Easy/Newbie PCB for MySensors
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You use any sketch you want. The PCB is just a platform for the arduino and radio and sensor input.
Then you upload your code to the arduino as usual (see the getting started and build section for code examples.To save battery use the sleep function, you find all info in the battery page.
Good luck! -
@jlehtinen @Dylano - Thank you for the kind words. My reward is to see so many use it and it helps people out.
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as said, excellent design, should come as an option in the store, so that people can just get started.
Is there maybe a revision or version where radio is 180 degrees rotated, so that it "covers" the pins on the left (radio antena is looking down)? That way we can have radio on the stands, and after we solder pins then we just plug inn the radio, that would reduce overall footprint while still having all other benefits? I might try to modify the PCB when I find time, but just trowing ideas in the air :)
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@dakipro - as @mfalkvidd said, i have learnt that the hard way.
Feel free to change and modify the design, it might work in some cases but as generic/general pcb having the radio sticking out some has worked best. -
ok, i was not considering that at all... I made few sensors in a "sandwich" of radio and pro mini and they worked fine (although they are pretty close to gateway now that I think about it), so it seamed like the logical choice to have radio in parallell with something else :)
But then I will not complicate my life and order package of the board, and ofcourse donate a few bucks to support hard work and your time! :+1: -
I bought a pile of these too. Thanks @sundberg84 - Now for the RFM69 version ? :-)
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@shabba - I dont use RFM69 but if you order and debug i can build it.
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@sundberg84 I am ordering the PCB's of Ver.8 today. Again, really nice and helpful work for newbies like me. Just one newbie question, though. I understand that both Arduino and NRF are capable of operating down to about 2V. Why do we need the booster in battery operation. I plan to use only Dallas 18B20. Thanks.
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@nunver Some sensors are not able to work down below 3.3v, and the im really skeptical if you can operate the arduino 3.3v down to 2v... mine dies when it reaches like 2.8V. Also, with a booster you can operate down to 0.9v - so i highly recommend it.
Controller: Proxmox VM - Home Assistant
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - W5100 Ethernet, Gw Shield Nrf24l01+ 2,4Ghz
MySensors GW: Arduino Uno - Gw Shield RFM69, 433mhz
RFLink GW - Arduino Mega + RFLink Shield, 433mhz -
@nunver Some sensors are not able to work down below 3.3v, and the im really skeptical if you can operate the arduino 3.3v down to 2v... mine dies when it reaches like 2.8V. Also, with a booster you can operate down to 0.9v - so i highly recommend it.
@sundberg84 to get the arduino to operate at lower voltages you need to reconfigure a few fuses. Brown out reset and such things. I've seen the settings somewhere in the forum and a google search also works. There are online tools to set up the fuses (to get the values to write that is).
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@nunver Some sensors are not able to work down below 3.3v, and the im really skeptical if you can operate the arduino 3.3v down to 2v... mine dies when it reaches like 2.8V. Also, with a booster you can operate down to 0.9v - so i highly recommend it.
@sundberg84 thanks for clarification. From what @Anticimex wrote, I understand I have to tinker beyond my newbie hat :smile: to get Arduino to operate without booster. Thanks again.
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@Anticimex Thank you for that input - i have not change the fuses.
But a small warning to new members - its not kind of newbie friendly. -
I just received first order and made one sensor, and I must say that I was a bit skeptical if this is the right pcb for me, I was thinking on somehow reducing footprint a bit or having a better idea about positioning of elements etc, but after making one node I realized that I LOVE IT! :)
It brings back the title of the build section of this website (Build = Fun), wheres before I would spend a whole afternoon (and usually have a headache in the evening) for just connecting the radio on the prototype board. Now I made a node with 4 nodes in ~1 hour, and it looks much better then the wire mess from before (old node on the right)
However I did spent about 3 hours debugging why my "touch" capacitive sensor doesn't work when I plug inn the radio (it works fine without the radio, which was just headbanging to figure out).
I have found that pin 2 is connected to the radio, which could be a good thing if mysensors begins to use IRQ pin on the radio. This probably works in 99% of the cases as it is today, but for the capacitive touch sensor when resistor is connected between pins 2 and four, node never detects that you are touching it. Scalpel blade solved this pretty easily, but it took me 4 hours to figure out what was going on and why my touch sensor doesn't work.
I would suggest then to either make pin 2 reserved to the radio, thus removing it from the "available pins" area, or disconnect it from the radio for the time being (not sure when it is planned to use IRQ pin). Or at least marking it somehow on the board if possible, so that we get reminded that pin2 is connected to the radio as well and could interfere with some sensors.
While on the subject of suggestions, I see there is almost no connections bellow the radio, so maybe radio could go a bit lower in the board so that it doesn't stick (having no metal parts/lines bellow the radio should not obstruct the signal, it is just empty pcb?) Preserving space for antenna could be done something like this https://www.openhardware.io/uploads/56ecf010b2b0966107ebedfa/image/1458410585539-image.jpeg . I am not sure when I will have some time (and energy) to learn to modify pcb files my self, but maybe it is easy for someone to try it :)
Otherwise, as said before, excellent work, this should be featured in the 'build' section of the website as it is one of the most useful things, especially for novices.
Thank you for making it
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Hi @dakipro! Thank you for those kind words and thank you for the feedback.
About the IRQ pin, I will consider that, maybe a jumper, but what i know of the radio should not use this at all. Im not sure why its not working but good you found out. Do you use D3 for other things - if not i recommend to always use d3 instead of d2/irq.
Yes, in 99% if the cases you should be able to have the radio over the board... BUT I have had issue and since it should be a newbie frendly board i want it to work 100% of the times.
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I used d3 for dallas temp sensor but have already soldered d2 to touch sensor. Touch sensor is very unique as it is measuring resistance (actually i think it is measuring time) between to pins, and when you connect 1Mohm resistor between d4 and d2, then radio introduces some other resistance or something, and that messes up the readings for touch. We can use other pins, but pins 2 and 4 are set by default, and it never occurred to me that it is the radio-pin ting.
I have quite a few sleeping sensors where PIR is connected to d2 and door-magnet-sensor is connected to d3 for example, as those are (if I understood it right) pins that can wake up the node from sleeping. Maybe radio can interfere with some of those "common" sensors usually connected to the wake-up pins?
I would then vote for having d2 available in the "available pins" area because it is one of two wakeup pins, and maybe as you suggested have a jumper (or a disconnected line, that can be just shorted with a short wire) that goes to irq.
Anyway, I think it is not an issue-critical as a knife solves it quickly, but it could demoralize us newbies :)
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I just got notification from Paypal that my donation was returned due to non-acceptance. I never experienced someone not willing to take donations via donate button :)
I used the donations link on the right box here
https://www.openhardware.io/view/4/EasyNewbie-PCB-for-MySensorsIf it is due to technical reasons that is ok, but maybe you want to check the link or paypal notifications or something if you want to receive donations
