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October 10, 2016October 21, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Sonoff Pow is a $10.50 ESP8266 WiFi Relay Box that also Measures Power Consumption

In a recent article about Sonoff TH10/TH16 WiFi relays with sensor probes support, we also saw that ITEAD Studio started to have a nice family of home automation products. The company has now added one more item to the Sonoff family with Sonoff Pow support up to 16A/3500W input, and the first to also include power consumption measurements. Sonoff Pow specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP8266 Tensila L106 32-bit MCU up to 80/160 MHz with WiFi Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with WPA/WPA2 support Relay – HF152F-T relay with 90 to 250 VAC input, up to 16A (3500 Watts) Terminals – 6 terminal for mains and load’s ground, live and neutral signals. Programming – Unpopulated 4-pin header for flashing external firmware Misc – LEDs for power and WiFi status, power consumption circuitry with 1% accuracy. Dimensions – 114 x 52 x 32mm Temperature range – -40 ℃ to 125 ℃ The […]

October 7, 2016October 7, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

RabbitMax Flex IoT & Home Automation Board and Kit for Raspberry Pi

RabbitMax Flex is an add-on board for the Raspberry Pi boards with 40-pin headers, namely Raspberry Pi Model A+ and B+, Raspberry Pi 2, Raspberry Pi 3 and Raspberry Pi 0, destined to be used for Internet of Things (IoT) and home automation applications thanks to 5x I2C headers, a relay, an LCD interface and more. I’ve received a small kit with RabbitMax Flex boards, a BMP180 temperature & barometric pressure I2C sensor, and a 16×2 LCD display. RabbitMax Flex specifications: Relay – Songle SRD-05VDC-SL-C supporting 125V/250VAC up to 10A, 30VDC up to 10A Storage – EEPROM with some system information for identification IR – IR LED, IR receiver Misc – Buzzer, Button, RGB LED Expansion Header for LCD character display + potentiometer for backlight adjustment 5x 4-pin headers for I2C sensors Dimensions – Raspberry Pi HAT compliant The assembly of the kit is child’s play as you don’t even need […]

September 19, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Sonoff TH10/16 WiFi Relays Support Temperature and Humidity Probes

Sonoff are dirt cheap WiFi AC/DC relay systems based on ESP8266 selling for about $5 with board and case. They are made by ITEAD Studio, and the company has now new versions supporting up to 16A @ 250V, and with a 2.5mm connector to connect external temperature and humidity probes. Two models are available Sonoff-TH10 (10A max) and Sonoff-TH16 (16A max) with the following specifications: SoC – Espressif ESP8266 Tensila L106 32-bit MCU up to 80/160 MHz with WiFi Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n WiFi with WPA/WPA2 support Relay Sonoff-TH10 – HK3FF-DC5V-SHG supporting 90 to 250 VAC input, up to 10A (2200 Watts) Sonoff-TH16 – Hongfa HF152F-T supporting 90 to 250 VAC input, up to 16A (3500 Watts) Terminals – 6 terminal for mains and load’s ground, live and neutral signals. Misc – 4-pin 2.5mm jack for external probes, LEDs for power and WiFi status Dimensions – PCB: 89.1 x 45.0 […]

September 14, 2016September 14, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 29 Comments

Broadlink MP1 Quad Socket WiFi Power Strip Review and Teardown

Broadlink MP1 is an inexpensive ($20) power strip with four international sockets that can be controlled over WiFi. Since I was interested in finding out how the power strip was designed internally, I asked GearBest whether they could send a sample for evaluation, which they did, and I got it today. So I’ll first check the device, and hardware design, before trying it with the Android app. Broadlink MP1 Unboxing I don’t have much to say about the package, it’s just a bland white box with Broadlink logo. The bottom of the package is useful however, as it contains a sort of user guide in Chinese together with the specifications. I could not find any mentions of CE/FCC/CCC (for WiFi) or UL/TUV (safety) certifications on the package. There’s no more information inside the box, except what looks like a warranty card in Chinese. The power strip itself has four multi-standard […]

