Hardware

@Shaun-Storbakken rfm69 is also supported by the library ;-) Pick the one that suits you best!

Thanks for including it there.

I used a ESP8266WiFi module with a static IP address and that seems to be working fine, but then again, the car needs to be in the neighborhood... Would be nice to have something like a bluetooth module of some kind to detect a bluetooth device such as my phone... gotta keep on dreaming... :)

@ronnyandre - hehe! That was a while ago :) I even made a PCB for everyone to use (including full schematics)! Check it out here: https://www.openhardware.io/view/4/EasyNewbie-PCB-for-MySensors

The easiest way to control the leds, if we disregard the radio power problem, is a mosfet. See https://www.mysensors.org/build/dimmer for how to build one, but that solution would need to be combined with SmartSleep or some other method for getting the change to the node without draining the battery.

@gohan - Dell R710 over here, brought pretty cheaply in the UK tbh. I have a few things running on it as I'm Microsoft trained and certified so i enjoy messing with that kind of stuff. I was once in that field and attempted to get some work but nothing ever came from it (i got sick of hearing "Sorry, you don't have sufficient work experience") so I've ended up back in University studying mechatronical engineering :( Anyway, that is another topic for discussion, you're welcome to message me anytime for a chat, would be nice :)

@flopp ...and need to make sure it stays clean all the time

@BulldogLowell My plan is to mount it on the edge of my garage roof far away from my trees. I have seen designs with spikes for keeping birds off. I think I will work those into the model before printing. My hot bed is 220 x 220mm which is 8.6" square. It should just fit if it is centered correctly.

I advise you to make a fritzing diagram so we can understand how you connected everything, otherwise it is quite hard.

@LastSamurai many of the esp8266 pins are special. I have run into a lot of trouble when using the ones that aren't marked as "safe" to use in Kolban's book. Some more information: https://forum.mysensors.org/post/63039 https://forum.mysensors.org/post/49193

That's odd... Unless that smd version has different voltage requirements, the nrf24 should fry with 5v

I think the generic board does not work because the default settings are not sufficient for ms. Be sure the settings match your actual esp8266 module. Did you pull down gpio0 when you powered on the module? This activates the programming mode. If you want to go the easy way just get a node mcu compatible board like wemos d1 mini. It has an onboard USB port and you don't have to manually put it in programming mode. Mqtt adds complexity. If you don't need it you should choose plain ms.

RFm69 irq is needed by the driver in RX mode, sure, but not only. It is used in different mode, TX send for example. So IRQ signal need to be wired.

@mpp Try reverting to MySensors 2.0.0 and update AVR to 1.6.18. made my node al lot more stable.

I did, I just needed the dimensions of the module for the antenna placement ;) Just measured mine though

@AffordableTech, regarding PIR sensors, I've got an advice to add 3rd battery since this sensor is very sensible to VCC level and under 3v isn't predictable. So I've connected batteries as suggested here: [image: 1490118549165-upload-52d98145-abd5-4638-aec4-e113815f2474.png] I also thought about step-up convertor to power PIR with exactly 3.3v, but I was said this kind of power line is quite noisy which again will cause false positives so Ive rejected this option. With this setup (3AA) my node became reliable and works that way about 1 week. As for light sensor, after some thoughts I came into decision to use BH1750FVI sensor which is also I2C one with low consumption if configure it with one time measurement mode (by default it's continuous mode). My use case is to trigger light by motion only if light level is 0. Now I just send light level alongside with motion event, thus no need of waking up by light interrupt anymore.

Ah! I never thought of that. Nice to see it's solved! And I think you're right, this kind of info should be made available for easy access.

I don't think redundancy is supported

On other sites, they sell a 3.3V version and a 5V version. The 5V version has level translators and an on-board 3.3V LDO regulator. I can't tell which is which from the Ali description.

@irenla You have probably already figured this out but try this. return temp; float tempF = (temp * 9.0) / 5.0 + 32.0; you get the idea now.