Posts made by Ryanmt

Thought I would update this thread, still struggling but made some progress.

I added the watchdog which helped somewhat, so far I have found a few things which I have fixed or investigated further on my efforts to make things more reliable.

My gateway crashes after a few days - unsure why, suspect its a power issue so I have ordered a standalone 5v to 3.3v power supply to run the radio. My setup is a Wemos D1 mini. I am wary of changing too many things at once but I am considering wiring directly to a PI for a gateway.

My side gate sensor used to drop off and come back after an hour or two. I noticed the TX was hovering around 90-100% so I thought it could be signal related, I built a mains powered repeater with the RFM69HW and placed it nearby. The side gate sensor favours the direct connection to the gateway but it seems to be more reliable. This sensor is a 1mhz/direct off the battery sensor.

My BME280 sensor crashes a lot, I think this is related to the temp sensor rather than the node, seems to stop returning measurements except the battery voltage for a few hours then stops entirely. This is a sensor with a boost converter and when it crashes it never comes back, has to be reset. I am going try a different library for reading the BME280 when I get chance. I have also observed it gets less reliable as the battery voltage drops below 2.5v.

Next up with annoying failures is my front gate sensor, previously most reliable it stopped working for 12hrs before magically reconnecting today, no reset required. It was rock solid till the battery voltage dropped to 2.5v, it's working now but I am going leave it to see if as the voltage drops the sensor becomes more unreliable. This sensor has plenty of signal strength to spare so I don't think the relay will help, its probably only 8m from the gateway.

The boost converters I am using are the cheapest ones commonly available from china. To continue the experiment I have ordered some slightly more expensive ones to see if the performance changes.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-3V-5V-DC-DC-Boost-Converter-Step-up-Voltage-Regulator-Power-Supply-Module-New/272824785441?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=571970719316&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

I do have the capacitors in place, but am wondering if its worth experimenting with the values.

People mentioned soldering/connectivity issues. I don't think thats my issue here. All my sensors are EasyPCB Rev9. Most of my sensors have no wires (ie no sensors, they're just testing their existence) or simple stuff like contact sensor or relay control

This is the relay I made, its got a custom PCB under the sensor with a HLK-PM03, fuse, thermal fuse and a few other bits. Debmowsk designed the circuit originally I just rejigged it so it can be stacked on top of the easypcb rev9

Far right of the graph shows the period the front gate sensor was offline for.

I use this setup with this pcb

https://www.openhardware.io/view/392/Minimalist-RFM69HW-Shield-for-Wemos-D1-Mini

#define MY_RFM69_IRQ_PIN D2
#define MY_RFM69_IRQ_NUM MY_RFM69_IRQ_PIN
#define MY_RFM69_CS_PIN D8

It works, but crashes occasionally. I think i need to power the radio from its own supply.

I don't have webthings setup anymore but am happy to spin it up in a docker container and test for you. Just let me know what the steps are to install the test version and i'll give it a go.

Is MQTT support working? I was just installing webthings as an experiment but noticed when selecting MQTT you don't get prompted for the additional settings you would expect?

It should be asking for the mqtt server address, credentials and topic prefix?

Thanks for the reply.

I'm using the easypcb for the nodes which have a cap on the radio to aid with stability.

I have checked my connectors, i'm pretty confident (and experienced) in putting bits together, to have bad connections on 4 nodes would be very unlucky!!!

Re the boost converters - So far the bootsted ones are more stable than the 1mhz direct drive from the battery ones.

Tis odd. I think i need to get my head around the watchdog timers better to reboot the arduinos automatically.

I have tested a node without mysensors too - just running a temp sensor and OLED, that has been reliable.

I have a mysensors network setup, my config is a WemosD1 mini for a gateway, RFM69 radios for comms. Using the latest stable version of mysensors, the new RFM69 driver

The network works fine, i have 4 sensors in total. All battery powered, some are a mix of boost converters and direct power, one is 1mhz and the others are 8mhz.

My problem is that after a while the all the nodes one by one go offline, they come back when you hit the reset button and occasionally they come back to life after the contact sensor is triggered but it's a bit like a game of whack a mole keeping them all online.

Another way I have had issues is if the gateway goes offline for a few hours the nodes never recover so after sorting the gateway I have to manually reset every node.

I am using my controller and have set the system to alert me whenever a node stops communicating for 30 mins. Each node is set to transmit some data every 10 mins as a heartbeat (rx strength).

Do i need to do something on these to enable the watchdog timer? I can upload the sketches if required but for the most part they are the example BME sensor and contact switch ones.

@canossa That's useful to know, I am finding it to be hit and miss with this setup too. Seem to randomly lose messages going back to my MQTT gateway (most annoying for door triggers!). i'll try adding in an additional power supply to the 3.3v line and see if that helps out with stability.

