First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.

[defMondo]

I'm a bit of a newb when it comes to mysensors framework only been trying to get my head around it for a couple of weeks this is the first sensor I've put together which is packaged in a relative small footprint.

Its all packaged up inside a 4AA battery enclosure including the 2AA's which power it.

Still a bit of a work in progress and this is the first one I've packaged to try at various places around the house to check range and actually conditions.

I've put more details in what I hope will be a regular updated blog with this home automation journey.

https://mondotron.blogspot.com.au/2017/08/easily-deploy-able-temp-and-humidity.html

Any suggestions welcome.

Cheers,
Tony

[zboblamont]

@defMondo Suggest you Google physically modifying the board to get really low power in sleep mode, the LED is burning energy etc...

[sundberg84]

That is some nice patience/soldering skills. I remember doing these nodes and everytime I tried to push everything inside the case some wire broke lose from the joint (cheap dupont cables) or the cable was to short. Great work!

As suggestet, to be able to power it for a long time with those batteries I would also remove led and voltage regulator to save some mA. Have a look here: https://www.mysensors.org/build/battery

[gohan]

If you want to go a little smaller, consider using a single LiFePO4 AA battery

[defMondo]

@zboblamont thanks for that, will have a look for that.

If I find I end up deploying a few more of these or similar units I may end up getting a PCB made up where the radio will just plug(solder) in with the bear essentials, similar to the mysensors one except with a different form factor to suit these 4AA boxes.

Thanks, @sundberg84, I ended up mounting the board and then soldering the wires in while the boards were in place which would reduce the chances of braking wires trying to cram them in

@gohan Will look into that thanks, although if the standard batteries last a long time not to fussed about replacing them periodically but I guess the 3.2v would be better to run the arduino and radio from.

[zboblamont]

@defMondo No need to make your own PCB etc unless you really want to, there are plenty of choices from folks who already trod that path, here and elsewhere... Moteino were one of the first I believe, loads of others since...

[defMondo]

@zboblamont thanks for that, the Moteino looks good except I'm trying to go with the nRF modules, would be great it it could come with one of those. Found a few others as well but haven't seen one in the right format for my needs, but yeah will look further before getting my own ones made, not a fan of surface mount soldering with a normal iron.

[sundberg84]

@defMondo www.openhardware.io, https://www.mysensors.org/hardware

[defMondo]

Thanks for the links @sundberg84 , I was aware of the mysensors stuff I like the formfactor of the Sensebender Micro althought not a fan of the internal temp sensor. I guess you can always ignore it.

Have only had a quick look at the OpenHardware site will look more closely tonight, see if anything jumps out at me.

[Nca78]

@defMondo said in First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.:

Found a few others as well but haven't seen one in the right format for my needs, but yeah will look further before getting my own ones made, not a fan of surface mount soldering with a normal iron.

I'm pretty sure NModule with TH/Door shield will fit in your box, or just NModule with wires to your temp sensor
https://www.openhardware.io/view/364/NModule

[defMondo]

Thanks @Nca78, that looks almost spot on, I already have the standard nrf24 modules though so would require a bit of wiring still. If it wasn't for that it would have been perfect

[sglue]

Similar setup using 4AA enclosure but using sensebender micro, batteries being running for more than 6 months and only 50% used.

https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/5033/clean-looking-sensor-node/31

[Nca78]

@sglue said in First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.:

Similar setup using 4AA enclosure but using sensebender micro, batteries being running for more than 6 months and only 50% used.

https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/5033/clean-looking-sensor-node/31

Then you probably have a lot of room for improvement, AA batteries have a huge capacity compared to CR2032 (10 times more) and my temperature sensors are going to run way over one year if I believe the battery readings.
At what voltage are you running your sensebender micro ?

[sglue]

@Nca78 said in First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.:

At what voltage are you running your sensebender micro ?

Using 2x AA batteries (3V)
Current multimeter reading is 2.75V, reading on Vera is 57%.
Looks like reading on Vera is out.
I've stuck on a sticker with today's date to see how long sensebender will go on, probably a few years.