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    dbemowsk

    @dbemowsk

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    Website dan.bemowski.info/ Location Wisconsin USA Age 58

    dbemowsk Follow
    Hardware Contributor

    Best posts made by dbemowsk

    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      Though not fully finished, I am prototyping a new in-wall switch/scene controller with an integrated 128x64 OLED display. The design is made to fit my decora wall switch design that I had posted a while back. Here is a mock up of how I think the keypad and screen will be layed out.
      !0_1513471867393_4ef1b764-81be-48e7-9047-0493e0467626-image.png
      0_1513471973166_221268ef-db5a-4572-9929-536364bbd172-image.png

      For the screen, I am hoping to display the current room temperature and possibly the outside temp. I can also scroll messages across the screen if needed. I can also do some custom graphics and icons.

      I have tested the display connected to my uno with the Adafruit sample code and think it does a nice job. This is not my video, but it is the same sample code that I used to test it.
      128x64 cheap OLED display Adafruit library Arduino UNO – 00:59
      — Cutter Slade

      I'll post more as I get further along.

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • Custom icons

      I thought I would post a few custom icons that I made for my Domoticz setup. If anyone is interested I will post the zip files needed to add them to Domoticz.
      Garage door controller Garage door off Garage door on

      Irrigation zone sprinkler Irrigation zone off Irrigation zone on

      Motion detector Motion detect off Motion detect on

      posted in Domoticz
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • Driveway motion light

      So my latest project has been to replace an X-10 FloodCam (VT38A) motion sensor light controller with a MySensorized controller. I had been having some problems with the light getting stuck on for very long periods of time. The other issue was that this, like a lot of my other X-10 modules, I couldn't get a status reading from it, which was annoying. It had a built in camera which was wireless, but you needed an X-10 receiver to use it, and where I had my equipment, the picture was crappy at best.

      I had some relay modules that were given to me by a friend, so I thought I would use one on this node. The node has 3 parts, the motion sensor, an LDR sensor, and the relay module. The concept is simple. The LDR is used to detect dusk/dawn to only allow the motion to turn on the relay/light when it is dark outside. I had a project box that I bought a while back for another project that I never used, so I figured this was the perfect project for it, but the trick was making everything fit.

      The relay module was a 12 volt module, so I needed a 12 volt supply. I opted for the HiLink HLK-PM12. On the 5 volt pro mini that I was using, the regulator would get quite hot with 12 volts on the RAW input, so I decided to use a second regulator (LM7808) to drop the RAW voltage from 12 to 8 volts. It meant that I was regulating the voltage twice, but it worked well.

      I took the old mounting tube off of the old floodcam and used it on the new setup. That now lets me swivel and point the sensor box to wherever I need it. It also lets me run my 120 volt power wires into the light assembly. The power wires are:

      • Black - Hot
      • White - Neutral
      • Blue - Switched hot for lights

      One other thing that can't be seen in the pics is that I put hot glue over most of the screws and nuts that were coming out of the plastic case. I did this to help prevent them from getting wet and rusting. I did this at the last minute before I installed it which is why it can't be seen in the pics.

      Here are some pics of the setup.
      BoardsPartially assembledClosed assemblyFull assembly

      posted in My Project
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: Your workshop :)

      Still need to do some setup and sorting of things, but here are some pics of my newly remodeled workshop area.
      0_1524016993863_1a09cf98-8ebf-490f-a7e2-7a10530d3313-image.png
      0_1524017006148_3ab1bd48-9155-4a51-a18b-947c280681b7-image.png
      0_1524017053672_60ffb747-570b-4b77-b440-16025b9ca1cd-image.png
      I really need to get rid of that old Leader analog scope and get myself a DSO. It is a conversation piece though. I have it connected to my old heathkit square/sine wave audio function generator. Does anyone have a recommendation on a cheaper DSO that would be good for microcontroller work?

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      Finally finished my 2.2.0 gateway and have it mounted in the new enclosure. It appears to be talking to my 2.0.0 sensors just fine.!
      0_1525234938553_567ab940-cceb-4167-8ed1-bb8038ab854a-image.png

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      Though not MySensors related, I thought I'd post my latest build that has been consuming a lot of my time lately. This is the main reason I haven't been on the forum much lately. I bought a drone kit recently. Here are some pics from the initial assembly:
      0_1529865599257_6cb603d6-6e77-4f65-98b2-32cbd703de6e-image.png
      0_1529865626778_5bb010ca-c35a-439f-9692-920fbdfcda7d-image.png
      0_1529865650762_bb4e8b1d-dffb-49a9-8769-74567b7cd332-image.png

      Since the initial build I have flown it and from a hard landing broken one of the cheap plastic legs that it came with. I designed a replacement with my 3D printer and some 1/4 inch aluminum rod.
      0_1529865823787_21b6acc1-aa67-49ed-9c48-ab10d691b0c5-image.png
      0_1529865845366_4cde4d44-e6d0-4dc7-894a-77c38d0f958e-image.png

