Hi Ralph, welcome back! That annoying nib in the middle of the box window. That's the injection moulding site. They put it in the middle as it produces the most consistent results. But yes, Very annoying! Lovely project btw!
Welcome back Ralph, glad your feeling better. Thank you for this video, very useful. So the take-away from this is the outstanding feature of the e-paper displays is they draw no current while still displaying valid information but not to be used if the displayed info has to be updated often.
I was just the same with PC specs; used to know every chipset, motherboard and so on, but when I did the last upgrade to my PC last year I didn't have a clue which processor, motherboard and graphics card to go for. I wish they would just number them like they did in the good old days! Now we have processor names, different generations of processor with the same name as old ones but completely different specs, and it's all a bit confusing for an out-of-touch oldie like me 🙂
I'm reasonably up-to-date now but give it another 6 months and all this newfound information will be useless! things move very quickly in the techno world.
Thank you for sharing this project. It is an excellent lesson for me on how to structure and organise Arduino C++ software and the files. P. S. I've had the same problem with those waterproof cases, very annoying to have a moulding tool mark right in the middle of the lid! Now you just need to link to your local council web site and download updates of the bin collection schedule!!
Glad it was helpful! Yes, I might move this waterproof version outside over the bins, and create another for indoors in a case without that annoying moulding mark 🤦♂️
Hey Ralph, welcome back :) Good idea for a project for those multi-coloured displays, their refresh rates are only really useful for things like what you've done, or shelf sides for prices of products in boutique shops. The single colour e-Ink displays refresh much quicker, you can do a partial refresh in about half a second, and a full refresh in one (I have one of the 2" waveshare ones), so if you don't need the colour and want faster updates, they are the ones to go for :) Where are you pulling the data from for your bin collections? Or do you add it manually? Curious as to if you're using an API request or something for it, since even if I didn't make an e-ink display, this would be great to keep an eye out on bin changes in our area, especially in bank holidays, that's a great idea for using the slower display with the red colouring to emphasise things that are not "to normal" specs. Hope you had a good birthday Ralph, sorry to hear you caught the lurgy though. At least you had all the shots and whatnot, it doesn't make it less likely that you'd get it, but it makes it less likely to result in loss of life and that it doesn't last as long. A new kitty? :) What's the story with her? I'd be curious to know if you don't mind :) Your PC specs seem good to me, that processor is pretty good, and that graphics card will be a great worker for ya, there's no need for anything higher than a 3060 especially for video editing and the work you do. You're right to stick with DDR4 since you're not gonna need those extra mhz for the general tasks, unless you were playing high demand games where those milliseconds frame saves count :p Good shout on 32GB, that'll do you well too :)
The data is initially on an SD card (reader present on this particular ESP32 module) and, if detected, is copied to the internal LITTLEFS/SPIFFS partition. Then read from there as it is every day. That way, I can update the calendar once a year "off line" via the SD card when the council send us the new schedule and just pop it in the SD slot and press RST for it to be copied into the correct place. The format is so simple: eg B12062022 for each date and bin type. Only 52 entries for all the three bins for a full year. Yes, the jabs hopefully helped me get through the lurgy, unlike last time (Feb 2020) before any jabs were invented and I ended up with pneumonia in hospital! Took a whole month to get rid of it and another couple of weeks to feel normal! TWO new kitties. The story of how and why we acquired these (not our choice) will be revealed as we go through the future videos. One is asleep on the chair next to me right now (the one in the video). I'm just waiting to get the (rest of the) money together then the PC will be mine. That's where the hard work really starts though, getting it all configured and all the software installed. Luckily I will still have this PC to remind me what I have installed! So looking forward to it.
@@RalphBacon its done for even mould filling and minimising warp and post mould deformation, if you look through the lid through a pair of polarisers (such as polarised sunglasses and put some polarising film behind it), you can see the flow and internal stress lines inside the plastic, I actually just did a video talking about it when fixing a broken plastic fridge shelf.
I use the JLCPCB shipping option, EuroPacket, and let them sort out VAT and other custom stuff. Then my package goes direct without any additional local customs hassle, which by the way, does occur from time to time. I'm not sure if this is a selectable shipping option for the UK, but it works well here in EU-land. Cheers.
Welcome back. I feel your pain, I came down with the "rona" at the beginning of July as well. Full week of feeling like crap, and two weeks before I felt mostly normal. Still having some sinus issues and a slight cough every once in a while.
Hi Ralph, Looks like its time for air cond in the workshop. Time to buy would be in the winter 😀. Maybe you could a bank of solid state cells. Cheers Dave.
My multimeters go that low. Just to be sure I used more than one and they all agreed on the low current.
2 года назад+1
if you wish low current while sleeping you buy ESP32 module - not the board. I am using such and deep sleep is 4uA. Btw less than 2 GBP. You are anyway do it on PCB - so you can solder it to your PCB - no difference for you. From my measurements using PPK2: ESP32-S WROOM - 4.5uA ESP32-S2 WROOM - 22.5uA
Yes, I was expecting that sort of value but I guess ThingPulse's implementation still has other parts of the circuit switched on (not sure what, given that they switch off all other bits, as I mentioned). The new one (Feather) is better at 16μA but still not 4μA. I do have some bare ESP-WROOM devices; if I have time I might try one out on a breadboard although they only have castellated connections. I do have some PCBs for them too though... could be a longer project than I thought!
2 года назад
@Ralph S Bacon yes, I am talking the castellated ones - it is not that difficult to connect them without PCB either - many of my projects are without PCB: 1 resistor 10k (Vcc to EN), 2 push buttons (1 EN to GND and 1 GPIO0 to GND) - honestly I don't even use them anymore. I am using 3P mini JST connectors for UART (TX, RX, GN) connecting to FTDI. I usually disconnect later UART as all my projects have OTA so no need for later wired connection. Of course 3.3V is needed but ESP32 works OK up to 4.0V (above it does not work stable), ESP32-S2 has no issues up to 4.3V. So even you can connect LiPo directly (for ESP32 I use Shottky diode in series that takes me below 4V). These castellated modules are my primary choice for all my projects - nothing compares to their sleep current as well as ... size of the project ;)
I just placed an order for a 6 up panelized board and it came to: Merchandise Total: $2.00 Shipping Charge: $3.53 Customs duties & taxes: $1.11 Order Total: $6.64 Shipped via Parcel International Direct (11-14 days) Giving me each board for just over £0.18 each.. How on earth can they do it. Great video again as usual.
