Tinkering; Like Guntering for the Connected Generation.

I Use this 4ch Sonoff relay to control lighting and electric fence unit
https://www.itead.cc/sonoff-4ch-pro.html



I'm currently moving the consumer unit and generally tidying up some of the wiring in the yard and will take some pictures as I put it back together.
The plan here is to integrate the lighting controls into Home Assistant with a view containg CCTV so I will be able to turn on/off the lights when I click on the CCTV Camera that I want to view.

Came across this while browsing earlier.

Donald Trump wrote: »

Looks grand but I'd say it would be lifted quicker than any battery fencer.




A different type of tinkering sez you! (Maybe I'm not allowed to make that joke)

True, but it's the type of thing you could setup just for the days where you needed to cross in and out of a paddock. Also I find some fields are more likely for things to go missing than others.

I've farmed land where fencers were never touched and land where they wouldn't last a day and even land where you wouldn't hang a good gate for fear of it walking off.

Timmaay wrote: »

Great thread, I have alot of interest in this whole area. I frustrating haven't managed to bring enough ideas to fruition, but do have afew sonoffs around the place, one on the milk tank, electric fencer and one measuring mains voltage (which regularly drops here). Biggest complaint about the sonoffs is the rubbish ewelink software. I've been meaning to start flashing them with tasmota but just haven't got around to it yet. I've also looked at shelly, which seem to be sonoffs main competition, I need to order afew of them to play around with them, they seem to be getting better reviews than the sonoffs.

I only recently got looking alot more seriously at sigfox however, it has a hell of alot of potential also, low cost, very low energy use, and no need for wifi. I can certainly see a future where you have dozens of sigfox devices all around the farm measuring various parameters and either letting you monitor the data or just setup to sent you alerts if necessary.

The Shelly Devices look interesting and they are opensource and have an API available for developers which is useful. Last time I looked at them they only had a simple switch, but they have a decent selection now.

Yes, the Ewelink APP is rubbish and I don't use it anymore. One issue I had with the Sonoffs is they were very slow to respond sometimes, but newer firmware seems to have fixed this and also introduced a "LAN mode" which is useful for integrating with Home Assistant without the need for flashing tasmota or relying on an internet connection to their servers to work.

I've a mix of devices here Sonoff and Tuya Based as well as custom made based on Arduino. I'm trying to reduce my dependance on switches and devices which require access to their own cloud servers to work, I don't want to Automate everything then suddenly realise nothing works because my internet connection is down or the cloud servers are down. The Sonoff and Tuya devices can both be flashed with Tasmota, but Sonoffs new LAN mode reduces the need.

Here is some of PiHome's Arduino based switches. They consist of a board made by them which connects an Arduino pro Mini and a WiFi module via sockets and the second board is an off the shelf relay module. I find they make a nice package and can easily be reprogramed if nessacery, they have 6 GPIO pins exposed with pin headers. I've got a few extra Arduino Pro's so I can pop them out and for tinkering without interfearing with the original functionality.

IMG_20200426_072014 by Emaherx, on Flickr

IMG_20200426_072008 by Emaherx, on Flickr

Timmaay wrote: »

As Elon Musk says, the best part is no part, and the best process is no process lol, it's certainly been my mantra as the dairyfarm here has evolved from ayr to as simple and lazy a spring calving system as possible ha.

Said by the man who launched a car into space for fun!

blue5000 wrote: »

I think this thread has sorted out the engineers from the gunterers.



No cigarette lighter on the 5000, so just cut the plug off the end of the €15.99 didilaldi compressor and wrapped the wires around the battery terminals, took 15 mins to pump though.

The + is the one that used to have the fuse going through it, now has gaffer tape with +ive on it written with sharpie marker. One thing I learnt in a lab was 'label as you go'.

Labeling is always very important. Did similar before and reversed the polarity, compressor ran backwards with a loud pop followed by smoke. Funny enough it worked fine after connecting the right way which is unusual, normally I find once the smoke escapes you are goosed. I now have a power outlet on the back of all tractors for the baler / wrapper and beacons etc. that is handy for such things.

Edit: I like the chain and grease gun storage. Can't help but think you have a shovel (or possibly gun rack) on one of the mud guards.

Sensor £10:99.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07V5H344W/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

ESP NodeMCU £24:99 for 3 of them.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074RGW2VQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


The Sensor I got came with a little interface board which connects to 2 GPIO pins on the NodeMCU it is compatible with the same libaries as the usual Arduino type sensors. There are many options for programing the device, it is compatible with the Arduino IDE, it can also be flashed with Tasmota like the Sonoff devices, there are loads of other options also, but the simplest option if using Home Assistant is ESPHome as it uses YAML configuration similar to Home Assistant itself and has support for many sensor types.

According to the specs on the Sellers page it is accurate to 1CM but I think it will be less accurate inside the tank due to noise in the enclosed space. I've only bench tested so far.

There are loads of examples online of similar projects such as this one:
https://www.rogerfrost.com/oil-tank-level-sensor-also-water-softener-salt-level/

What do you plan on using to monitor your sensor? if it is Home Assistant or OpenHab then ESPHome is still an option as you could use it to re-flash a Sonoff.

Although the NodeMCU's are so cheap, and have easy access to all of the GPIO Pins. The ESP8266 are even cheaper the the ESP32.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0754LZ73Z/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEySDRMV0E5TUsxV09LJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTkwNTU5MklYVk1XRjBPWFI3ViZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDkyODcxMlU0UllCM1c0MUkzViZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbDImYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl