💬 Easy/Newbie PCB for MySensors
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I had mentioned this before, but the electrolytic capacitors wer put in the design using a ceramic capacitor designation which doesn't allow room for correct placement of capacitors. The main one is the one near the radio. The pads for the cap are spaced too far apart for a small electrolytic, and they are too close to the connector requiring that the capacitor leads be bent toward the radio connector to be able to get it to fit.
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@Lior-Rubin @dbemowsk - thanks you for the suggestions. I will take them into consideration!
Im not sure I will implement everything because the main purpose of this PCB is to keep it SIMPLE. Its a newbie/easy PCB and to many components and/or other things will make it hard for new members to use.
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 -
@Lior-Rubin @dbemowsk - thanks you for the suggestions. I will take them into consideration!
Im not sure I will implement everything because the main purpose of this PCB is to keep it SIMPLE. Its a newbie/easy PCB and to many components and/or other things will make it hard for new members to use.
I agree with sundberg84 here. Would it be nice to have those other features? Sure, but then you're limited to what else you can do. This is a GREAT board for many/most sensors around the house. And in regards to light or temp/hum, in my experience it's better to have these detached and in better location for detection while keeping "main" board. more out of sight.
I'll post up some pics of my builds for ideas, but I've built sensors with temp/hum, temp/hum/motion (both battery powered running for over 7 months) and my latest a Neopixel multi strip driver for kitchen cabinets using 5v regulated power. And I haven't had any issues with the cheap through hole ceramic caps for .10uf or the electrolytic caps for 4.7 or 10uf sizes on this board
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I agree with sundberg84 here. Would it be nice to have those other features? Sure, but then you're limited to what else you can do. This is a GREAT board for many/most sensors around the house. And in regards to light or temp/hum, in my experience it's better to have these detached and in better location for detection while keeping "main" board. more out of sight.
I'll post up some pics of my builds for ideas, but I've built sensors with temp/hum, temp/hum/motion (both battery powered running for over 7 months) and my latest a Neopixel multi strip driver for kitchen cabinets using 5v regulated power. And I haven't had any issues with the cheap through hole ceramic caps for .10uf or the electrolytic caps for 4.7 or 10uf sizes on this board
Only issue I've have was with resistor to D3 which I don't use. My first board I put a resistor there and when doing a trace noticed I was constantly getting regulated 3.3v and it fried my dht11. Might Have been I interpreed the purpose of it wrong as I am new to electrical engineering, but I digress. I just power the dht of of vcc and gnd in prototype area and wire sensor outpUT directly to D3 breakout. No resistor.
My biggest challenge is finding/building quality quick connects for quick changes and mods /addons. I've reverted to Barrel connectors as they're easily available and can get pigtail versions and panel mount Versons easily
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I too agree with @sundberg84 and @rchamp. You ask for a spot for all these different sensors, well it has it with the small proto area. If you make it specific to certain sensors you are limiting it's flexibility. the proto area as it sits is big enough, if I want to put a temp/humidity sensor, light sensor, motion sensor or whatever else, I can wire the connectors in the proto area. If anything, I might say to make that proto area even one row bigger in each direction to give a tad more room for maybe resistors or capacitors that may be needed for some sensors. May give a little more flexibility for if you wanted to do a multi sensor board.
@Lior Rubin, you said "ESP8266 option rather than Arduino " did you mean "ESP8266 option rather than nRF24"? Also,why would you need to put an TX/RX or FTDI connector. IF you use pro mini , it has the FTDI connector on it already.
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@sundberg84 I hit this post again today with the intention of finally biting the bullet and buying some boards - but then I saw your notes about the next revision of the board. Could you tell me when you're expecting to release that? Is it worth me waiting a while?
Thanks!
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@sundberg84 I hit this post again today with the intention of finally biting the bullet and buying some boards - but then I saw your notes about the next revision of the board. Could you tell me when you're expecting to release that? Is it worth me waiting a while?
Thanks!
@velkrosmaak - I dont know - im in the middle of another project and it wont be any bigger changes.
See the changelog above.
Only thing that can matter if you planning to do a project with 2 interupts that need D2 and D3, -
I too agree with @sundberg84 and @rchamp. You ask for a spot for all these different sensors, well it has it with the small proto area. If you make it specific to certain sensors you are limiting it's flexibility. the proto area as it sits is big enough, if I want to put a temp/humidity sensor, light sensor, motion sensor or whatever else, I can wire the connectors in the proto area. If anything, I might say to make that proto area even one row bigger in each direction to give a tad more room for maybe resistors or capacitors that may be needed for some sensors. May give a little more flexibility for if you wanted to do a multi sensor board.
