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  3. First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.

First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.

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  • sundberg84S Offline
    sundberg84S Offline
    sundberg84
    Hardware Contributor
    wrote on last edited by
    #3

    That is some nice patience/soldering skills. I remember doing these nodes and everytime I tried to push everything inside the case some wire broke lose from the joint (cheap dupont cables) or the cable was to short. Great work!

    As suggestet, to be able to power it for a long time with those batteries I would also remove led and voltage regulator to save some mA. Have a look here: https://www.mysensors.org/build/battery

    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

    1 Reply Last reply
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    • gohanG Offline
      gohanG Offline
      gohan
      Mod
      wrote on last edited by
      #4

      If you want to go a little smaller, consider using a single LiFePO4 AA battery

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      • zboblamontZ zboblamont

        @defMondo Suggest you Google physically modifying the board to get really low power in sleep mode, the LED is burning energy etc...

        defMondoD Offline
        defMondoD Offline
        defMondo
        wrote on last edited by
        #5

        @zboblamont thanks for that, will have a look for that.

        If I find I end up deploying a few more of these or similar units I may end up getting a PCB made up where the radio will just plug(solder) in with the bear essentials, similar to the mysensors one except with a different form factor to suit these 4AA boxes.

        Thanks, @sundberg84, I ended up mounting the board and then soldering the wires in while the boards were in place which would reduce the chances of braking wires trying to cram them in :-)

        @gohan Will look into that thanks, although if the standard batteries last a long time not to fussed about replacing them periodically but I guess the 3.2v would be better to run the arduino and radio from.

        zboblamontZ 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • defMondoD defMondo

          @zboblamont thanks for that, will have a look for that.

          If I find I end up deploying a few more of these or similar units I may end up getting a PCB made up where the radio will just plug(solder) in with the bear essentials, similar to the mysensors one except with a different form factor to suit these 4AA boxes.

          Thanks, @sundberg84, I ended up mounting the board and then soldering the wires in while the boards were in place which would reduce the chances of braking wires trying to cram them in :-)

          @gohan Will look into that thanks, although if the standard batteries last a long time not to fussed about replacing them periodically but I guess the 3.2v would be better to run the arduino and radio from.

          zboblamontZ Offline
          zboblamontZ Offline
          zboblamont
          wrote on last edited by
          #6

          @defMondo No need to make your own PCB etc unless you really want to, there are plenty of choices from folks who already trod that path, here and elsewhere... Moteino were one of the first I believe, loads of others since...

          defMondoD 1 Reply Last reply
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          • zboblamontZ zboblamont

            @defMondo No need to make your own PCB etc unless you really want to, there are plenty of choices from folks who already trod that path, here and elsewhere... Moteino were one of the first I believe, loads of others since...

            defMondoD Offline
            defMondoD Offline
            defMondo
            wrote on last edited by
            #7

            @zboblamont thanks for that, the Moteino looks good except I'm trying to go with the nRF modules, would be great it it could come with one of those. Found a few others as well but haven't seen one in the right format for my needs, but yeah will look further before getting my own ones made, not a fan of surface mount soldering with a normal iron.

            sundberg84S Nca78N 2 Replies Last reply
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            • defMondoD defMondo

              @zboblamont thanks for that, the Moteino looks good except I'm trying to go with the nRF modules, would be great it it could come with one of those. Found a few others as well but haven't seen one in the right format for my needs, but yeah will look further before getting my own ones made, not a fan of surface mount soldering with a normal iron.

              sundberg84S Offline
              sundberg84S Offline
              sundberg84
              Hardware Contributor
              wrote on last edited by sundberg84
              #8

              @defMondo www.openhardware.io, https://www.mysensors.org/hardware

              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

              defMondoD 1 Reply Last reply
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              • sundberg84S sundberg84

                @defMondo www.openhardware.io, https://www.mysensors.org/hardware

                defMondoD Offline
                defMondoD Offline
                defMondo
                wrote on last edited by
                #9

                Thanks for the links @sundberg84 , I was aware of the mysensors stuff I like the formfactor of the Sensebender Micro althought not a fan of the internal temp sensor. I guess you can always ignore it.

                Have only had a quick look at the OpenHardware site will look more closely tonight, see if anything jumps out at me.

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                • defMondoD defMondo

                  @zboblamont thanks for that, the Moteino looks good except I'm trying to go with the nRF modules, would be great it it could come with one of those. Found a few others as well but haven't seen one in the right format for my needs, but yeah will look further before getting my own ones made, not a fan of surface mount soldering with a normal iron.

                  Nca78N Offline
                  Nca78N Offline
                  Nca78
                  Hardware Contributor
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #10

                  @defMondo said in First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.:

                  Found a few others as well but haven't seen one in the right format for my needs, but yeah will look further before getting my own ones made, not a fan of surface mount soldering with a normal iron.

                  I'm pretty sure NModule with TH/Door shield will fit in your box, or just NModule with wires to your temp sensor ;)
                  https://www.openhardware.io/view/364/NModule

                  defMondoD 1 Reply Last reply
                  1
                  • Nca78N Nca78

                    @defMondo said in First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.:

                    Found a few others as well but haven't seen one in the right format for my needs, but yeah will look further before getting my own ones made, not a fan of surface mount soldering with a normal iron.

                    I'm pretty sure NModule with TH/Door shield will fit in your box, or just NModule with wires to your temp sensor ;)
                    https://www.openhardware.io/view/364/NModule

                    defMondoD Offline
                    defMondoD Offline
                    defMondo
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #11

                    Thanks @Nca78, that looks almost spot on, I already have the standard nrf24 modules though so would require a bit of wiring still. If it wasn't for that it would have been perfect

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                    • sglueS Offline
                      sglueS Offline
                      sglue
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #12

                      Similar setup using 4AA enclosure but using sensebender micro, batteries being running for more than 6 months and only 50% used.

                      https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/5033/clean-looking-sensor-node/31

                      Nca78N 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • sglueS sglue

                        Similar setup using 4AA enclosure but using sensebender micro, batteries being running for more than 6 months and only 50% used.

                        https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/5033/clean-looking-sensor-node/31

                        Nca78N Offline
                        Nca78N Offline
                        Nca78
                        Hardware Contributor
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #13

                        @sglue said in First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.:

                        Similar setup using 4AA enclosure but using sensebender micro, batteries being running for more than 6 months and only 50% used.

                        https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/5033/clean-looking-sensor-node/31

                        Then you probably have a lot of room for improvement, AA batteries have a huge capacity compared to CR2032 (10 times more) and my temperature sensors are going to run way over one year if I believe the battery readings.
                        At what voltage are you running your sensebender micro ?

                        sglueS 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • Nca78N Nca78

                          @sglue said in First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.:

                          Similar setup using 4AA enclosure but using sensebender micro, batteries being running for more than 6 months and only 50% used.

                          https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/5033/clean-looking-sensor-node/31

                          Then you probably have a lot of room for improvement, AA batteries have a huge capacity compared to CR2032 (10 times more) and my temperature sensors are going to run way over one year if I believe the battery readings.
                          At what voltage are you running your sensebender micro ?

                          sglueS Offline
                          sglueS Offline
                          sglue
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #14

                          @Nca78 said in First go at a smallish TH sensor that can be deployed anywhere.:

                          At what voltage are you running your sensebender micro ?

                          Using 2x AA batteries (3V)
                          Current multimeter reading is 2.75V, reading on Vera is 57%.
                          Looks like reading on Vera is out.
                          I've stuck on a sticker with today's date to see how long sensebender will go on, probably a few years.

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