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    Add WiFi to your Betabrite using ESP8266

    I had never really used the Betabrite I bought a couple of years ago because there was no PC with a serial port where I wanted to put it. I recently played with some ESP8266 micro controllers and decided to try to use one to control my Betabrite over WiFi. I used the esp-link firmware to implement the WiFi Serial bridge. It was a fun and easy project even for an electronics newbie like me.

    More details (in french) in my blog post: http://www.domogeek.ca/blog/wifiser-...-electronique/

    Click image for larger version

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    Thanks to Blade for the BLLED plugin, and thanks to sparkman for the script to display sports results!

    #2
    Awesome, thanks for posting spud! I need to do something similar as my kids have been wanting betabrite signs in their rooms. Now I need to get off my butt and build a few interfaces. Hopefully Google Translate will translate the page properly as my French is a bit rusty

    Cheers
    Al
    HS 4.2.8.0: 2134 Devices 1252 Events
    Z-Wave 3.0.10.0: 133 Nodes on one Z-Net

    Comment


      #3
      Nice find spud!
      I have stuck this thread
      Cheers,
      Bob
      Web site | Help Desk | Feature Requests | Message Board

      Comment


        #4
        Interesting! Time to pull my BetaBrite out of storage.
        Where are you getting the game scores from?

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by macrho View Post
          Interesting! Time to pull my BetaBrite out of storage.
          Where are you getting the game scores from?
          game scores are from espn website, I use sparkman script that you can find here: https://forums.homeseer.com/showthre...47#post1128547

          Comment


            #6
            Thank you! Ticker of scores is a great feature! Will work on it tomorrow.
            Happy Friday

            Comment


              #7
              This looks cool

              I'm wondering if someone would be willing to go into a little more detail of how to make this work...for someone without a lot of electronics experience. Specifically regarding the electronic assembly and power.

              I bought the grocery list of items as indicated in the post but think I may have bought the wrong devkit. I bought NodeMcu Lua CH340G ESP8266 Wireless WIFI Internet Development Board Module TE391 which is ~$13 vs ~$4. Maybe it will work.

              From the pictures it seems I'm missing another piece. There's a little board that the NodeMCU device is mounted on.

              Anyway...I bought a bunch of the Betabrites but never have messed with them because of the connection issue. I would like to give this a try.

              Comment


                #8
                Maybe someone with a little more experience would be willing to build a few boards for us. --Or --- buy the parts and ship as a kit, with a small plastic box to mount the unit, with instructions. Instead of installing the board inside the Betabrite (where it is a bit more complicated for many of us), plug the wireless adapter into the serial adapter cord instead. This would require a power supply but that would be OK. This would make it much easier for most of us.

                Cheers,
                Gary

                Comment


                  #9
                  I agree

                  I'm in favor of built boards. I like the idea of kits even better. I'm a CPA who sits behind a desk all day looking at numbers. But I feel I have an inner geek that's screaming to get out. I often times miss out on things people talk about doing with HA because it can be over my head...even the dumbed down version. I really would like to understand how to do this. I'd pay for someone's expertise if they'd put together a kit and/or youtube video or whatever.

                  I work for a major telecommunications company (rhymes with Schmerizon)...seems IOT is going to be huge in the future. This could be the start of something!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    here is the exact items I used:

                    ESP8266 (NodeMCU DevKit)
                    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1pcs...608.0.0.RtLmXb

                    Logic level converter:
                    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/MCU-...608.0.0.O2HbPE

                    for the logic level converter, you could use one of these instead:
                    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/RS23...608.0.0.Fdx3aX
                    which is basically the same thing with a DB9 connector

                    It's basically all you need, assuming you already have a functioning Betabrite. I can help you with the connections, but I'm not sure I want to commit myself to provide built boards.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      One last question

                      It looks like there's one more component that you're mounting the other components on. What's the name of this?
                      Attached Files

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by joewilly1 View Post
                        It looks like there's one more component that you're mounting the other components on. What's the name of this?
                        it's an adafruit Perma-Proto Breadboard PCB (https://www.adafruit.com/product/571), but you can use any kind of prototype PCB board.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Here is a follow up article that explains how to make Homeseer check an email account and display the content of messages on your Betabrite:
                          http://www.domogeek.ca/blog/maison-a-t-adresse-email/

                          Note: the email functions used in the C# script have been recently fixed in version 3.0.0.312. So, older version of HS3 will not work.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Hi, I built this today but I can't get any response from the sign I see in the debug console that BLLAN is sending data, but I can't quite figure out if there's a way I can see what's being sent out to the sign through the RX/TX pins on the NodeMCU. I might have switched TX/RX somewhere along the way, but I really don't think so. Any pointers?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              spud , would you think that this also would work?
                              HSPro 3.0.0.458, Z-NET with Z-wave plugin 3.0.1.190, RFXCOM + 2x RFXtrx433E, HSTouch, Squeezebox plugin, iTach IP/WF2IR & GC-100-6 with UltraGCIR, BLDenon, NetcamStudio, Jon00s Webpage builder, Harmony Hub plugin, SCSIP (with FreePBX), Arduino plugin, IFTTT, Pushalot plugin, Device History plugin.
                              Running on Windows 10 (64) virtualized
                              on ESXi (Fujitsu Primergy TX150 S8).
                              WinSeer (for Win10) - TextSeer - FitbitSeer - HSPI_MoskusSample

                              Are you Norwegian (or Scandinavian) and getting started with HomeSeer? Read the "HomeSeer School"!

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