iSpindle Concentrators, Repeaters, Bridges, Hubs

[ChrisThomas]

@Peter Walker have a look at the attached pdf Cheers

Nice write up!

 

[rkhanso]

I just found this thread. Very timely, as I plan on doing my first pressure fermenting in corny kegs and wondered if my iSpindel would be able to get a signal out of the keg. Maybe with one of these sitting right next to the keg it'll have a better chance.

Can this be used without the display and just send the data to Fermentrack and monitor there?

I'm also a bit confused how this all "connects" via wifi. Does the iSpindHub connect to the home WiFi and also has an AP running at the same that the iSpindel connects to? Is there a web server on the iSpindHub that I can use to get the iSpindel to talk to Fermentrack? I didn't see any of this info in the documentation on GitHub (but I could easily have missed it). I don't think it does have a web server running because I get a "connection refused" when trying to connect to it with a browser.

I did connect the iSpindel to the iSpindHub and the iSpindHub to my home wifi, but there is no data coming through to Fermentrack. But I can't log into anything (or don't know where to) to verify much either.

Or in my case (since I don't have a supported display, nor really even want one), should I just set up an ESP8266 as a WiFi extender like is explained here? Homemade WiFi exender using the ESP8266 -- but then I question whether I will be able to get the iSpindel data into Fermentrack. (or I don't know how to do that anyway).

Or - maybe this is just a bad idea anyway? I've read other threads where the iSpindel can't take the pressure and fills with beer and sinks in the corny keg. Is it just a bad idea to use an iSpindel when fermenting under pressure in a corny keg?

I used the generic ESP8266 repeater set up that I linked above and it's working great.

 

[wd16261]

@Peter Walker have a look at the attached pdf Cheers

Good work!!!
@ZeSlammy When I was reading this I was thinking wouldn't it be better to secure the AP a bit? Or at least add a password?

 

[DuncB]

@DuncB Regarding the O rings, I found that the ones I got didn't seal very well, in fact sealed worse that without. I'm assuming that's because they weren't quite the right size. When I took the lid off my iSpindel after fitting a O ring, found that the O ring I had had partly come out of the recess in the lid, hence the poor seal. I might get some of these and see if it makes a difference? Is that link the ones you actually have used?

This is the link from the order I made. They are working okay, I would say though they do fit the outer part of the cap, if you got ones that were 2mm rubber they might be even better as they would fill the top gap of the cap better. Although it could be this fact that they fit on the outer part of the cap with a bit of space on the inside of the ring that makes them work.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32862998881.html?spm=a2g0o.9042311.0.0.27424c4dHbZNBH

 

[DuncB]

I used the generic ESP8266 repeater set up that I linked above and it's working great.

Yes the Martin Ger repeater is what I made and used the lolin esp8266 to test it all and then built the repeater using a D1 mini.

Then repurposed the Lolin esp8266 for the slammy build.

 

[korev]

@ZeSlammy Not a full one just what I did. But thanks for the kind words. Cheers

 

[DuncB]

@ChrisThomas
Try a little bit of oring lubricant on the ring or top edge of the petling.

 

[ZeSlammy]

Good work!!!
@ZeSlammy When I was reading this I was thinking wouldn't it be better to secure the AP a bit? Or at least add a password?

Like the AP to which the iSpindel is connecting ?

 

[wd16261]

Like the AP to which the iSpindel is connecting ?

Yep. Like in the document of @korev see screenshot.

You made it possible to change the SSID so maybe add an option to change the default password?

 

[Ki-ri-n]

First, thanks to all that made this possible-so cool!
I spent all weekend building my own and getting it to work. 1st attempt worked, then didn't. I'm not sure if the D1 crapped out or I fried it trying to clean up some solder connections. Either way #1 can't be flashed anymore and doesn't emit a WIFI signal (it did before and kind of worked-it did show on the display but flickered on occasion).

Anyways, this is what I got from Amazon US:
Screen 1.77" and D1 Mini

Made 2 of these, second times the charm.

I got it to work (kind of) but have some questions.

1. If I delete all of the "original" iSpindels available, I get this error:

Only way I could "fix" it was to re-flash (using Brewflasher) and leaving just the "iSpindel022". Then re-configuring the hub again. Is there a to just have "MY" iSpindels show?

2. Is the Hub supposed to be used one-on-one or can you have multiple iSpindles (in use at the same time) on the same hub? It's possible for me to have two iSpindels in use at the same time. My plan was to have 1 hub for each iSpindel.

