RonM9

I don't think I can answer your questions very well. I do not have a schematic of the nRF24L01+ module.I suggest you acquire a nRF24L01 module for examination, as well as search for a schematic online.I believe the type of antenna on the PCB is a variant of an Inverted-F antenna.

Hi Po, The dipole antenna consists of two wires. One element (wire) is connected to a capacitor (which in turn connects to an IC). This is where the original onboard printed trace antenna was connected. The other wire element is soldered to the ground plane on the opposite side of the PCB.The old antenna trace is disconnected by way of a trace cut, along with a cut disconnecting a trace which ends up going through a feed hole to the ground plane on the back side. Review the text of the section "Step 2: Modifying the Radio Module" and photos in this section, especially the first & second one.

I take it that's your ATtiny programmer on the left and game console on the right.Is that a 3D printed base for your game console I see ?

Matters concerning "LadderGames4" are taken up in the text and comments of https://www.instructables.com/id/4-Button-Games-Us...

I am assuming that LadderGames4 fails due to lack of space for an ATtiny85, Please see Step 3: Game Play.Lemans is large so you'd have to replace all 4 games with it alone. The code space of the ATtiny could probably handle a sketch with the remaining 3 games you mentioned. I would first checkout the operation of these games using "Menu_16Games.ino" running on an Arduino MCU which supports 32K bytes of program space. Then strip that sketch down to compile and run the games of interest on an ATtiny85, or cut the game(s) out and host them in "LadderGames4.ino" where you may need to resolve some dependencies. Looking forward to hearing of your success. Best to you and your efforts, Ron

Well, that puts a smile on my face :~} Thanks.I noticed that to use a separate MCU dev board you connect jumpers to the 8 pin socket. That's fine, but I realized I might not have sufficiently pointed out that I had separate header pins for that purpose (see updated photo in step#1).Either way has its issues, awkward use of a chip socket or adding difficulty wiring & soldering in a small area of socket pins.Have you made and used external hand-held plunger buttons? They seem to add to the excitement. Are you aware of my latest project which utilizes this hardware? See the 'April 2018' update at the end of the instructable.

The good news is you didn't break it, as it still works, be it poorly.Focused Visual Inspection is your Best tool. First simply look at every detail of the board very close up (with magnification and good lighting) to see what you see. Have no expectations.You may find something unexpected. Perhaps there is a small clipping of a wire strand or micro solder splatter. If nothing is discovered, further inspect the two cuts (refer to first image in step 2) making sure they are complete, have nothing in them and that soldering has not bridged them. At the mounting point of the front antenna element verify that the solder didn't make a short to adjacent points or across the surface mounted component there (a capacitor). Make sure that capacitor didn't get unsoldered from the board on either s...

The good news is you didn't break it, as it still works, be it poorly.Focused Visual Inspection is your Best tool. First simply look at every detail of the board very close up (with magnification and good lighting) to see what you see. Have no expectations.You may find something unexpected. Perhaps there is a small clipping of a wire strand or micro solder splatter. If nothing is discovered, further inspect the two cuts (refer to first image in step 2) making sure they are complete, have nothing in them and that soldering has not bridged them. At the mounting point of the front antenna element verify that the solder didn't make a short to adjacent points or across the surface mounted component there (a capacitor). Make sure that capacitor didn't get unsoldered from the board on either side. Check that your solder joints aren't "cold" ones, else there will be added resistance which will be bad for proper impedance matching. Let me know what you find.

Hi, I am happy to hear that you have done this project.This is apparently not an uncommon problem. For help with this, please see my post of 2016-01-18 below.Looking forward to hearing of your further success; Best RonPS: You may find that you're interested in checking out my other projects.

I would expect it to work, given noneeded traces are cut. But impedance matching of the load to thetransmitter output may be off enough to significantly loseperformance; due to the change in the transmission lead wires (thosetwo short parallel wire sections you have eliminated). To optimizelead-in dimensions for high frequency transmission is a challengerequiring sophisticated setup and instruments. Often the best we cando is minimize heat production while maximizing transmitted signalstrength through trial and error. If you are not getting added heatbetween the antenna and the drive circuitry and you are gettingsatisfactory performance, you're pretty much good to go, else rethinkit.On the other hand, consider using oneof these mini units:http://www.ebay.com/itm/1Pcs-Mini-2-4G-NRF24L01...

I would expect it to work, given noneeded traces are cut. But impedance matching of the load to thetransmitter output may be off enough to significantly loseperformance; due to the change in the transmission lead wires (thosetwo short parallel wire sections you have eliminated). To optimizelead-in dimensions for high frequency transmission is a challengerequiring sophisticated setup and instruments. Often the best we cando is minimize heat production while maximizing transmitted signalstrength through trial and error. If you are not getting added heatbetween the antenna and the drive circuitry and you are gettingsatisfactory performance, you're pretty much good to go, else rethinkit.On the other hand, consider using oneof these mini units:http://www.ebay.com/itm/1Pcs-Mini-2-4G-NRF24L01-24L01-M-wireless-transceiver-module-1-9-3-6-V-/141976853993 These board have two feed through holes where the antenna appears tostart. Which makes me believe they placed these, by design, such thatif you cut off the on-board antenna you will have the proper outputmatching impedance up to that point. I would try one of these andattach the dipole antenna directly to those holes (with old antennaout of circuit). If you do so please let us know what sort of resultsyou obtain.

