Posts made by anonymouslemming

@dbemowsk

Hmm - that's interesting. I've been looking at the Sonoff stuff since you posted this, thanks!

One of my goals is to have no Internet connectivity to my devices, and it looks like there are some firmware options that would let me achieve that. So that's a plus.

The minus so far is that I can't find anything about range extenders / relay (signal, not power) for these. Two of my early use cases are out of WiFi range, so I'd like to be able to have something between the shed and the controller that acts as a relay. One of the things that attracted me to MySensors is that nodes can act as relays for other nodes.

Do you know if that's possible with Sonoff ?

@doctor64
Hey - that does look really really good! I think I looked at it early in the project as inspiration.

The lamps I'm using (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/lighting/table-lamps/fado-table-lamp-white-art-10096375/) have in-line switches and there's no sensible space in the body to mount anything, so I need something that controls power at the plug socket end.

I also want them at the plug socket end just for more flexibility in the longer term so that they can drive things other than just lamps.

@ghiglie
It's stalled a bit due to work commitments. Prototype does everything EXCEPT keep the OpenHAB status in sync. I can control from openhab or from a separate node (that's just a switch).

I need to update the code on the light node to keep openhab in sync and it'll be done. Then on to trying to build hardware that'll suit.

@Boots33 said in [How to build an overridable MySensors relay based device

You can still notify the controller of the change but use node to node to activate the light. This is usually the simplest way to go. It also has the advantage that even if the controller is not available the light will still switch.

Ok - I'll look into that.

Like i said having the switch connected to the node that controls the light is the most reliable way, but not always the most convenient.

The node is going to be in a plug socket type device instead of in the lamp in some way. The lamp will plug into this socket. So I can't work out a way to conveniently have the local switch attached to that without being quite ugly and ungainly.

Where is the node that will control the light going to be. Are you fitting it inside the lamp or is it to be external?

It'll be external - built into a plug socket. I figured that gives me more space to work, much like the X10 equipment I'm replacing.

You may get some ideas from these posts

AC-DC double solid state relay module

Synchronising Light switch

AC Power controller with node to node remotes

Outdoors Touch Switch light controller

Thanks - I'll have a look over those !

@Boots33 said in How to build an overridable MySensors relay based device (e.g. lamp with manual switch):

Do you need this to go through your controller? Usually the best way to treat a remote switch is to use direct node to node communication.

The reason I was considering going via the controller is so that the controller stays in sync. My worry with communicating directly with the node is that then the controller will think that the light is on, when it's off, or vice versa.

Perhaps you can give us a better idea of the physical layout of your setup, this may help us to suggest a more specific solution.

For the initial prototype, it's a lamp that sits in the far corner of the lounge. Control is currently the in-line switch on the lamp cable. I'd like to place the local control switch somewhere near it, if not on the cable, then on the bookcase that the lamp sits on.

The ethernet gateway is about 5m away from this switch and plug socket, with the controller running on a VM on the same ethernet network.

@mfalkvidd Ok, that's great then - sounds like Option 2 is the way to go.

Now to try and work out how to have a press event on one node trigger the on/off on another node via OpenHAB.

Are you aware of any examples like that ?

@gohan I'm almost 100% sure they're clones, yeah. But they've been going for 2 days now across the range of my house (while in low power mode - no capacitor in place yet), so they'll do for prototyping.

Once I get to designing and printing boards, then I'll be a lot fussier

Hi all,

I finally got my first MySensors lamp working, controlled via OpenHab2.

My goal is to replace a couple of timers that we use either on vacation or when we have Christmas lights up with MySensors devices in the longer run.

In order to get wife approval factor, lamps need to be able to be manually switchable too. She doesn't want to have to get her phone out to turn the lamp on at odd times of day.

So far I have 2 ideas for indoor lights, and I'd like to know which one of these seems more sensible.

1. Have a switch attached to the lamp cord (replacing the existing switch) with 2 wires running to the smart plug I'm building. This would change the state of the relay and send a message to OpenHab reflecting this change.
2. Have a completely separate switch, battery powered, attached somewhere near the lamp being controlled. This would include an RF24 radio and act as a control for the lamp.

