On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 02:39:03 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

T i m wrote:

wrote:

3.3V is quite similar to 5V. Just a bit smaller

Yeah g and I'm happy interfacing the 5V o/p to the 3.3V input
(voltage divider) but the other way round isn't quite so easy
(especially without inverting the logic). I do have a little
bi-directional driver module that is supposed to match a 3.3V tx / rx
with a 5V one (used on a bluetooth module on the Arduino) but it
didn't seem to work.

I have used one of the adafruit bidirectional drivers between a 3.3V
TUMPA and a 5V string of RGB pixels, worked OK, but was used as output
only in that case.

I think I found the converter I used worked the 'easy way' but not the
other (so I just went back to a voltage devider). ;-)

snip

Cheers, T i m

On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 11:39:42 +1100, "Rod Speed"
wrote:

snip

Can you give me a typical example of how one might use an ESP8266 over
say an Arduino Nano etc please?

Where you want to have wifi communication with something
simple like a temperature sensor or contact sensor and want
a very low cost approach so you can have lots of those sensors
for monitoring stuff around the house like the fridges, freezers,
ovens, windows, doors, gates letterbox etc.

Interesting: http://wiki.iteadstudio.com/ESP8266_Serial_WIFI_Module

The only thing stopping me buying a box of them is I really
need something that can be powered by a coin battery for
a year or more and have it tell me when the battery needs
changing.

Yeah, looking at the current when transmitting WiFi suggests it would
need more than a coin battery for useful remote operation (possibly
dependant on frequency of use etc).

It would be fun to get back to AT commands though. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

"T i m" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 11:39:42 +1100, "Rod Speed"
wrote:

snip

Can you give me a typical example of how one might use an ESP8266 over
say an Arduino Nano etc please?

Where you want to have wifi communication with something
simple like a temperature sensor or contact sensor and want
a very low cost approach so you can have lots of those sensors
for monitoring stuff around the house like the fridges, freezers,
ovens, windows, doors, gates letterbox etc.

Interesting: http://wiki.iteadstudio.com/ESP8266_Serial_WIFI_Module

Thanks for that, didn't get around to chasing that down today.

Looks like it may well be fine battery powered, at worst
a low self discharge set of 4 AA NiMhs or something.

The only thing stopping me buying a box of them is I really
need something that can be powered by a coin battery for
a year or more and have it tell me when the battery needs
changing.

Yeah, looking at the current when transmitting WiFi suggests
it would need more than a coin battery for useful remote
operation (possibly dependant on frequency of use etc).

Yeah, I don't mind if its 4 AA low discharge NiMHs etc.

It would be fun to get back to AT commands though. ;-)

I'd prefer something better than that but that's no big deal.

On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 20:22:28 +1100, "Rod Speed"
wrote:



"T i m" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 11:39:42 +1100, "Rod Speed"
wrote:

snip

Can you give me a typical example of how one might use an ESP8266 over
say an Arduino Nano etc please?

Where you want to have wifi communication with something
simple like a temperature sensor or contact sensor and want
a very low cost approach so you can have lots of those sensors
for monitoring stuff around the house like the fridges, freezers,
ovens, windows, doors, gates letterbox etc.

Interesting: http://wiki.iteadstudio.com/ESP8266_Serial_WIFI_Module

Thanks for that, didn't get around to chasing that down today.

I only came across that whilst looking to find out a bit more about
what it *actually* was myself.

Looks like it may well be fine battery powered, at worst
a low self discharge set of 4 AA NiMhs or something.

4 or 3? I didn't note if there was a voltage reg on there (there must
be) and what the dropout voltage was.

The only thing stopping me buying a box of them is I really
need something that can be powered by a coin battery for
a year or more and have it tell me when the battery needs
changing.

Yeah, looking at the current when transmitting WiFi suggests
it would need more than a coin battery for useful remote
operation (possibly dependant on frequency of use etc).

Yeah, I don't mind if its 4 AA low discharge NiMHs etc.

Yeah, I generally only buy those now. I might also look into Lithium
batteries for GP use as quite a few things I have (quadcopters etc)
are powered by them.

It would be fun to get back to AT commands though. ;-)

I'd prefer something better than that but that's no big deal.

One thing I'm still not sure of is just how 'stand alone' these
modules are and how / what you program them with? Is it 'Python that
has been mentioned as I wouldn't have an idea how or where to start
with that?

Cheers, T i m

On Mon, 29 Feb 2016 21:08:01 +0000, T i m wrote:

On Mon, 29 Feb 2016 12:32:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Monday, 29 February 2016 12:59:36 UTC, dennis@home wrote:
CPC have 1100 of them in stock if anyone wants one.

At the moment they're showing nil in stock, 21,478 will be available for delivery on Mar 9, 2016.


And one of those should be mine. ;-)

Or maybe it wasn't as mine arrived this morning. ;-)

Not sure it's working though, well not on any of the images I've tried
so far that do work on my Pi2?

I just get that rainbow coloured square display that doesn't seem to
move (although there is an LED flashing on the board).

Cheers, T i m

On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 10:58:11 AM UTC, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 20:22:28 +1100, "Rod Speed"
snipped


changing.

Yeah, looking at the current when transmitting WiFi suggests
it would need more than a coin battery for useful remote
operation (possibly dependant on frequency of use etc).

Yeah, I don't mind if its 4 AA low discharge NiMHs etc.

Yeah, I generally only buy those now. I might also look into Lithium
batteries for GP use as quite a few things I have (quadcopters etc)
are powered by them.


https://www.olimex.com/Products/IoT/...ource-hardware

on board lipo charging

Possibly be keener using IMR 18650 in an unattended application...


It would be fun to get back to AT commands though. ;-)

I'd prefer something better than that but that's no big deal.

One thing I'm still not sure of is just how 'stand alone' these
modules are and how / what you program them with? Is it 'Python that
has been mentioned as I wouldn't have an idea how or where to start
with that?

This looks like a total beginners intro, nissing out the Python bit..

https://www.openhomeautomation.net/g...arted-esp8266/


Cheers, T i m

On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 04:33:57 -0800 (PST), Adam Aglionby
wrote:

On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 10:58:11 AM UTC, T i m wrote:
On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 20:22:28 +1100, "Rod Speed"
snipped


changing.

Yeah, looking at the current when transmitting WiFi suggests
it would need more than a coin battery for useful remote
operation (possibly dependant on frequency of use etc).

Yeah, I don't mind if its 4 AA low discharge NiMHs etc.

Yeah, I generally only buy those now. I might also look into Lithium
batteries for GP use as quite a few things I have (quadcopters etc)
are powered by them.


https://www.olimex.com/Products/IoT/...ource-hardware

on board lipo charging

Possibly be keener using IMR 18650 in an unattended application...

Thanks for that Adam.


It would be fun to get back to AT commands though. ;-)

I'd prefer something better than that but that's no big deal.

One thing I'm still not sure of is just how 'stand alone' these
modules are and how / what you program them with? Is it 'Python that
has been mentioned as I wouldn't have an idea how or where to start
with that?

This looks like a total beginners intro, nissing out the Python bit..

https://www.openhomeautomation.net/g...arted-esp8266/

skimmed and bookmarked

Again, thanks for that.

Cheers, T i m

T i m wrote:
On Mon, 29 Feb 2016 21:08:01 +0000, T i m wrote:

On Mon, 29 Feb 2016 12:32:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Monday, 29 February 2016 12:59:36 UTC, dennis@home wrote:
CPC have 1100 of them in stock if anyone wants one.

At the moment they're showing nil in stock, 21,478 will be available
for delivery on Mar 9, 2016.


And one of those should be mine. ;-)

Or maybe it wasn't as mine arrived this morning. ;-)

Not sure it's working though, well not on any of the images I've tried
so far that do work on my Pi2?

I just get that rainbow coloured square display that doesn't seem to
move (although there is an LED flashing on the board).

Doesn't that rainbow thing mean you're not giving it enough power?
The Pi 3 does need more power than the 2 I think.

--
Chris Green
·

T i m wrote
Rod Speed wrote
T i m wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Can you give me a typical example of how one might
use an ESP8266 over say an Arduino Nano etc please?

Where you want to have wifi communication with something
simple like a temperature sensor or contact sensor and want
a very low cost approach so you can have lots of those sensors
for monitoring stuff around the house like the fridges, freezers,
ovens, windows, doors, gates letterbox etc.

Interesting: http://wiki.iteadstudio.com/ESP8266_Serial_WIFI_Module

Thanks for that, didn't get around to chasing that down today.

