Keen to build again
-
Hi all
I used to play around with these a few years ago. I had happy of sensors around the house which was connected to my Ethernet bridge which was connected to my Vera 3.
I still have the bridge and the Vera 3, but I haven't used them in years. I now run a couple instances of Home Assistant. I just checked in Vera and the bridge is reporting that it is running library version 2.3.1.
I'm thinking about searching for my box of things and start building some sensors. What do I have to do to make this happen?
Cheers!
-
Hi all
I used to play around with these a few years ago. I had happy of sensors around the house which was connected to my Ethernet bridge which was connected to my Vera 3.
I still have the bridge and the Vera 3, but I haven't used them in years. I now run a couple instances of Home Assistant. I just checked in Vera and the bridge is reporting that it is running library version 2.3.1.
I'm thinking about searching for my box of things and start building some sensors. What do I have to do to make this happen?
Cheers!
It looks like version 2.3.2 is the latest, so not much has changed seeing that my gateway is on 2.3.1.
Does anyone know if I can just start building new sensors using 2.3.2, or should I keep them the same and use 2.3.1?
This place used to be a very busy place years ago, it's sad that things have slowed down so much coz this was a great way to make things smart around your home without costing heaps.
-
I can't speak to the subtle differences between 2.3.2 and 2.3.1. I would advise on proceeding, whether upgrading or not.
A gateway to Home Assistant can run on an Arduino Nano with an nRF24 radio (or RF Nano found on AliExpress). This gateway can connect to Home Assistant via the serial port of the computer running Home Assistant.
I see that there is still a Vera integration on Home Assistant. You could probably pick up where you left off.
Yes, MySensors popularity has waned, but there are a few of us die-hards that check in from time to time. Please continue to share your experience.
OSD
-
I can't speak to the subtle differences between 2.3.2 and 2.3.1. I would advise on proceeding, whether upgrading or not.
A gateway to Home Assistant can run on an Arduino Nano with an nRF24 radio (or RF Nano found on AliExpress). This gateway can connect to Home Assistant via the serial port of the computer running Home Assistant.
I see that there is still a Vera integration on Home Assistant. You could probably pick up where you left off.
Yes, MySensors popularity has waned, but there are a few of us die-hards that check in from time to time. Please continue to share your experience.
OSD
@OldSurferDude said in Keen to build again:
I can't speak to the subtle differences between 2.3.2 and 2.3.1. I would advise on proceeding, whether upgrading or not.
A gateway to Home Assistant can run on an Arduino Nano with an nRF24 radio (or RF Nano found on AliExpress). This gateway can connect to Home Assistant via the serial port of the computer running Home Assistant.
I see that there is still a Vera integration on Home Assistant. You could probably pick up where you left off.
Yes, MySensors popularity has waned, but there are a few of us die-hards that check in from time to time. Please continue to share your experience.
OSD
Thanks heaps for your reply!!!!
I still have the gateway up and running and it's still integrated with Vera which in turn is setup in Home Assistant.
Do you know of a reason why there isn't so much interest in Mysensors? I know I sort of moved away because I ended up getting some Phillips Hue bulbs and then I bought a could of their sensors coz they were cheap and easy to integrate with everything and things just continued from there for me, but I always enjoyed building the sensors myself and learning, which is why I've returned.
-
@OldSurferDude said in Keen to build again:
I can't speak to the subtle differences between 2.3.2 and 2.3.1. I would advise on proceeding, whether upgrading or not.
A gateway to Home Assistant can run on an Arduino Nano with an nRF24 radio (or RF Nano found on AliExpress). This gateway can connect to Home Assistant via the serial port of the computer running Home Assistant.
I see that there is still a Vera integration on Home Assistant. You could probably pick up where you left off.
Yes, MySensors popularity has waned, but there are a few of us die-hards that check in from time to time. Please continue to share your experience.
OSD
Thanks heaps for your reply!!!!
I still have the gateway up and running and it's still integrated with Vera which in turn is setup in Home Assistant.
Do you know of a reason why there isn't so much interest in Mysensors? I know I sort of moved away because I ended up getting some Phillips Hue bulbs and then I bought a could of their sensors coz they were cheap and easy to integrate with everything and things just continued from there for me, but I always enjoyed building the sensors myself and learning, which is why I've returned.
@Homer I suspect the lack of interest is because there isn't much in the way of support anymore. Worse yet, I just (12h56PDT, 8 Aug 25) tried to go to the home page and it was not available. @mfalkvidd is very knowledgeable and, like me, shows up from time to time.
I think MySensors is the best "frugal tech". You can build a plethora of sensors for under USD$5 (plus housing).
I like tasmotized ESP8266, too, but that uses WiFi. These are automatically configured by Home Assistant (with the Tasmota integration). Most home routers max out on WiFi connections at 20-25, though. ESP devices can be programmed with c++ using the Arduino IDE. When configured, they can be OTA (Over-The-Air) reprogrammable.
I am under the impression that an ESP device can be a gateway. This would require the device to have a radio (nRF24?) so that MySensors sensors can connect through it.
But, the process to configure the gateway is on the homepage of MySensors. I hope it comes back :o
-
@Homer I suspect the lack of interest is because there isn't much in the way of support anymore. Worse yet, I just (12h56PDT, 8 Aug 25) tried to go to the home page and it was not available. @mfalkvidd is very knowledgeable and, like me, shows up from time to time.
I think MySensors is the best "frugal tech". You can build a plethora of sensors for under USD$5 (plus housing).
I like tasmotized ESP8266, too, but that uses WiFi. These are automatically configured by Home Assistant (with the Tasmota integration). Most home routers max out on WiFi connections at 20-25, though. ESP devices can be programmed with c++ using the Arduino IDE. When configured, they can be OTA (Over-The-Air) reprogrammable.
I am under the impression that an ESP device can be a gateway. This would require the device to have a radio (nRF24?) so that MySensors sensors can connect through it.
But, the process to configure the gateway is on the homepage of MySensors. I hope it comes back :o
-
It depends a lot on what you can do. As @OldSurferDude wrote, if you want a cheap solution, this is the way to go. Also when you need something that is not available on the market. Here below the list of my camper nodes.
IMO mySensors is the best possible alternative, if not the only one, to the systems that rely on standards, which require way too many resources for the job they are asked.
In my case, several nodes have edge capabilities, because they have to keep working even if the controller is not responsive.
-
If everything was working on 2.3.1, you should be able to pick up right where you left off. Most sensors built with 2.3.2 will still communicate fine with a 2.3.1 gateway, so you don’t need to overhaul anything unless you want to.
Home Assistant still supports MySensors, so you can integrate the gateway either over serial or via TCP if you ever move it off the Vera. Sounds like a fun project to revive! -
MySensors is an EXCELLENT project.
It allows for complete control over the various sensors.
It's extremely simple.
Its drawback is that it's open source, so it's unfunded and development is slow, but I don't think there are any better projects than this at the moment.
