This series documents a set of experiments to explore LoRa for a telemetry application. Note this is simple multipoint to point LoRa, it does not use LoRaWAN.
The block diagram above shows the information flow between the main elements. Continue reading IoT – exploration of LoRa – part 1
T962 IR reflow oven rework documented rework of the inexpensive T962 IR rework oven. This article reports some tests on various modules.
The solder cream used is cheap Chinese 63/37 tin/lead solder cream that has been in the fridge for a couple of years, so it is past its use by date.
Solder cream was applied to pads using a pneumatic drive of a 10ml syringe with #22 blunt needle.
A U shaped piece of 0.5mm copper wire was placed on the oven drawer tray and the boards placed on the wire. This to isolate the boards from the thermal mass of the drawer tray.
The program used is shown above. Continue reading T962 IR reflow oven rework #2
This article documents the rework of an inexpensive Chinese IR Reflow Oven for PCB assembly.
The product is widely sold and quite modest price, but is properly criticised for a number for problems that are easily fixed in the hands of a competent person. Continue reading T962 IR reflow oven rework
At IoT – exploration of LoRaWAN – part 2 I reported some quality issues with two low cost SAMD21 Arduino Zero like boards, and at Arduino SAMD21 bootloader protection some related discussion.
In view of continuing experience of incorrectly programmed low cost SAMD21 boards, I have decided to re-flash them as a matter of course
Above is one of the culprit boards. Continue reading Arduino SAMD21 bootloader protection II
At IoT – exploration of LoRaWAN – part 2 I reported some quality issues with two low cost SAMD21 Arduino Zero like boards.
In both cases, the bootloader did not work. I did not investigate further but did note that the NVM user row looked like it had been cleared, but just wrote a new bootloader and restored a default user row with protection for the 8192 length bootloader.
Above is one of the culprit boards. Continue reading Arduino SAMD21 bootloader protection
At IoT – exploration of LoRaWAN – part 1 details were given of first steps in a LoRaWAN project.
This article documents some MCU boards used for prototyping solutions.
The Arduino Zero concept was chosen for a modern module supported by the Arduino IDE and with ample memory resources for the LoRaWAN protocol stack and application code and memory requirements.
The boards tested are ‘basic’ Zero boards using the Atmel SAMD21G18 MCU. None of the three boards discussed here had the ‘PRO’ EDBG chip / ‘Programming USB’ port, they had only the ‘Native USB’ port.
Above is the module under test. Continue reading IoT – exploration of LoRaWAN – part 2
This article reviews the Dragino LG02 LoRa ‘gateway’.
Above is a pic of the supplied device, and notably it is supplied without the external WiFi antenna shown in the manufacturer’s literature and seller’s web shop.
Above is a close up of the case with the plastic plug removed from the ANT-3 hole, there is not connector, the device does not have provision to install the external WiFi antenna and presumably has an internal antenna though we might expect that has reduced range. Continue reading Dragino LG02 review
This article documents a project with the Espressif ESP8266.
This project is based on ESP8266 IoT DHT22 temperature and humidity – evolution 3, but uses the Bosch BME280 temperature, humidity and pressure sensor. The BME280 has been around for a couple of years, but recently, modules using the chip have become available on eBay for a couple of dollars.
The objective is a module that will take periodic temperature, humidity atmospheric pressure (barometer) measurements, and in this evolution publish them using a RESTful API.
The example platform used in this article is a Wemos D1Pro. In this case, the D1Pro is configured for an external antenna, and a modification is made to the board to add a 1N34A diode for the deep sleep reset circuit (NodeMCU devkit V1 deep sleep). A right angle header on the top of the board (as seen) and another on the underside on the opposite edge to get GND, +3.3, D3 and D4 for the BME280 sensor. There is less than $25 in parts in the pic above. Continue reading ESP8266 IoT BME280 temperature, humidity and pressure
Several of my IoT projects use WiFi, and its range is quite limited, too short to be practical for some projects.
There are several alternatives, but the emerging LoRaWAN concept looks interesting and is worth a visit. LoRaWAN is capable of up to 20km range under ideal conditions, km range should be reliable in most cases.
The first trial is to adapt an existing project functional requirement to LoRaWAN connectivity.
Above is a block diagram of the working trial. Continue reading IoT – exploration of LoRaWAN – part 1
I bought a cheap Pulsar V233-0060 on eBay, you know, one that was advertised as “was working 10 years ago, just needs a battery”.
Of course if that was true, the seller would fit the battery and describe it as working and get lots more money for it.
Pulsar is one of Seiko’s brands, and this movement appears in Seiko branded watches.
Anyway, as it inevitably the case, it did not work.
External examination revealed that with a good battery, the 32kHz crystal was running, but no motor pulses. A further test with external turbo magnetic drive showed the motion works was working… so now pointing to a coil problem.
Continue reading Pulsar V233-0060 stripped down