      Here are some pics at it's current stage. I have designed and printed some prop guards and a few other add-ons:
      0_1529866240417_f94e6de8-d3cc-4b8e-8c41-80f8b9dce60d-image.png
      0_1529866316628_d7cdb2a3-b4ee-4632-8c84-9f97f656daa3-image.png
      0_1529866388984_33f28a28-a295-4375-ab92-048a259f8efa-image.png

      I have also designed and built a small servo based 3 axis camera gimbal. The controller was built using one of my spare 5 volt pro minis and an MPU-6050 accelerometer. Still working on the parts that will attach it to the drone, and I still need to pick up an FPV camera to attach to it, but a simple FPV cam is cheap.
      0_1529866448927_8a3084ed-1e2f-49ac-a1f8-797ac13bec1c-image.png
      0_1529866856366_8e332d29-99f0-4dd4-bf3f-7ade3bc3dbd8-image.png
      0_1529866891384_bcf7406a-5e68-4ad6-95aa-cf3324f2cb9a-image.png

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • MySensors weather station

      So after getting my 3D printer I was thinking of all the MySensors projects that I could build with it. One of the things that I had looked at previously was setting up a weather station for my setup. The problem was that I would have had to buy some commercial weather station hardware and try to convert it to work with MySensors. The hardware alone for these was a bit expensive, not to mention the work it would take to convert it.

      Having a 3D printer now has opened new doors for this project. I started working on designs for the parts to this and have some good progress. I still need to work out some of the electronics, but that will come in time as I get parts built.

      One of the first things was designing a tipping bucket rain gauge which I have some posts on in a topic under hardware in the forum. I still need to print some parts for this. Started printing some things and ran out of white filament. Just got my new roll in the other day, so I will most likely start these in the next couple days.

      No weather station is complete without wind speed and wind direction sensors, so that's what I decided to embark on next. Since I had to wait for my new roll of filament, I decided to work on some of the design. Here is the proposed design that I came up with:
      0_1492579442253_upload-9d6f2c2d-b14f-4e01-aa55-2676b8a767a0
      This design is loosely based off of some setups that I saw when doing some google image searches. I started with the anemometer cups. I found an OpenSCAD design for these on thingiverse http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:34644 and used that as my starting point. I designed all of the other parts around this. So the only part of this that I can say is not truly my design is that. There are 12 parts total that I printed for this:

      • 3 anemometer cups with arms
      • Central cylinder that the cups mount to
      • Bottom case with square mounting peg that holds the anemometer sensor
      • wind speed rotor that holds the magnet for the sensor
      • Top case that holds the wind direction vane
      • The wind direction cap
      • 2 wind vane arms to hold the tail fin and the nose cone
      • The tail fin
      • The nose cone
        One last part that I have not designed yet which will be pretty simple is the internal wind direction rotor that will hold the magnet for the direction sensor.

      Here are some pics of the finished parts:

      Wind direction vane inside showing 1 inch roller bearing
      0_1492580928347_upload-e9276313-c9ee-4021-82f3-0f2b47e71763

      Anemometer inside showing the mounted rotor.
      0_1492581218664_upload-12a03fee-2522-449a-a4e3-8f32a3575725

      The full assembly
      0_1492581353570_upload-83e77ae4-8c44-4276-8ecb-eef6b5b55eb7

      For the screw posts to hold the cap and base together, I took some stainless circuit board mounting posts similar to the ones below that I had in my parts bin and use my soldering iron to melt them into the holes. My guess is that the melted plastic took a good hold of the threaded end, so I doubt they are coming out.
      0_1492581503247_upload-99e1007c-c652-4aa9-acf5-2a99d761c30a

      All in all, the project is coming together nicely. Once I get a few more pieces together, I will post all of this on my thingiverse page and give the link to the group. I will post further details on this as I get things done. I always welcome comments and suggestion to my designs, so if you have any, feel free to post them here.

      posted in Enclosures / 3D Printing
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: Logo

      First attempt playing with the logo. I did a manual filament change from yellow to blue. Didn't have any black PLA, only ABS, otherwise I would have used black. This is more of a lithophane style which didn't do the best, but is still okay. I want to try to figure this out using paths in inkscape and exporting them to OpenSCAD. Having some trouble with that though. I'll figure it out in time.

      The picture is next to a soda can so you can get an idea of the size.
      0_1518854620201_a241d8c1-cfe2-48f9-89c3-50dbe1c7d346-image.png

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: What did you build today (Pictures) ?

