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There's really not enough information there to go on.

How are you powering it?
Did all the voltages look sensible?
Have you checked that the RFM12B module in particular is correctly soldered with no missed joints and no whiskers to adjacent tracks?
Which sketch have you loaded?

Good call... I have unsoldered connections on RFM12B. I will fix when I have soldering iron access tomorrow and try again.

I am using the openenergy USB to FTDI programming adapter and powering the emonTx through this. Vcc to ATMega appears to be okay. I have loaded emonTx_CT123 sketch.

Looking at the code I assumed I should see some output on IDE serial monitor.

You should see the first few 'print' statements in the serial monitor, but you must be quick turning on the monitor in the IDE (Windows) or you will miss them. you might want to add 

delay(8000);

(an 8 second delay) right at the beginning of setup( ) to give yourself time to get the serial monitor working. (Ubuntu Linux (at least) sends a reset when you start the monitor, so the sketch restarts and the delay is not necessary. I don't know about OSX.)

Next, the sketch won't get past "rf12_initialize(nodeID, freq, networkGroup);" without the radio module responding, which allows the function to complete and return. If you want to run without it, you'll need to comment out all the statements associated with it. (Basically anything with "rf" in the name.)  

An obvious silly: is the LED the right way round? - test it with a one-line sketch "pinMode(9, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(9, HIGH);" should turn it on! But if the sketch was sticking trying to initialise the RFM12B, then the LED would never have been turned on at all.

Thanks for your help Robert. It was the radio module soldering... it pays to examine under a microscope! Resoldered and its working fine.

Hi guys! Just received my EmonTx-V3 board with the RFM12B module and started to play around for the first time, so definitely a new user here. However, it seems I have a related issue.

Setup: EmonTX-V3 board connected via USB-UART cable to PC. Set up Arduino IDE environment with emonTxV3_RFM12B_DiscreteSampling test set. After uploading to the EmonTx-V3 (powered by 9V AC adapter) the code hangs at rf12_initialize(node, freq, networkgroup).

Adding print statements to RF12.cpp shows that the problem is at the following line:

while (digitalRead(RFM_IRQ) == 0)

This always returns true and it stays in the loop. 

Visible inspection showed me no clear soldering problems (as mentioned above) at thr RFM12B module, but will do a closer inspection later, although I am not really sure what I'm looking for.

Haven't tested more of the board yet as I was following the guide on the website for setting op the home electricity monitor.

Any tips on what to do next?

Thijs

If the sketch hangs at rf12_initialize( ), then the fault is almost certainly in the RFM12B module or the soldering. You are looking for either a bad joint or a whisker of solder bridging between two tracks. If the solder has not flowed freely to form a smooth shiny fillet between the pad and the module, the joint is suspect. You need to remove as much of the old solder as you reasonably can, and apply fresh. Make sure your iron is hot enough - a cool soldering iron will not only lead to bad joints but it will make you apply the heat for too long and increase the possibility of damaging the PCB. You will do far less damage with a hot iron because you will complete the operation quickly - you should be able to solder a joint like that in under 1 s.

Hi Robert! Thanks for the quick reply. Could it be both at the full RFu328 (2x10 pins) soldering and the RFM12B (2x7 pins) module mounted on it? I will investigate tomorrow in close detail and report back the findings.

I would be almost certain that it's the RFM12B module, but it won't hurt to carefully examine all the joints - and everything else - while you're at it. When you think about it, the main PCB has only the I/O interfacing and power supplies on it, and if the processor is running and sticking when it hits the RFM12B, it has to be between the processor and the RFM12B. It's most unlikely to be in the power supply and can't be in the analogue I/O.

Checked the soldering, it looked ok, but removed as much as I could anyway, applied new soldering, but unfortunately the problem persists. I am going to send the board back for replacement. Not a great start of the DIY project. 

Cheers

Thijs

I'm sorry to hear that. If it's any consolation, I think this is the first failure that I've heard of in over 2 years. Have you emailed the shop for advice?