I only came across that whilst looking to find out
a bit more about what it *actually* was myself.

Looks like it may well be fine battery powered, at worst
a low self discharge set of 4 AA NiMhs or something.

4 or 3?

Yeah, I did initially have 3 there and changed it.

I didn't note if there was a voltage reg on there (there must be)

Not necessarily it could just tolerate a considerable
variation like much battery powered stuff does.

There is no regulator in the schematic.

and what the dropout voltage was.

Likely it isnt listed.

The only thing stopping me buying a box of them is I really need
something that can be powered by a coin battery for a year or
more and have it tell me when the battery needs changing.

Yeah, looking at the current when transmitting WiFi suggests
it would need more than a coin battery for useful remote
operation (possibly dependant on frequency of use etc).

Yeah, I don't mind if its 4 AA low discharge NiMHs etc.

Yeah, I generally only buy those now. I might also look
into Lithium batteries for GP use as quite a few things
I have (quadcopters etc) are powered by them.

Not sure the higher cost and fire risk is worth
it with something as low powered as that.

Mechanically more convenient tho, and maybe
even cheaper if you use the stuff like those nokia
batterys that that got used in so many of their
phones so they are dirt cheap for that reason.

Nothing like as good self discharge wise
tho, that is the real killer with those.

It would be fun to get back to AT commands though. ;-)

I'd prefer something better than that but that's no big deal.

One thing I'm still not sure of is just how 'stand alone' these
modules are and how / what you program them with?

Something I did read said you can do that over the bluetooth/wifi.

Is it 'Python that has been mentioned as I wouldn't
have an idea how or where to start with that?

Yeah, that's what the OP said. I don't mind, I've been into
programming forever and much prefer to doing things
with hardware which I have been doing for even longer.

The big thing I like about programming is that no matter
how often you fiddle with it in the process of getting the
result you decide is the way to go, that one is immaculate.
Hardware that has been fiddled with never is. No big deal
with the sort of bulk devices I am interested in, only the
prototype is grotty, but still, I like the clean final code.

Might go for a Light Blue initially tho for some of them,
the accelerometer would be very handy for the letterbox
lid sensor and the gates and doors. No sensors at all,
just the device and its battery. My letterbox is outside
the house, not in the front door like you lot have yours.

Not so good for the multiple temperate sensors
tho, those need to be a cheap as possible.

I also want lots of light controllers etc which tell me
when the light hasn't come on when it was told to etc.

On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 13:29:47 +0000, wrote:

T i m wrote:
On Mon, 29 Feb 2016 21:08:01 +0000, T i m wrote:

On Mon, 29 Feb 2016 12:32:44 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

On Monday, 29 February 2016 12:59:36 UTC, dennis@home wrote:
CPC have 1100 of them in stock if anyone wants one.

At the moment they're showing nil in stock, 21,478 will be available
for delivery on Mar 9, 2016.


And one of those should be mine. ;-)

Or maybe it wasn't as mine arrived this morning. ;-)

Not sure it's working though, well not on any of the images I've tried
so far that do work on my Pi2?

I just get that rainbow coloured square display that doesn't seem to
move (although there is an LED flashing on the board).

Doesn't that rainbow thing mean you're not giving it enough power?

It might, but it did eventually come up when I flashed a new Noobs
image. However, whilst it starts, Linux complains abut re-sizing the
partition and won't go any further (8G uSD card formatted with a
couple of different formatters).

The Pi 3 does need more power than the 2 I think.

Agreed, I think it does because not only does it now have the 4 USB
ports but the built-in WiFi and BT etc. That said, whilst I've seen
mention of 5.1V, I was powering in from a surge adaptor that has 2x
USB ports with a total output of 2A or so (and only the Pi plugged
into it).

Thinking on, I guess there is an advantage to not having *everything*
built in and that's that you might be able to save power by not
powering stuff you don't need (assuming such devices don't disappear
completely from the power list when soft disabled or not in use etc).

I've just got back and will try the various options later.

Cheers, T i m

p.s. I've just bought a nearly unused RPi Mk1B (kit) from a family
friend (for more than it was worth) because all the bits will come in
handy and you can't have enough computers (or motorcycles). ;-)

T i m wrote:
Or maybe it wasn't as mine arrived this morning. ;-)

Not sure it's working though, well not on any of the images I've tried
so far that do work on my Pi2?

