Wow. I have never ever come across a channel so full of potential as this one. Your content screams quality and I just wish there were hours and hours of material to watch. Keep going! Would love to see some LoRaWan PCBs in the future :)
Thank you! I’m so humbled :) I’ll see what I can do about the LoRaWan PCBs, I have a few ideas on projects to do there! I am thinking about setting up a Patreon page and having my backers “choose” future projects too....
Also, you mentioned you don't have a network analyzer. If you want something that's functional you can get an RTL-SDR or hack-rf for $25 and $100 respectively, and it'll work great for an application like this.
jafinch78 oh really? That’s not bad. I like the hack-RF because it has half duplex of 6Ghz but I’ll look into that one. It’s not common to get them past 2.4ghz
@@jimmysyar889 Yeah, not discrediting the HackRF... figure my perspective is I've owned one for well over a year and just literally loaded up the drivers and used with the sweep spectrum analyzer a few days back. I was super nervous to not damage and wanted to learn more before I setup and powered on as I pushed my first cheap RTL-SDR beyond 1.7GHz and fried something. The HackRF is great. I'm thinking about investing in an Adalm Pluto to hack up to ~6GHz and study the differences between the two designs and also have ability to use both for measurements. That's like a dev platform also with some other demo'd hacks to improve performance in the same way. I'm just amazed what that NanoVNA at the price point can do. Really impressive for what is like a couple bucks now for the original version and looks like around $50 for the latest version 2.
I was just thinking about you and wondering when you were going to post your next video, and today and I just got notified! This is one of my favorite channels already, you can definitely make it big. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for your comment! I did think about using a 433mhz module, but the application guide I found for the SAW resonator was so thorough it really helped with that part of the design.
No, I have a 100MHz scope which is fast enough to decode the modulation signal from the HTE encoder (I think there's a shot of it in the video), I attach the scope before the RF mixer. In the end the 433Mhz is just a carrier frequency so I don't need to "see it".
Thank you! I used Autodesk Eagle to do these as it plays nice with Fusion 360 and I've built up my libraries. KiCad is awesome opensource alternative and Altium is brilliant, but alas not not Mac.
@@PrototypeBeta Thanks! Can't wait for the next video. A channel which shows the step by steps of product design is something I've been looking for a while and this channel just hits the nail on the head! Keep up the great work :)
@@PrototypeBeta I was wondering what you thought of Fusion 360's built in schematic / pcb editor. I started my cad education with Fusion 360, and I'm now at the point of laying out pcbs, so I've been using their editor to avoid learning another program.
As far as I'm aware, the built in editor is only useful for "mechanical changes" - i.e. moving components around, changing the dimensions of of the board. I could be wrong, but to design the circuit schematic and board layout you need another program - and in Autodesk world, that's Eagle (which I use).
Great video. Thanks for sharing. Btw, have you tried to integrate the ESP32 into the remote receiver/fan control circuit instead of the remote transmitter?
I thought about doing that! The reason for my approach is that I don’t actually have to “hack” into anything - the remote I pulled apart still works and if my device fails, we can always use the old remotes. I did however connect my garage door into the network by connecting a relay across the button in the actual door controller, in the way you suggested.
Thanks for watching! Yep, to MOST pins, there's a few which should be avoided though - like bootloader pins, and not all pins are both input and output which I2C requires :). Also, if you're using the Arudino framework, it can be tricky to change from the "defaults" as the pins are hardcoded into the Wire library! In my surftrack video series I use the nRF52x series, they're very flexible with use.
@@PrototypeBeta Yes, a lot of the Arduino libraries are quite lame how they are coded. It all depends upon if you want to fiddle their code to make it better :-) Sadly when you do push back fixed code it often falls on deaf ears :-( I myself now include the libraries as part of my PIO project, and fix the bugbears :-)
So the separate ground planes aren’t strictly necessary for this low power, but it’s good practice to get into. Basically you need to think of each component’s power source as a “ground loop” - how does the current return back to the original ground point (my power connector in my case). Simplifying a little, the current will flow in the shortest path back - and you want to avoid crossing these ground loops between your “noisy parts” and your “sensitive parts”. Because I have two RF oscillators here, I put them at opposite ends of the board, and the power connection in the centre at the top - this way the “Ground loops” from each would return back to the power supply “without crossing”. Splitting the plane (or rather, creating a large slit down the middle) and having the “join” at the power section just reinforced this separation - but I stress it probably wasn’t strictly necessary. The isolation caps help as they “absorb” higher frequency noise and filter this out. This is important, basically you want to put a ~1uf or 10uf cap as close as possible to every VCC pin on your components to reduce the noise at the VCC line going in.