3. My file size only gets to 15 lines, even though it shows it goes well past that (43). Is it that the "original" ispindel022 is taking up too much space that it can't write beyond 15 lines? And the info displayed on the screen doesn't seem to match up with what's in the file. Is it supposed to go, °Tilt, Temp, Voltage, Gravity, ??? then RSSI ? My °Tilt, voltage, SG seem to match but my temp does not. Is there a conversion factor?

4. I got the time/date set to Chicago time, but the time stamp is +6 hours ahead.

5. Is it possible to have the data pushed (Target) to Ubidots? It looks like it may be similar to Little Bock. I'm currently not pushing the data at all. So it would be nice to at least pull the "full" file of data. Or even better, pull the data & see it on Ubidots (for me at least).

 

[wd16261]

I got it to work (kind of) but have some questions.

1. If I delete all of the "original" iSpindels available, I get this error:

Only way I could "fix" it was to re-flash (using Brewflasher) and leaving just the "iSpindel022". Then re-configuring the hub again. Is there a to just have "MY" iSpindels show?

2. Is the Hub supposed to be used one-on-one or can you have multiple iSpindles (in use at the same time) on the same hub? It's possible for me to have two iSpindels in use at the same time. My plan was to have 1 hub for each iSpindel.

3. My file size only gets to 15 lines, even though it shows it goes well past that (43). Is it that the "original" ispindel022 is taking up too much space that it can't write beyond 15 lines? And the info displayed on the screen doesn't seem to match up with what's in the file. Is it supposed to go, °Tilt, Temp, Voltage, Gravity, ??? then RSSI ? My °Tilt, voltage, SG seem to match but my temp does not. Is there a conversion factor?


4. I got the time/date set to Chicago time, but the time stamp is +6 hours ahead.

5. Is it possible to have the data pushed (Target) to Ubidots? It looks like it may be similar to Little Bock. I'm currently not pushing the data at all. So it would be nice to at least pull the "full" file of data. Or even better, pull the data & see it on Ubidots (for me at least).

Hi @Ki-ri-n this project is still under development, most of your questions (remarks) have already been written in this thread (see previous messages) and @ZeSlammy has already added them to his To Do list (see github)

 

[ZeSlammy]

Ok I took some time to put together some documentation.

Now onwards to the Screen Template Engine.

 

[ZeSlammy]

First, thanks to all that made this possible-so cool!
I spent all weekend building my own and getting it to work. 1st attempt worked, then didn't. I'm not sure if the D1 crapped out or I fried it trying to clean up some solder connections. Either way #1 can't be flashed anymore and doesn't emit a WIFI signal (it did before and kind of worked-it did show on the display but flickered on occasion).

Anyways, this is what I got from Amazon US:
Screen 1.77" and D1 Mini

Made 2 of these, second times the charm.

I got it to work (kind of) but have some questions.

1. If I delete all of the "original" iSpindels available, I get this error:

Only way I could "fix" it was to re-flash (using Brewflasher) and leaving just the "iSpindel022". Then re-configuring the hub again. Is there a to just have "MY" iSpindels show?

2. Is the Hub supposed to be used one-on-one or can you have multiple iSpindles (in use at the same time) on the same hub? It's possible for me to have two iSpindels in use at the same time. My plan was to have 1 hub for each iSpindel.

3. My file size only gets to 15 lines, even though it shows it goes well past that (43). Is it that the "original" ispindel022 is taking up too much space that it can't write beyond 15 lines? And the info displayed on the screen doesn't seem to match up with what's in the file. Is it supposed to go, °Tilt, Temp, Voltage, Gravity, ??? then RSSI ? My °Tilt, voltage, SG seem to match but my temp does not. Is there a conversion factor?

4. I got the time/date set to Chicago time, but the time stamp is +6 hours ahead.

5. Is it possible to have the data pushed (Target) to Ubidots? It looks like it may be similar to Little Bock. I'm currently not pushing the data at all. So it would be nice to at least pull the "full" file of data. Or even better, pull the data & see it on Ubidots (for me at least).

1 - I'm working on it, it's an annoyance.
2 - You can have multiple iSpindels talking to a single hub.
3 - Download is sorta broken, I'm working on it (back burner)
4 - You need to restart the iSpindHub once you change the TZ
5 - This week should be "New Targets week". So I might just throw UbiDots in there.

 

[Ki-ri-n]

@ZeSlammy & @wd16261, thanks for all the work you've been putting into this, it's much appreciated! This really isn't my area of expertise so I'm a little slow on the up take.

Regarding #4, I believe I did restart the hub, but I'll check again.

