How to get started

[admin]

check PCB point, 5v and 3.3v point, whether well.

[Lomagno]

Thank you for your summary!

I am a fresh user of an KC868-A16 REV:1.6 and your instructions save me a lot of time. Same as you, the first time I powered the unit the RF boards were installed and nothing worked until I removed them. As far as I could notice, no smell and no damage detected due to this.

Unfortunately in my case, WiFi AP is still not discoverable after step 5 of your sequence (power off/power on). Indeed, when the USB-C cable is plugged, from 5 to 5 seconds my PC beeps and the PCB's led quickly dims, ie, the unit appears to be disconecting/connecting (shoud I keep the USB-C cable unplugged?). This happens either with firmware KC868_16_V2.2.2.bin or the newer KC868_16_v.2.20.bin and with the USB-C cable plugged or not. I have not tried to access the board over the Ethernet.

Any additional hints, please?

Any help from the admin will also be welcomed!

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Previous post:
Ehh, ok, finally figured this out, so I'll write a quick summary - hopefully someone will find it useful.
Brand new board, first power up:
1) Downloads:
USB driver firstly: https://www.kincony.com/download/CH341SER.zip
Firmware flash tool: https://www.kincony.com/wp-content/uploa..._3.9.2.zip
Latest firmware: https://www.kincony.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3791
2) Install USB serial driver
3) Prepare board: if you have radio transmitter and received - remove it
Connect USB cable
Connect 12V power
4) Flash the firmware according to instructions:
https://www.kincony.com/esp32-kcsv2-firmware.html
5) Power down, power up the board. Clicking the reset button is NOT enough.
6) For me, after these steps, finally the AP appeared on list of WiFi networks and I could connect to http://192.168.4.1

[admin]

ok, good.

[Lomagno]

check PCB point, 5v and 3.3v point, whether well.

Thank you for your fast response!

PCB check point 5 V running steadily at 5.02 V
PCB check point 3.3 V running at ~3.12 V peaking to 3.20 V every 5 seconds, when the PCB´s power LED slightly dims

PCB malfunction? Incorrect firmware?

PS: I also have a KC868-A4 rev 1.2.5, which does not have any setup problems with its corresponding firmware. So I believe I am following the correct procedures

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check PCB point, 5v and 3.3v point, whether well.

Additionally, the PCB 12 V check point is running steadily at 11.81 V.
Source voltage 12.13 V

[admin]

after download KCS v2 firmware, whether all function work well?

[Lomagno]

No, no function works after the firmware download. I have tried multiple times with this A16 board. As I wrote before, WiFi AP is still not discoverable after step 5 of the sequence described in the "How to get started thread" by jarekD (after firmware download and power off/power on). Indeed, after the firmware download, the only thing that happens is that from 5 to 5 seconds, the PCB's LED quickly dims. This happens either with firmware KC_KC868_16_V2.2.2.bin or the newer KC868_16_v.2.20.bin. I have not tried to access the board over Ethernet because I do not have the cables right now, but I am afraid it won't connect this way either. I can't find what I am doing wrong. Please do not hesitate to give your ideas and/or ask me anything. It is very important to me to have this KCC868-A16 board operating correctly. The other board I have, a KC868-A4, works perfectly, but I have to use the A16 in the current project.

[admin]

take a photo, i want to see how you wire your A16 board.

[Lomagno]

take a photo, i want to see how you wire your A16 board.

Sure, see below. The PCB is on my desk for programming; therefore, only the 12 Vcc and the USC-C cables are connected. No RF Modules and no I/O are inserted. On my desk, I am using a common 100-240 Vac / 12 Vcc 0.5 A adapter as a power supply. 

Obs.: After the firmware download, I can not "see" the API WiFi on my computer, neither resetting, powering off/on, nor with the USB-C cable connected or not. The other board I own, the KC868-A4, presents its API WiFi just after the firmware downloading, without resetting, powering off/on, or USB-C cable removal.

[admin]

12V 0.5A power supply too small. at least use 12V 1.5A or 2A power supply.
you can wire as this photo. need add the RED cable in photo.
   

[Lomagno]

12V 0.5A power supply too small. at least use 12V 1.5A or 2A power supply.
you can wire as this photo. need add the RED cable in photo.

I have just tested it with a 12 V 1.0 A power supply, which was at hand, and the red cables, as you indicated. No API WiFi detection after the firmware download procedure. I will repeat the test tomorrow with more power and patience. Too late in the night here.

PS: Is it really mandatory to power (+) the outputs? The schematics show 12/24 V on these leads, but I was considering that they were needed for powering the outputs only if they were installed, not when programming the board.