Nice to see a project that's correct for Epaper. The thing i hate about epaper is long after the battery is dead it still can remind you that you should have charged it up.
Yes, the original display I had on there (from video #2010) stayed on there since October 2020 until now, completely unchanged nor faded. Survived a house move and everything!
Love the lesson Ralph! I'm doing a similar battery based project. Would you be able to publish your circuit diagram! I'd love to benefit from your expertise. Thanks again! Great project!
gpu for editing is a can of worms because not all editing software's 'export' features play well with all cards, if have a favourite editing software (and you probably do) I suggest that softwares forums/groups for sage suggestions
My editing software is NOT Premiere Pro which every man and his dog uses apparently. I will try that out on my new PC to see if it offers me any advantages. MY current PC would not be able to run that in any meaningful way.
@@lezbriddon Just looked at OpenShot and it seems very familiar to me, as a PowerDirector user. Which is also quite similar to Premiere Pro. Well, I guess they all try to be the next Premiere Pro (on a budget), right?
@@RalphBacon indeed, just like all modern cars look the same to be 'normal'. Unless you're Porsche, then it's let's just do the shape we do with different lights lol.
I would have printed (or just written down with a pencil) all data on a sheet and wrapped it in plastic (laminate it). But the way you did it is more fun, though the need is not really high. Good to hear the ampdraw is even lower now, great to see how technology evolves.
The council already give us a printed sheet but it's quite confusing and moreover we just don't remember what we read yesterday! At least this way we have something right in front of us at all times.
For your info. That little nib is the gate to let in the melted plastic in to the form when you mold. You usually want to have it centered in a part. But in this case I have putted in two gates by the corners. More expensive of course and you could end up whith a seemline in the middle.
Welcome back! It's good to hear that you are recovering now. Like you, I have been playing around with ePaper and ESP32 and have come around to a similar conclusion - overnight update and much of the time in deep sleep. I use a small solar panel, a LIPO cell and a custom energy harvester to get a self-contained unit. I like the readability of the ePaper when powered off, even in bright daylight, but the slow update rules it out for me in most use cases, as does the flashing during screen updates. Stay well and I look forward to future videos. Ps: I too have had a bout of the dreaded affliction so I know how you must have felt.
Nice informative video explaining the faults, great stuff. I got all my Covid vaccine shots to and still got sick. I don't know if I get harder than others but it took me 4 week to get back on full strength. What a fine woman you got for a wife. What do give a man who has everything? 😂😂 I don't know what it is with you british gentlemen and your sheets. I do believe it has been an owen the last few days. Other hobbyist would keep this kind of hobby in the basement or at least indoor. LoL
Sorry to hear you got Covid too, Flemming. In the UK it is rife but the media doesn't report on it very much at all because not many people get admitted to hospital, or die from it. That said, in the USA 400+ people die _every day_ from Covid. That's 400+ families torn apart. I reckon it took me about 3 weeks to get back to normal. I've been double-jabbed and boosted and it still was pretty bad. I get another booster from September. I will be first in line for that. I don't blame my wife, she got it bad too, very different symptoms to me.
The issue with the lid is where the injection mould feeds the plastic. I guess you could drill it out and use some clear epoxy to refill it? Also Ralph, how do you know when the batteries die, give eInk is persistent? Wont you have to look for date/time change every day? Is there no way to measure Vcc and have a little battery icon?
Yes, I thought about the battery indicator but didn't implement anything. I guess that when it doesn't update any more (and I will be expecting that, after about 1 year) I will just change the batteries. Not a critical project.
How would I go about using the esp32 as a simple wifi antenna for my laptop? for example if my wifi card inside was to fail, could I use the esp32 to connect and surf?
No, the ESP32 cannot be used as a simple WiFi antenna; what you need is a simple USB device (like this: amzn.to/3vkp6Pu ) that I used before I wired up my PC with a LAN cable. Works pretty well.
Great Vid! I have been using the feather platform more - all my design I standardize to it as it allows for so many options!!! Would recommend a redesign to allow for your feather version.
Yes, I'm considering a PCB redesign for it (purely for the low sleep current). I have other ESP32 modules for more "general" use that work well (and are cheaper).
If you can find a hardening liquid plastic with a similar index of refraction to fill the injection molding divet in the box lid, you may be able to fix the problem.
You would not have seen much movement over here, Trevor. I was either in bed, or slumped in front of my PC (probably sleep). But, just like Arnie, I'm back!
I just made my first order with JLCPCB recently and I picked the "Global Direct Line Saver" (10-12 business days) option. That order shipped out on the 22nd. Today's the 28th and I see the Royal Fail guy at the end of the street (tracking says he has it in his bag - I'm in Scotland). So, pretty impressed with that.
Unfortunately, it only works for USA-type Garbage. If you try and use it for UK-style rubbish bins it will crash. 🤣😄 Do you know, I thought long and hard about whether I should say Garbage or Rubbish and eventually went with the term where most of my viewers live. Yeah, I know, at least we Brits understand both terms.
The common understanding is that the latest variant is contagious, and the existing vaccine is not "tuned" for this newest mutation. However, most people with four doses are protected from severe illness, long covid, and hospitalization. Thus consider it could have been much much, worse without. Cheers.
It could indeed have been much worse; I had Covid-19 before in February 2020 and ended up in hospital after 3 horrendous weeks with pneumonia. That was _really_ bad. This time is was just bad, but bad enough all the same.
