LONG TERM SUCCESS - RFM69-ESP8266(WEMOS D1 MINI) GATEWAY

[SupaJah]

Hi. Has anyone here had any long term success using the ESP8266 chip with the RFM69 radio? i can't seem to get the two to work together for more than a few hours.

I tried two separate projects, RFM69 WIFI Gateway(by Tinkerman) and OpenMQTTGateway(by 1technophile). I am not sure whether I am allowed to post links, so I won't. Anyway, both projects work well for a few hours (4-8) and then suddenly(randomly) stops receiving data from my door monitor node. Incidentally, both of these gateways make use of the RFM69 LowPower library. The ESP8266 continues to function, but it seems to be the RFM69 which stop functioning when this happens.

Has anyone else experienced any such issues? How do I go forward? What can I try? Thanks.

[TomWS]

Hi. Has anyone here had any long term success using the ESP8266 chip with the RFM69 radio?

Yes, my gateways are ESP12F modules with RFM69HW radios.  With the radio code running in the ESP8266.  The trick is to keep the two devices well separated and all signal paths between them isolated with EMI filters otherwise the very sensitive radio in the RFM69 is swamped by RF noise from the ESP.  This combination has been running for over a year in my case.

i can't seem to get the two to work together for more than a few hours.

I tried two separate projects, RFM69 WIFI Gateway(by Tinkerman) and OpenMQTTGateway(by 1technophile). I am not sure whether I am allowed to post links, so I won't.

You can post links as long as they're project related.  I use the PubSubClient on the ESP8266.  Here's my lineup of pertinent includes:

Code: [Select]

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <DNSServer.h>
#include <ESP8266WebServer.h>
#include <WiFiManager.h>
#include <ArduinoOTA.h>
#include <PubSubClient.h>

[perky]

Yes, my gateways are ESP12F modules with RFM69HW radios.

I thought you changed to the ESP12S module for better performance Tom?

Mark.

[TomWS]

I thought you changed to the ESP12S module for better performance Tom?

Mark.

The S version wasn't around at the time these were designed and built.  The S version would reduce the EMI, but I don't solder to the FLASH SPI pads on the F version, which helps some, and, I believe, they both have the same PCB antenna.

Now, I'm using the WIHOH method for populating boards, but, also, I haven't had any issues with the 12F.

[SupaJah]

This is my current set up:



The ESP is a Wemos D1 Mini(clone maybe) with the ESP-S chip.

@TomWS, are you using Felix's original RFM69 library for the ESP? I noticed the gateways(Nanohab, "RFM69 WIFI Gateway", OpenMqttGateway) on the Internet all use a modded version.

[TomWS]

This is my current set up:
...

I'm surprised this will work for 4 hours!  Great setup for a prototype, but that wiring, with total lack of solid ground plane, is going to be very unreliable.

The ESP is a Wemos D1 Mini(clone maybe) with the ESP-S chip.

@TomWS, are you using Felix's original RFM69 library for the ESP?

I suppose some of the code started 'life' as the RFM69 library, but most has been replaced/heavily modified and only a few parts might be recognizable at this point.  And, before anyone asks, I don't 'own' the code and am not authorized to share it.

Having said that, I don't see any reason why an ESP8266 port of the LowPower Labs library wouldn't work reliably.  I'm just using a different framework for the gateway at this point.  Note that my nodes still use a variant of the LPL code.

Tom

[Kylix]

Yes, my gateways are ESP12F modules with RFM69HW radios.  With the radio code running in the ESP8266.  The trick is to keep the two devices well separated and all signal paths between them isolated with EMI filters otherwise the very sensitive radio in the RFM69 is swamped by RF noise from the ESP.

Hello Tom,
I'm using a Moteino with RFM69HW module, connected to ESP8266. The only common wires are  +5V, GND and Moteino's Tx to ESP's Rx (it's not a gateway ). Moteino and ESP are placed side by side into an insulated box. Would that be enough to keep interferences low?

[TomWS]

Would that be enough to keep interferences low?

Sorry, I couldn't even speculate on that design.  I'm not familiar with that ESP8266 implementation and am unable to provide any advice on this.

[Kylix]

The distance between the unit you see and a remote node is 5 meters. I'm getting, most of the times, an RSSI between -65 and -75 dB.

Do you suggest to bend the wire antenna in a different manner? Any other improvements that I could try?

[Felix]

The distance between the unit you see and a remote node is 5 meters. I'm getting, most of the times, an RSSI between -65 and -75 dB.
Do you suggest to bend the wire antenna in a different manner? Any other improvements that I could try?

That's pretty strong signal, however ideally the monopole antenna should be straight and perpendicular to the GND plane.
For your enclosure you could try a different type of antenna if your distance increases and you need stronger signal, perhaps a helical or a dipole ?

[Kylix]

I already have Chem's dipole for 433Mhz but the signal is strong enough and I didn't connect it.