Good job. Your wire, quite apparently, works fine. Solid wire is normally strongly preferred; so that the whole of your conducting material has one length (unless you want a broad frequency range like with an FM receiver).The diameter of the antenna wire has a minor effect on the antenna's resonate frequency and load impedance, so fine tuning the structural dimensions could be of some value.Larger diameter antenna elements do improve to some degree the band width of the frequency response, making it a little less valuable doing additional fine tuning. On the other hand the thicker wire may be harder to work with or easier to break off.

Theoutput of the ESP8266 is apparently 50 ohm impedance (read fullyhttps://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=314904.0)and hopefully so is the antenna (at 2.4GHz) that you are going to connect.Given that is the case, you can use a length of 50 ohm coax to connect them,rather than parallel open wires who's impedance would be hard todetermine. (for some short 50 ohm coax:www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=rg-316+rg-8x+pigtail) The RG-8x will likely be easier to strip and solder than the skinnyRG-316. I look forward to hearing of your successes with your modification.

Sembot,Making PCB prints for these circuits is great. Thank you very much.Did you check out the 3D print out I did to form a game console? (see Update above)I am not fully sold on doing a tutorial. I know I don't have time this summer. Maybe later.Note that any one game (I suggest: Tug_a_War or PingPong from Menu_16Games.ino) can be renamed as the function “void loop()” and delete the other games as well as the then unused sub-routines and global variables. There would then be no menu operation and instead that game would automatically run. The resulting sketch can be used as a guideline for developing a new game. I have already provided a fair amount of comments in the code, with the intention of helping others create new games. In the future I can respond to specific quest...

Sembot,Making PCB prints for these circuits is great. Thank you very much.Did you check out the 3D print out I did to form a game console? (see Update above)I am not fully sold on doing a tutorial. I know I don't have time this summer. Maybe later.Note that any one game (I suggest: Tug_a_War or PingPong from Menu_16Games.ino) can be renamed as the function “void loop()” and delete the other games as well as the then unused sub-routines and global variables. There would then be no menu operation and instead that game would automatically run. The resulting sketch can be used as a guideline for developing a new game. I have already provided a fair amount of comments in the code, with the intention of helping others create new games. In the future I can respond to specific questions.Which of the above 16 games do you like best?Ron

Fantastic, I am happy to hear that you and your mother are benifiting from my efforts.

That's great to hear, about your success with your mesh network. Is there a related instructable? I am happy you enjoyed, found useful, this instructable.

Sarah, I have now created a full 16 game version, in the Update section above. It does include a game to challenge the players understanding of binary operations; inspired by you, for your boys. Also included above is an operating manual describing all the games.

Thank you for the added information. It's always great to have other contribute.That said, I know there are some that I have not directly acknowledged their posts; I want them to know their sharing is appreciated.

OK, I have attached a new software sketch,combining all 12 games, to the instructable:https://www.instructables.com/id/4-Button-Games-Using-One-Analog-Input/I'd like to hear back when the boys gettheir unit; and later feedback from them as users.

Sarah, I enjoy your interest in my project and enthusiasm for electronics in general (salvaging LEDs etc.).The binary encoding approach would be impractical with this hardware; partly because momentary buttons are used and not toggle or side switches which hold their state. I plan a two tiered selection (group 1-4 & game 1-4 of that group).an ATtiny-328 (Nano-3) has enough resources for all twelve games and probably enough for 4 more. I will put together the code combining the 12 games and test it this week. I can't hardly imagine coming up with more than 16 games using such a simplistic display. But just the same, it can be a rewarding challenge.You can 'message' me with any questions. Ron

It sounds like I have reinvigorated you. Great, that makes me happy. Did you have any (one line display) games I don't have covered?

Yes, I use a Nano (~= Uno, but smaller) for code development testing, as I can change the code quicker and have audio without burning a fuse. Look at the code and you'll see it conditional compiles based on the processor type. Refer to the code for the pin assignments; particularly the audio output.

I have made a “sort of” one of these. What I made is an enhanced multiplexed LED ladder, with added peripherals; up to 6 buttons and an optional audio output; plus expanded software support for display effects and, best of all, 4 games with multiple difficulty levels and some variations.https://www.instructables.com/id/Single-Line-LED-Di...

I have made a “sort of” one ofthese. What I made is an enhanced multiplexed LED ladder, based onthis one, with added peripherals; up to 6 buttons and an optionalaudio output; plus expanded software support for display effects and,best of all, 4 games with multiple difficulty levels and somevariations.https://www.instructables.com/id/Single-Line-LED-Di...

Thanks. I am hoping that many enjoy the discovery and fun of one of these.Your game Idea sounds a little like the JumpMan game turned on end, But with some interesting twists. I like it. I would love to see a greater and greater number of games from a community of makers. This is part of why I put support in the software for so many lighting effects and buttons. I have a couple more games up my sleeve; I'll be implementing and posting, maybe this fall, time permitting.

You are welcome; and Thank you for sharing photos of your creation. I see you used in-line lights and a mini-pro (love them). Is the knob an on-off switch or sensitivity adjustment? What is the black unit marked 'BLX-A' ?