Option 1 would be cheaper, but have ugly wires running along the lamp wires.

Option 2 seems like it would be harder to miniaturize and power for longer periods of time.

Are there other options that I'm missing ?

What would you do ?

@gohan I have SOOO many spare RF24's now - I bought a batch of 10 off of Amazon while debugging this.

I finally got this working. My problem was my radio's were not communicating. I went back to basics with an RF24 example sketch and found one of my radio's to be dead. After replacing it, I simply set
MY_NODE_ID in my sketch and everything is now working.

@parachutesj said in Lost beginner - nodes, parent nodes and changes needed to sketches ?:

@anonymouslemming have you tried another arduino? I think I had once a similar issue, all was set correct but node did not connect. Changed the arduino and it worked.

I've tried 3 different Arduino Nano's on the switch module and 2 different radios. Replaced cables too. I tried a different Arduino Uno on the gateway module too.

@gohan said in Lost beginner - nodes, parent nodes and changes needed to sketches ?:

What do you mean you don't have a gateway in place?

Apologies - I mean that I don't have a controller in place at the moment. I do have the serial gateway running, but no node ID variables / defines in there.

@gohan said in Lost beginner - nodes, parent nodes and changes needed to sketches ?:

make sure #define MY_NODE_ID 3 and all other mysensors related defines are written before the #include <MySensors.h>

I've got the following near the top of the sketch:

// Enable debug prints to serial monitor
#define MY_DEBUG
// Enable and select radio type attached
#define MY_RADIO_NRF24
#define MY_NODE_ID 3
#include <MySensors.h>

There are no occurrences of MY_NODE_ID above this, but I'm seeing the same behaviour.

Is this test even useful? insofar as testing radio connectivity without a gateway in place ?

Is anyone able to share a circuit and a sketch for a simple relay that's known to work with OpenHAB, or should the examples be working ?

thanks,

I've taken OpenHAB out of the equation for the moment in the hopes of simplifying things. I'm just trying to get the 2 radios to connect.

I'm lost as to the actual syntax I should be using to set node IDs and sensor IDs.

On my serial gateway, I get the following when plugging it in:

0;255;3;0;9;MCO:BGN:INIT GW,CP=RNNGA--,VER=2.1.1
0;255;3;0;9;TSM:INIT
0;255;3;0;9;TSF:WUR:MS=0
0;255;3;0;9;TSM:INIT:TSP OK
0;255;3;0;9;TSM:INIT:GW MODE
0;255;3;0;9;TSM:READY:ID=0,PAR=0,DIS=0
0;255;3;0;9;MCO:REG:NOT NEEDED
0;255;3;0;14;Gateway startup complete.
0;255;0;0;18;2.1.1
0;255;3;0;9;MCO:BGN:STP
0;255;3;0;9;MCO:BGN:INIT OK,TSP=1

That looks about right to me.

On the sensor (light switch) device, I see the following when plugging it in:

TSM:INIT
TSM:RADIO:OK
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 255-255-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 255-255-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 255-255-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
TSM:FPAR
TSP:MSG:SEND 255-255-255-255 s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=bc:
!TSM:FPAR:FAIL
!TSM:FAILURE
TSM:PDT

From what I can tell, that means that the connection from the Arduino to the radio is good and the radio is healthy, but it's not being able to connect to anything.

I'm lost as to what part of the examples I should be including here to get these to connect.

I've got a MY_NODE_ID assigned. But what should I be setting for the Child Node ID in my sketch to correspond to this value in OpenHAB ?

Hi all,

I'm trying to get OpenHAB working in a test environment. I've built a serial gateway on an Arduino uno and used the GatewaySerial sketch.

I can add this as a Thing to OpenHAB by specifying the serial device and it shows as 'Online' in the Things view.

I'm now trying to add a switch which is an Arduino nano with a radio and a relay running the RelayActuator example sketch. Nothing is discovered, so I've chosen 'Manually Add Thing' and then chosen Switch.