You'll need to upgrade the firmware files on your SD card at the very least,
possibly your kernel.

https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmw...ee/master/boot
has the latest versions, or run rpi-update from the Pi2.

Theo

On 03 Mar 2016 18:33:27 +0000 (GMT), Theo
wrote:

T i m wrote:
Or maybe it wasn't as mine arrived this morning. ;-)

Not sure it's working though, well not on any of the images I've tried
so far that do work on my Pi2?

You'll need to upgrade the firmware files on your SD card at the very least,
possibly your kernel.

https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmw...ee/master/boot
has the latest versions, or run rpi-update from the Pi2.

Thanks for that Theo.

When I came back earlier I tried Noobs on a range of the uSD cards I
had to hand and eventually one seemed to work, downloaded and
installed Raspbian.

WiFi worked OOTB and the whole thing feels very much more useable (as
a GUI workstation) from the short tests I've done so far.

I just left it running an update.

I haven't looked at the specs of the cards I have but am waiting for a
few 16G Class 10's as they were only a few pence more than class 4's
(FWIMBW).

I may try a fresh OctoPrint image on the RPi3B later but if I can get
the hang of running it from the CLI then I should be able to use the
RPi1B I bought earlier.

Cheers, T i m

On 02/03/2016 18:11, Andrew wrote:
On 01/03/2016 21:56, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 29/02/2016 13:35, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
Some one commented elsewhere that this evolution is somewhere on the
path to turning the Pi into a mobile phone ...

Back into.

The chips were originally intended for 'phones.

Andy
The chips were originally designed to replace the 6502 processor in
Acorns PCs back in about 1985, when mobile phones were large and bulky.

The phone business came about as super-integration became the norm and
the now much-shrunken Arm core was surrounded by glue-logic.

A little further back than I meant.

Broadcom originally built the Pi 1 chip for the 'phone market. It's got
ARM cores, and a Broadcom GPU. (Videocore IV).

Andy

On Wednesday, 2 March 2016 23:23:48 UTC, Rod Speed wrote:
whisky-dave wrote
David wrote
T i m wrote

Has he also seen tried any of the Arduino range? I think they
can be a bit more friendly if he wants to be able to make stuff
do stuff and quite easily (as a stepping stone to the RPi).

We're becoming spoiled for choice now. Pi and Arduino are,
of course, excellent. The BBC Micro Bit should be great too.

pi 3 and the BBC Micro Bit seem to be in short supply.

For now.

How long has it been now ?.

We've tried to buy them so far no luck in getting them.






I think we'll be hearing much more about
ESP8266 over the course of this year...

I quite like the bluebean but a bit more expensive.
http://vurt.blue/products/lightblue-bean

Yeah, very much closer to what I want.
Pity about the price tho, much too high
for a wifi temperature or contact sensor.
Presumably the built in accelerometer
is part of the problem there.

Going to be interesting to see if they
have a Bean - which fixes that problem.

a Mr Bean version would be an intresting one.

On 02/03/2016 18:11, Andrew wrote:
On 01/03/2016 21:56, Vir Campestris wrote:
On 29/02/2016 13:35, Adrian Caspersz wrote:
Some one commented elsewhere that this evolution is somewhere on the
path to turning the Pi into a mobile phone ...

Back into.

The chips were originally intended for 'phones.

Andy
The chips were originally designed to replace the 6502 processor in
Acorns PCs back in about 1985, when mobile phones were large and bulky.

The phone business came about as super-integration became the norm and
the now much-shrunken Arm core was surrounded by glue-logic.

I read a while ago that they got into phones because of their very low
power draw. Apparently the prototype arm core was running and they
couldn't measure any input power - it turned out that the power lines
weren't connected and the core was running on parasitic power.

SteveW

whisky-dave wrote:
How long has it been now ?.

We've tried to buy them so far no luck in getting them.

RS currently have 3000 Pi3s in stock. Since they only do business orders,
they might still be there by the time the accounts department gets around to
raising a purchase order. Ours arrived 9am next day.

Theo

En el artículo , Theo theom+news
@chiark.greenend.org.uk escribió:

by the time the accounts department gets around to
raising a purchase order

Come on. In academentia, raising purchase orders requires forms to be
signed in triplicate. In blood. Then approved by a committee. Then a
budget identified. Then the trolls in Finance might get round to raising
the order on the "system", by which time another ice age will have come
and gone and the Pi will be at model 32489, never mind 3.

http://dilbert.com/strip/2001-10-23

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) Bunny says: Windows 10? Nein danke!
(")_(")

in 1466060 20160305 004635 Mike Tomlinson wrote:
En el art�culo , Theo theom+news
escribi�:

by the time the accounts department gets around to
raising a purchase order

Come on. In academentia, raising purchase orders requires forms to be
signed in triplicate. In blood. Then approved by a committee. Then a
budget identified. Then the trolls in Finance might get round to raising
the order on the "system", by which time another ice age will have come
and gone and the Pi will be at model 32489, never mind 3.

http://dilbert.com/strip/2001-10-23

Not long before I retired I put in an order for a printer.
About a month later a 17-year-old female in Finance phoned me and said
"we've decided to let you have the printer".

En el artículo , Bob Martin
escribió:

Not long before I retired I put in an order for a printer.
About a month later a 17-year-old female in Finance phoned me and said
"we've decided to let you have the printer".

Yep. That.

They forget they're there to provide a service to us, not for us to
pander to their whims. Though you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

And don't get me started on "approved suppliers"

--
(\_/)
(='.'=) Bunny says: Windows 10? Nein danke!
(")_(")

"Mike Tomlinson" wrote in message
...
En el artículo , Bob Martin
escribió:

Not long before I retired I put in an order for a printer.
About a month later a 17-year-old female in Finance phoned me and said
"we've decided to let you have the printer".

Yep. That.

They forget they're there to provide a service to us, not for us to
pander to their whims. Though you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

And don't get me started on "approved suppliers"

45 years back we each had our own order book, brilliant. It didn't last many
years though



---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

Mike Tomlinson wrote
Bob Martin wrote

Not long before I retired I put in an order for a printer.
About a month later a 17-year-old female in Finance
phoned me and said
"we've decided to let you have the printer".

Yep. That.

Only fools organise things like that. We had our own
budgets and decided what we wanted to spend it on.

They forget they're there to provide a service to us, not for us to
pander to their whims. Though you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

More fool you lot for allowing them to get away with that.

And don't get me started on "approved suppliers"

Ditto. *I* decided what was bought from where and drove
a full aircraft carrier battle group thru the stupid system for
tendering the larger purchases, avoided it completely.

David wrote:

my first ESP8266 board is still on the boat from China

I bought a couple from UK eBay seller margi17, they arrived yesterday
and I've hooked one up to laptop via a 3.3V USB-RS232 dongle, a single
AT command is all it took to connect it to my WiFi and get a DHCP
address ... brilliant!

I'll be using this for the next step of my (glacially slow) smartmeter
interfacing project.

Andy Burns wrote:

David wrote:

my first ESP8266 board is still on the boat from China

I bought a couple from UK eBay seller margi17

Oops, make that margj17

On 07/03/2016 22:57, Andy Burns wrote:
Andy Burns wrote:

David wrote:

my first ESP8266 board is still on the boat from China

I bought a couple from UK eBay seller margi17

Oops, make that margj17



I bought one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191758723436

they are cheaper from china but I decided the wait was too long.

It should be here tomorrow.

On Monday, 29 February 2016 21:28:05 UTC, Dave Liquorice wrote:

********...

Resol vBus is RS485 but with an 8 V DC imbalance to power remote kit.

The last bit about the 8 V is right but rest is ********. The physical connection is two wire but doesn't use differential signalling that RS485 does. One wire is at a nominal +8 V relative to ground on the other wire. To signal a "mark" the + 8 V is shorted to ground via a transistor.

vBus is a protocol running over the physical link as described above.

There seems to be a lot of duff/dubious information out there...

On Friday, 4 March 2016 23:39:20 UTC, Theo wrote:
whisky-dave wrote:
How long has it been now ?.

We've tried to buy them so far no luck in getting them.

RS currently have 3000 Pi3s in stock. Since they only do business orders,
they might still be there by the time the accounts department gets around to
raising a purchase order. Ours arrived 9am next day.

Theo

Yes two arrived Monday :-)

Is Raspberry PI anything to do with Magnum PI?


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman

On 18/03/16 09:16, David Lang wrote:


Is Raspberry PI anything to do with Magnum PI?



Does it have a massive man-stache?