Comment on I want to learn designing IOT PCBs (with 2.4Ghz wireless)
remotelove@lemmy.ca 2 weeks agoLol! I suppose the million dollar question is if you are generating interference. You are allowed to have a shitty design that works as long as you aren’t causing grandmas pacemaker any problems.
ikidd@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My stuff is all in the middle of nowhere for making my watering bowls talk to the pumps or open cattle gates over Lora, and I’ve moved back to prebuilt E32 modules because they’re way less expensive than all that shit used to be.
We don’t spend money on Grandma, she’ll outlive us all.
remotelove@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
It might be worth it for you to get a ham radio license. If the low power modules work for what you need, that is just fine. For the distances you are talking about with cattle fields, being able to legally transmit at over 1000 watts could have perks. (I jest, but having a little more power, in the 1 to 2 watt range, might be practical.)
At a minimum, a portable ham radio might be a good safety tool depending on the size of the ranch. It would be hella more reliable than CB as well.
ikidd@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yah, I’ve had my license since I was young, I come from a long line of nerds. So I use 1W units on the 433 band.
remotelove@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Same here. Nerd blood runs deep in families.
(When the power brick blew out for my Atari, my dad simply cut open a random spare and re-wound the transformer to match the correct voltage. It was the neatest thing I had ever seen at that age.)
ntn888@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
wow didnt’ know that Ebyte modules were that popular! I’ve come across them in site like lcsc and Ali… Making use of them is what my current skill level allows. some of the varieties are relatively expensive though…
ikidd@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’ve been blow away how inexpensive they’ve become. I’m getting 1W 433 modules for like $15 now, I think I got them off amazon last time. They’re not on a public band or power rating, at least for NA, but I have a ham license so in my area I’m OK, and besides, nobody else is going to notice.
At one time I was using the Heltec Lora V2 modules but they’re way more expensive for low power and I became convinced they had no ESD hardening because if I looked at them sideways they’d crater.
I made a couple of my own shit designs with integrated antennas and they worked, but it’s not my forte. I made them because getting 433 was hard at the time, and I was convinced I needed the lower freq to get better LOS through trees.
ntn888@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
haha I guess cheap is relative :) I was considering parts at 4 to 5$ range. But i’m talking about low power ble/zigbee etc…