Unsure about colour e-Ink/e-Paper display support, but for the monochrome displays I always try to get devices that support "partial refresh". I have a few DIY weather related displays and can can usually get ~3fps for redraws and simple monochrome animations (e.g. animated icons and rainfall graphs for the next hour). Obviously not great for low power battery use if you have constant animation, but good for batteries use if you want a quick redraw and get back to deep-sleep.
Yes, the monochromes (some of them) do support partial refresh. Something I'd like to try. It's on my list, anyway. I wonder if tri-colour ones support it by now?
That's a good project of an e-ink display. I put a vibration sensor on each of my garbage bin and have Home Assistant remind me to take it out only if I haven't done it earlier. In your case, you could switch the red font to black once vibration has been detected.
Re: "The real question" - my 2 cents( er, um, pence ?)... Blingy LEDs in yer PC case? Why oh why would you waste the money (and Watts)? Which teenager are you trying to impress, and when would they see it in the first place?
No LEDs _inside_ the case, Rob. No, I'm not going to pay extra for RAM with LEDs or CPU coolers with LEDs or anything else with some sort of addressable RGB (but I can see how some people might). But the Corsair case comes with three, built-in ARGB fans (from Corsair) so I will have to keep those and perhaps select a blingy program that just slowly fades them in and out! But the cat(s) will enjoy the mood lighting I'm sure (having just put in a cat flap into my workshop 🤦♂️😹)
Tricky to answer because my display updates at 2:00am so I'm not around to see it. But I did not get to write partials with this screen; other will allow that though, so it depends on your hardware. But the screen should not flash just because the microcontroller wakes up, unless you reset the screen as part of setup( ).
@@RalphBacon I fooled with this yesterday for several hours using a LilyGo T5 (ESP32) and couldn't get it partials to function correctly after sleep wake up. I looked at skipping the init using reset_reason function, holding out pins at their state during reset, etc. Then gave up and can live with the flash every couple minutes. Thanks for the fast reply.
Any chance you could do an EasyEDA tutorial, including everything one needs to know and do, starting with a circuit diagram and ending with ordering the PCBs ?
Great vid as always thanks. 🙂 The PC sounds great but don't scrimp on the RAM. Get the fastest you can afford as it really helps with video editing. Here is an idea for a project. A remote monitor for a hot water tank. I recently installed solar panels and they heat the water too but heat a smaller amount of the tank to a much higher temp than the oil burner. It means it's now hard to tell if there is enough hot water for two showers so a temperature monitor with two or three sensors for different heights of the tank would be great. Keep up the good work and glad your better. BTW an old mobile phone battery may have worked for your project. Much nicer having it rechargeable and a good way to reuse old batteries.
I've specified 32Gb RAM, Ali; I don't any more will help either my video editing or general use (not even gaming, which I haven't done, up till now). That project you mention is an afternoon's work. Use an ESP32 to read two DS18b20 temperature sensors (can even be on the same GPIO pin as they have unique addresses). Then create an ultra simple web page in the ESP32 to hold the two temperatures. Use your phone to access the web page to see how much hot water you really have. Regarding batteries (in this project, I'm assuming?), I had provision for a simple 4.7v LiPO if the 3 x AAA didn't work out. As it happens, the AAA work great and I expect the batteries to last for a year but we'll only know in May 2023... I'll try and remember to record when they run out! Now go and design that hot water project, I want it finished by tea-time!
@@RalphBacon LOL, thanks mate, I'll have a look at your suggestion as I may have a free hour tomorrow. 🤣 I agree 32Gb is enough but the speed of the RAM is important. Don't go for the cheapest RAM as it will kill your video editing. I did that with my build and had to replace the RAM later. Buy cheap and buy twice. 😉
Indeed. I'm using DDR4 memory (can't afford DDR5 and it offers no benefits to me [yet]) at 3200MHz. Actually, I think the XMP is 3600MHz but I am after 100% stability so we will see how it performs. Nothing worse than a BSOD, which I remember too well from Win95 days!
@@RalphBacon I originally installed 16Gb DDR4 2666 and couldn't understand why the PC wasn't much faster than my old one. After some research I bought DDR4 2x8gb 16gb Corsair 3600Mhz (on ebay) and was surprised at the speed improvement, especially when editing videos. Since then I upgraded to 32Gb which helps even more. No BSOD for me in Linux Mint. 😉
Another great video Ralph, I have same problem but 4 bins in Blackburn area BWD but not sure if I can justify cost of build, if you had a spare PCB to sell I may ... regarding weather I live a bit further north and had a Chest X-ray app last Tuesday in Bolton, definitely got cancelled and went in rain on Friday ....LOL ... Ohhh regarding PC did you use Scan or CCL
I do have a spare PCB (email me if interested, no charge) but you would need the ThingPulse ePulse ESP32 module, of course, which is not the cheapest dev module around but is quite low in standby current (and is still available too). Although you have 4 bins, do you not put two of them (eg recycling & garden waste) out on the same day? So really, only 3 different dates, same as me. For the PC, I have 3 firms on my shortlist, in no particular order: 1. Scan 2. CCL 3. PC Specialist Right now (after my 357th custom build configuration!) Scan give me the best spread of desired components but the other two are pretty close too. Not committed yet to an order (I'm waiting for the money) but it will be soon.
@@RalphBacon Hi Ralph, I will look at building at some stage so I will email you at some stage yes I note the cost of bits is a bit steep and got the Model Railway build as well , being on DWP not got a lot spare but I like your phone and as I have a crappy old S6 Amazon got one so may get one ... Bins RED general and in August its 8th ,22nd .. GREY Plastic its 15th ... BLUE Paper 1st , 29th ... GREEN garden 5th and 19th ... I used Scan over years as very local but prices have gone up a lot so CCL have a good economy range My PC is about 12 years old but now got Win 11 on it, and a Win7 running a CNC and Win 10 in Shed running JMRI ..plus Win 7 Laptop ... LOL
Thx Ralph, hope you are fully recovered soon ... I know several folk still not enjoying their food (or in some cases beer!) after their encounter with the dreaded lurgy. Very timely project .. I’ve a couple of jobs which could well benefit from e-ink displays. I’ve seen the refresh issues before (somewhere) but as you say they are manageable. On my ‘think-about’ list are a battery status bar and the possibility of just using a small solar panel & Lipo pouch ... but since the last week or so I’m not sure how happy my stuff will get roasting in the garden. Simpler chemistry might well be the way to go. All the best and keep up the great work 😀👍
I couldn't smell or taste lots of food for a while (like Skippy Crunchy Peanut Butter). In fact, that smelt like a chemical and tasted of nothing. After 3 weeks it's (almost) back to normal. Yes, I have a solar cell project in mind (with battery) but if we have any more 40ºC days I suspect the whole lot would implode.