@Lior Rubin, you said "ESP8266 option rather than Arduino " did you mean "ESP8266 option rather than nRF24"? Also,why would you need to put an TX/RX or FTDI connector. IF you use pro mini , it has the FTDI connector on it already.
@dbemowsk said:
@Lior Rubin, you said "ESP8266 option rather than Arduino " did you mean "ESP8266 option rather than nRF24"? Also,why would you need to put an TX/RX or FTDI connector. IF you use pro mini , it has the FTDI connector on it already.
I meant to use the ESP8266 option rather than the pro mini+nrf24. So to transfer the sensors to use IP and not radio.
for the FTDI, the connection on top of the arduino board is hard to connect because of the terminals.
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@dbemowsk said:
@Lior Rubin, you said "ESP8266 option rather than Arduino " did you mean "ESP8266 option rather than nRF24"? Also,why would you need to put an TX/RX or FTDI connector. IF you use pro mini , it has the FTDI connector on it already.
I meant to use the ESP8266 option rather than the pro mini+nrf24. So to transfer the sensors to use IP and not radio.
for the FTDI, the connection on top of the arduino board is hard to connect because of the terminals.
@Lior-Rubin said:
I meant to use the ESP8266 option rather than the pro mini+nrf24. So to transfer the sensors to use IP and not radio.
for the FTDI, the connection on top of the arduino board is hard to connect because of the terminals.
As for the FTDI connector, you have a few options. You can switch the right angled header pins for straight ones and plug in vertically. Option 2 is to mount it reversed pointing away from the terminals. Option 3, which is what I do, is to mount the Pro Mini with female header strips on the board. The ones that I use bring it up high enough where the FTDI connector clears the terminals if I use them. Doing it that way gives you the added benefit of being able to remove the pro mini and swap it if there is a problem.
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@velkrosmaak - I dont know - im in the middle of another project and it wont be any bigger changes.
See the changelog above.
Only thing that can matter if you planning to do a project with 2 interupts that need D2 and D3,@sundberg84 said:
Only thing that can matter if you planning to do a project with 2 interupts that need D2 and D3,
Even for that the current version is not a big problem. Just cut or unsolder the interrupt pin on the NRF24.
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Hi
Do anyone have a working sketch for a 2xAA battery powered DHT22 with Mysensors 2.0 that works with this pcb rev.8 ?//PT
@pettib - almost ;) https://github.com/sundberg84/MySensors2.0.0/blob/master/UVSensor/UVSensor.ino
This is a UV sensor - so everything else works. Just exchange the UV code for DHT22 code. -
Hi guys!
Any suggestions as to why my voltage on 3.3 is either battery voltage (if BAT is short circuited) or 0v if BAT not short circuited. I have the same problem on two boards so I guess I´ve done the same mistake twice and that it´s not H/W error.. This means the radio doesn´t work unless I have brand new batteries or hook it up to USB for programming..
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@ChrisW, I am assuming you are using 3.3v nanos. What are you using for batteries? Where are you measuring your 3.3v? I am assuming that you are measuring it on the radio on pin 2. When using the power booster at 3.3v, first measure the output power of the booster at the pin closest to the RAW input. If you have your 3.3v there, then you need to add a jumper to the regulator pads since you are not using a 3.3v regulator (below the 0.1uf and 10uf capacitors) for the radio. That jumper needs to go between the 2 pads near the flat edge of the regulator silkscreen. You can also jump the lower two pins from the BAT and REG jumpers, that does the same thing. This jumps your 3.3v over to the radio power in. DO NOT put a jumper across BAT. Adding that can ruin your radio if you put more than 3.3v on your PWR in from your batteries. The nRF24L01 radios are sensitive to the power applied to them.
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Hi guys!
Any suggestions as to why my voltage on 3.3 is either battery voltage (if BAT is short circuited) or 0v if BAT not short circuited. I have the same problem on two boards so I guess I´ve done the same mistake twice and that it´s not H/W error.. This means the radio doesn´t work unless I have brand new batteries or hook it up to USB for programming..
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@ChrisW, I am assuming you are using 3.3v nanos. What are you using for batteries? Where are you measuring your 3.3v? I am assuming that you are measuring it on the radio on pin 2. When using the power booster at 3.3v, first measure the output power of the booster at the pin closest to the RAW input. If you have your 3.3v there, then you need to add a jumper to the regulator pads since you are not using a 3.3v regulator (below the 0.1uf and 10uf capacitors) for the radio. That jumper needs to go between the 2 pads near the flat edge of the regulator silkscreen. You can also jump the lower two pins from the BAT and REG jumpers, that does the same thing. This jumps your 3.3v over to the radio power in. DO NOT put a jumper across BAT. Adding that can ruin your radio if you put more than 3.3v on your PWR in from your batteries. The nRF24L01 radios are sensitive to the power applied to them.
@dbemowsk , yes I am using the 3.3 nano.
I´m using 2 regular AA batteries 1,5 V. I am measuring on VCC for radio, which should be boosted to 3.3V.
VCC on the left pin layout is 3.3, the 3.3-pin is same as battery.Booster output is 3.3V.
I was unaware of the need for voltage regulator to the radio - since I´m going with 3.3 all the way I never realized this. That´s probably the culprit right there.I´ll try your suggestion tomorrow and see if it works out. Thank you for your time.
@sundberg84 , det är OK, det är inte mitt förstaspråk heller.. ;)
Tack för ett bra nybörjarpaket - väldigt enkelt att få ihop en bra hobbysensor!
Jag misstänker att det är som dbemowsk säger - att jag skulle haft en booster till radion också. -
@dbemowsk , yes I am using the 3.3 nano.
I´m using 2 regular AA batteries 1,5 V. I am measuring on VCC for radio, which should be boosted to 3.3V.
VCC on the left pin layout is 3.3, the 3.3-pin is same as battery.Booster output is 3.3V.
I was unaware of the need for voltage regulator to the radio - since I´m going with 3.3 all the way I never realized this. That´s probably the culprit right there.I´ll try your suggestion tomorrow and see if it works out. Thank you for your time.
@sundberg84 , det är OK, det är inte mitt förstaspråk heller.. ;)
Tack för ett bra nybörjarpaket - väldigt enkelt att få ihop en bra hobbysensor!
Jag misstänker att det är som dbemowsk säger - att jag skulle haft en booster till radion också.@ChrisW - Hi! (Writing in english so all can understand, även om det inte behövs :) )
When you are using 3.3v pro mini and booster with BAT jumper it should not be 3.3v over the radio. This is because the booster generates alot of noice and the radio can handle down to 1.9v without any issues. This is how the PCB was designed due to learning by doing. The radio uses what comes raw from the batteries without booster. Evreything else on the PCB is boosted.
If you are using 2xAA you should be able to run the it beteen 1.9V and 3V (which is most of the batteries since the voltage drops pretty fast below that).
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@dbemowsk , yes I am using the 3.3 nano.
I´m using 2 regular AA batteries 1,5 V. I am measuring on VCC for radio, which should be boosted to 3.3V.
VCC on the left pin layout is 3.3, the 3.3-pin is same as battery.Booster output is 3.3V.
I was unaware of the need for voltage regulator to the radio - since I´m going with 3.3 all the way I never realized this. That´s probably the culprit right there.I´ll try your suggestion tomorrow and see if it works out. Thank you for your time.
@sundberg84 , det är OK, det är inte mitt förstaspråk heller.. ;)
Tack för ett bra nybörjarpaket - väldigt enkelt att få ihop en bra hobbysensor!
Jag misstänker att det är som dbemowsk säger - att jag skulle haft en booster till radion också.@ChrisW said:
I was unaware of the need for voltage regulator to the radio - since I´m going with 3.3 all the way I never realized this.
That's what I was trying to explain. You do not need the regulator, but the board is set up to use one in the event that you might use a 5 volt nano. That is why I mentioned adding the jumper wire. That is to jumper the input and output pins of where the regulator would normally go IF you were using a 5 volt arduino.
EDIT:
@sundberg84 I think we were typing messages at the same time. I did not realize that the radio could run at that low of a voltage. My method jumps the boosted 3.3 volts over to the radio. Shouldn't adding the 0.1uf and 10uf caps attenuate the noise from the booster when jumping the regulator pins?Vera Plus running UI7 with MySensors, Sonoffs and 1-Wire devices
Visit my website for more Bits, Bytes and Ramblings from me: http://dan.bemowski.info/ -
@ChrisW said:
I was unaware of the need for voltage regulator to the radio - since I´m going with 3.3 all the way I never realized this.
That's what I was trying to explain. You do not need the regulator, but the board is set up to use one in the event that you might use a 5 volt nano. That is why I mentioned adding the jumper wire. That is to jumper the input and output pins of where the regulator would normally go IF you were using a 5 volt arduino.
EDIT:
@sundberg84 I think we were typing messages at the same time. I did not realize that the radio could run at that low of a voltage. My method jumps the boosted 3.3 volts over to the radio. Shouldn't adding the 0.1uf and 10uf caps attenuate the noise from the booster when jumping the regulator pins?@dbemowsk - What I know the booster generates ALOT of noice and are really dependent of the quality of the booster. They are expensive as it is and if you buy the china ones its a big risk you get disturbance to the radio even if you use caps!
I would not recommend to jump the boosted voltage to the radio. It might work in some cases (depending on the hardware) but there is a risk doing it.
Some boosters even generate so much noice that even if you havent it connected directly to the radio it doesnt work.
