@tomasmcguinness

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  • 3rd Revision of my PCB and still a lot to learn!

    I received the 3rd revision of my Zigbee PCBs from Aisler today and unfortunately, there are still small issues. Revision 3 of the these boards saw me switch from SMD to through-hole. Working with surface mounted components seemed like a great idea, but without the proper tools, I wasn’t equipped to do a good job.…

  • Shelly “Detached Mode” Failsafe

    In my latest YouTube video, I take a look at my Shelly 1 Failsafe. You can find all the details here https://github.com/tomasmcguinness/shelly-detached-mode-python-ha-watchdog

  • The Matter chip-tool doesn’t work on Windows so I use a Raspberry Pi instead!

    I wanted to be able to run the Matter chip-tool on Windows. Mostly so I could learn about commissioning and binding. As I was starting to tinker with Matter devices like Light Switches, I needed the chip-tool. This is because some devices need “binding”, which I can’t do in Home Assistant or iOS home. Whilst…

  • Further attempts at decoding an FSK signal

    Back to my SDR again. I pick up from where I left off. After moving my antenna around and listening to pilots landing at Birmingham, I decided to give my signal another go. I went back to SDR++ and immediately noticed something very strange! The same pulse, every second, was visible around three different frequencies.…

  • Sending and decoding a 433MHz signal with an ESP32, a CC1101 and Universal Radio Hacker

    In this blog post, I write about how my attempts to send and decode a binary message over 433MHz

  • My nRF52840 logging rig is up and running!

    In a previous post, I wrote about issues with my Zigbee code, which caused my device to become unresponsive. To aid my investigation, I figured out how to use a Raspberry Pi to capture the logs. As the issue with code takes a few days to show up, I needed to leave the RPi turned…

  • Record RTT logs from an nRF52840 with an RPi

    As I continue development of my Zigbee Flow and Return temperature sensor, I’m worried about the stability of my code. Once I’d finished the code, I deployed it to a nRF52840DK, connected to the mains i.e. on all the time. After the first few days, Home Assistant reported it as unavailable. Clicking Identify did nothing.…

  • Detecting a 433MHz Kinetic Push Switch with an ESP32 – Part 1

    I recently published a video to my YouTube channel about Kinetic Switches. Kinetic switches are ones that don’t have a battery. Rather they use the energy generated during the push to send radio signals. Before December, 2024, I didn’t know they were even a thing. In my video, I look at an Ener-J Kinetic Switch…

  • Zigbee F.A.R.T. PCB v0.2

    Learning from the few mistakes I made with v0.1, I’ve just send another revision to manufacture with aisler.net! This board includes several small tweaks. Changed terminal connectors I originally used simple screw terminals for the temperature probes. As I’ve figured out JST connectors and how to crimp them, I changed the PCB footprints. These fit…

  • Battery terminals. Are you positive that’s the right way?

    When designing the PCB for my F.A.R.T. sensor, I had to decide which way the +/- terminals went. I had some wired connectors, which looked like this: I designed my PCB with this orientation of positive and negative and thought no more of it. However, when I tried to connect a LiPO battery to my…

  • Zigbee F.A.R.T. Sensor code now available!

    It’s taken a long time to get here, but my Zigbee Flow and Return Temperature sensor code is on Github! https://github.com/tomasmcguinness/zigbee-nrf-flow-and-return-temperature-sensor Next Steps There is a small design flaw in my PCB, which needs to be resolved. I also need to confirm the sensor’s reliability i.e. it stays connected for long periods. Otherwise, it *should*…

  • F.A.R.T. Sensor PCB mistake

    After all the excitement of getting the PCBs for my F.A.R.T. Sensor delivered, I discovered that I had made a mistake! Let me show you what went wrong. If you look at the top right, you’ll see SW1. These pads are for a small push switch, which will act as a “swap” button and reset…