-
Join the MyBroadband community
South Africa’s biggest forum. Discuss, discover, and connect with thousands of members.
-
Question of the Day: What's the most interesting small town you've visited in South Africa?
Any ESP8266 programmers here
- Thread starter Spacerat
- Start date
Pilgrim
Wugger
http://www.blynk.cc/ that is a great framework to start with
Also got one just recently. Probably about 2 weeks ago. When I bought it from micro robotics, I didnt know which one to buy. So I bought an ESP-1 and ESP12-E both has an ESP8266 Chip on it. The ESP-1 only has 1 GPIO where as the ESP12-E has a few.
Have you managed to program it ? At first it kept me up until 3:00AM on a Friday
Couldn't get it to program it started to think i bought 2 duds. It was mostly because I tried to use an old Arduino UNO board's as an FTDI programmer by removing the UNO's chip. On that Saturday I bought a proper FTDI programmer from communica and managed to program and using an external 3.3V source.
Whilst I was at communica I also picked up a SONOFF. I asked nicely to have the one in their display because they were out of stock apparently they sell like sweet cake.
Made a how to video to show how it must be programmed with the Arduino IDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQqxaBEZjcs
The trick is to also reset the FTDI , put it into programming mode, reset FTDI again then hit the programming. If that doesn't work. Disconnect the USB and external power and try again. Been working fine for me.
1. If I can make some recommendations. The NodeMCU comes with USB on board so its much easier to program. Once you have what you want , you can transfer that over to a permanent project. A bare ESP8266 is designed using a different spacing standard so the holes don't match that of a vero board so its a bit hard to work with. I had to re-solder them onto a small piece of veroboard to make it easier to work with.
2. If your project involves turning AC power on and off via Wifi. Dont bother making your own board. Just buy a Sonoff. The Sonoff is an ESP 8266 with 2 or 3 GPIOs dirt cheap and comes with an integrated AC-DC power supply and can be placed inline of any AC device using less than 10A. And The beauty is it can also be re-programmed with the Arduino IDE just like you can program any other ESP8266 or Arduino board. You simply have to buy some header strips and solder 4 header pins onto it and you have an ESP8266 with an AC Relay shield all in one package.
Picture of my modified sonoff
And theESP12-E
Not shown in the picture the FDTI board's GND must obviously be common with the ESP8266's GND
(VERY IMPORTANT)
Also the reason for the external 3.3V is apparently USB cant deliver enough power to power both the ESP and FTDI. The nodeMCU does not seem to have that problem. But it certainly made a difference when I tried to program it without the external power.
Have you managed to program it ? At first it kept me up until 3:00AM on a Friday
Couldn't get it to program it started to think i bought 2 duds. It was mostly because I tried to use an old Arduino UNO board's as an FTDI programmer by removing the UNO's chip. On that Saturday I bought a proper FTDI programmer from communica and managed to program and using an external 3.3V source.Whilst I was at communica I also picked up a SONOFF. I asked nicely to have the one in their display because they were out of stock apparently they sell like sweet cake.
Made a how to video to show how it must be programmed with the Arduino IDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQqxaBEZjcs
The trick is to also reset the FTDI , put it into programming mode, reset FTDI again then hit the programming. If that doesn't work. Disconnect the USB and external power and try again. Been working fine for me.
1. If I can make some recommendations. The NodeMCU comes with USB on board so its much easier to program. Once you have what you want , you can transfer that over to a permanent project. A bare ESP8266 is designed using a different spacing standard so the holes don't match that of a vero board so its a bit hard to work with. I had to re-solder them onto a small piece of veroboard to make it easier to work with.
2. If your project involves turning AC power on and off via Wifi. Dont bother making your own board. Just buy a Sonoff. The Sonoff is an ESP 8266 with 2 or 3 GPIOs dirt cheap and comes with an integrated AC-DC power supply and can be placed inline of any AC device using less than 10A. And The beauty is it can also be re-programmed with the Arduino IDE just like you can program any other ESP8266 or Arduino board. You simply have to buy some header strips and solder 4 header pins onto it and you have an ESP8266 with an AC Relay shield all in one package.
Picture of my modified sonoff
And theESP12-E
Not shown in the picture the FDTI board's GND must obviously be common with the ESP8266's GND
(VERY IMPORTANT)
Also the reason for the external 3.3V is apparently USB cant deliver enough power to power both the ESP and FTDI. The nodeMCU does not seem to have that problem. But it certainly made a difference when I tried to program it without the external power.
Last edited:
Im busy building a house alarm with an Arduino Mega, LCD shield and a couple of outdoor PIRs. Also my aunt brought me an Amazon Echo from the states, will hopefully get it next weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woooooot!!! 
The plan is to integrate my Alarm with Alexa and I also found a sketch that mimics a WeMo power switch and I will put that onto a couple of Sonoffs CANT WAIT TO TRY IT OUT!
The plan is to integrate my Alarm with Alexa and I also found a sketch that mimics a WeMo power switch and I will put that onto a couple of Sonoffs CANT WAIT TO TRY IT OUT!
Are you not maybe referring to the ESP32 ? As far as I know the ESP8266 is just an ESP8266 is doesnt change and the community developed Arduino libraries are responsible for translating the Code and send it via serial using FTDI ?
The ESP 32 (Better spec) is a newer Wifi chip set aiming to replace the ESP8266. Dont quote me I read it on the interweb.
It being new there are no libraries available for the Arduino IDE. But soon as usual some clever developers with un-natural super coding powers will come up with something.