Did you try first reverse engineering the RC codes? Those remote controlled mains/outlets can use a method like this to be controlled via arduino/esp32, and I would assume most fan controllers do the same. code.google.com/p/rc-switch/
I didn’t try first no. And I agree, the esp32 can easily “bit bang” the carrier modulating signal of this remote. If I was making 1000s, then saving a few $ in the BOM (by removing the HTE chip) would be worth it - however, given it would have taken me a few extra hours to do code it up, in this case, sticking a $3 part on the board was worth it :) (and I like using discrete components!)
Great content, but you need to work on the sound. Your voice is very low so i had to crank the volume, which resulted in almost blowing the speakers once the outro played ...
Love the way you walk through your schematic and board design. I hope you will have time to make more videos!
Wow. I have never ever come across a channel so full of potential as this one. Your content screams quality and I just wish there were hours and hours of material to watch. Keep going! Would love to see some LoRaWan PCBs in the future :)
Thank you! I’m so humbled :) I’ll see what I can do about the LoRaWan PCBs, I have a few ideas on projects to do there! I am thinking about setting up a Patreon page and having my backers “choose” future projects too....
Also, you mentioned you don't have a network analyzer. If you want something that's functional you can get an RTL-SDR or hack-rf for $25 and $100 respectively, and it'll work great for an application like this.
Wow, Hack-rf looks awesome, thank you for the suggestion I might get one and play with it!
The NanoVNA's are pretty sweet also for the price point. Well worth investing in and now they've expanded to the 2nd version up to ~3GHz.
jafinch78 oh really? That’s not bad. I like the hack-RF because it has half duplex of 6Ghz but I’ll look into that one. It’s not common to get them past 2.4ghz
having coverage of 2.4G would be very very useful
@@jimmysyar889 Yeah, not discrediting the HackRF... figure my perspective is I've owned one for well over a year and just literally loaded up the drivers and used with the sweep spectrum analyzer a few days back. I was super nervous to not damage and wanted to learn more before I setup and powered on as I pushed my first cheap RTL-SDR beyond 1.7GHz and fried something. The HackRF is great. I'm thinking about investing in an Adalm Pluto to hack up to ~6GHz and study the differences between the two designs and also have ability to use both for measurements. That's like a dev platform also with some other demo'd hacks to improve performance in the same way. I'm just amazed what that NanoVNA at the price point can do. Really impressive for what is like a couple bucks now for the original version and looks like around $50 for the latest version 2.
Man, thanks for walking through all the details of the design and build. Really thorough and thanks again for sharing!
Thank you!
Love tour work Seb!
thank you!!
Great video as always. I really enjoy watching high-level design as well as the actual board layout.
Thanks for your feedback! I know it’s the “easiest” part of the design process, but I do really enjoy doing pcb layouts!
I was just thinking about you and wondering when you were going to post your next video, and today and I just got notified! This is one of my favorite channels already, you can definitely make it big. Keep up the great work!
Aw thank you! I love putting them together too! (Gives legitimacy to my projects!)
Such quality videos and information! Absolutely subscribed!!
Friggin awesome 😎 you won my like and subscribe on the first minute and ended watching the full video
A very impressive build sir!
Thank you! Can't wait to show you the finished PCB!
I like to use diptrace, because it's so easy to use. Also you could use 433mhz module to tx (it seems like ask signal?)
Thanks for your comment! I did think about using a 433mhz module, but the application guide I found for the SAW resonator was so thorough it really helped with that part of the design.
Like using Universal Radio Hacker to determine what signals to send through the 433MHz module?
No, I have a 100MHz scope which is fast enough to decode the modulation signal from the HTE encoder (I think there's a shot of it in the video), I attach the scope before the RF mixer. In the end the 433Mhz is just a carrier frequency so I don't need to "see it".
@@PrototypeBeta Good call man, thanks for the re-enforcement. Having a blonde moment.
Love your narration on the pcb designs! May i know what program you used to design those pcbs?
