💬 Easy/Newbie PCB for MySensors

[sundberg84]

@Woodside all files should be posted @ openhsrdware.io. Is this some special file?

[kiesel]

@sundberg84 I did, thanks, I discovered ISRs. Thanks for the support.

[Woodside]

@sundberg84 The only file type I can find on openhardware.io for the schematic is a pdf. DIPTrace is a schematic and PCB layout tool and uses .sch format for the schematic files. It cannot import a schematic layout from a pdf.

I was hoping to use DIPTrace to update the schematic for my projects using the EasyPCB and then transfer the result onto the board.

[sundberg84]

@Woodside - you are correct, I have forgotten to update the Kicad Files. I have uploaded them all now - but... when I last made changes to these I upgraded from Kicad 4 to Kicad 5 which created some rescue/convert files. This made things very confusing with all the files and some things was not working properly if you didnt have all rescue files. There is a sch file - I hope it works for you.

[kiesel]

Is there a video of how to solder the signing chip? Because from what I can see there is a connection to be made right in the middle of the chip and I am not sure how to.

[Woodside]

@sundberg84 Thankyou

[sundberg84]

@kiesel - sorry, no video of this available at the moment. I made one some time ago but my HD crashed so I lost all my video of a project i made with signing. Maybe I have some left on the videocamera - I will check tonight.

What do you mean with "connection in the middle"? I know there was a fault in the old gerbers with D6 not connecting to the arduino but this was fixed in May so if you have new boards it should be fine. Make a continuity test from SCK (Pin6 on signing chip) to D6 on the arduino.

[Anticimex]

@kiesel It is a SOT23 if I remember correctly. There are only 3 pins, no pad underneath so soldering should be easy.
Perhaps the copper you see is part of a ground plane? It will not connect to the signing chip in any case.

[sundberg84]

@Anticimex @kiesel - yes, you are right - i mixed it up with the flash chip. Signing should be good - no issues reported (i have had several boards myself working fine).

[kiesel]

@Anticimex ,@sundberg84

Thanks for the help, I think I was looking at the wrong chip. The one I considered byuing had 6 legs, not only 3. I was thrown off by the easypcb having what appears to be 7 soldering points in the signing area.

[Anticimex]

@kiesel Beware that I believe the 6 leg chip is I2C which is not supported. Only the 3 leg SWI variant is supported.

[Mr_sensor]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask. But it seems right to me :)
Hi I have e few of the Easy/Newbie-pcb working for some time with good effort. One of them even in a shed at 20 - 25 meters in the garden which is fairly good isolated. Sending Temp/Hum/battery level. And the Gateway is in the house on the first floor behind a door in a wardrobe.

Now I have a second shed which is behind the fist shed. Also very good isolated. The pcb I have in there is not reaching the gateway (it did before until the battery was empty).
Can I have the pcb in the first shed also working as an extender, so the second pcb will be able to send out topics to the gateway as well? What to add to my code to achieve that?

[Nca78]

@Mr_sensor said in 💬 Easy/Newbie PCB for MySensors:

Can I have the pcb in the first shed also working as an extender, so the second pcb will be able to send out topics to the gateway as well? What to add to my code to achieve that?

Hello,
you must program it to be a repeater. Of course it will need to have radio on all the time, so it cannot be battery-powered.
https://www.mysensors.org/download/sensor_api_20#create-repeating-nodes

[benhub]

I'm thinking about switching to RFM69 with some of my nodes. From what I saw, RFM69 uses the same pins as nrf24l01 (except for pin 9 on Arduino). So, theoretically, would it be possible to connect the RFM69 to the nrf24l01 Easy PCB board (Rev 10) — of course, I will not fit directly and I have to create some adapter. But it should be possible, right?

[sundberg84]

@benhub - hello!
You need some sort of adapter, the use similar pins but not in the same order/layout.
Here is a suggestion for adapter: https://www.openhardware.io/view/601/NRF24-to-RFM69-converter

But... you know there is a RFM version of the EasyPCB right?
https://www.openhardware.io/view/389/EasyNewbie-PCB-RFM69-HWW-edition-for-MySensors

[benhub]

@sundberg84 Cool! Thanks for your quick response!

But... you know there is a RFM version of the EasyPCB right?

Yes, I know, but I already have nrf24 boards at home which I want to use too. So cool that it should be possible.

[sundberg84]

@benhub - ok, there are some things you need to consider, and that is the space of the adapter.
I read now i "suggested" this adapter, but let me clear it it is not tested, maybe a language barrier from my side.

You need to consider that it fits in the board and do not crash into other compontens, like the arduino.
If it does, you maybe need to consider some other board or even build one.

[koumac77]

This post is deleted!

[koumac77]

Hello,

I want to dive in home automation using home assistant and MySensors DIY modules
I decided to order your boards from pcbway.com but when I select it, there is sql error
I discussed with their support but they were not able to find your PCB....
Can you give me an url link to order your 10x PCB from them ?
Thanks a lot for your design/support.
JC

I am looking for the Nrf24l01+ edition of EasyPCB
but could you tell me if It would be better to go with the RFM69 transceiver version ?
What are the pro and cons for Nrf24l01+ and RFM69 transceiver ?
Could there be a problem with WIFI objects using Nrf24l01+ ?

[koumac77]

After new exchanges with PCBWay support,
problem fixed : i was able to order the 10x PCBEasy from PCBWay store.

Hoping to have some answers for best choice between Nrf24l01+ and RFM69 transceivers.
I am in France