DGT e-Board issue (pawn not recognized on one square)

Hi all!

I recently bought a nice DGT e-board (bluetooth version).
After playing a few games i came accros an issue that i noticed that when i move my pawn to h3, it did not get recognized. So.. i started to test some things.

As far i know:
All my pieces exept vor pawns and one white bishop does not get recognized on the h3 square. it DOES get regonized on any other square.

Small update: when i place one pawn at h3, it does not get regognized. When i place one pawn next to h3 (so at g3) h3 pawn shows up onto my screen. Still a failure...

Does any know how to fix this behaviour? 

Thanks for any help in advance! :-)

Have you tried updating your DGT Chess app to the latest version?

You can contact DGT support directly here:

https://digitalgametechnology.com/support/service-centers/contact-support

I bought a DGT SmartBoard (which is USB) last year that had a similar problem: the black knights weren't recognised on h3, but odd things happened if there was also one on g3. I remember h4 was also problematic.

The solution was easy but not pleasant - send the board back and get a replacement.

Sorry....

Try setting the board away from metallic objects.

I have similar issues with a DTG Bluetooth board. My Royal and Plastic chess sets read well on the BT board. However, the Timeless set has issues recognizing the black king on G2. I had the black king replaced, however the the problem still exists. 

Oddly enough, I opened the black king up (that I replaced) and chipped away at the ferrite core trying to remove it. Now it is recognized as a bishop and the board has no trouble reading it.  

So here are my thoughts. 1) my BT board does not amplify certain frequencies on a few individual squares as efficiently as is typical of other squares, because these squares are not an issue on my Smartboard. 2)  The fault also lies in electronics of the of the particular chess piece (Timeless set) because the black knights from two other sets read just fine on the BT board.

Yes, metal objects cause issues (USB/BT). Try to eliminate that as a possible interference. 

I found a work around to this problem. However, it might not be a practical solution for most. I replaced the electronic core in the black Timeless king with the core from a black plastic king. To do this, I quartered the plastic king with a hacksaw and split it in pieces with a screwdriver. I then used a punch/hammer on the core of the Timeless king to shatter the ferrite core and remove it in pieces. 

Black Timeless king now registers on all squares of my BT board. 

Luckily, I was able to do this without any external damage to the Timeless piece. Glued the felt pad back on and I was good. 

Note: These cores do not come out easily and can be damaged if care is not taken. You can not simply reach in and pluck them out. 

The entire DGT experience feels like beta to me. Never fully developed.