@@RalphBacon Glad you are on the mend. Apparently there is a clinic in Norwich which helps to retrain lost smells and tastes but, as with all things, a bit of a waiting list. All the best - stay cool. 😀👍
Yes there is a much cheaper option in Australia. It’s called Standard Global Direct Line and typically is around $5AU for 5-20 pcb’s, much cheaper than your UK options.the only disadvantage is that delivery is 10-20 days. That’s the option I always use as I’ve got plenty of other projects to work on while I wait.
There is some youtube video and website of Good-display, in which they show a Tri-color E-ink (2,13inch red/black/white) that can do partial refresh. They say that only the black and white pixels can do partial refresh
Yes, I've seen the partial refresh on B&W screens although eventually you do have to do a complete screen refresh, apparently. If I do repeat this project for an outside unit, I might go with a cheaper B&W module, then I can experiment with that partial refresh too.
@@RalphBacon partial refresh should also work with the screen which you have now, only the B/W pixels can do it though. ruclips.net/video/HJaVujn877Q/видео.html
That's an interesting video of partial refresh of the B&W part of a tricolour screen. But there is no information anywhere, no example code. Perhaps it was a mock up! 😲
That was plan B if the triple AAA battery holder was too thick to allow fitting the lid on. The breadboard supports it, although I didn't have room for a recharging circuit unless the input voltage was no higher than 4v2.
lots of used ryzen chips very cheap on ebay etc, many match or exceed your specs that pc you got will be able to max pretty much every game for 1080p at least.. you mention "some" with the GPU but it'll be "all" just not all at max settings good call not getting ddr5, too new and too expensive. for video editing not worth it. GPU for video editing only helps acceleration of the preview frames if you even use it.. if you encode with the GPU it also helps there obviously.
Apparently (after exhaustive research) I've appreciated that the Intel chips (11th & 12th gen onwards) have better codecs to en/decode H.264/265 video so they do have an edge on AMD chips. Another good reason to NOT disable on-board graphics even if a discrete graphics card is being used.
The nib in the lid is where the plastic material is fed into the mould. It’s called a gate. It is recessed so the tiny sharp string (like the stringing you get on a glue gun) does not protrude above the surface of the lid.
@@RalphBacon from a moulding perspective, the gate needs to be exactly in the center. If it wasn’t, one side of the moulding would fill first and leave a void in the other side.
Oh, I've watched countless Tech Notice videos. He's a great presenter and knows his stuff. Gave me lots of information. Another one is JayzTwoCents, he says it like it really is. And I'm not jealous of his two million subscribers (or whatever huge number it is!)
Good to have you back in good health, Ralph! Thank you for the video.
Great to be back. Seems impossible that I was so ill! But OK now. 😷
Glad you're feeling better, Ralphie Boy!
Thank you, and yes I am.
Hi Ralph, welcome back!
That annoying nib in the middle of the box window. That's the injection moulding site. They put it in the middle as it produces the most consistent results. But yes, Very annoying! Lovely project btw!
Cool, thanks. As a project, I'm happy with it too.
Welcome back Ralph, glad your feeling better. Thank you for this video, very useful. So the take-away from this is the outstanding feature of the e-paper displays is they draw no current while still displaying valid information but not to be used if the displayed info has to be updated often.
Well said! The B&W can be updated every 2 seconds and the B&W&R displays every 3 seconds, but the refresh time is about 2 seconds vs 15 seconds.
Glad to see you have recovered and are back.
It took a while, that's for sure! But glad to be back 😀
I was just the same with PC specs; used to know every chipset, motherboard and so on, but when I did the last upgrade to my PC last year I didn't have a clue which processor, motherboard and graphics card to go for. I wish they would just number them like they did in the good old days! Now we have processor names, different generations of processor with the same name as old ones but completely different specs, and it's all a bit confusing for an out-of-touch oldie like me 🙂
I'm reasonably up-to-date now but give it another 6 months and all this newfound information will be useless! things move very quickly in the techno world.
Nice to have you back Ralph!
Hey, thanks! 😷
I'm sorry to hear you caught the crud but happy to hear you're okay now.
Thank you, Alan, yes I fell so much better now. 😷👍🏻
Thank you for sharing this project. It is an excellent lesson for me on how to structure and organise Arduino C++ software and the files.
P. S. I've had the same problem with those waterproof cases, very annoying to have a moulding tool mark right in the middle of the lid!
Now you just need to link to your local council web site and download updates of the bin collection schedule!!
Glad it was helpful! Yes, I might move this waterproof version outside over the bins, and create another for indoors in a case without that annoying moulding mark 🤦♂️
Hey Ralph, welcome back :) Good idea for a project for those multi-coloured displays, their refresh rates are only really useful for things like what you've done, or shelf sides for prices of products in boutique shops. The single colour e-Ink displays refresh much quicker, you can do a partial refresh in about half a second, and a full refresh in one (I have one of the 2" waveshare ones), so if you don't need the colour and want faster updates, they are the ones to go for :)
Where are you pulling the data from for your bin collections? Or do you add it manually? Curious as to if you're using an API request or something for it, since even if I didn't make an e-ink display, this would be great to keep an eye out on bin changes in our area, especially in bank holidays, that's a great idea for using the slower display with the red colouring to emphasise things that are not "to normal" specs.