I have this setup. Try

#define MY_RFM69_IRQ_PIN D2
#define MY_RFM69_IRQ_NUM MY_RFM69_IRQ_PIN
#define MY_RFM69_CS_PIN D8

Copy the wiring from here (or better still just buy some PCB's)

https://www.openhardware.io/view/277/ESP8266-RFM69HW-gateway-with-dipole-antenna

Got my SDR and installed the software.

Seems to work well, on 433mhz I can see signals from my car keyfob etc.

When my sensors are powered on though - nothing, looks like nothing is broadcast atall.

Stumped now. properly stumped When I get time I will perhaps try a non mysensors sketch to activate the radio see if I can get any TX then. Does anybody have any good sensors?

I want to think its a bad batch of radios but they are from 3 different sellers.

Thanks guys,

I tried enabling #define MY_SIGNAL_REPORT_ENABLED but it made no difference to the output.

Also tried a few of those sketches but neither would compile properly - I guess im missing something!

Just bought this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162961285195
now for a long wait from China!

Re: EasyPCB and RFM69 Issues

Following on from the thread above I have done some further debugging to try narrow down the issue.

My setup currently is 3x EasyPCB nodes, non H version of the RFM69. Powered by debugger but also attached battery power.

They sync up very very sporadically. Most of the time they will not talk to the gateway.

My gateway is a D1 mini with the H version of the radio. I have tried 2 different radios and both perform the same.

Antenna type on everything is the coiled versions common on ebay but i have experimented with the SMA style antenna on a node and a 17cm dipole on the gateway

Everything is running on 433mhz.

Sensor Log -

 __  __       ____
|  \/  |_   _/ ___|  ___ _ __  ___  ___  _ __ ___
| |\/| | | | \___ \ / _ \ `_ \/ __|/ _ \| `__/ __|
| |  | | |_| |___| |  __/ | | \__ \  _  | |  \__ \
|_|  |_|\__, |____/ \___|_| |_|___/\___/|_|  |___/
        |___/                      2.2.0

16 MCO:BGN:INIT NODE,CP=RRNNA---,VER=2.2.0
26 TSM:INIT
28 TSF:WUR:MS=0
30 TSM:INIT:TSP OK
32 TSM:INIT:STATID=49
34 TSF:SID:OK,ID=49
36 TSM:FPAR
38 TSM:FPAR:STATP=0
40 TSM:ID
43 TSM:ID:OK
43 TSM:UPL
1263 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=NACK:1
3270 TSM:UPL
4489 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=1,st=NACK:1
6496 TSM:UPL
7714 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=2,st=NACK:1
9721 TSM:UPL
10940 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=3,st=NACK:1
12947 !TSM:UPL:FAIL
12949 TSM:FPAR
12949 TSM:FPAR:STATP=0
12953 TSM:ID
12953 TSM:ID:OK
12955 TSM:UPL
14176 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=4,st=NACK:1
16183 TSM:UPL
17401 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=5,st=NACK:1
19410 TSM:UPL
20629 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=6,st=NACK:1
22636 TSM:UPL
23855 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=7,st=NACK:1
25862 !TSM:UPL:FAIL
25864 TSM:FPAR
25864 TSM:FPAR:STATP=0
25868 TSM:ID
25868 TSM:ID:OK
25870 TSM:UPL
27090 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=8,st=NACK:1
29100 TSM:UPL
30318 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=9,st=NACK:1
32325 TSM:UPL
33544 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=10,st=NACK:1
35553 TSM:UPL
36771 !TSF:MSG:SEND,49-49-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=11,st=NACK:1
38782 !TSM:UPL:FAIL
38785 TSM:FPAR
38785 TSM:FPAR:STATP=0
38789 TSM:ID
38789 TSM:ID:OK
38791 TSM:UPL

Gateway Log

60 MCO:BGN:INIT GW,CP=RRNGE---,VER=2.2.0
103 TSF:LRT:OK
118 TSM:INIT
132 TSF:WUR:MS=0
152 TSM:INIT:TSP OK
173 TSM:INIT:GW MODE
scandone
state: 0 -> 2 (b0)
state: 2 -> 3 (0)
state: 3 -> 5 (10)
add 0
aid 8
cnt 

connected with xxxxxxxxx, channel 9
dhcp client start...
339 TSM:READY:ID=0,PAR=0,DIS=0
371 MCO:REG:NOT NEEDED
scandone
897 GWT:TPC:CONNECTING...
1424 GWT:TPC:CONNECTING...
1952 GWT:TPC:CONNECTING...
2357 TSF:MSG:READ,49-49-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
2417 TSF:MSG:PINGED,ID=49,HP=1
3673 !TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-49-49,s=255,c=3,t=25,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=NACK:1
ip:192.168.5.19,mask:255.255.255.0,gw:192.168.5.1
3801 GWT:TPC:CONNECTING...
3829 GWT:TPC:IP=192.168.5.19
3860 MCO:BGN:STP
3878 MCO:BGN:INIT OK,TSP=1
3906 GWT:TPC:IP=192.168.5.19
3937 GWT:RMQ:MQTT RECONNECT
3994 GWT:RMQ:MQTT CONNECTED
4023 GWT:TPS:TOPIC=mygateway1-out/0/255/0/0/18,MSG SENT
5584 TSF:MSG:READ,49-49-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
5643 TSF:MSG:PINGED,ID=49,HP=1
6900 !TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-49-49,s=255,c=3,t=25,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=NACK:1
8810 TSF:MSG:READ,49-49-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
8869 TSF:MSG:PINGED,ID=49,HP=1
10126 !TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-49-49,s=255,c=3,t=25,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=NACK:1
pm open,type:2 0
12047 TSF:MSG:READ,49-49-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
12108 TSF:MSG:PINGED,ID=49,HP=1
13365 !TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-49-49,s=255,c=3,t=25,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=NACK:1
15273 TSF:MSG:READ,49-49-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
15333 TSF:MSG:PINGED,ID=49,HP=1
16591 !TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-49-49,s=255,c=3,t=25,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=NACK:1
18501 TSF:MSG:READ,49-49-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
18562 TSF:MSG:PINGED,ID=49,HP=1
19820 !TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-49-49,s=255,c=3,t=25,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=NACK:1
21728 TSF:MSG:READ,49-49-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
21788 TSF:MSG:PINGED,ID=49,HP=1

My sketches

(Default MockSensor sketch)

/*
* MockMySensors
*
* This skecth is intended to crate fake sensors which register and respond to the controller
* ***
* Barduino 2015, GizMoCuz 2015
*/

// Enable debug prints to serial monitor
#define MY_DEBUG

// Enable and select radio type attached
//#define MY_RADIO_NRF24
//#define MY_RADIO_NRF5_ESB
#define MY_RADIO_RFM69
#define MY_RF69_FREQUENCY RF69_433MHZ // Set your frequency here
#define MY_NODE_ID 49
#define MY_PARENT_NODE_ID 0
#define MY_PARENT_NODE_IS_STATIC
//#define MY_RFM69_NEW_DRIVER

//#define MY_RADIO_RFM95

#include <MySensors.h>

#define RADIO_ERROR_LED_PIN 4  // Error led pin
#define RADIO_RX_LED_PIN    6  // Receive led pin
#define RADIO_TX_LED_PIN    5  // the PCB, on board LED

// Wait times
#define LONG_WAIT 500
#define SHORT_WAIT 50

#define SKETCH_NAME "MockMyRyanmt"
#define SKETCH_VERSION "v0.5"

<< Removed default sketch code below >>

And the gateway is the default esp8266mqtt gateway sketch.

// Enable debug prints to serial monitor
#define MY_DEBUG

// Use a bit lower baudrate for serial prints on ESP8266 than default in MyConfig.h
#define MY_BAUD_RATE 9600
#define MY_RADIO_RFM69

#define MY_RF69_FREQUENCY RF69_433MHZ // Set your frequency here
//#define MY_RFM69_NEW_DRIVER
//#define MY_RADIO_RFM95
#define MY_IS_RFM69HW // Omit if your RFM is not "H"
#define MY_GATEWAY_ESP8266

#define MY_GATEWAY_MQTT_CLIENT
#define MY_GATEWAY_ESP8266
#define MY_NODE_ID 1


#define MY_RF69_IRQ_PIN D2
#define MY_RF69_IRQ_NUM MY_RF69_IRQ_PIN
#define MY_RF69_SPI_CS D8
// Set this node's subscribe and publish topic prefix
#define MY_MQTT_PUBLISH_TOPIC_PREFIX "mygateway1-out"
#define MY_MQTT_SUBSCRIBE_TOPIC_PREFIX "mygateway1-in"

// Set MQTT client id
#define MY_MQTT_CLIENT_ID "mysensors-1"

// Enable these if your MQTT broker requires usenrame/password
#define MY_MQTT_USER "xxxxxxx"
#define MY_MQTT_PASSWORD "xxxx"

// Set WIFI SSID and password
#define MY_ESP8266_SSID "xxxxxx"
#define MY_ESP8266_PASSWORD "xxxxxx"

// Set the hostname for the WiFi Client. This is the hostname
// it will pass to the DHCP server if not static.
// #define MY_ESP8266_HOSTNAME "mqtt-sensor-gateway"

// Enable MY_IP_ADDRESS here if you want a static ip address (no DHCP)
//#define MY_IP_ADDRESS 192,168,178,87

// If using static ip you can define Gateway and Subnet address as well
//#define MY_IP_GATEWAY_ADDRESS 192,168,178,1
//#define MY_IP_SUBNET_ADDRESS 255,255,255,0

