TARPN NinoTNC

 

TNC's have not really moved on since the 90's in general.  My interest was piqued by this new little board from TARPN (Terrestrial Amateur Radio Packet Network).

The NinoTNC is so named because the project was started in 2015 by Nino, KK4HEJ and has been developed since then.  The latest design with the blue board was released in 2020 and the project continues.

This is a TNC that will operate up to 9600 baud to the radio and is simple to configure using on board switches.

It comes as a kit and with a little patience and a multimeter is a nice little build.  It took me about 3 hours and that included testing at various stages and filming segments as I built.

The build sequence is very nicely done.  You start with the crystal and then a few resistors and capacitors.  Next you fit the socket for the CPU.

Now additional capacitors, including the tantalum capacitors where you must be careful of alignment.  A resistor network and 2 pots for deviation and delay on the edge of the board. A voltage regulator is also fitted.

After fitting the USB socket, the device is powered up and a voltage test is done between the 2 socket pins labelled.

Now the rest of the build can be completed and final tests can be done.  Everything is done from the board itself, making the tests simple to do once you understand the sequence.

Finally the board can be fitted into a box of some kind.  This fine 3D printed case was sent to me by Matt, 2E0YML.  Thanks Matt :)

I have done a couple of videos on this and you will find them below.  Now all I need to do is interface it with the radio :)

A big thanks to Matt, G7HMV for sourcing the board, CPU and parts.  You can get the .stl file for the case from https://tarpn.net/t/nino-tnc/n9600a/n9600a_3d_printed_case.html

73 Ian