Hope you had a good birthday Ralph, sorry to hear you caught the lurgy though. At least you had all the shots and whatnot, it doesn't make it less likely that you'd get it, but it makes it less likely to result in loss of life and that it doesn't last as long.
A new kitty? :) What's the story with her? I'd be curious to know if you don't mind :)
Your PC specs seem good to me, that processor is pretty good, and that graphics card will be a great worker for ya, there's no need for anything higher than a 3060 especially for video editing and the work you do. You're right to stick with DDR4 since you're not gonna need those extra mhz for the general tasks, unless you were playing high demand games where those milliseconds frame saves count :p Good shout on 32GB, that'll do you well too :)
The data is initially on an SD card (reader present on this particular ESP32 module) and, if detected, is copied to the internal LITTLEFS/SPIFFS partition. Then read from there as it is every day. That way, I can update the calendar once a year "off line" via the SD card when the council send us the new schedule and just pop it in the SD slot and press RST for it to be copied into the correct place.
The format is so simple: eg B12062022 for each date and bin type. Only 52 entries for all the three bins for a full year.
Yes, the jabs hopefully helped me get through the lurgy, unlike last time (Feb 2020) before any jabs were invented and I ended up with pneumonia in hospital! Took a whole month to get rid of it and another couple of weeks to feel normal!
TWO new kitties. The story of how and why we acquired these (not our choice) will be revealed as we go through the future videos. One is asleep on the chair next to me right now (the one in the video).
I'm just waiting to get the (rest of the) money together then the PC will be mine. That's where the hard work really starts though, getting it all configured and all the software installed. Luckily I will still have this PC to remind me what I have installed! So looking forward to it.
Welcome back, you were missed.
Well, thanks Greg, nice to know that my viewers are still out there!
@16:00 That bit in the middle of the lid is called the gate, it is a hole in the mould which the material is injection through into the mould cavity.
Pity they didn't think about pouring it in a corner! 😡
@@RalphBacon its done for even mould filling and minimising warp and post mould deformation, if you look through the lid through a pair of polarisers (such as polarised sunglasses and put some polarising film behind it), you can see the flow and internal stress lines inside the plastic, I actually just did a video talking about it when fixing a broken plastic fridge shelf.
I use the JLCPCB shipping option, EuroPacket, and let them sort out VAT and other custom stuff. Then my package goes direct without any additional local customs hassle, which by the way, does occur from time to time. I'm not sure if this is a selectable shipping option for the UK, but it works well here in EU-land. Cheers.
Yes, we have to prepay VAT too, in fact, if you don't then DHL refuses to take the parcel until you have!
Welcome back. I feel your pain, I came down with the "rona" at the beginning of July as well. Full week of feeling like crap, and two weeks before I felt mostly normal. Still having some sinus issues and a slight cough every once in a while.
Yes, you could be describing my symptoms too. I'm just hoping the jabs did actually help us not getting real sick.
Hi Ralph, Looks like its time for air cond in the workshop. Time to buy would be in the winter 😀. Maybe you could a bank of solid state cells. Cheers Dave.
That would be cool! Literally. And something I seriously considered / am considering. 🥶
Another interesting video thanks Ralph. How are you measuring those low current values?
My multimeters go that low. Just to be sure I used more than one and they all agreed on the low current.
if you wish low current while sleeping you buy ESP32 module - not the board. I am using such and deep sleep is 4uA. Btw less than 2 GBP. You are anyway do it on PCB - so you can solder it to your PCB - no difference for you.
From my measurements using PPK2:
ESP32-S WROOM - 4.5uA
ESP32-S2 WROOM - 22.5uA
Yes, I was expecting that sort of value but I guess ThingPulse's implementation still has other parts of the circuit switched on (not sure what, given that they switch off all other bits, as I mentioned).
The new one (Feather) is better at 16μA but still not 4μA. I do have some bare ESP-WROOM devices; if I have time I might try one out on a breadboard although they only have castellated connections. I do have some PCBs for them too though... could be a longer project than I thought!
@Ralph S Bacon yes, I am talking the castellated ones - it is not that difficult to connect them without PCB either - many of my projects are without PCB: 1 resistor 10k (Vcc to EN), 2 push buttons (1 EN to GND and 1 GPIO0 to GND) - honestly I don't even use them anymore. I am using 3P mini JST connectors for UART (TX, RX, GN) connecting to FTDI. I usually disconnect later UART as all my projects have OTA so no need for later wired connection. Of course 3.3V is needed but ESP32 works OK up to 4.0V (above it does not work stable), ESP32-S2 has no issues up to 4.3V. So even you can connect LiPo directly (for ESP32 I use Shottky diode in series that takes me below 4V). These castellated modules are my primary choice for all my projects - nothing compares to their sleep current as well as ... size of the project ;)
@Zygfryd Homonto I'll give it a go, I'm sure! Thanks for all the information.
I just placed an order for a 6 up panelized board and it came to:
Merchandise Total: $2.00
Shipping Charge: $3.53
Customs duties & taxes: $1.11
Order Total: $6.64
Shipped via Parcel International Direct (11-14 days)
Giving me each board for just over £0.18 each..
How on earth can they do it.
Great video again as usual.
Yes, without this sort of service we would really be struggling, both as hobbyists and small businesses trying to create a prototype.
Nice to see a project that's correct for Epaper. The thing i hate about epaper is long after the battery is dead it still can remind you that you should have charged it up.
Yes, the original display I had on there (from video #2010) stayed on there since October 2020 until now, completely unchanged nor faded. Survived a house move and everything!
Love the lesson Ralph! I'm doing a similar battery based project. Would you be able to publish your circuit diagram! I'd love to benefit from your expertise. Thanks again! Great project!
I've put the circuit diagram in my GitHub, Gord. The link for my GitHub is in the video description. Anything you need clarified let me know.
gpu for editing is a can of worms because not all editing software's 'export' features play well with all cards, if have a favourite editing software (and you probably do) I suggest that softwares forums/groups for sage suggestions
My editing software is NOT Premiere Pro which every man and his dog uses apparently. I will try that out on my new PC to see if it offers me any advantages. MY current PC would not be able to run that in any meaningful way.
