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Old 23rd December 2018, 03:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redtreephoto View Post
Hello - I know nothing of electronics - so shared your post for advice in The Darkroom FB group - I hope you don't mind. The response I received was: "A relay with a WEMOS type board (or nodeMCU) can work as a server so you connect directly to the board via wifi using your phone. Its a much better solution than having a smart plug that works over the home wifi network. The delay should be less. If you have a system that keeps the connection always active without energy saving, you can have even less delay" and " tell him to look for WEMOS D1 for example, they are quite stable little wifi boards."
I hope this helps regarding the question of an alternative to the plug. My timer just died on me and this type of device would be really useful if it did not need any electronics know-how. Thank you for developing it.
Kind regarsd
Hi, and thanks for the suggestion.

Sorry for the late reply, but your post got lost down a software rabbit-hole and only just appeared!

Yes, I am aware of these kinds of boards and did consider them but the problem is that it still needs electronics knowledge to connect the relays on the boards to the enlarger and to provide a power supply for the board. Even more worrying is that the user will be messing with mains voltages which are highly dangerous to the uninitiated. The advantage of the Sonoff Wifi sockets is that they are already fully assembled and the user does not go anywhere near the mains.

However, I am thinking of adapting a readily available board for use on the low-voltage side of colour enlarger transformers so it will be safe for the inexperienced to connect them to the enlarger. The item here (https://www.banggood.com/5V-ESP8266-...r_warehouse=CN) is what I have in mind but there are still issues to do with the amount of power they can handle (100 - 150 watts only).


Thanks for taking the time to ask around - much appreciated.

Cheers, Bob.
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