I thought I'd share a part of my 'workshhop'. Only part of it due the rest being in a bit of a mess at the moment, so here is the 'good' bit......

I would really like to get OTA working here as it's freezing outside and I have to go there to update the software in the greenhouse control system.

So please, can we have a 'how to' step-by-step guide to OTA? Please?

S.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you on (or behind) this forum.

Here's to 2018 and a much better year for us all!

Seasons greeting to all of you. Hope you have a nice festive season.

@bc123 said in I am in need of some programming help.:

I have a cool project

So does everyone else

I hired someone to do about a year ago, but it never worked entirely.

Why is that?

need some help with the programming.

Then post your code and the issues you are facing and someone might help you out.

Project: Driveway alert system, looooong driveway.

So it's just a basic 'alert system' - good.

I have 4 sensor beams shooting across the driveway and they are spaced about 100' apart from each other.

That is good if that is what you want/need for your cool project.

Each can provide a NO or NC contact.

Good.

I have conduit running between all 4 points

Good idea if you don't want jammable RF.....

and was planning to run Ethernet wire between them

So only empty conduit at the moment then?

The board has a LORA radio on it

Good.

and is transmitting to my Arduino receiver, which is tied to a pi running Domoticz.

Good.

I hired someone a year ago to build a system for me using 4 transmitters (one for each sensor),

You already told us this bit.

but I don't think he knew what he was doing.

Why is that?

We got several running temperature/humidity data

That wasn't the original 'alert' spec was it? Or maybe it was? Maybe it is supposed to be a driveway alert system with temperature and humidity sensors 100 feet apart? Who knows? What are you 'really' wanting to do here?

but, the input pins don’t work like they’re supposed to.

So is this faulty hardware issue then?

Why 4 sensors on the driveway? Eventually I’ll install my railroad signals and be able to direct one way traffic up and down the driveway! How cool is that!

If you really have that much traffic on your driveway then it might be a better idea to have a 2-lane driveway.

Help anyone? Happy to compensate for your efforts!

How can we help? You posted an 'alert' dream that later included temperature and humidity. Then it morphed into a traffic control system (either automatic or manually controlled, we don't know which at this stage).
Then you ask for programming help and don't even post a single line of code.

Yes that was all a bit 'tounge-in-cheek' but hopefully you get the idea.

First define what you actually want.
Post code you are trying to get working.
Post drawings of how it is all connected up.
Post photos of the project.

Where is the project located on this once fine planet?
Where do I get my compensation from?

The current NRF24 set up is more secure than bluetooth or wifi from attack.

I say this based on the fact that anyone with a laptop, mobile etc can have software to crack/hack/spoof/inject into bluetooth or wifi. It is not that difficult for kids to do.

The NRF is another matter as to achieve this on that radio module would require acquiring a module, setting it up with a pc/phone and then getting software to attack it.

People often go the easiest route and I am less worried about nrf24 than I would be if the system used bluetooth/wifi or cloud.

Just my thoughts on a dark and wet Monday morning.....

@TheStaticTurtle You are using an older version of mysensors. 2.3.2 is current so first of all upgrade to that.

Second, looking at the node log it never finds the gateway. FPAR is "find parent" and it never does, so nowhere to send the data. The "!TSM:FPAR:FAIL" is also a clue as to no comms with the gateway.

Why this is I don't know as you haven't posted your code.

@Stevanov

Your best bet is still to simply change to a different unused channel.

Nrf24l01+ has over 100 channels available, why insist on using one in use by someone else nearby?

Even if you do encrypt all data the radios will still suffer due the the high level of signals around swamping the receiver front ends and reducing sensitivity adn increasing liklihood of packet collisions.

Far better to find a clear channel and use that, but it's up to you at the end of the day.

@BearWithBeard You beat me to it by a minute!

@Puneit-Thukral It looks ot me that your sleep calls are the problem here.

You sleep the mcu with no way of waking up when an interrupt happens. In my door node I have a sensor for the door open/closed and an anti-tamper which triggers if the unit is moved from the wall. Here is how I did the sleep and interrupt call.....

 sleep(digitalPinToInterrupt(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR), CHANGE, digitalPinToInterrupt(DIGITAL_INPUT_ANTITAMPER), CHANGE, SLEEP_TIME);

This way the mcu will sleep, but awake when an interrupt changes.

I hope this helps you get it working!

@Joseph-Gill My sensor has taken a few knocks but still works really well. I have got another one now to use in the car (when I get around MYSing the car that is).

The last readings from my sensor.....

Readings are high as the sensor is currently too low to the ground. I will attend to this when I have time to make it into a cased unit.

@AdamAnt You could replace the 200K with a 270K preset so that you can adjust it to give the maximum resolution. Remember that you are not measureing voltage with this set up, but an analog 'value' that is 'roughly' proportional to the voltage applied.

@sindrome73 said

Then another thing, when I connect the serial monitor through my arduino Uno that I use to load the sketches I get this Why ???

Probably you have not set the correct baud rate for the device you are connecting. If it is 5V then usually it is 115200 and if it is 3.3V then it should be 38400.

@mfalkvidd Also the fastest path to insomnia and alcoholism!

@mfalkvidd I always seem to do things the hard way!

@TheStaticTurtle What are you measuring the temperature of? Your node sketch only sends new data if the temperature changes from the last reading. It may be that the sensor(s) are in a place with a fairly constant temperature and therefore there is no change to send?

To test this comment out the below code and see if you then get data every 30 seconds....

  // Only send data if temperature has changed and no error
    //#if COMPARE_TEMP == 1
   // if (lastTemperature[i] != temperature && temperature != -127.00 && //temperature != 85.00) {
    //#else
    //if (temperature != -127.00 && temperature != 85.00) {
    //#endif

@TheStaticTurtle You are using an older version of mysensors. 2.3.2 is current so first of all upgrade to that.

Second, looking at the node log it never finds the gateway. FPAR is "find parent" and it never does, so nowhere to send the data. The "!TSM:FPAR:FAIL" is also a clue as to no comms with the gateway.

Why this is I don't know as you haven't posted your code.

@jocke4u I run 2 RF gateways and it's not a problem. When you 'migrate' a node to a new gateway make sure to run the mysensors clear eeprom sketch first to get rid of the old routing table or you might have issues.

@Yveaux Thanks for the pointer, I will take a good look at that. What I need is something light that won't have a growing variable. I thought of using an array as the best option, but I will vertainly look at what you have found. Thank you!

@bjacobse I agree - when I was putting mine together I could see the desk top. But now it is in constant use 'building' I never know what I will find underneath something!