@@RalphBacon I'm an openshot man myself I like the community developed mindset, inkscape, gimp, kicad, Arduino,
@@lezbriddon Just looked at OpenShot and it seems very familiar to me, as a PowerDirector user. Which is also quite similar to Premiere Pro. Well, I guess they all try to be the next Premiere Pro (on a budget), right?
@@RalphBacon indeed, just like all modern cars look the same to be 'normal'. Unless you're Porsche, then it's let's just do the shape we do with different lights lol.
I would have printed (or just written down with a pencil) all data on a sheet and wrapped it in plastic (laminate it). But the way you did it is more fun, though the need is not really high. Good to hear the ampdraw is even lower now, great to see how technology evolves.
The council already give us a printed sheet but it's quite confusing and moreover we just don't remember what we read yesterday! At least this way we have something right in front of us at all times.
For your info. That little nib is the gate to let in the melted plastic in to the form when you mold. You usually want to have it centered in a part. But in this case I have putted in two gates by the corners. More expensive of course and you could end up whith a seemline in the middle.
A bit of a nuisance that nib, but not a show-stopper (it's still working and used [looked at] on a daily basis despite that funny lid!)
Welcome back! It's good to hear that you are recovering now. Like you, I have been playing around with ePaper and ESP32 and have come around to a similar conclusion - overnight update and much of the time in deep sleep. I use a small solar panel, a LIPO cell and a custom energy harvester to get a self-contained unit. I like the readability of the ePaper when powered off, even in bright daylight, but the slow update rules it out for me in most use cases, as does the flashing during screen updates. Stay well and I look forward to future videos. Ps: I too have had a bout of the dreaded affliction so I know how you must have felt.
Sorry to hear that you too had Covid, Mike, we can empathise! Yes, your thoughts on ePaper reflect mine.
Nice informative video explaining the faults, great stuff.
I got all my Covid vaccine shots to and still got sick. I don't know if I get harder than others but it took me 4 week to get back on full strength.
What a fine woman you got for a wife. What do give a man who has everything? 😂😂
I don't know what it is with you british gentlemen and your sheets. I do believe it has been an owen the last few days.
Other hobbyist would keep this kind of hobby in the basement or at least indoor. LoL
Sorry to hear you got Covid too, Flemming. In the UK it is rife but the media doesn't report on it very much at all because not many people get admitted to hospital, or die from it. That said, in the USA 400+ people die _every day_ from Covid. That's 400+ families torn apart.
I reckon it took me about 3 weeks to get back to normal. I've been double-jabbed and boosted and it still was pretty bad. I get another booster from September. I will be first in line for that. I don't blame my wife, she got it bad too, very different symptoms to me.
The issue with the lid is where the injection mould feeds the plastic. I guess you could drill it out and use some clear epoxy to refill it?
Also Ralph, how do you know when the batteries die, give eInk is persistent? Wont you have to look for date/time change every day? Is there no way to measure Vcc and have a little battery icon?
Yes, I thought about the battery indicator but didn't implement anything. I guess that when it doesn't update any more (and I will be expecting that, after about 1 year) I will just change the batteries. Not a critical project.
How would I go about using the esp32 as a simple wifi antenna for my laptop? for example if my wifi card inside was to fail, could I use the esp32 to connect and surf?
No, the ESP32 cannot be used as a simple WiFi antenna; what you need is a simple USB device (like this: amzn.to/3vkp6Pu ) that I used before I wired up my PC with a LAN cable. Works pretty well.
Great Vid! I have been using the feather platform more - all my design I standardize to it as it allows for so many options!!! Would recommend a redesign to allow for your feather version.
Yes, I'm considering a PCB redesign for it (purely for the low sleep current). I have other ESP32 modules for more "general" use that work well (and are cheaper).
oh the dreaded virus, so glad you're back up to par. Keep the great videsos coming, entertaining and educational.
Thanks Vic, I hope you don't get it. Ever.
You slacker!
I know, Andy, I will never amount to anything. 😥
If you can find a hardening liquid plastic with a similar index of refraction to fill the injection molding divet in the box lid, you may be able to fix the problem.
Maybe the resin in a windshield stone chip repair kit?
I have some liquid resin (and hardener). I also have another, identical box to try it on. Great suggestions, thanks 👍🏻
Welcome back Ralph.
I was beginning to think we needed another 'home alone' monitor 😁
You would not have seen much movement over here, Trevor. I was either in bed, or slumped in front of my PC (probably sleep). But, just like Arnie, I'm back!
I just made my first order with JLCPCB recently and I picked the "Global Direct Line Saver" (10-12 business days) option. That order shipped out on the 22nd. Today's the 28th and I see the Royal Fail guy at the end of the street (tracking says he has it in his bag - I'm in Scotland). So, pretty impressed with that.
That's good going. I'm sure you'll find the JCLpcb board excellent quality - as long as your design was too 😜 Have fun!
Kovid _ YUCK! Very interesting project, Ralph.
Thanks Roman!
Neat project. Could you share the source for the nice waterproof case pls.
I've temporarily put a link in the GitHub video information, Paul. I'll update the video description later.
Does it work for Rubbish collection or just garbage?
Unfortunately, it only works for USA-type Garbage. If you try and use it for UK-style rubbish bins it will crash. 🤣😄
Do you know, I thought long and hard about whether I should say Garbage or Rubbish and eventually went with the term where most of my viewers live. Yeah, I know, at least we Brits understand both terms.
got love injection marks... But great little project...
Fair enough! The injection point on the lid is not desirable but, on the other hand, does not detract from the project for me 😉
Had a similar experience with COVID. Where I live our age group got 4 shots yet my wife and I got the virus anyway.
The common understanding is that the latest variant is contagious, and the existing vaccine is not "tuned" for this newest mutation. However, most people with four doses are protected from severe illness, long covid, and hospitalization. Thus consider it could have been much much, worse without. Cheers.
