Hi Bob,
Yes it’s on the same network.
If I ping to the iP-address it responses with ony msecs figures.
I will dive into it later this week and let you know if I find anything odd.
But, thanks a lot for your help :-)

No problem at all. If you are getting good times on your network, it might be worth trying the timer in [BASIC R3] mode - my network throws up random bad delays so I can't use it. It does not have the 500ms restriction.

Also, you could try using RESTer with Chrome as per the manual - see if that works for you instead of Postman - the first example is the /info command. If that works OK then you can think about re-programming the Sonoff Basic R3 with the new firmware using OTA as that gets rid of all the issues with network delays and Sonoff's poor API implementation...

Oh, BTW, another thing Sonoff neglected to mention in their API documentation is that to use the Inching API you need to first setup the pulse length using the zeroconf/pulse command and then use the /zeroconf/switch command to actually turn the Sonoff on.


Have fun!

Using direct network of Sonoff Basic R3
 

Hi,

thanks for this great app! I just ordered a Sonoff Basic R3 as both of my enlarger timers stopped working. As I don't have any wifi signal in my darkroom (that I have to build up every time) I was wondering if I just could stay in the setup network of the Sonoff without changing any settings. Did someone try this yet?

In case this does not work I would have to build up a wifi network using a separate router, right?

Thanks!

Christoph

Hi Christoph.

I did not see any way to use the Sonoff in its standard configuration/firmware without connecting it to a local WiFi router so I think that you would have to use a spare router. If you find a different way, do let me know - that would be very useful.

If you have a spare router you can dedicate to this, it should work well using the "Basic R3" controller mode as delays though the router will be minimal with no other traffic on that network.


As an alternative to using a separate router, you could reprogram the R3 with the new firmware which allows your Android device to talk directly with the R3 without any other WiFi hardware. This is a bit awkward to do but provides the best accuracy by eliminating the delays caused by the router relaying signals.

I can make things a little easier by supplying a previously compiled version of the firmware file so you do not have to go through the whole Arduino process to create a new one. I only realised that supplying the firmware file would makes things quite a bit easier for most people a few weeks ago - I have been messing about with embedded software for a long time and forgot that not everyone has!

Let me know how you get on and if you have any more queries.

Incidentally, it may be worth ordering a spare Sonoff - especially if you want to try reprogramming one - it is possible to kill it if the programming goes wrong...

Cheers.

Hi Bob,

thanks a lot! I think I will go for the spare router. I have old unused ones lying around so it's worth a try. And I am happy if I don't have to do too much on the hardware side like soldering especially when it has to do with higher voltage setups.

I will let you now if I find out anything interesting.

Thank you once more!

The advantage of the Basic R3 (and the Sonoff Mini) is that it can be reprogrammed via WiFi rather than needing to solder wires to it, but yes, if you have a spare router to dedicate to the job, that will work well too. Have fun!

Oh, really? Then maybe I'll think about it. It seems to be a good idea to get rid of the extra router. But tonight I hopefully will have the chance to try it with the router setup first.

Hi Bob,
you did a great job with this App - it's the perfect tool for f-stop printing.
I downloaded it a few weeks ago and already used it to manually switch my enlarger. Now I wanted the App to switch my enlarger but I fail to get the recommended relais run...
First I tried with the SONOFF Basic R3: I managed to connect it in diy mode to my phone, but it alsways looses connection after a few minutes and the App doesn't switch the relais.. A german user, who had the same problem solved it by using an old router which is only capable of 2,4 GHz, but he also mentioned, that this does not guarantee, that it works ...
I messed around a while with the R3 without success and then decided to try the LCTech Relais. Connection to my mobile was really straight forward - but the Relais on the board does not switch ... When I hit the FOC tab on my phone I can see a blue LED flash on the board - so the signal is obviously received, but the relais on the board doesn't switch... So I tried to switch the LCTEch with its dedicated App (the “EasyTCP_20”) I connected it, filled in the commands for on/off switching in the switch tab - and the LCTech board works nicely !
So obviously the FADU APP doesn't fit 100% to the LCTech (or in other words I did something wrong or omitted something...) Can you help me?
In the meantime I'm really frustrated ... :(
Cheers, Harald

Hi Harald.

Sorry for the delay, this forum software does not alert people to replies in this Articles section - it is very annoying!


Regarding the 2.4GHz use: yes, I had similar issues with my router and got around it by forcing my phone to only use the 2.4GHz network (I renamed the SSLs of the 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels with different names so I could do that - which is a bit of a pain, but solved the issue for me).

If you are not getting the error message when attempting to connect to the LCTech board then you are connecting to it OK, so the issue is most likely due to the commands being sent to the board. This timer software was written a few years ago now, so it is possible the LCTech firmware has changed since then. My best guess is that the commands to switch the relay have changed.

The code is very simple: after connecting to the LCTech board, the timer opens a socket and sends the code 'A00101A2' to switch the lamp ON and 'A00100A1' to switch it OFF. Some part of this process may have been changed by the LCTech manufacturer.

Does the LCTech app say exactly what process is used to send the commands?

Regards, Bob.


[Edit: discussion continued in emails. Bottom line: could not get the new firmware in the LC Tech board to work with the app :( ]

Foot switch
 

Hi Bob,

For those who asked for the possibility of connecting a Bluetooth foot switch, it is possible, without modifying the code!
You have to install a key map app in the phone, following this instructions.
https://rivas.cloud/2023/07/21/fadu-...dal-bluetooth/
Regards,
Ariel