      So I have uploaded the 3D design files for my MySensors gateway case to thingiverse for anyone that is interested.
      https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2904969
      I have included the OpenSCAD file used to generate the .stl files. I would be interested in seeing posts of other makes or remixes of the design.
      0_1526002262637_67192e23-fb8e-466b-94f5-fcd97b18d713-image.png
      0_1526002292130_7b6ba83e-5139-4e4a-9e80-711f9522b90d-image.png
      0_1526002312195_131bcc11-a1ab-4c59-874a-6399fd4fe029-image.png

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: Merry X-mas and Happy New 2018

      Thanks to the core team for a great platform and all the work that you have done, and Merry Christmas to all on the forum.

      posted in Announcements
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk

    Latest posts made by dbemowsk

    • MySensors node not working with Alexa on my Vera

      Is there anyone that either still uses a Vera controller or knowssomething about how they work with Alexa? My issue is that my thermostat bridge had the Arduino Pro Mini die and I had to flash a new one. When I did this I had to re-discover it with MySensors in Vera. I then had to delete the node from Alexa to add the new one, but when I go to the list of discoverable devices it doesn't show up. I can control it fin on the Vera but can't add it to Alexa.

      posted in Vera
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: Old hardware migration

      @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.

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: 💬 In-wall scene controller OLED keypad

      @Michael-Link I have been out of touch with MySensors for some time now and looking to slowly get back into it. I created this and a few other boards back in 2018 All of the GERBER files for this are in the "Design Files" tab. Those you should be able to send to JLC PCB or one of the other fab houses and have some made. This was designed to be used with 2 other boards that I designed. There was the processor board and the power supply board. The processor board was designed in a way that I could use a couple different switch boards. This one and a universal multi-switch board that had multiple configurations. If you look here you will see my other boards.

      posted in OpenHardware.io
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • Old hardware migration

      So I have been out of touch with MySensors for a few years now. I still have a bunch of hardware running that uses MySensors 2.0 I believe. It is all connected to my old Vera controller. I am working on setting up a machine to run Home Assistant and plan to slowly migrate hardware to the new system. My question is, if I configure a new 2.3.2 gateway and connect it to the Home Assistant box, will my 2.0 hardware be backwards compatible and connect to the new gateway? Also, is it possible for me to run 2 NRF24 gateways at the same time without the hardware freaking out? I do have the HomeAssistant box configured as an MQTT gateway and may put new hardware on the MQTT side going forward. What are peoples thoughts on the best approach. The migration will most likely be S L O W.

      Any input is appreciated.

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: Moisture penetrates my outdoor enclosures...

      This may sound crazy, and may not be an option after saturation, but what about putting a silica gel pack in there?

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: Website forum search feature [is broken]

      @mfalkvidd No problem, Now that I know that I'll just do some manual browsing if I need to find answers.

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • Website forum search feature [is broken]

      So I have been out of the loop with MySensors for a few years, but still run some MySensors 2.0 hardware that I built years ago, and it is still working. I am currently running a Vera Plus home controller and it is working for the most part, but I am thinking of switching either back to Domotcz or to Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi. This brings me to my question. Being that I have been out of the loop for a while, I am trying to find some information, so I am trying to use the search feature of the forum before I post new topics that have been answered already. The problem is that pretty much every search I do comes up saying "No matches found". Is there a problem with the search feature of the forum?

      posted in General Discussion
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • RE: Questions about an old setup

      @Nigel31 and @ejlane, My Vera controller has a built in app/plugin for alexa. My wife uses it alot and would be sad to see that functionality go. So Controlicz is a skill that I would have to add to Alexa? Currently the plugin for Vera uses the built-in smart home feature of Alexa. As I recall, I didn't have to set up a special skill for it to work on the Vera. I did however have to install the app on the Vera that would talk to it. I think that does use the vera portal to work though as I have to log in to my Vera account to be able to update my Vera connected devices.

      posted in Domoticz
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk
    • Questions about an old setup

      So I have been out of the MySensors loop for a number of years now, but still have a number of version 2.0 devices that are still running in my house with my Vera Plus controller. Prior to the Vera Plus I was running Domoticz on an old Orange Pi and I am thinking of possibly switching back to that as there were some features of it that I liked. I have a few Raspberry Pi 2B+ boards that I could run it from. My question is, will my old 2.0 NRF24L01 gateway still work with the latest version of Domoticz and recognize my devices? Another question has to do with my sprinkler controller. The sprinkler controller was part of the reason I switched to the Vera in the first place. The reason being that Domoticz, at the time, didn't support the variables 1,2 and 3 for setting the 2 zone time options and the zone name like this:
      ce3fe9f3-fe6e-4661-a2d9-e67217362651-image.png

      I am wondering if Domoticz has gained better support for these things or if I will still have these hangups with the sprinkler controller?

      The last thing is my alexa devices. I currently have this working with my Vera controller and am able to control all of my MySensors devices. I see that there is a skill called Controlicz.Has anyone used this and if so, ho well does it work for the MySensors hardware?

      I remember this being a GREAT community of people. I am open for any insight into this issue. I know my Vera controller is getting old and will one day die on me leaving me stranded. I want to catch things before that day comes.

      Thanks all.

      posted in Domoticz
      dbemowsk
      dbemowsk