General Discussion

Though Fluke 115 could be a good option if you have enough budget but Fluke 101 is also good basic pocket portable digital multimeter with reasonable price.

@sola Thanks for your prompt feedback.

@tmaster great work!

@brianmichalk Do tell us more. Sounds interesting.

You'll want a valve that's certified to meet NSF 61 standards, preferably stainless steel. Anything else, especially if it's non-certified brass, has a significant chance of lead and/or other hazardous contamination that you won't want leaching into your drinking water. I recently replaced the solenoid on my Miele dishwasher with one of the US Solid electrically actuated ball valves (stainless steel, NSF 61 certified), and it's working fine. Total overkill for this application, but US Solid claims the mean-time between failure is something like 100,000 actuations, so hopefully I'll never have to touch it again. In contrast,the Miele solenoids fail about every 4-5 years, and replacing them with the same part is a total pain the neck. Besides, the Miele part would have cost 5x as much! Go figure.

@mickey Yes you can drive the motor directly from the esp32-cam module, but with MySensors you can put in deep sleep and wake up the esp32 on demand (pir, timer, etc...) for eample with an automation managed by the controller. In fact the esp32-cam, at least with the esphome firmware, is always active and the module become hot after few minutes. With an additional controller more power friendly you can turn on the module only when necessary.

@mfalkvidd If you look close, I'm only sending as a response to a request from the "controller". But I'm still wrong for insist getting the received value from the property bValue. Seems logical to me that it would contain the boolean value instead of a byte size or whatever. If I had used the method ".getBool()" I would had the boolean value. Although, if the controller sets a boolean, the node still gets wrong values, so you still have to transmit an integer 0/1. I don't like it, because it forces processing all the values as integers in node-red, for example. As usual, I'll leave this, my stupidity, behind in the hopes it serves to anyone else. :sweat_smile:

Hi, you can try these power supplies: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/group/UPS-Charge-Function-switch-power-supply/1242857_501520362.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.100008.25.56f87402HSB2Og The are for 12V, but also support an external battery. I have two that work very well.

@fullwavebridge Best to post full code, wiring diagrams and photos first - also tell us what you want and what you are getting. - Then you might get somewhere...

@gohan said in Multimeter recommendation?: It is a common issue I see in these small cheap meters. There is always the openhardware current meter for what you are suggesting Sure but there are other multimeters with a common plug between mA and uA so you can just change range on the selector and you don't have to cut the power to your node during that switch.

@bjacobse answer to myself, it appears that the chep multimeter types with Current clamp, is only capable of measure AC current, I need also to measure DC current (Then I can measure if my my diesel glowplugs are working, without removing anything), so I bought this fairly cheap add on. It provides 1mV/A https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33028995595.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.115a4c4dFflk4A How to measure with current clamp your glowplugs: (Not my video, but it gave me some knowledge): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz1Gt2IfC_I

@feanor-anglin said in Newbie wants to do everything wired: Star topology is not recommended to use with RS485, but it is not that it certainly won't work. You have to test it. I know about it, but I hope that with a speed of 9600 and a small cable length it will work ..

Well, I never returned to that topic, because I didn't need it. I think it still isn't implemented, but you have my code from that post, so you can try to modify your copy of Mysensors and it should work. If I remember correctly that was pretty simple modification, new version has probably changed, but not so much I guess.

@zboblamont Thanks for the advice. I don't really want to 'fit' anything as I hope to move next year so something portable that I attach when I use the hose and then bring back inside is all I need. For the time being I have ordered one of those cheap Chinese flow rate sensors and a couple of hozelock adapters to get started with. Then I can take it up a notch from there if I want. Good thing about water for plants is no need for chlorine. After many years of doing this none of plants have complained! - And they include kaffir lime, lemon, tangerine, olive, banana, palms, lemon grass , chillies etc....

@nca78 I understand your concerns and I would like to further sensing in this area - that sps30 you mentioned looks like a prime candidate for a future upgrade. Currently I take 20 readings at one second intervals and then average them. This happens once every 5 minutes and gives a graph plot like this...... [image: 1563015389376-dust.jpg] This is using the Sharp GP2Y1010AU0F but done the right way, not like the build page ;)

@tsunami My setup is max 50m radius and 433MHz standard power RFM69s so a small 1/4 wave whip works reliably even from a below ground pump chamber 10m away. Your 915MHz at 200m SHOULD work on 1/4 wave if obstacle free line of sight, but you could try a 2.4GHz Wifi router at one location and use a mobile at the other to test if you can see the router. I can see at least 3 neighbouring routers identified on my mobile from over 40m away through masonry, 10 on the laptop, so it's a simple enough test. If you can see the router on either, 915MHz should be rock solid with a simple whip and no need of directional antenna.

Perhaps a bit off the wall, but if the objective is an email out, are GSM signals strong enough even at another high point which does afford radio line of sight to the objectives? Used this many years ago for remote monitoring, in one case the GSM atop a 5m pole with a wind generator attached topping up a pair of batteries, so completely self sufficient. Links to the metering points were low power RF, the landowner had no objections. Only problems encountered were vandals climbing the pole, solved by a good coat of Copaslip ;) , and a Stag which regularly danced on a GRP cover to a flow meter chamber, to the great amusement of the gamekeeper :laughing: