Posts made by Samuel235

@tbowmo I completely agree and this is the side reason to why I stopped pushing it further than making this thread. I have no interest in asking @Hek to incorporate anything like a slack chatroom while he currently has the instant messaging chat on here. If he wants to alter the way instant chat works in a sense of having it more like slack/chatter etc, then that is up to him, but i will not pressure that to him. I will say that the only reason why I wanted to start a slack chatroom for us is because of the fact you can track peoples status (online/offline) and that you can have chatrooms which equate for a much more relaxed 'hang-out' area alongside of a serious method of communication.

I'm also a big fan of IRC and that is something that is also pretty easy for people to get to us, a little harder than slack for general users but its something that i use for my various other open-source software activities.

There were many different routes i was looking at when i started this suggestion but as there really was no traction (i think 3 people joined) I just folded the thought of it.

@m26872 - I do this too, hotter the iron is the better for me. Hotter and quicker wins the race.

@Nca78 - This is exactly why i was shocked when someone got away with it. They get personally checked every time and soon as they pick something up where they can see two separate boards there then they refuse it unless you paid the extra for the panelising.

@kalina - I knew you could do it o.O

Am i the only one that struggles my as off with 4 pairs of pliers on these little annoying things?

Testing and updating can resume now my first year at university has finished and I now have 4 months worth of MySensors development to get started on!

Everytime I panelize anything I get charged for specifying that it is panelized, even if i specify that i've done it and don't need them to do such. Do you just submit the board as a normal board but have your milling and drills such that it allows you to remove them all when you receive the product?

@dbemowsk - I don't. And right now i'm not even thinking about it as i've done my far share of detailed printing and i do not wish to print anything slow and small scale that requires 0.08 mm layer heights and support everywhere. My printer has been on solid for the last 88 hours on 4 prints doing exactly that.

I'm trying to slowly approach my maximum speed, printing comfortably at 60mm/s at the moment but would like a little more. My printer is pretty basic still, i'm still a student living at home so i'm saving money everywhere i can right not but as soon as i have no income issues, dual extruder, advanced bed probing, enclosure, quick change hotends with a tornado extruder maybe.

@dbemowsk - If you only want it to do what you need it to do then you're all good. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist and whether or not i need it to have a feature, i tend to attempt to get the printer to have that feature anyway. But at the end of the day if you're only using it for personal things and it does everything you want it to, then there is no need to change

What i will say though is: I thought that i would be okay with just a RAMPS and arduino board, but i pushed the boat out and went for a DUET WIFI board, and damn these things are beautiful to use!

@Yveaux - He doesn't need any more encoraging!

@scalz - I love to see custom hybrids of solid printers! If you make a blog post or something on your new build at any point please drop me a link to it so i can have a look

What could you possibly be missing when you're doing this at a hobby level? o.O

@scalz - I would love to have your setup dude! Your coreXY printer looks a little bulky underneath and taking up some build volume but i'm guessing you never hit a problem with that anyway so no issues. I too like the CoreXY designs. I think my next one will be a D-Bot as i've printed about 6 sets of parts for that printer for people and it seems a very solid printer. My current one is a Wilson 2 design (will upload some more photos here soon of my equipment), but would like a second one. However, as i still live at home with my parent, having an area like you have is just not available for me right now

I'm a Hakko user, and i would like to ask you to not purchase a fake. Not only are they bad at temperature regulation, they are also very unsafe from what i have read. Purchase at your own risk! I use a FX888D, i would prefer the analogue version with the knob on the front but this does the same but with a slightly more awkward temperature adjustment. Heat-up time is very quick and that is the huge added bonus for me.

@kalina - We can be positive

@kalina - I can't recommend PCBWay.com enough to people considering their price point, they're pretty high quality. Hope to see the tests completed without issue for you

@TimO - I have implemented a work-around for the issue that i was facing. OpenHAB just can't handle a empty MQTT message, so there is a fix for the pulse sensor to work with OpenHAB by changing the message that it send over to the MQTT server.

If you're interested in how this is done, please refer to: https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/3088/pulse-power-meter-with-openhab/4

I will be documenting this in possibly better to read steps for people when I get chance to finish the documentation to my new hardware node for the Pulse Sensor.

Awaiting some replacement SMD resistors, went to complete the build today and ran out of some, delivery should be here by wednesday.

LDR's have arrived and will complete testing later today and report back today or tomorrow.

