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Not Too Techy windows controller

NotTooTechy last edited by

Hi, probably been asked a zillion times before but I have not found any posts specifically ralated to non-techy type controllers. I want to have all my automation stuff on a home network system and do not need access via smart-phone etc when away from the place. If everything is working as it should, then I would not need to control anything.

I can see where some outside access might be nice to see what's on and what's not, but we are retired and rarely away from home anyway. Also we live out in the boonies where mains-power and DSL can be off for five or six hours at a time. The squeaky wheel gets the oil, but, out here there are only a few wheels to squeak so our repairs are always well down the list. With only one of each, gotta take it or shiver.

I am looking for a x86 based controller (Lenovo Miix Tablet) that is not too hard to set up and maintain. I also have a model-B Raspi, but woudl like to use windows because of the touch screen. I looked at Dometicz but didn't like that as I have to give Lat/Lon for the install. None of their business. Then I started reading here and all the controllers I read about got very technical, very fast. I am not a novice when it comes to programming Arduino, but Linux is a mystery to me and I do not want to have to spend a month learning Linux/Java et al, just so I can have the heat turn on automatically.

So, what's a short list of Rpi or win86 GUI-controllers that are not too complicated to set up and use? I am not after anything fancy, just a few Nanos with DHT22 and Relay boards at this point.

Thanks
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@andriej Hi, I had problem using the main branch mysensors/Raspberry, that because of the bit-field struct (header_s) in Sensor.h They will get packed in different order on the arduino compared to the RPi (at least with my compiler, gcc). In order to fix this I created the 1.4dev branch. It uses full bytes instead of the bit-fields, but you need (of cause) to compile both the sensors (arduino) and the gateway (RPi) using the 1.4dev branch. We need to fix this in the main branch later on (and use the same files as in mysensors/Arduino/libraries/MySensors)
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@TheoL Not only did I put in delays, too, but I put in delays that were based upon the ID (which was stored in NVRAM)! This helped. caveat: This is probably not accurate be helps to explain the challenges with a large network. My initial experience with Arduino/nRF24 was using the libraries from TMRh20. Those libraries allowed a node to be a repeater, but only for 6 nodes. The primary node 0, master, only allowed 6 nodes to connect to it. The nodes connected to it also allowed 6 nodes. Subsequent nodes had to go through one of these repeating nodes. But the depth was only 4 deep. The master assigned node IDs if the node didn't already have one; similar to a MAC address. The master also kept track of the addresses (ARP table?). Addresses were 4 octets (base in the form of D/C/B/A. A node connected directly to the master had an address of 0/0/0/a (where 0/0/0/0 was reserved for the master). A node connected through another node had an address of 0/0/b/a, and so forth. But what happens is that a parent node has to mange the data from all its child nodes and their child nodes and their child nodes. Thus a node would get so bogged down dealing with this traffic that it din't do its sensor task very well. It is my belief that MySensors either uses TMRh20's libraries or has developed some aspects based on his initial work. I see that that TMRh20 has a version 2 and I have not experimented with it. I did find that MySensors worked better than version 1. Thus, my curiosity. I am also duly impressed at the magnitude of hardware. Currently a nano like device from Aliexperss is US$2-3, nRF24 ~ US$1, power supply ~ US$1.50, power cord ?, case?, sensors!? While the hardware cost is daunting, even with a PCB it's a lot of work building those up. So, yeah, I'm impressed! -OSD
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Nice work so far @wint0178, great that you try expanding on the examples. Sorry for the late reply. If you look at https://github.com/mysensors/MySensorsArduinoExamples/blob/bba998bce09bc5139eb4ca7a05b0279f4083ff88/examples/PressureSensor/PressureSensor.ino#L90 you see where the existing child ids are defines. You just add another one for the gas sensor, with a unique number (incrementing by 1 is an easy way). Try that and report back on your result. If something is unclear, just post a followup.
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@OldSurferDude Thanks a very valued to know. I was wondering today why my (big) powerbanks fall down after short time. I have small 1 & 2-pieces powerbanks, they work very well. I use also BSM hw-168 or hw-107 for charging single 18650. Will try to use them outside also with small solarpanels.
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General Discussion • • dbemowsk

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@OldSurferDude My old 2.0 setup is with nRF24L01 radios. This is a link to the thread on some light switches that I designed and built. https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/7376/us-decora-wall-switch-continued/2 I am aware that you cannot have two MQTT gatways. When I designed my old setup I was not that familiar with MQTT so I never ended up implementing it. On the home assistant server that I have set up though, I have installed the MQTT broker on there so I should be able to comunicate with any MySensors stuff over MQTT in the future devices I make/set up. As I mentioned, I do have a Home Assistant box that I have started about 4 months ago and eventually want to migrate my Vera equipment to the HA box. As for the YAML and Python, I'll muddle my way through. used to program in PHP and have done enough on Arduino that I'm sure it won't hurt my brain too much.
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@eiten Ran into the same error but of course the community is always at hand, ready to help! Great! I'm using MySensors 2.3.2 release version. Downgrading the ESP8266 board library to 2.7.4 as suggested by @OldSurferDude did the trick. I'm still clinging to MySensors. So simple and inexpensive to use! All sensors and other stuff connects over three MQTT GW in three locations back to my Home Assistant. PS: Get well soon! Regards, Gunnar

Not Too Techy windows controller

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