In the switch menu, it prompts me for a node ID and a child node ID.

What values should I be using for these? And what do I need to change in my RelayActuator sketch for the device to have this info available ?

Thanks,

@gohan

@gohan said in Sensebender Europe resellers ?:

Of course, but since price was one of the requirements I just added the cheapest solution

Absolutely fair - I should have said that I'm keen to run the whole thing within my own network. I'd prefer not to use cloud services where I don't need to.

@gloob said in Sensebender Europe resellers ?:

If you use arduino nanos you don't need any regulators. they have 3.3V for the NRF24L01+ and 5V for the relay.
You even don't need an ethernet shield if you connect the gateway via USB to your controller (Raspberry pi, ...)

This would be my shoping list:

• 2 x https://de.aliexpress.com/item/Freeshipping-Nano-3-0-controller-compatible-for-arduino-nano-CH340-USB-driver-NO-CABLE/32341832857.html
• 2 x https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1pcs-Wireless-Transceiver-For-Arduino-NRF24L01-2-4GHz-Antenna-Module-For-Microcontroll-DropShipping/32599246022.html
• 1 x https://de.aliexpress.com/item/120pcs-40P-10cm-male-to-male-female-to-male-and-female-to-female-dupont-cable-connector/32798042976.html
• 1 x https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1-Channel-Relay-Module-Interface-Board-Shield-For-Arduino-5V-Low-Level-Trigger-One-PIC-AVR/32800597285.html

8$ for a complete test system.

That's really helpful - thanks! I'm considering the RFM69 for production build, but I figure the easier to get working (and no antenna needed option) of the NRF24L01 is easiest right now.

Can't beat that price!

@gohan said in Sensebender Europe resellers ?:

If you don't need battery powered sensors, you could use the 5V Arduinos.

That mean adding a regulator to my parts list above, right ?

I'm not considering any sensors at the moment, I just want to be able to trigger the lamp. So cost is the driving factor.

There are just so many parts to consider at https://www.mysensors.org/build/connect_radio#shopping-guide . I'm fairly handy with a soldering iron, and happy to just breadboard it for the initial work, so I wasn't planning on getting any of the solder free options until I started seeing how cheap they are there

@gloob said in Sensebender Europe resellers ?:

https://www.mysensors.org/build/ethernet_gateway

Nice - ta.

Does this sound like the full list of parts for my one lamp test project then:

Gateway

• Arduino
• W5100 module
• NRF24L01+ radio

Sensor

• Arduino
• NRF24L01+ radio
• Relay

Am I correct in saying that all of these items except the relay need 3.3v at most ?

My plan would then be to purchase 2 x Arduino micros so that if all goes well and I graduate to SenseBender for the gateway, I could reuse the second micro in a second sensor.

Any glaring issues with that list / plan?

Thanks in advance!

@Nca78 said in Sensebender Europe resellers ?:

Wow that's insane. I promise I won't complain anymore when DHL adds around 10$ for that (other express services do not).
Sometimes local post adds a fee, but it's like once every 20-30 envelopes, and only 20 000VND = less than 1$

Eh - I'm still going to complain

@gohan said in Sensebender Europe resellers ?:

For gateway you could use any arduino uno with or without a w5100 network or an esp8266 if you are just doing tests

ah, I wasn't aware of that. Are there any docs that demonstrate how to build a gateway using that ?

That might work out cheaper in the short term to see if this is a viable solution for what I want to do.

@hek said in Sensebender Europe resellers ?:

ITead

Thanks - I'll look into iTead.

For some reason stuff from the east seems to come past customs here, but stuff from America incurs duties. This is to the UK. Worse than the duties are the £9 handling fees from the courier because of the duties.

Hi all,

Are there any resellers of the Sensebender gateway modules in Europe ? I'm trying to build a simple proof of concept system with OpenHAB and one lamp controller, so most of the components (arduino, ethernet, radio) I can get from ebay or aliexpress.

However, I can only find the sensebender modules on openhardware.io and that means paying customs and duties on the import.

Thanks,