Thanks for you're patience

• Mains powered version of the sensor works as planned.
• Controller works on mains power and battery power.

Awaiting my LDRs, soon as they arrive I will get the battery version tested and will mark this build as complete. I will also make the device available for sale as a complete kit from myself. Will include links on openhardware.io soon as this becomes available.

In the kit you will receive:
1 x Battery or mains version of the sensor including enclosure and cable.
1 x Controller board (nRF24l01 version) including enclosure.

All kits are available to purchase completely ready to use OR as component kits for you to solder yourself (to save some cost). Not sure on pricing yet, will release that at the time of product release.

I will only supply the nRF24L01 version at the moment as that is all that i have capability of testing.

All questions are welcome in the mean time, and all suggestions for future upgrades are considered.

Well, i for one appreciate the help that you're injecting back into the community. I've had a lot of help from people like you around here and its my aim to provide help back too. I try to get everything documented that people help me on just so there is information written down for people to see and get help from themselves. If one person has struggled on something, i'm pretty sure others are too and this is why I attempt to document and share everything that others help me on.

Awesome work dude, ts the video that get me with your builds, not many people even bother to document things but you go to the extra length of a video to help others. Thank you!

I'm definitely going to work on my battery sensing for my battery nodes, you seem to have got it working pretty nicely here...

I have literally just got this working with help from some sketch mods found here: https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/3088/pulse-power-meter-with-openhab/4

I'm aiming to get this more available for us on the build page or even a link to my own documentation for it.

I'm sorry, I ran a ctrl+f search and it either didn't show or i completely missed it, thank you for the prompt reply though.

In this case then i will have to wait for this release then as i can't achieve what i need to do with rules. Do we have any idea when the release will be?

Does this happen to support MQTT gateways? You mention serial or ethernet, but openhab doesn't support ethernet so i'm assuming you mean ethernet as the mqtt ethernet gateway?

Is anyone aware of any way at all to trigger a rule to execute if openHAB receives a blank message via MQTT?

At the moment the below code works but only if the message contained a value, i need it to trigger if the message is blank.

rule "solve"
        when
                Item monitor1 received update
        then
                V_VAR1send.postUpdate(V_VAR1.state)
end

I have a open question on the openHAB forum but wondered if anyone around here has done something similar?

To be honest, i had it running for a while before it stopped sending the WATTS. But i'm guessing this is the issue as if i vary the blinks it sends it. I'de like to see if anyone has this working recently on OpenHAB through means of not touching the node sketch like people have posted before. I have an idea to send the data of the pulse count message onto the request message topic on MQTT and so then when it requests previous count it would have it.

Ahh i see what it is it; its set to not send if it hasn't changed.... how much of a silly error that was from me. The wattage is way below 1000 but because i'm using a normal LED on another arduino flashing at a constant rate to set my node up, its not changing the watt value.

Back to solving my initial issue now >.<

Thank you.

@NiklasO - Where is this value stored? I've cleared the EEPROM and the MQTT topic too, but it still refuses to send the watt value.

Has anyone came across their pulse meter not sending the message for WATT, the other two messages are being sent perfectly fine. My WATT message has been working all day and suddenly stopped.

0_1493571630495_nrf24l01SMD-GertSanders.lbr

Here you go, as you can see, we both have @GertSanders to thank for this

I have posted a question regarding what i think could be the fix to my issue over at: https://community.openhab.org/t/push-state-of-one-mqtt-topic-to-another/27597

Not sure if it will become of anything though. If anyone else has any experience with MQTT and openhab2 over here, then please be sure to shout a thought. It seems that not many people have got this sketch to work with openhab, google searches are bringing up posts from a year or two ago made on our forum here regarding this issue with no clear/simple solution.

Did you ever find any more information on this issue? I'm battling with this and i feel its something pretty simple that i'm not figuring out yet....

I'm still getting my issue, everytime i restart the node i must manually send a "0" on Gateway1-in/16/1/1/0/24. I've even attempted to have this as an item so persistence holds the value and that isn't working either....

@sundberg84 - TBH, i would be tempted to do it in two phases, not as accurate but should be good enough.

If you have a laptop and a desktop, i would have the gateway connected to one and the node connected to the other and then restart the node (leaving the gateway up) and then change the device the node is connected to and put it on the repeated and then restart the node. As we don't need to restart the gateway or the repeater really, just the node.

Does that make any sense?

If you turn the node off and then grab the serial output from all 3 (GW, Repeater and Node) while you power the node up and then drop them in here, i will be a second pair of eyes for you

I will report back with my solution for the OpenHAB value fix soon as i find out.

@sundberg84 - I have a fix for mine.

My issue was simply that it was asking for a value that wasn't there. If i manually put the value on the mqtt topic, then the node starts working beautifully (from what i can see).

I, however, doubt that is your case though as its working without the repeater. I now need to solve the reason why the value is not 0 if there has been no input, instead its just empty. I will take a look into how OpenHAB needs to define a 0 by default.

I will attempt to help your issue though still if you want me too, not sure how much help i can be though....

@sundberg84 - I will grab you a link and reply on another reply here with it, bare with me while i sort my other issues out as everything is everywhere right now.

@sundberg84 I have just found your website linked on your profile, so i realised that domoticz is what you run, may i ask how you find their dashboard? The only reason i like openhab is the dashboard feel, the setup is a little ass about backwards as i would call it and would be tempted to try domonicz (maybe this would solve my issue, very much doubt it though).

I will grab my log from the gateway and controller (if openhab shows any issues in the log for this problem that is).

I have no repeater, its just a node connecting directly to the gateway.

My node is literally setting itself up, presenting itself to the gateway and sending a request message:

0 MCO:BGN:INIT NODE,CP=RNNNA--,VER=2.1.1
3 TSM:INIT
4 TSF:WUR:MS=0
11 TSM:INIT:TSP OK
13 TSM:INIT:STATID=16
15 TSF:SID:OK,ID=16
17 TSM:FPAR
53 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
438 TSF:MSG:READ,0-0-16,s=255,c=3,t=8,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:0
443 TSF:MSG:FPAR OK,ID=0,D=1
513 TSF:MSG:READ,4-4-16,s=255,c=3,t=8,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
2060 TSM:FPAR:OK
2061 TSM:ID
2062 TSM:ID:OK
2064 TSM:UPL
2067 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=24,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:1
2077 TSF:MSG:READ,0-0-16,s=255,c=3,t=25,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
2082 TSF:MSG:PONG RECV,HP=1
2085 TSM:UPL:OK
2086 TSM:READY:ID=16,PAR=0,DIS=1
2092 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=15,pt=6,l=2,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:0100
2099 TSF:MSG:READ,0-0-16,s=255,c=3,t=15,pt=6,l=2,sg=0:0100
2106 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=255,c=0,t=17,pt=0,l=5,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:2.1.1
2115 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=6,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:0
4123 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=11,pt=0,l=12,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:Energy Meter
4132 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=12,pt=0,l=3,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:1.0
4141 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=0,t=13,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
4147 MCO:REG:REQ
4151 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=255,c=3,t=26,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:2
4169 TSF:MSG:READ,0-0-16,s=255,c=3,t=27,pt=1,l=1,sg=0:1
4174 MCO:PIM:NODE REG=1
4177 MCO:BGN:STP
4180 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
4187 MCO:BGN:INIT OK,TSP=1
14189 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:

For what it is worth, i have both footprints on my latest board: https://www.openhardware.io/uploads/58c829b5bacb0bcc79a15dc9/394/controller_PCB_4.jpg

I'm pretty sure this is what sundberg has in mind when you suggested your idea here, would be pretty simple for @sundberg84 to implement, as the master that he is!

Firstly, you mentioned that you get a Error LED light on your gateway, i do not, instead i get a send and receive light simultaneously. I'm not sure if we're both facing seperate issues fundamentally but i think at heart, its because of the same issue (if that makes sense). You're getting a different output to the same error i think, is what i meant.

Now, my node NEVER gets what its after, its been running for 12 hours and its still sending the REQ message.

My code is the example code with a manual ID and changed LED blink value:

/**
 * The MySensors Arduino library handles the wireless radio link and protocol
 * between your home built sensors/actuators and HA controller of choice.
 * The sensors forms a self healing radio network with optional repeaters. Each
 * repeater and gateway builds a routing tables in EEPROM which keeps track of the
 * network topology allowing messages to be routed to nodes.
 *
 * Created by Henrik Ekblad <henrik.ekblad@mysensors.org>
 * Copyright (C) 2013-2015 Sensnology AB
 * Full contributor list: https://github.com/mysensors/Arduino/graphs/contributors
 *
 * Documentation: http://www.mysensors.org
 * Support Forum: http://forum.mysensors.org
 *
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 * version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
 *
 *******************************
 *
 * REVISION HISTORY
 * Version 1.0 - Henrik EKblad
 *
 * DESCRIPTION
 * This sketch provides an example how to implement a distance sensor using HC-SR04
 * Use this sensor to measure KWH and Watt of your house meeter
 * You need to set the correct pulsefactor of your meeter (blinks per KWH).
 * The sensor starts by fetching current KWH value from gateway.
 * Reports both KWH and Watt back to gateway.
 *
 * Unfortunately millis() won't increment when the Arduino is in
 * sleepmode. So we cannot make this sensor sleep if we also want
 * to calculate/report watt-number.
 * http://www.mysensors.org/build/pulse_power
 */

// Enable debug prints
#define MY_DEBUG

// Enable and select radio type attached
#define MY_RADIO_NRF24
//#define MY_RADIO_RFM69

// Assign NODE ID
#define MY_NODE_ID 16

#include <MySensors.h>

#define DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR 3  // The digital input you attached your light sensor.  (Only 2 and 3 generates interrupt!)
#define PULSE_FACTOR 3200       // Nummber of blinks per KWH of your meeter
#define SLEEP_MODE false        // Watt-value can only be reported when sleep mode is false.
#define MAX_WATT 10000          // Max watt value to report. This filetrs outliers.
#define CHILD_ID 1              // Id of the sensor child

unsigned long SEND_FREQUENCY =
    10000; // Minimum time between send (in milliseconds). We don't wnat to spam the gateway.
double ppwh = ((double)PULSE_FACTOR)/1000; // Pulses per watt hour
bool pcReceived = false;
volatile unsigned long pulseCount = 0;
volatile unsigned long lastBlink = 0;
volatile unsigned long watt = 0;
unsigned long oldPulseCount = 0;
unsigned long oldWatt = 0;
double oldKwh;
unsigned long lastSend;
MyMessage wattMsg(CHILD_ID,V_WATT);
MyMessage kwhMsg(CHILD_ID,V_KWH);
MyMessage pcMsg(CHILD_ID,V_VAR1);


void setup()
{
    // Fetch last known pulse count value from gw
    request(CHILD_ID, V_VAR1);

    // Use the internal pullup to be able to hook up this sketch directly to an energy meter with S0 output
    // If no pullup is used, the reported usage will be too high because of the floating pin
    pinMode(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR,INPUT_PULLUP);

    attachInterrupt(digitalPinToInterrupt(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR), onPulse, RISING);
    lastSend=millis();
}

void presentation()
{
    // Send the sketch version information to the gateway and Controller
    sendSketchInfo("Energy Meter", "1.0");

    // Register this device as power sensor
    present(CHILD_ID, S_POWER);
}

void loop()
{
    unsigned long now = millis();
    // Only send values at a maximum frequency or woken up from sleep
    bool sendTime = now - lastSend > SEND_FREQUENCY;
    if (pcReceived && (SLEEP_MODE || sendTime)) {
        // New watt value has been calculated
        if (!SLEEP_MODE && watt != oldWatt) {
            // Check that we dont get unresonable large watt value.
            // could hapen when long wraps or false interrupt triggered
            if (watt<((unsigned long)MAX_WATT)) {
                send(wattMsg.set(watt));  // Send watt value to gw
            }
            Serial.print("Watt:");
            Serial.println(watt);
            oldWatt = watt;
        }

        // Pulse cout has changed
        if (pulseCount != oldPulseCount) {
            send(pcMsg.set(pulseCount));  // Send pulse count value to gw
            double kwh = ((double)pulseCount/((double)PULSE_FACTOR));
            oldPulseCount = pulseCount;
            if (kwh != oldKwh) {
                send(kwhMsg.set(kwh, 4));  // Send kwh value to gw
                oldKwh = kwh;
            }
        }
        lastSend = now;
    } else if (sendTime && !pcReceived) {
        // No count received. Try requesting it again
        request(CHILD_ID, V_VAR1);
        lastSend=now;
    }

    if (SLEEP_MODE) {
        sleep(SEND_FREQUENCY);
    }
}

void receive(const MyMessage &message)
{
    if (message.type==V_VAR1) {
        pulseCount = oldPulseCount = message.getLong();
        Serial.print("Received last pulse count from gw:");
        Serial.println(pulseCount);
        pcReceived = true;
    }
}

void onPulse()
{
    if (!SLEEP_MODE) {
        unsigned long newBlink = micros();
        unsigned long interval = newBlink-lastBlink;
        if (interval<10000L) { // Sometimes we get interrupt on RISING
            return;
        }
        watt = (3600000000.0 /interval) / ppwh;
        lastBlink = newBlink;
    }
    pulseCount++;
}

I can't seem to remember what controller you use, is it domonicz or openhab by any chance?

I'm still attempting to get my head around what is actually happening here.

• I'm getting a 6724899 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK: which is showing the node is sending a request message.
• I'm then getting what seems to be a blank message on the MQTT topic of Gateway1-out/16/1/2/0/24 which shows to me that it doesn't have a value stored for this request and the gateway is actually publishing that message. (So i think that the gateway is doing exactly as its being asked too.)

@sundberg84 - You do understand me correctly :). I made a thread on the troubleshooting section of the forum for this simply because i suspected it was normal behaviour, however. It seems that the node isn't sending any other data to the gateway at all and it can not get the previous value as there isn't one. So, my post here and on the troubleshooting section was me aiming to get to this point and then troubleshoot the actual node to see what can be done to get it to send data.

Would there be a reason for a node to repeatedly send a req type packet? I'm not sure if its a issue or if its normal behaviour but i can't see any sensor data on my gateway-in topic on my MQTT broker, just on the Gateway-out topic is a message of /16/1/2/0/24 which is a req packet. I will investigate my controller when i'm home and report back but would like to know if there is any issue with mysensors side of this?

I'm only posting for future reference for others if they stumble across this issue themselves.

I seem to be getting a connection to my gateway, while monitoring the two topics for the gateway i only seem to see any activity regarding this sensor on the gateway-out topic, and it keeps sending out a type 2 message (req). The serial monitor of the sensors is showing:

104198 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
114199 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
124200 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
134201 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
144202 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
154203 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
164204 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
174205 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
184206 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
194207 TSF:MSG:SEND,16-16-0-0,s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:

So it seems to be sending a request package, but i don't see it on the gateway-in topic and i see other sensors sending data to the gateway-in topic so i'm not subscribed to the wrong one. Is this a structural request message or is this the feature that requests the last known message from the gateway? Either way, there doesn't seem to be any sensor data being sent from the node to the gateway.

Sensor board looking nice and 'sharp', testing slowly in progress:

@scalz - You're right. There doesn't seem to be an issue with mouser. I must have gotten hooked up with digikey and some of the smaller sellers. I have a contact ticket open with mouser and the manufacturer for one of the models, as they can't tell me what the code means and the datasheet doesn't specify it either. Will post back here with what the order code "988-AT25DF512CSSHNGU-B" means.

The minimum order is £33 for me at the moment, I seem to remember this being a little higher last time i checked, so not sure if its a limited time thing (worth a look if anyone wants anything from there).

Is anyone in need of these ICs as i would order some for you and post to you if you just cover the cost of the item and then the postage for them (more than likely cheaper than paying for postage from them at £12 per shipment, to the UK anyway).

@hek - Well i assumed that was the reason, but I was basically attempting to ask "Why was this IC used for dualoptiboot" but from the way you answered the question, it leads me to think that it was just a technological evolution that has cause this issue. I suppose at the time this IC was the most easiest thing to put into dualoptiboot.

How hard would it be to accommodate a new type of flash into the software for MySensors? The only reason i ask if where ever i find these ICs, despite being hard to get, they're are all also saying that they are end of line and will not be restocking them. Is this possibly a sign for it to be changed for MySensors?

The PCBs for version one have arrived and will proceed with testing as soon as i get some time. Will update this thread and the Openhardware.io page along with my github repo.

@gohan - Dell R710 over here, brought pretty cheaply in the UK tbh. I have a few things running on it as I'm Microsoft trained and certified so i enjoy messing with that kind of stuff. I was once in that field and attempted to get some work but nothing ever came from it (i got sick of hearing "Sorry, you don't have sufficient work experience") so I've ended up back in University studying mechatronical engineering Anyway, that is another topic for discussion, you're welcome to message me anytime for a chat, would be nice

@gohan - It is a good job i have it running on a virtual machine on a rack server

@gohan - I'm going to be uploading after-market firmware to my SONOFFs and therefor have it communicate to my controller through MQTT.

@parachutesj - It would all be behind a very secure router to be honest, i'm over thinking it a little for the sake of lights. I'm attempting to get all the sensors themselves on their own VLAN that is separate to the actual controller anyway so that way even if someone gains control over the lights, they shouldn't be able to modify the controller (theoretically). We will see how that turns out though.

So as I come to find a supplier for the AT25DF512C Flash that is the go to around here, not only are they hard to get my hands on apart from Digikey, they are also quoting that once their stock of 3000 has depleted that is it for this little IC. So are they any running alternatives that you guys know of, i'm aware of the forum thread discussion FLASH ICs for us but it seems i'm not the only one that finds that thread hard to follow and not much ground was made on the original question of attempting to find alternatives.

What is required to be a compatible flash chip as an alternative to AT25DF512C?
Does anyone use any other FLASH instead?
Does anyone have any of these chips and would be willing to sell me a few rather than me having to put a minimum order in at digikey?

@Nca78 - If only all sellers were like that! If you ever get anything done with that issue please update us here

Those glass switches linked here are beautiful, has anyone got any experience with them?

I second that, I tend to use what is best for ME, not what is best in general. Just like you describe there. I'm about to order some of the SONOFFs to give them a little test, with possibly a memory upgrade and a new firmware uploaded to it. We shall see how they measure up.

Okay, and so as long as there is no known issues with the SONOFF devices, you would be more than willing to install them for your lighting needs throughout the house?

@gohan - Ahh I see this on the build page. Sorry, that was around 7 months ago which i wasn't around here, had other things that were keeping me away from the development of MySensors and obviously missed this information when I was scouting through on my return.

So, just to clarify, you're happy with anything other than security automation being on RF and WiFi. So general sensors like temperature, humidity and actuators like blinds and such are okay in your mind to be on RF and WiFi, do i understand you correctly? For what its worth, this seconds my opinions and views on this topic.

@gohan - Just to clarify too, GSM Jammers are more than easily available to jam up WiFi bands, all bands within the 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum now, right? Let alone all other frequencies such as 2g, 3g, 4g....

This is getting slightly off topic but at the moment mysensors only has 1 method of going for a wired approach which is an ethernet gateway containing the sensor on board, or have we developed a hardwired method of sensors?

@gohan - I'll be honest, I'm starting to come around to the idea of WiFi being acceptable for things such as the lighting but only because i'm starting to realise that my home network is pretty well clamped down. I tend to trust it for everything but online banking (WiFi side that is) and will be making it even more secure soon with some more hardware upgrades on the network. I wouldn't be putting my door locks on there though, for quite a while that is for sure!

Forgetting about hard wiring for a second, do you prefer RF (any frequency) over WiFi for general sensors?

Does anyone know of any issues at all with the SONOFF original device: https://www.itead.cc/smart-home/sonoff-wifi-wireless-switch.html

I've not been able to find anything from a quick google search but that obviously doesn't mean that there hasn't been anything.

What solutions do you guys use for light switching? I'm currently developing a AC powered relay board that you guys may have seen me talking about around here but I might take a new path with that development and drop it down to a single relay board, slightly smaller (more like the form factor of these SONOFFs) and possibly come away from the concealed DC transformer to reduce size a little and again mimic the SONOFF for its approach of this to having all the rectification, reduction, regulating done open air as it will all be enclosed in a printed case anyway....

I know there has been plenty of discussion regarding this around here but its always nice to talk and share your experience with others again.

My personal opinion: the SONOFF is perfect for my needs BUT I just really don't want it talking over WiFi, despite having my home network pretty closed off and safe I still do not want my home automation modules to be controlled over WiFi.

@Koresh - Do you happen to have a link for the JST connectors? I can't seem to find any at a reasonable price at the moment. And the male side too, if you don't mind me asking

Have updated the GitHub and Openhardware.io page with some additional information and files. Will continue to do so until we get to the release of the first revision.

All design files are complete, including the generation of gerber files, will get them sent off ASAP and will keep you informed on arrival and assembly of all PCBs.

Well I brushed over that because i don't see how a H-Bridge wouldn't work due to high voltage drops. They use these ICs for motors and are fine with that and hence why I kind of brushed over that first point.

I was thinking more in terms of a new product being made for people, relays wouldn't be the best option for a few reasons, one being cost. However, if its just a few products for yourself then its fine obviously

@gohan - I'm struggling to determine why you would prefer to use 4 relays rather than a H-Bridge. If the device is a simple pulse activated device then i don't see any reason to use a relay over a H-Bridge. Is there a specific reason why you would and i'm not aware of that characteristic?

Or am I not following your project plans properly?

I should have a little time on my hands this weekend to get the third and final board designed for a simple battery powered sensor version, with thanks to @scalz for his design I will aim to get this remade to the specifications to meet the enclosure already included in this project, and also panalised just like the sensor already made inside of this project to cut down the production costs.

Will be looking to advertise these as a complete package with 1 controller board including enclosure, 1 battery powered sensor including enclosure OR 1 mains powered sensor including enclosure.

If you guys have any suggestions on designs/production/selling packages etc then please don't hesitate to ask or suggest here or in a private message.

@chbla said in Multiple uses battery RFM69 node:

Can anyone suggest a source for the parts? Are there any sources that you can upload the files by any chance?

If you mean can you upload a BOM to a company and then it generates a basket of the items, then i know that farnell and maybe digikey do this. But i only use this feature that is built into EAGLE pcb designer, so i'm not sure if they support it directly on their websites, might be worth a look.

http://www.farnell.com/
http://www.digikey.co.uk

@barduino - So its based on the printed having been set up to as such results are produced and that the tolerances allow it to be tightly too then.

What is your method of fixing the lid to the base? Or am i missing something as i haven't opened the included files yet?

@hek - Awesome!

@Hek, @jens-persson - If you don't get it resolved drop me a message at around 5pm UK time and i will drop my PCBWay rep a message and ask for you guys.

@phill21 - Thank you for the interest! Would you be looking at battery powered or USB mains powered? I'm not 100% sure on the bundling options for the product as a sale at the moment. It maybe a case that i just sell the controller, two different types of sensors and all the enclosures for them all in one bundle.

Also, would you want to purchase the product all complete and assembled or would you have interest in purchasing as a kit to save a little cost? You would obviously have to do the loading of firmware onto the controller yourself, due to each controller having different features such as NODEID request and such.

Once tested, this will be on sale here. Not sure if it will be a fab house or a personal eBay sale yet though. Will keep you updated once testing has been completed.

I've added some renders for the PCB of the controller box. The designs are complete and will get the gerber files and BOM generated today and get the products ordered.

@kalina - It's always nice to see how other people work Thank you for sharing your methods.

@kalina I Look forward to seeing the files

Do you design your boards to a certain sizing to fit in certain containers/enclosures or do you just size your boards according to the contained hardware?

I've recently noticed that there isn't much price difference from say a 50 x 50mm to a 100 x 100mm board. When i started to get boards made, there were 50 x 50mm prototyping board packages that were much cheaper than the 100mm counterparts. This opens up a much more interesting scope for products made here now.

@kalina - Perfect, I notice you have published design files for the rest of your designs but not this. Can't help but wonder why....

Awesome, might be beneficial to add to the openhardware description too.

Thanks.

Is there any chance we could see the .brd file or at least give us some sort of dimensions for the physical product here.

Thanks

Personally, i don't think there is a need to have with working without the ATMega. If it was mine, i would like to have a pretty sure way of seeing there is a problem, not to be able to continue using the product even if it was 'broken' to an extent. I see why you would like that feature but i just don't see it being much use. If you have a specific case that you would like to put forward or i'm not seeing any serious use of this, please advise me as i would change my mind

Just my opinion about this case would be that if i knew it was broken but could still use it without an issue then i would be rather lazy and not change the atmega straight away. But that may just be me alone, everyone else may not be as busy/lazy as me. Maybe that is the engineer inside of me coming out though haha.

@Nca78 - Indeed, this is why i said that i would have had them everywhere if they were not WiFi and hence why i'm interested in this development

I do not have one of these product to test the fitment with the connector in the correct placement. If i had one i would have got that eagle file to you asap

Do you have a link to the EU/UK version so i could take a look through. I've only ever read the US version but knew that they had a UK version and assumed it was the same but different mounting and voltage ratings.

The only thing that bothers me, and stops me purchasing these, is the fact they're WiFi, if RF i would have them everywhere already

I love this! If you guys need any assistance with making the EU Version then please shout. Drop me a message and i will be more than willing to help/test/assist with eagle or anything.

I get why you done it, but i don't understand why. You don't need to 'know' mysensors.... There is a getting started page, i suggest you take a few hours and read through everything. I'm not helping with an issue that is completely not related to mysensors while on the mysensors forum. Just simply for future readers of this thread that come here to solve their issue, if this thread is bloated out with over 10/20 replies that is not related to the question at hand its much harder for them to find their resolution here. I suggest contacting the author of the code himself as i'm pretty sure that your issue is not the bootloader.