Great work as always!
Thank you! I used Autodesk Eagle to do these as it plays nice with Fusion 360 and I've built up my libraries. KiCad is awesome opensource alternative and Altium is brilliant, but alas not not Mac.
@@PrototypeBeta Thanks! Can't wait for the next video. A channel which shows the step by steps of product design is something I've been looking for a while and this channel just hits the nail on the head!
Keep up the great work :)
Thank you! I’ve actually just built the PCB and am now testing it, getting ready to film/edit the next one!
@@PrototypeBeta I was wondering what you thought of Fusion 360's built in schematic / pcb editor. I started my cad education with Fusion 360, and I'm now at the point of laying out pcbs, so I've been using their editor to avoid learning another program.
As far as I'm aware, the built in editor is only useful for "mechanical changes" - i.e. moving components around, changing the dimensions of of the board. I could be wrong, but to design the circuit schematic and board layout you need another program - and in Autodesk world, that's Eagle (which I use).
Great video. Thanks for sharing. Btw, have you tried to integrate the ESP32 into the remote receiver/fan control circuit instead of the remote transmitter?
I thought about doing that! The reason for my approach is that I don’t actually have to “hack” into anything - the remote I pulled apart still works and if my device fails, we can always use the old remotes. I did however connect my garage door into the network by connecting a relay across the button in the actual door controller, in the way you suggested.
Great stuff.
With the ESP32 you can use the pin multiplexer and move the I2C onto other pins very easily :-)
Thanks for watching! Yep, to MOST pins, there's a few which should be avoided though - like bootloader pins, and not all pins are both input and output which I2C requires :). Also, if you're using the Arudino framework, it can be tricky to change from the "defaults" as the pins are hardcoded into the Wire library! In my surftrack video series I use the nRF52x series, they're very flexible with use.
@@PrototypeBeta Yes, a lot of the Arduino libraries are quite lame how they are coded.
It all depends upon if you want to fiddle their code to make it better :-)
Sadly when you do push back fixed code it often falls on deaf ears :-(
I myself now include the libraries as part of my PIO project, and fix the bugbears :-)
Can you explain the separate ground planes, the single connection point and the isolation caps? Overall the video is very nice!
So the separate ground planes aren’t strictly necessary for this low power, but it’s good practice to get into. Basically you need to think of each component’s power source as a “ground loop” - how does the current return back to the original ground point (my power connector in my case). Simplifying a little, the current will flow in the shortest path back - and you want to avoid crossing these ground loops between your “noisy parts” and your “sensitive parts”. Because I have two RF oscillators here, I put them at opposite ends of the board, and the power connection in the centre at the top - this way the “Ground loops” from each would return back to the power supply “without crossing”. Splitting the plane (or rather, creating a large slit down the middle) and having the “join” at the power section just reinforced this separation - but I stress it probably wasn’t strictly necessary.
The isolation caps help as they “absorb” higher frequency noise and filter this out. This is important, basically you want to put a ~1uf or 10uf cap as close as possible to every VCC pin on your components to reduce the noise at the VCC line going in.
This is really great.
Thank you :)
Also Also, your outro music was significantly louder than the rest of the video and kinda blasted my ears.
Oops sorry about that, still trying to get comfortable with editing. I’ll add it to my checklist for future videos to check, thank you.
I thought you were releasing the next video soon :( It's been a whole month so far.
Did you try first reverse engineering the RC codes? Those remote controlled mains/outlets can use a method like this to be controlled via arduino/esp32, and I would assume most fan controllers do the same. code.google.com/p/rc-switch/
I didn’t try first no. And I agree, the esp32 can easily “bit bang” the carrier modulating signal of this remote. If I was making 1000s, then saving a few $ in the BOM (by removing the HTE chip) would be worth it - however, given it would have taken me a few extra hours to do code it up, in this case, sticking a $3 part on the board was worth it :) (and I like using discrete components!)
Great content, but you need to work on the sound. Your voice is very low so i had to crank the volume, which resulted in almost blowing the speakers once the outro played ...
Yes, I'm sorry about that! I've changed the way I'm monitoring the sound (with good headphones) so I should be ok with sound levels in the future.
I take it the boards never arrived??
lol they did, but so did a little child so my TH-cam days are on hold for a little while!