TinyTrak 4

The TinyTrak 4 is a major change from the TinyTrak 3. It is a DSP based modem which can emulate a TinyTrak 3 or be set up as a KISS-mode TNC. It will eventually be able to operate at 300, 1200 and 9600 baud, as well as PSK31. It will also be able to decode DTMF. I am fortunate enough to have a TinyTrak 4 for beta testing.

Construction of the TinyTrak 4 only takes about an hour or so. The included SMT FRAM chip (in the pink anti-static baggy) might be a bit challenging for some people. I used a clothes peg to hold it in place while soldering it to the circuit board.

The instructions for assembly of the TinyTrak 4 beta were pretty straight-forward. I deviated slightly from the suggested order of assembly by leaving the 2N700 MOSFETs until the very end to lessen the chance of blowing them with static. The 2N700s were used for the serial port interface in the beta version. The release version will probably be redesigned, possibly using a more robust MAX232 chip instead.

TinyTrak 4 Beta Circuit Board

There is one SMT device to be mounted - an FM25640-G FRAM Chip.

The FRAM chip is quite small. That's a SMALL pair of long nose pliers for comparison. It wasn't all that difficult mounting it. I used a wooden clothes peg to hold it place while I soldered it to the circuit board - with the help of a magnifying glass!

Completed TinyTrak 4 Beta. Note the tiny FRAM chip near the lower right corner.

Size Comparrison - top OpenTracker OT1X and OT, bottom TT4 and TT3+

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