Thanks Rich,
Yes… the power budget is a problem. Currently, we have the LEDS dropped down quite a ways so they’re only drawing about 6mA each… We can obviously cut the LEDs down during the day…and yes, it draws down to about 18mA
The problem is the “client” and I take liberty with that word because this is a charity project… but the client is killing the power budget by putting the solar cell BEHIND A PIECE OF MILKY WHITE ACRYLIC… As it is, I’m lucky if the cell even puts out 50mA, so really at this point, the solar cell is just there to make the batteries drain more slowly - One step forward, two steps back sort of thing, so I want to be able to cut daytime power as much as possible. I’m having a hard time convincing them that the aesthetics of a NON working project are worse than a little black square as viewed from a hundred feet at night. Protesting only got me so far. OK enough complaining - Maybe some kind of watchdog timer that will wake it every 10 minutes or so, and check the solar level. If it’s still sunny, it can go back to sleep. Biggest problem is that I don’t know the language that well -I’m a fast learner…but still… a watchdog timer sounds the best. My question is are there any timers still available on the chip? Maybe I should stop sleeping myself!
Thanks guys!
Andy