August 29, 2016August 29, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

Broadlink MP1 is a $20 WiFi Power Strip with 4 Independent Sockets

There are plenty of WiFi sockets going around such as Broadlink SP2 or Kankun KK-SP3, but in some cases it might be both more convenient and cheaper to get a WiFi power strip, and Broadlink MP1 offers just that with 4 sockets that can be controlled and programmed (timer) independently, and sold for just $19.88 on Banggood. Broadlink MP1 specifications: Connectivity – 802.11b/g/n WiFi, controllable over 3G/4G with smartphone 4 multi-standard (EU/US/AU, but not UK) sockets Power input – 10A/250V (max) Power output – 10A/250V (max) Rated power – 2000W Total Misc – Power button Dimensions – 254mm x 60mm x 32mm; 50cm sockets spacing; cord Length – 1.5m with AU plug (Adapter provided for other countries) Weight – 450g The power strip can be controlled via Broadlink ihc (Intelligent Hone Control) app available for Android and iOS, which lets you independently manually turn on or off or set timers […]

August 25, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Dot is a Location Aware Bluetooth Beacon Used as a Digital Post-it, for Home Automation, and More (Crowdfunding)

Dot physical push notification is another Bluetooth beacon, but the company – Iota Labs – has designed and promote it in a location aware device that gets triggered when you move in a specific area with your smartphone. For example, somebody can leave a dot with a message such as “remember to take the trash out” in the kitchen, and once you walk pass you’ll receive a notification, or you can use a dot to automatically turn on the light if you enter a room at night. The full technical specifications have not been made available but here’s what we know: MCU – Nordic Semi nRF51822 (or similar) ARM SoC with Bluetooth radio Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0 LE with a range up to around 45 meters Misc – RGB LED Battery – Replaceable battery good for 6 months to one year Android and iOS apps will allow your to configure […]

August 12, 2016 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Hacker H3 Smart Home Multimedia Gateway Combines Amlogic S905 and Mediatek MT7628AN Processors

There are plenty of Amlogic S905 TV boxes on the market, but Hacker H3 has some notable features such as an internal 2.5″ SATA bay, as well as MediaTek MT7628AN WiSoC and MT7612E 802.11ac 867Mbps chip to provide router functionality via one WAN port, two LAN ports, and WLAN. Hacker H3 media gateway specifications: Media SoC – Amlogic S905 quad core Cortex A53 processor @ up to 2.0GHz with penta-core Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 1GB DDR3 @ 1866MHz Storage – 16 or 64GB eMMC flash + 1x SATA bay up to 6TB Network SoCs – Mediatek MT7628AN MIPS 24KEc CPU @ 580MHz + Mediatek MT7612E 867Mbps 802.11ac chipset Video Output – HDMI 2.0 port up to 4K @ 60 Hz Audio Output – HDMI + 3.5mm audio jack Connectivity WiFi 802.11 b/g/n up to 300 Mbps, 802.11ac up to 866 Mbps (AC1200 router) with two built-in antennas 2x 10/100M […]

June 28, 2016March 8, 2023 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 24 Comments

Broadlink RM Mini 3 is a $10 WiFi IR Blaster for Home Automation

Many electrical appliances such as TVs, air conditioners, heaters, and so on are still controlled using an infrared remote control, but as more and more people are getting used to their smartphone to control pretty much everything, devices such as Xiaomi Mi Smart Remote Center that allows to control IR appliances with ANdroid or iOS mobile are starting to come to market. However during my Smart Remote Center review, I noticed that the app was only available in Chinese, and that it was not quite able to perform all the tasks I wanted (e.g. multiple IR codes programming). There’s now a cheaper and small device available in the form of Broadlink RM Mini 3 “Black Bean” that sells for just $9.88 including shipping, and whose app supports not only Chinese, but also English, Russian, Japanese, and other languages. Broadlink RM mini 3 specifications: WiFi – 802.11 b/g/n @ 2.4 GHz […]