That is what I would be using but I'm trying to make sure it would work before buying it. Also, I didn't know if there was anyone who already tried it and knew if there were any quirks with using it at a lower voltage. I could probably test it and it might seem OK, but maybe someone noticed some issues with it. I'll probably just give it a shot.
But as far as the boost regulator, still no one has answered my question. Will it work with a single AAA battery to power the ESP-12 module?
androidfanboy:
But as far as the boost regulator, still no one has answered my question. Will it work with a single AAA battery to power the ESP-12 module?
Its just possible that you have not had the answer you want because the people watching have not tried it, as most designers would choose a power solution they were confident would work.
Read the datasheet of the boost converter IC you're using. You may very well have to roll your own boost converter (ie, put the converter controller IC together with the inductor and other external components) - I haven't seen good 1.5v -> higher voltage converters available. It's a somewhat niche (and demanding) application, so the el-cheapo boost converters aren't made with the parts that they'd need to be in order to do it.
It's definitely possible (I built a product where we used a LED-driver step-up converter that gives 3.x volts at 300mA from a single alkaline cell, though that AA battery sure gets hot fast when its running full tilt), but you need to read the datasheets carefully when selecting a part, as many of them will not produce the kind of current the ESP8266 needs with only 1.x volts coming in. Battery life may be a problem though, the battery may have trouble putting out enough current to handle the spikes, particularly when it's not 100% new.
That's what I was trying to get at basically, whether or not the AAA's will have enough juice to supply the ESP during max power (but only for a brief amount of time since it's mostly in deep sleep). The Amazon dash uses a boost reg with a single AAA battery and it draws well over 120mA for a minute, so I'm assuming I can do it with 2 AAA's in parallel for having WiFi on for about 8s just to connect and transmit.
My main concern isn't really that the batteries themselves will be able to supply enough current, but that the boost reg will be able to pump out enough current. I would be using the boost reg with Vin = 1.5V to Vout = 2.6V. I mainly just wanted second opinion about what the datasheet says about the max current it can pump out. It says it can provide 150mA when converting 1.5V to 3.3V, but since I'll be going to only 2.6V I assume that number would increase a little. I just wanted confirmation that the chip would work for the ESP's power demands or if I should pick a different chip.