Custom ESP32-S3 development board — professionally manufactured by JLCPCB. A far cry from where it all started. It Started in a School Science Lab — Around 1998 Most people who get into electronics start with a kit, a tutorial, maybe a breadboard and some LEDs. I started by sneaking ferric chloride out of a school science lab to etch my first PCB. That was around 1998. I was living in the Maldives — a small island nation in the Indian Ocean — where there was no electronics supply chain, no maker community, no local PCB fab. Just a chemistry cabinet at school, a copper-clad board from somewhere, and a lot of curiosity. This post is about what the next 25+ years of PCB prototyping looked like from there. The early wins with proper chemicals, the years of improvisation when those chemicals disappeared, the real injuries, the failed boards, and finally — the moment JLCPCB changed ever...
Since everyone is interested in this post and lots of request comes to get the firmware, i have put a link so that everyone can download it easily. SIMCOM 900A firmware
Its been a while that i was trying to fix the SIM900A GSM module. This module support local GSM band but after some researches it was concluded that it is carrier locked :(. After long conversion of days to actual chip manufacture SIMCOM, they told it can be fixed by updating its firmware to latest original version but unfortunately they don't provide firmware to small parties.
I never stop trying to get the firmware and SIMCOM again replied, this time they said contact local SIMCOM supplier and request for firmware. But this little Maldives don't have SIMCOM or any electronics manufacturer. So i contacted my friend coody from NOA LABS/Smart prototyping (a friend in china) and told him to help me. I explained him what to do so he can communicate with SIMCOM in china.
Finally he sends and email saying that he got the firmware and it is uploaded to drop box. So just now downloaded the files and flash the new firmware and tadaaa... it works and works :)
Now i can register to local networks and do the magic.
Here is the terminal data that i got after the update.
NORMAL POWER DOWN
+CREG: 3
RDY
+CFUN: 1
+CPIN: READY
+CREG: 0
+CREG: 2
+CREG: 1,"003C","F945"
Call Ready
at+cops=?
+COPS: (2,"DhiMobile","","47201"),(3,"WATANIYA","WATANIYA","47202"),,(0,1,4),(0, 1,2)
OK
at+cmgs="xxxxxxx"
> test
+CMGS: 34
OK
for test i send an SMS and it works perfectly..see the above..
Comments