It could indeed have been much worse; I had Covid-19 before in February 2020 and ended up in hospital after 3 horrendous weeks with pneumonia. That was _really_ bad. This time is was just bad, but bad enough all the same.
Unsure about colour e-Ink/e-Paper display support, but for the monochrome displays I always try to get devices that support "partial refresh". I have a few DIY weather related displays and can can usually get ~3fps for redraws and simple monochrome animations (e.g. animated icons and rainfall graphs for the next hour). Obviously not great for low power battery use if you have constant animation, but good for batteries use if you want a quick redraw and get back to deep-sleep.
Yes, the monochromes (some of them) do support partial refresh. Something I'd like to try. It's on my list, anyway. I wonder if tri-colour ones support it by now?
That's a good project of an e-ink display.
I put a vibration sensor on each of my garbage bin and have Home Assistant remind me to take it out only if I haven't done it earlier. In your case, you could switch the red font to black once vibration has been detected.
Very true, a good suggestion!
Re: "The real question" - my 2 cents( er, um, pence ?)...
Blingy LEDs in yer PC case? Why oh why would you waste the money (and Watts)? Which teenager are you trying to impress, and when would they see it in the first place?
No LEDs _inside_ the case, Rob. No, I'm not going to pay extra for RAM with LEDs or CPU coolers with LEDs or anything else with some sort of addressable RGB (but I can see how some people might).
But the Corsair case comes with three, built-in ARGB fans (from Corsair) so I will have to keep those and perhaps select a blingy program that just slowly fades them in and out!
But the cat(s) will enjoy the mood lighting I'm sure (having just put in a cat flap into my workshop 🤦♂️😹)
Don't get a DDR5 unless you are heavy into Gaming stuff and yes it is expensive, I can wait 5 years till the price is right,
Yup, agree with that.
When the ESP32 comes out of sleep, does your display flash (because the CPU resets) or can you write partials without the flash? Thanks for the video.
Tricky to answer because my display updates at 2:00am so I'm not around to see it. But I did not get to write partials with this screen; other will allow that though, so it depends on your hardware. But the screen should not flash just because the microcontroller wakes up, unless you reset the screen as part of setup( ).
@@RalphBacon I fooled with this yesterday for several hours using a LilyGo T5 (ESP32) and couldn't get it partials to function correctly after sleep wake up. I looked at skipping the init using reset_reason function, holding out pins at their state during reset, etc. Then gave up and can live with the flash every couple minutes. Thanks for the
fast reply.
Any chance you could do an EasyEDA tutorial, including everything one needs to know and do, starting with a circuit diagram and ending with ordering the PCBs ?
I did video #132 ruclips.net/video/1PpKMSk9owc/видео.html that described EasyEDA a bit; perhaps you need something more detailed?
Welcome back, you are missed!
BTW; often those 0 ohm resistors are called "zero ohm links"
My one is definitely a zero ohm bit of wire, because the speck of dust resistor disappeared off the end of my soldering iron never to be seen again! 🤣
Great vid as always thanks. 🙂
The PC sounds great but don't scrimp on the RAM. Get the fastest you can afford as it really helps with video editing.
Here is an idea for a project. A remote monitor for a hot water tank.
I recently installed solar panels and they heat the water too but heat a smaller amount of the tank to a much higher temp than the oil burner. It means it's now hard to tell if there is enough hot water for two showers so a temperature monitor with two or three sensors for different heights of the tank would be great.
Keep up the good work and glad your better.
BTW an old mobile phone battery may have worked for your project. Much nicer having it rechargeable and a good way to reuse old batteries.
I've specified 32Gb RAM, Ali; I don't any more will help either my video editing or general use (not even gaming, which I haven't done, up till now).
That project you mention is an afternoon's work. Use an ESP32 to read two DS18b20 temperature sensors (can even be on the same GPIO pin as they have unique addresses). Then create an ultra simple web page in the ESP32 to hold the two temperatures. Use your phone to access the web page to see how much hot water you really have.
Regarding batteries (in this project, I'm assuming?), I had provision for a simple 4.7v LiPO if the 3 x AAA didn't work out. As it happens, the AAA work great and I expect the batteries to last for a year but we'll only know in May 2023... I'll try and remember to record when they run out!
Now go and design that hot water project, I want it finished by tea-time!
@@RalphBacon LOL, thanks mate, I'll have a look at your suggestion as I may have a free hour tomorrow. 🤣
I agree 32Gb is enough but the speed of the RAM is important. Don't go for the cheapest RAM as it will kill your video editing. I did that with my build and had to replace the RAM later.
Buy cheap and buy twice. 😉
Indeed. I'm using DDR4 memory (can't afford DDR5 and it offers no benefits to me [yet]) at 3200MHz. Actually, I think the XMP is 3600MHz but I am after 100% stability so we will see how it performs. Nothing worse than a BSOD, which I remember too well from Win95 days!
@@RalphBacon I originally installed 16Gb DDR4 2666 and couldn't understand why the PC wasn't much faster than my old one.
After some research I bought DDR4 2x8gb 16gb Corsair 3600Mhz (on ebay) and was surprised at the speed improvement, especially when editing videos. Since then I upgraded to 32Gb which helps even more.
No BSOD for me in Linux Mint. 😉
Sorry to hear you had COVID, BU T glad to hear you are better. I’m always excited to see one of your new videos published.
Thank you! Nice of you to say.
Another great video Ralph, I have same problem but 4 bins in Blackburn area BWD but not sure if I can justify cost of build, if you had a spare PCB to sell I may ... regarding weather I live a bit further north and had a Chest X-ray app last Tuesday in Bolton, definitely got cancelled and went in rain on Friday ....LOL ... Ohhh regarding PC did you use Scan or CCL
I do have a spare PCB (email me if interested, no charge) but you would need the ThingPulse ePulse ESP32 module, of course, which is not the cheapest dev module around but is quite low in standby current (and is still available too).