Has spent some time on the NodeMCU - programming a led to switch on and off from OpenHab using MQTT. What I found was, that you need to compile your script, and make sure that you use the correct uploader. Spent about 8 hours to sort out an issue, used a different uploaded and all works....
My plan is to so a few sensors, but it seems like the memory of the NodeMCU is too small - so not sure yet on if I would need one for each application
I agree on the Sonoff - but Communica was out of stock on Saturday - grrrrrrrr - wonder why!???
Anyone who would like to collaborate on ideas????
My plan is to so a few sensors, but it seems like the memory of the NodeMCU is too small - so not sure yet on if I would need one for each application
I agree on the Sonoff - but Communica was out of stock on Saturday - grrrrrrrr - wonder why!???
Anyone who would like to collaborate on ideas????
gregmcc
Honorary Master
I've done a load of temperature sensors with NodeMCU (Using the Ardiono interface) and then sends data to Domoticz.
Works like a bomb. I tried for ages to just get a ESP8266 module working wth LUA but it was horrible unstable.
Have also been using wemos which are dirt cheap on eBay. Put together a water and temperature monitor.
Works like a bomb. I tried for ages to just get a ESP8266 module working wth LUA but it was horrible unstable.
Have also been using wemos which are dirt cheap on eBay. Put together a water and temperature monitor.
Ooops Sorry
The sales guy did say they have a load of them currently stuck in customs, so keep checking with them.I find communica a bit expensive compared to what they cost in other counties even if you add duties and markup. I bet when they come in they will sell for +- R200 a piece.
Last edited:
kripstoe
Expert Member
Built an electricity monitor (counts the light blinks on my prepaid meter) with using NodeMCU a while back. Sends data to a .NET Core RESTful service. Wrote a Python plugin for my OSMC media center to read the data from the RESTful service, and also predicts when I will run out based on previous 2 weeks consumption.
Google nodemcu .. and learn some Lua.
Yes I bought one. Lua seems to be unstable though
Yes just been messing around with the arduino IDE. Pretty amazing. Create an access point. Run webserver that serves SVG graph to my phone browser... Thats one of the examples. Got a few diff ones. ESP8266MOD from AIthinker
Yes got the NodeMCU. Sonoff looks like something I can use right away...
Love this!
rundll32
Active Member
Please share source code.
rundll32
Active Member
I am busy building a home automation system with these bad boys and a RPi.
I am using them as modular sensors, eg temp & humid, water flow, soil moisture and tv proximity sensor.
You can check my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7AggQB0Pge-w1M3n8_purg
I am using them as modular sensors, eg temp & humid, water flow, soil moisture and tv proximity sensor.
You can check my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7AggQB0Pge-w1M3n8_purg
Dude thats lekke, When setting it up and hearing Alexa's voice coming from the RPI is priceless!
Unfortunately you cant set it up to boot and start the alexa service reliably because of the browser based java client.
Also normal microphones really suck and you have to be close when talking to her. Sometimes there is also a bit of a delay.
Buying an Amazon Echo actually works out cheaper and it's very reliable, Comes 7 far field mics built in and can hear you from a good distance.
My Amazon Echo arrived from the states last week and its awesome!
I'm almost finished with the below.
I didn't think it through properly ,so its doesn't look as clean as i would have liked it to be, but hey it works!. The next one will be better.
My Wife's into building arty stuff with concrete and her next project is this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwVxTm7bgqs&t=378s and I will be integrating it with Alexa.
Guess what we will be doing this coming long weekend.
Dude thats lekke, When setting it up and hearing Alexa's voice coming from the RPI is priceless!
Unfortunately you cant set it up to boot and start the alexa service reliably because of the browser based java client.
Also normal microphones really suck and you have to be close when talking to her. Sometimes there is also a bit of a delay.
Buying an Amazon Echo actually works out cheaper and it's very reliable, Comes 7 far field mics built in and can hear you from a good distance.
My Amazon Echo arrived from the states last week and its awesome!
I'm almost finished with the below.
View attachment 429898
I didn't think it through properly ,so its doesn't look as clean as i would have liked it to be, but hey it works!. The next one will be better.
My Wife's into building arty stuff with concrete and her next project is this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwVxTm7bgqs&t=378s and I will be integrating it with Alexa.
Guess what we will be doing this coming long weekend.
Where did you buy the bare ESP modules?
itareanlnotani
Executive Member
I have a bunch of them, they're really cheap in China - 18RMB a pop (R36 odd).
Given that they're Arduino IDE compatible, they're great.
Lots of ram, built in wifi, make great IoT devices.
Given that they're Arduino IDE compatible, they're great.
Lots of ram, built in wifi, make great IoT devices.
Where can I buy in SA?
I'm monitoring my alarm with an ESP8266 and Arduino.
I were lazy and just used the standard firmware the ESP8266 came with and have the Arduino monitor the alarm and send AT commands to the ESP8266 to update the status of the sensors on my OpenHAB server with HTTP GET requests (raw socket connection writing the HTTP request by hand).
I were lazy and just used the standard firmware the ESP8266 came with and have the Arduino monitor the alarm and send AT commands to the ESP8266 to update the status of the sensors on my OpenHAB server with HTTP GET requests (raw socket connection writing the HTTP request by hand).
I normally buy from Micro Robotics, they are just around the corner from me.
https://www.robotics.org.za/index.php?route=product/search&search=ESP8266
You can buy online as well.
https://www.robotics.org.za/index.php?route=product/search&search=ESP8266
You can buy online as well.