Firstly, i can't read the structure the way you have posted your sketch. You should use the code function in the reply, the icon looks like "</>" above where you make your reply. Put your code in there for us to have any chance of reading it at all.

Secondly, I don't think that this is the place to be posting this issue. For a start, this isn't an issue relevant to the bootloader in this thread and secondly, it doesn't even have anything to do with MySensors.

Could you please either include your sketch here or give us a link to the example sketch that you used please.

@mar.conte - Are you basically saying that your hardware is using too much power to enable you to run on battery for any substantial time?

I'm sorry, i don't understand the issue at hand.... Could you attempt to explain any clearer?

@mar.conte - Its okay, i understood you, just about

Now just apply that description to all of the other bootloader varients that the great @Gertsanders has provided us with

@mar.conte - Your question isn't very clear. If you're asking what the name means its broken down as:

8mhz - Crystal speed/frequency
38k4 - 38400 upload speed
D13 - Pin 13 to flash the LED (if needed) just for visual indication that the bootloader has been burnt/installed.

Not sure if that is what you meant but I could only assume. If not then please attempt to explain a little clearly for us

Hope that sorts your problem!

@Koresh - Thank you for explaining this to me. I think i understand this a little more clearly now. Like i said, i've never dealt with flash so its all a grey area for myself.

I'm currently looking at recompiling MYSBootloader for use with an 8Mhz crystal instead of this work around. The whole reasoning behind me asking this question is simply because i wanted OTA updates on a battery powered node. Now, this means i need OTA updates on 3.3v, but my MYSBootloader nodes require 16Mhz crystal to work. So its either use 16Mhz on 3.3v (while it works, its not the correct solution) OR to get a bootloader working with an 8Mhz crystal setup. I chose the later, and therefor its either recompile MYSBootloader to work with 8Mhz OR to get a flash IC on the board to allow for Dual Optiboot.

At the moment i'm toying with the idea of going the software issue route and attempting to recompile MYSBootloader for 8Mhz (just need to workout what to change for the recompiled version). Seems a little easier and cheaper than going the route of flash considering my location and not being able to get my hands on the recommended/mostly used flash IC.

How do we go about compiling this for 8MHz crystal (Internal and External), i'm sure this has already been asked but I can't seem to search through this post very efficiently... Sorry if it has been covered already, just a link back or something would probably suit me if it has been

@mardah said in OTA flash types for MySensors:

Would AT45DB041E be a good choice as a OTA flash? I see it's in the schematics for the new Sensebender Micro mk2.

Did you ever figure out if this works with Optiboot for OTA flashing?

I must admit that i'm very confused at this thread, it was setup to advise of other Flash IC's for us to use but there seems to be no 'solid' alternatives that you guys have suggested. For me, living in the UK, its near impossible to grab any of the AT25DF512C-SSHN-B without paying through the roof for shipping.

I can see that AT45DB041E is JEDEC compliant but that is as far as i can go with knowing if it will work. Flash architecture is way out of my depth right now.

I have just posted my solution so far:

Forum thread: https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/6460/homini-pulse-meter-monitor
Openhardware.io: https://www.openhardware.io/view/356/Homini-Pulse-Meter-Monitor#tabs-comments

The sensor part is designed, currently working on the custom microcontroller board - You're more than welcome to use an arduino or any other solution for a microcontroller module.

@hugch

You, and the datasheet, are correct. That is my mistake and will add to the update list for next revision. I will either do as you suggested with a voltage divider or if possible, I will just route 3V3 to the switches. Thank you for pointing this out. I'm even more interested to find that article out that i read to question that now.

Lesson here is to always read the datasheet carefully. I think its working fine to be honest but because it is beyond the datasheet it is not supported to work.

Fuses: I'm not sure if they have documented it yet, the relays are OMRON G3MB-202P. If you find anything regarding fuses please post in here. I haven't had much of a luck recently, I did when i designed the board spend a little time looking for this but with no success. It maybe information that is easily available now

@scalz - I made it with a comparator for two main reasons:

1. I wasn't sure how much the frequency fluctuated from country to country and instead of spending days on end doing research for that, I just chose to go safe rather than sorry.
2. If there is another application that we're not thinking of that would take advantage of a fast/high frequency light detector, this would fit perfectly.

Thanks for uploading the files, will check them out today, although i pretty much have mine done now, just not got the design penalised onto the PCB to get 4 out of the 50x50 prototype order.

I will get it made at University to test the board too.