Range Anxiety- wireless hydrometer relays-- tilt or Nautilus (ispindle)?

[SanPancho]

long story short, i've managed to find myself with a tilt, pill, and ispindle. unfortunately nothing really works as i will ferment in either a conical or corny, which is inside a fridge. so basically, these things are pretty much useless with spending more money to create a repeater/relay. that said, im only doing it once, and sticking with one brand.

so i see that tilt has a relay offered, about $70. rapt doesnt seem to make one, although i think you can use the temp controller, $100+. finally, somebody developed "nautilus" which works for ispindle, $50.

tilt is good product, and ispindle was pretty easy to use as well, so i think i'll focus on those.

anybody have good experience here with either the tilt relay or the nautilus?

 

[Thorrak]

I'm the author of TiltBridge, which you can build for ~$6-12 with virtually any ESP32. Unlike Tilt's relay it requires being plugged in to power, but also unlike Tilt's relay it translates the Tilt's Bluetooth signal to a number of WiFi endpoints. If one of those endpoints works for you it might be worth a look!

Alternatively, if you prefer the bluetooth signal that the Tilt Relay provides, there is a "Tilt Repeater" project available via BrewFlasher and BrewFlasher Web which also runs off virtually any ESP32 (so again, $6-12!). Since the hardware is the same as TiltBridge (and both are available via BrewFlasher) one benefit is that you can toggle between the projects and try them both out without having to buy anything more than a single ESP32.

 

[SanPancho]

I'm the author of TiltBridge, which you can build for ~$6-12 with virtually any ESP32. Unlike Tilt's relay it requires being plugged in to power, but also unlike Tilt's relay it translates the Tilt's Bluetooth signal to a number of WiFi endpoints. If one of those endpoints works for you it might be worth a look!

Alternatively, if you prefer the bluetooth signal that the Tilt Relay provides, there is a "Tilt Repeater" project available via BrewFlasher and BrewFlasher Web which also runs off virtually any ESP32 (so again, $6-12!). Since the hardware is the same as TiltBridge (and both are available via BrewFlasher) one benefit is that you can toggle between the projects and try them both out without having to buy anything more than a single ESP32.

interesting. if i understand correctly, tilt's mobile app uses the bluetooth signal. so if i made the "tilt repeater" then i'd be able to just use the tilt mobile app? as opposed to going tilt- tiltbridge- wifi endpoint (google sheet, brewer friend, etc)

obviously depending on how much boost of the signal it could do, but hopefully that means quickly checking my phone in the house as opposed to having to go down to the basement.

 

[AlexKay]

I did this recently -- downloaded BrewFlasher, and set up TiltRepeaters and a TiltBridge. Absolutely straightforward and trouble free.

My current solution involves a TiltRepeater hanging inside my chest freezer. It has no trouble picking up the signal from the Tilts inside corny kegs, and it broadcasts them out halfway across my house, where I can either use the phone app or a TiltPi.

A++, would recommend, etc.

 

[Thorrak]

interesting. if i understand correctly, tilt's mobile app uses the bluetooth signal. so if i made the "tilt repeater" then i'd be able to just use the tilt mobile app? as opposed to going tilt- tiltbridge- wifi endpoint (google sheet, brewer friend, etc)

obviously depending on how much boost of the signal it could do, but hopefully that means quickly checking my phone in the house as opposed to having to go down to the basement.

Yep! The antennas on these aren’t great, but the advantage you get just being outside the conical/fridge is massive.