Although you have 4 bins, do you not put two of them (eg recycling & garden waste) out on the same day? So really, only 3 different dates, same as me.
For the PC, I have 3 firms on my shortlist, in no particular order:
1. Scan
2. CCL
3. PC Specialist
Right now (after my 357th custom build configuration!) Scan give me the best spread of desired components but the other two are pretty close too.
Not committed yet to an order (I'm waiting for the money) but it will be soon.
@@RalphBacon Hi Ralph, I will look at building at some stage so I will email you at some stage yes I note the cost of bits is a bit steep and got the Model Railway build as well , being on DWP not got a lot spare but I like your phone and as I have a crappy old S6 Amazon got one so may get one ...
Bins RED general and in August its 8th ,22nd ..
GREY Plastic its 15th ...
BLUE Paper 1st , 29th ...
GREEN garden 5th and 19th ...
I used Scan over years as very local but prices have gone up a lot so CCL have a good economy range My PC is about 12 years old but now got Win 11 on it, and a Win7 running a CNC and Win 10 in Shed running JMRI ..plus Win 7 Laptop ... LOL
Thx Ralph, hope you are fully recovered soon ... I know several folk still not enjoying their food (or in some cases beer!) after their encounter with the dreaded lurgy.
Very timely project .. I’ve a couple of jobs which could well benefit from e-ink displays. I’ve seen the refresh issues before (somewhere) but as you say they are manageable. On my ‘think-about’ list are a battery status bar and the possibility of just using a small solar panel & Lipo pouch ... but since the last week or so I’m not sure how happy my stuff will get roasting in the garden. Simpler chemistry might well be the way to go.
All the best and keep up the great work 😀👍
I couldn't smell or taste lots of food for a while (like Skippy Crunchy Peanut Butter). In fact, that smelt like a chemical and tasted of nothing. After 3 weeks it's (almost) back to normal.
Yes, I have a solar cell project in mind (with battery) but if we have any more 40ºC days I suspect the whole lot would implode.
@@RalphBacon Glad you are on the mend. Apparently there is a clinic in Norwich which helps to retrain lost smells and tastes but, as with all things, a bit of a waiting list. All the best - stay cool. 😀👍
FYI - In Australia the JLCPCB delivery price via DHL is $29 (3-5 days) and the FedEx price is $31 (6-8 days). $2 diff and half the time.
OMG that is very different to the UK. Is there a cheaper option you can try, perhaps?
Yes there is a much cheaper option in Australia. It’s called Standard Global Direct Line and typically is around $5AU for 5-20 pcb’s, much cheaper than your UK options.the only disadvantage is that delivery is 10-20 days. That’s the option I always use as I’ve got plenty of other projects to work on while I wait.
There is some youtube video and website of Good-display, in which they show a Tri-color E-ink (2,13inch red/black/white) that can do partial refresh. They say that only the black and white pixels can do partial refresh
Yes, I've seen the partial refresh on B&W screens although eventually you do have to do a complete screen refresh, apparently. If I do repeat this project for an outside unit, I might go with a cheaper B&W module, then I can experiment with that partial refresh too.
@@RalphBacon partial refresh should also work with the screen which you have now, only the B/W pixels can do it though.
ruclips.net/video/HJaVujn877Q/видео.html
That's an interesting video of partial refresh of the B&W part of a tricolour screen. But there is no information anywhere, no example code. Perhaps it was a mock up! 😲
You could consider a single LiFePO4 cell to power the device without any voltage regulator powering a barebone esp32 module
That was plan B if the triple AAA battery holder was too thick to allow fitting the lid on. The breadboard supports it, although I didn't have room for a recharging circuit unless the input voltage was no higher than 4v2.
@@RalphBacon given that it is going into a box, you could fit a USB charging port and a tiny LiFePO4 charger attached on the inside
lots of used ryzen chips very cheap on ebay etc, many match or exceed your specs
that pc you got will be able to max pretty much every game for 1080p at least.. you mention "some" with the GPU but it'll be "all" just not all at max settings
good call not getting ddr5, too new and too expensive. for video editing not worth it. GPU for video editing only helps acceleration of the preview frames if you even use it.. if you encode with the GPU it also helps there obviously.
Apparently (after exhaustive research) I've appreciated that the Intel chips (11th & 12th gen onwards) have better codecs to en/decode H.264/265 video so they do have an edge on AMD chips. Another good reason to NOT disable on-board graphics even if a discrete graphics card is being used.
@@RalphBacon only if you're using quicksync yea. but your nvidia gpu will probably blow your CPU out of the water for encoding h265 guaranteed
I would be quite happy if it did!
The nib in the lid is where the plastic material is fed into the mould. It’s called a gate. It is recessed so the tiny sharp string (like the stringing you get on a glue gun) does not protrude above the surface of the lid.
A pity that it's right in the middle of the lid. Talk about design failure!
@@RalphBacon from a moulding perspective, the gate needs to be exactly in the center. If it wasn’t, one side of the moulding would fill first and leave a void in the other side.
Fast video editing? Get a M1 Mac.
Well I've got an Intel 12th Gen (12 cores) and it's like greased ⚡lightning!
Hi Ralph, here's your comment.
No comment. 😄 Thanks Steven.
@@RalphBacon it counts as far as RUclips is concerned, isn't it? 😜
Yes it does, thank you. Hope everything is going well with you in a non-COVID manner 😷
Are you sure they’re AAA cells?
Yes, the battery holder is a TruPower 43-1P which takes 3 AAA batteries. Larger ones wouldn't fit in that enclosure anyway!
@@RalphBacon lol have just watched it again and you can glimpse the AAA on the case. Did look like AA at first glance though.
Cool project indeed.
As for pc for editing check Tech Notice here on yt for tips to find the best fit for your editing needs
Oh, I've watched countless Tech Notice videos. He's a great presenter and knows his stuff. Gave me lots of information.
Another one is JayzTwoCents, he says it like it really is. And I'm not jealous of his two million subscribers (or whatever huge number it is!)