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sillyfrog edited this page Feb 2, 2017 · 3 revisions

Hardware

Below is the hardware I have used and played with. The parts are very cheap, and other similar items will likely also be fine.

ESP8266 Chip

I have found the WeMos D1 mini (v2) to be very easy to work with, so have not looked much further. I have plenty of these now, and all are working well - even if I don't treat them well. I have a WeMos D1 Pro, and even though it has a lot more flash - I have barely even used the flash on the normal D1 mini's, so have not actually fired it up yet. Info here: https://www.wemos.cc/product/d1-mini.html

RF Transmitter and Receiver

I have a couple of these, they came as a pair, for around $1 each!

The first one I tried is titled "433 Mhz superheterodyne receiver and transmitter", this is the link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1set-RF-module-433-Mhz-superheterodyne-receiver-and-transmitter-Support-ASK-OOK-small-size-low-power/32571703475.html And this is a photo of it Image of Superheterodyne Transmitter and Receiver I found the receiver too sensitive, in that it would pick up a lot of noise, so it was hard to capture a clear signal. The transmitter however is great.

The next one I tried has the part number "MX-RM-5V" on the receiver, and "FS1000A" on the transmitter. Although the receiver still got some noise, it was more manageable, so have been using this in preference. I got it from here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/433Mhz-RF-Wireless-transmitter-module-and-receiver-kit-For-Arduino-Raspberry-Pi/2024422377.html And a photo here: Image of Receiver and Transmitter

They are both easy to connect and run just fine on 3.3v. Focusing on the second one, the "XY-MK-5V" receiver, connect the pin labeled VCC to the 3V3 pin, and GND to G. Then one of the middle pins (they are both the same), connects to the data input pin on the WeMos (D8 in my example). The transmitter is the same, GND to G, the middle pin here is VCC to the 3V3 on the WeMos, and the last pin is the data pin, which is printed "ATAD" on mine ("data" backwards 😖 ).

Blinds

For interest, this is the motor I used for my roller blinds. What appealed most about these is they are 12v, so I didn't need an electrician to install them. They are not as quite as I would like, but manageable, and good value. I only have a couple at the moment, but at the time of writing I always got the "large", they are 1.5A (they look very similar to the smaller ones!) I got mine from here: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/141905067739 I have also seen them here: http://www.banggood.com/25mm-Curtain-Motor-Electric-Roller-Blind-Shade-Tubular-Motor-Kit-with-Remote-Control-p-1035187.html

The are labeled as "BOFU" branded, with the model EY2512-1.5/28. The label as the specifications: 1.5Nm, 28rpm, 12V, 1500mA. Note they are only 25mm (not 38mm like my blinds), so needed to do some teaks to make it work. I'm about to do a 3D print for an adapter, if that works out, I'll post it somewhere.

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