, and after about a
minute of boot garbage, you should see the RF Qualification page:
Depending on the font size, you may need to resize the window a little with your mouse to
fit everything in.
USB/Laptop Troubleshooting
We’ve yet to experience any issues with USB –Please let us know if you experience any. At
worst, we can help you set-up your gateway remotely using Remote Desktop.
General Troubleshooting
Symptom: The Fuse OK LED is not on
If the Fuse OK LED is no longer on, but all other LEDs act normally, the fuse is blown,
possibly due to a faulty WNTD or interconnecting lead.
The fuse is manufactured by LittelFuse and sits in a small fuse holder. The current rating is
750mA (0.75A) with an ‘F’rating (fast blow) - The fuse can be removed from the holder
using tweezers, or needle-nose pliers:
Email us to order a replacement ($2.50 plus shipping), or you can order one directly from
Radio Spares in Smithfield (or other suppliers); The part number is 0154.750DR
Please do not try and short the fuse with a bit of wire.
General Troubleshooting (continued)
Symptom: When the gateway is switched on without a WNTD antenna plugged in, only one
Battery Voltage LED is lit, despite being fully charged.
This is a known issue, which I didn’t pick up until releasing a few units from manufacture.
The gateway is stuck in a loop waiting for the WNTD antenna to send its data. It’s so busy,
that it forgets to update the battery voltage LEDs (also, I’m shit)
Symptom: When connected via WiFi, the screen occasionally pauses for up to ten seconds
without updating, before resuming as normal
Occasionally, something may interfere with your WiFi signal resulting in a momentary loss
of reception. The software on the microprocessor within the gateway makes a copy of each
RF Qualification page, and beams it over to your phone in small chunks, so as not to flood it
with data.
If you happen to lose connectivity while receiving a chunk of data, the microprocessor will
enter into a fail-safe mode, where it will wait up to ten seconds for your connection to
stabilize, before trying to transmit the data again.
If all else fails, disconnecting and reconnecting WiFi usually does the trick.
Symptom: After the WNTD antenna boots, the RF qualification page is not displayed, only
a page showing the battery percentage and FIFO: 4096/4096 –without anything else at
all
Ericsson have likely updated the firmware on the WNTD antennas to ‘talk’at a higher speed
on the console port. Try connecting via USB instead of WiFi momentarily.
screenshot of the issue, as well as a screenshot of everything working via USB (such that
the version number is showing in the qualification page)
More information will be on http://wntd.ultrakeet.com.au by the end of December, 2016
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