// MQTT broker ip address.
#define MY_CONTROLLER_IP_ADDRESS 192,168,5,3
// The MQTT broker port to to open
#define MY_PORT 1883

// Enable inclusion mode
//#define MY_INCLUSION_MODE_FEATURE
// Enable Inclusion mode button on gateway
//#define MY_INCLUSION_BUTTON_FEATURE
// Set inclusion mode duration (in seconds)
//#define MY_INCLUSION_MODE_DURATION 60
// Digital pin used for inclusion mode button
//#define MY_INCLUSION_MODE_BUTTON_PIN  3

// Set blinking period
//#define MY_DEFAULT_LED_BLINK_PERIOD 300

I have tried the new driver option on both the sensor and gateway but same issue. Looks like I only have 1 way communications?

Things I have tried

• Double checking the soldering
• Building multiple gateways and using different radios on the gateway
• Moving the sensors very close or few meters apart
• Using a radio on the gateway with a 17cm wire as apposed to the coiled antena

So the current status is they gain 2 way comms occasionally and when they're within 5cm. The range is very very small!

Anybody got any ideas what I could try next? Is there a way to confirm the ebay seller has sold me the correct frequency radios? Should I look more into the antennas perhaps? I have tried a dipole and have a node with both the coiled ebay antennas and an SMA one but the results are always the same.

If the vendor had sold me the wrong frequency radios is there any way to check? Would it cause severe range issues like this?

Thanks for the replies guys.

• The GW says nothing which to me indicates no TX from the sensors are reaching the gateway.
• I have powered from both FTDI and battery, my breadboard sensor works when powered from either FTDI or the battery + booster (same model)

Currently I can say the range for both SMA and the wound antenna is poor since neither work My intention is for these to be long range as they will be at the bottom of the garden... when I get them up and running Ill try do some proper range tests and provide feedback if you are interested.

I sadly don’t own an oscilloscope, I would love to verify if the sensors are actually attempting to broadcast in anyway but I’m not sure I can do that with just a meter?

@sundberg84 I did think that so have tried it both ways and neither work. Both get a steady 3.3v at transceiver

I'll try removing that then, they are especially cheap capacitor's..

The sma antenna is https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F171802359586

Will give that a go. im 99% sure these are just RF69H though, they are easy to tell apart as the RF69HW has additional components onboard

I am having some issues getting my sensors up and running and am looking for some advice.

My setup is using RFM69 hardware @ 433mhz. The sensors are are using the EasyPCB circuit boards and the gateway is an D1 Wemos and a RFM69HW.

I know the gateway is functioning OK - I have tested communication between that and a sensor on a breadboard and they communicate fine. I did ponder if the frequencies could have been mismatched but the numbers on the chip for breadboard sensor and the 2 easypcb sensors I have made are identical so I would hope the same frequency.

I have built 2 easyPCB sensors, Ive tried powering one from battery and one directly from the USB when debugging. The RFM69 has a strong 3.3v that doesnt seem to fluctuate or drop off atall.

Gateway Logs (Wemos Mini D1 - RFM69HW)

0;255;3;0;9;TSF:LRT:OK
0;255;3;0;9;TSM:INIT
0;255;3;0;9;TSF:WUR:MS=0
scandone
state: 0 -> 2 (b0)
state: 2 -> 3 (0)
state: 3 -> 5 (10)
add 0
aid 4
cnt 

connected with Ryanmt, channel 10
dhcp client start...
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
f r0, scandone
.ip:192.168.5.17,mask:255.255.255.0,gw:192.168.5.1
.IP: 192.168.5.17
0;255;3;0;9;MCO:BGN:STP
0;255;3;0;9;MCO:BGN:INIT OK,TSP=1
pm open,type:2 0

Sensor Logs (EasyPCB - RFM69H - 3.3V Arduino Pro Mini)

0 MCO:BGN:INIT NODE,CP=RRNNA--,VER=2.1.1
4 TSM:INIT
4 TSF:WUR:MS=0
8 TSM:INIT:TSP OK
10 TSM:INIT:STATID=2
12 TSF:SID:OK,ID=2
14 TSM:FPAR
145 TSF:MSG:SEND,2-2-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
2152 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
2154 TSM:FPAR
2285 TSF:MSG:SEND,2-2-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
4292 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
4294 TSM:FPAR
4425 TSF:MSG:SEND,2-2-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
6432 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
6434 TSM:FPAR
6565 TSF:MSG:SEND,2-2-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
8574 !TSM:FPAR:FAIL
8577 TSM:FAIL:CNT=1
8579 TSM:FAIL:PDT

The sketch is just the example battery sketch with the RFM69 module enabled and the node set to 2. I have built 2 identical nodes but both have this same issue of communicating to the gateway.