You have a messed up power supply.   It is putting tons of noise on the 
power bus.   Take a sensitive high impedance audio
amplifier and connect it across Vcc and ground.   Listen.   It should be 
very quiet if it's correct.   I bet yours has all sorts of hash in it.
That hash will cause all sorts of weird circuit behavior.

On Friday, November 22, 2024 at 12:58:46 PM UTC-5 gregebert wrote:

> For the PIR sensor, the LDO regulator datasheet doesn't spec the minimum 
> input voltage (Terrible, I say). I measured +3.3 out with my DMM, but that 
> doesn't tell the whole story, so I would need to put a scope on it to be 
> sure it's stable.
>
> For the RasPi, the datasheet says we can run down to 3.5V and still get 
> 3.3V reliably. So that explains why I never had any crashes, etc.
>
> Later today I will get the supply fixed back to +5V and see what happens.
>
> On Friday, November 22, 2024 at 8:11:33 AM UTC-8 Instrument Resources of 
> America wrote:
>
>> Having only a 1/2V of headroom is not good. I'm surprised that you're 
>> getting your 3.3V. Anything else operating from that 5V supply could be 
>> real iffy.
>>
>> Ira
>>
>>
>>
>> On 11/21/2024 10:50 PM, gregebert wrote:
>>
>> So I checked my supply voltages, and that opened an unexpected can of 
>> worms. The PIR sensor has it's own onboard linear regulator, and it's 
>> pumping-out the expected 3.3VDC. The weird thing is the main 5V supply was 
>> only putting out 3.8V. Despite that, the Raspberry Pi also had the correct 
>> internal 3.3V supply (it also has it's own onboard supply). 
>>
>> So, the first mystery is why a DCDC converter rated for 1amp, and 
>> typically supplying 400mA conked-out when it's not getting warm or 
>> overloaded. I confirmed the RasPi typically uses around 200mA, and 
>> occasionally peaks around 280mA.
>>
>> I have to dig further into the regulators on the RasPi and PIR sensor to 
>> understand why they still produce 3.3V when their input is way-below 
>> 5.0VDC. I'm glad that they do, but I want to confirm why.
>>
>> I'll see what I have laying around for replacing the 5V DCDC converter, 
>> and if they beefier ones I have will fit on the PCB.
>>
>> Once I get this thing back together, I'll see if the PIR sensor is back 
>> to normal. I have some replacement PIR sensors on the way.
>>
>> Why the DCDC converter failed is another mystery; I use these on all my 
>> projects, and seeing one fail is disturbing, especially because many of my 
>> gizmos dont have onboard A/D converters to monitor the power supplies.
>>
>> On Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 5:08:19 PM UTC-8 Max Di Noi wrote:
>>
>>> I had that problem once and it was due to a faulty capacitor on the high 
>>> voltage power supply creating instability on the HV circuitry and affecting 
>>> the PIR circuitry, which was odd as that itself had its own capacitors 
>>> located close to the chip and the main power supply had plenty of 
>>> stabilised power.  
>>>
>>> Now I'm trying to stabilise a microwave motion sensor that I designed 
>>> based on one of those commercially available. It's embedded in the pcb, 
>>> works OK but I need to figure out how to calibrate it more easily. It 
>>> depends on temperature and material of the pcb. I purchased a frequency 
>>> receiver up to 6gHz and I can see the signal on the screen. So that's a 
>>> good start! Sorry, got sidetracked, slightly off topic :-) 
>>>
>>> -------- Original message --------
>>> From: newxito <[email protected]> 
>>> Date: 21/11/2024 17:04 (GMT+00:00) 
>>> To: neonixie-l <[email protected]> 
>>> Subject: [neonixie-l] Re: PIR sensor got very sensitive 
>>>
>>> Maybe you have to clean the trimmer resistors or there is a little bug 
>>> inside, I had that problem but it was with an outside PIR :-) 
>>>
>>> gregebert schrieb am Donnerstag, 21. November 2024 um 07:50:38 UTC+1:
>>>
>>>> Here's a strange story....a few weeks ago, I noticed my 7971 clock was 
>>>> running a lot more than it was a few years ago. After some experimenting, 
>>>> I 
>>>> found out the PIR sensor is getting a lot of false triggers (no movement 
>>>> in 
>>>> room, even covering-up the sensor didn't keep it off). Turning-back the 
>>>> sensitivity 1/4 turn did nothing, so I put it at minimum sensitivity and 
>>>> it 
>>>> seems to stop the false triggering. It still detects motion. 
>>>>
>>>> Anyone else see this happen ? The sensor has been in-use for about 6 
>>>> years; it's one of those cheap 5V units that cost about 1 USD and worked 
>>>> fine for many years.
>>>>
>>>>
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