When it is time to make an update (Using Brewflasher), do you have to redo all of your personal settings when it's re-flashed, or are the kept?

No pressure, we're all counting on you

 

[ZeSlammy]

Regarding #4, I believe I did restart the hub, but I'll check again.

Let me know.

When it is time to make an update (Using Brewflasher), do you have to redo all of your personal settings when it's re-flashed, or are the kept?

That's almost a tricky one. I'm flying by the seat of my pants on this topic.
Everything is saved in a JSON file BUT it might be overwritten when flashing.
Let me triple check.

 

[JSB241]

So I might just throw UbiDots in there.

That would be great for me!

 

[Ki-ri-n]

Let me know.

I just checked, it's set to Chicago time but the data file page shows it +4 hours. Is there another place I should check it (currently not pushing data)?

On a side note, my "working" version, the screen flickers and sometimes goes blank. Without touching it, it comes back on. I had it running for several hours and today it's been off and on. Would that be a sign of a bad board or bad screen or something else? I know this may be hard to troubleshoot, but I'm debating ordering different screens or D1 minis or both?

 

[DuncB]

@Ki-ri-n
Mine does briefly blank between the display changing from one ispindel output to the other. I'm using a 2 inch spi tft lcd.

 

[Ki-ri-n]

@Ki-ri-n
Mine does briefly blank between the display changing from one ispindel output to the other. I'm using a 2 inch spi tft lcd.

Mine blinks too, but also goes full out "dark". I've left it plugged in and now it's fully lit. It also can be full white screen or have a really fait display. Did not start that way. I'm thinking there's something wrong with the voltage output of the D1 mini. But again, this is out of my wheel house. I'm just "good" enough to be dangerous

I left it ON for a 1/2 hour and checked it, it's still on. Seems weird.

 

[DuncB]

@Ki-ri-n
Better to have insight on your competence than blind faith and overconfidence.

Got at least a 1 amp power supply ?

 

[wd16261]

I just checked, it's set to Chicago time but the data file page shows it +4 hours. Is there another place I should check it (currently not pushing data)?

I can confirm this. My TimeZone is set to 'Europe/Brussels' but the time on the IspindHub and in the log file has a difference of -1 hour.

Local time of the last reading was: 12:47:42

 

[ZeSlammy]

Is this "just" a DST issue ?
I'll dig into it.

 

[Peter Walker]

@Peter Walker have a look at the attached pdf Cheers

Hi Peter sorry to be a pain but in your install notes you mentioned two files my screen .h and screen.cpp. I realise these are part of the coding, do these to be changed in ZeSlammy's software and if so can it be done using VScode and also where to locate these alternatives files. Many Thanks Peter Walker

 

[ZeSlammy]

Hi Peter sorry to be a pain but in your install notes you mentioned two files my screen .h and screen.cpp. I realise these are part of the coding, do these to be changed in ZeSlammy's software and if so can it be done using VScode and also where to locate these alternatives files. Many Thanks Peter Walker

Yeah they need to be used to recompile an alternate version.

So you need to put them in the src folder then compile.

I'm trying to get around that with a screen format (simple json file that can be uploaded).

 

[korev]

Hi Peter sorry to be a pain but in your install notes you mentioned two files my screen .h and screen.cpp. I realise these are part of the coding, do these to be changed in ZeSlammy's software and if so can it be done using VScode and also where to locate these alternatives files. Many Thanks Peter Walker

Yes, you would need to replace the Slammy files with my edited versions. Have sent you a pm

Cheers
P

 

[Peter Walker]

Yeah they need to be used to recompile an alternate version.

So you need to put them in the src folder then compile.

I'm trying to get around that with a screen format (simple json file that can be uploaded).

thanks for your reply, but i am stumped

 

[Peter Walker]

Hi ZeSlammy I may sound a bit thick here but I tried to download your .bin file into but my version of VS code wouldn’t open it is it not compatible with this software

 

[ZeSlammy]

Hi ZeSlammy I may sound a bit thick here but I tried to download your .bin file into but my version of VS code wouldn’t open it is it not compatible with this software

You need to D/L the whole shebang.
But tell me what screen you have, I'll just compile you a version with @korev design

 

[Peter Walker]

Hi many thanks for your support this the screen that I have
FAMKIT 3V/5.5V ILI9225 2.0 Inch Serial Port TFT Display Module Serial Peripheral Interface 176x220

 

[Peter Walker]

sorry for what might be a silly question but does it matter which side the Dupont plugs are soldered into the D1 mini?