Easy/Newbie PCB for MySensors

[sundberg84]

@barna - what was the radio problem? If it was range issues i have figured out that some boosters are bad quality but it helps to have a 0,1uF capacitor between out and gnd on the booster.

Note that you can not use both REG and BAT function at the same time.

I mean this:

but if you only have 2.6v im not sure the arduino is going to function properly. With this setup the booster is not active and 2.6v is fed into all components. this is meant for 5v.

As i said - i recommend using the bat and booster setup and instead try to figure out the radio problem.

[Barna]

@sundberg84 I'm using battery with booster

[sundberg84]

Then connect it like battery and booster (BAT jumper) and try to figure out why you have the radio problems. Thats my advice. The above is possible (REG) but as i said, i dont think it will work when the battery goes below 2.6v.

[Barna]

@sundberg84
1.
with battery jumper the radio will get direct 2.6v and work until 1.9v
arduino will get 3.3v via booster
2.
If I bypass the REG all of them will get 2.6v
Is my thinking right ?

[sundberg84]

@Barna - Exactly!
So again - go with 1. if you are using 2xAA since the arduino needs 2.6-2.8v to funciton.

[Barna]

@sundberg84
why is it problem technically, if I give boosted 3.3 to radio ?

[sundberg84]

@Barna - the Radio is very sensitive to spikes and disturbance in power. The booster generates more disturbance than the batteries. Thats why we came to the conclution that Bat -> radio is the best choise. If not, you can remove some disturbance with a capacitor as I wrote above with 0.1uF from out to ground on the booster.

The PCB is designed in either Bat or Reg and its not optimal using battery power, booster and a jumper on reg. You will get two voltages (bat + 3.3booster to radio):

You can try different setups - report back :) but i can only recommend the modes described in the openhardware.io

[Barna]

Hi sundberg84,
Is it possible to use 5v mini + 9v battery with measurement ?
I put an voltage regulator to booster place and power the radio from mini with 5-3.3 regulator ?
What do you think ?

I think I could use the 9V as source as raw, but it could be problematic because it is an battery, so I would like to measue it.

thanks
Barna

[sundberg84]

@Barna - Powering it through RAW is possible but if you want to use the booster and battery measuring this is not an option , you need to power it through PWR and BAT jumper. I think what you describe is possible but untested. First you need to find/create a booster that can handle the battery. Also you need to make corrections on the voltage divider(47k and 67k?) for the battery measuring and also code changes.

Please share your results - this is good if this works!
I was about to create one of these myself the other day - but other projects came by so i just skipped it and running a 3.3v (removed led) on 9v trough raw and it works... no measuring though so no clue how long it will last.

[Barna]

I'm not profi, is my logic correct?
general, not PBC related
I could power the mini 5V with 9V and mini's regulator converts it to 5V.
Mini could give power to radio by 5->3.3 regulator.
I could measure the voltage without booster, but the booster is good to use the battery until it is possible ?

[Barna]

maybe this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2A-DC-DC-Boost-Step-up-Conversion-Module-MicroUSB-2V-24V-to-5V-28V-9V-12V-24V-/321928461470?hash=item4af46e7c9e:g:4mgAAOSwbdpWUq5p

[sundberg84]

@Barna Your logic is correct - you can power a mini through raw and the minis regulator will convert it to 5v but then you can not use the booster. You will have power as long as the battery is between aprox. 6 and 9 v (minis voltage converter specs), below that it will die.

[tlpeter]

I have ordered some boards and i am looking forward to play with them.
I tried soldering some part and a nano on a soldering board but apparently my soldering skills and patience isn't what it used to be in the past.
@sundberg84 it looks good.

[sundberg84]

@tlpeter thank you and good luck. Just give a shout if you have questions.

[tlpeter]

I do have some questions :smiley:

I think i got it a bit. When i use a 3,3V mini then i do not need the 3,3V regulator and it is powered with a battery. If i use a 5V mini then i need the regulator. Is this correct?

Do i need the booster if batteries are used?

How about the RAW option? How does it go to 5V? i need the regulator to go to 3,3V so how do i loose the 6-12V :smiley:

[sundberg84]

@tlpeter said:

When i use a 3,3V mini then i do not need the 3,3V regulator and it is powered with a battery. If i use a 5V mini then i need the regulator. Is this correct?

Correct!! You need to add the jumper to BAT if you go with 3.3 and battery or REG if you go with 5v and voltage regulator.

Do i need the booster if batteries are used?

No, you can bypass it with a jumper/wire - but it will give you alot of extra. Without the booster the arduino 3.3v will die somewhere between 2.8 and 3 volts, with booster you can go down to 1.9v.

How about the RAW option? How does it go to 5V? i need the regulator to go to 3,3V so how do i loose the 6-12V :smiley:

There is a voltage regulater on board the pro mini that handels from 6-12v (be cautious using 12 v, 9v is max i recommend on clones). This will convert your RAW to 5v and provide the board with this. Then the external regulator will go from 5 to radio 3.3v.

[tlpeter]

Ok, very clear.
So now i have a new question, i want to use a solar panel and a battery but this will go above the 3.7V when there is light and the battery pack is 3.7V so i must use the raw connection.
I also want to measure the battery and i think this needs PWR :smiley:

Can i do this?

I want to build the solar powered mini weather station:

https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/841/solar-powered-mini-weather-station

Thanks already.

[sundberg84]

@tlpeter You can use raw for 3.7V and make it down to 3.3 with the internal voltage regulator onboard the arduino, but you can not connect anything to PWR then because this will allready be 3.3V! The internal voltage regulator vill output 3.3v to the PCB from the arduino.

However, I think you can connect the battery directly to the battery measurment on the board as long as you use the same ground for both. You will need to make some new calculations (most are based on 2xAA = 3.0V) for your battery.

[tlpeter]

I didn't use your board in this case (the weather station) but i will do in the future.
I did connect the battery to the raw pin and it is working fine.
Funny, a solar panel with a battery powering the pro mini with DHT22 and BMP180.
For now i will keep it simple but later on i want a rain gauge and windmeter too.
Rain sensor is on a different Nano as this needs to be powered all the time.
It will control my sunscreen later on.

[NiklasO]

This board looks great! Definitely going to order some.

Just getting started with MySensors. Waiting for over 20 orders from eBay with stuff. Should be fun!
Already running Domoticz (Pi 2) with RFXtrx433, 1-wire and z-wave. Going to build a serial gateway for direct connection to the Pi.

My last name before I married (now divorced) was Sundberg btw. Could have had Sundberg82 as nickname. ;)