So, my plan is/(was) to pull weather data from an API and display it on a little LCD screen I have set up near my garden. I found that none of my Arduino boards have built-in Wifi. So I have opted to try and use one of my various RF modules to hopefully complete this task, because, hey, I love the challenge. I also have been meaning to start some RF projects, so this may be a two-birds-with-one-stone scenario.
For one, is this RF module a viable module for relatively stable connectivity from my basement rPI which will host and transmit weather information to my weather indicator upstairs? Approx ~15 feet through the floor in a direct line.
Also, I am imagining that I will just have to write some API code that will apply some of the RF module functions/methods to send on a regular (30 seconds or so) basis to the receiver module - which will just be constantly waiting for the RF signal and updating the loop based on that information.
Does this seem like a fair plan to move forward? Any advice is greatly appreciated in advance!
P.S. I used the word WIFI in the title - but I have no questions about my rPI and wifi connectivity. I just meant that I would be bridging the gap by grabbing weather info using the raspberry pi and trying to fiddle with the RF tx/rx to send it again, hopefully to my Arduino nano.
Probably, especially if you use a decent antenna on both RX and TX. 17 cm straight wire connected to ANT comprises a 1/4 wave dipole. A 1/2 wave balanced dipole (34 cm from tip to tip, connect to ANT and GND at center) works much better but is probably not needed. See photo below.
The VirtualWire library works fine with even the smallest Arduinos.
If you get WiFi and power in the garden,
then why don't you use an ESP8266 board, like the WeMos D1 or nodeMCU, with oled display.
No Nano. no Rpi. Example (with LEDs) here.
Leo..
Just a little cool thing I modified here if anyone stumbles upon a similar project.
For LCD screens, custom symbols can be made with the open-source tool located here.
I modified the code for this so that you can make up to 4 matrices work at once and give you a top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right image without having to visualize any "guess work" aligning edges piece-by-piece. character_.zip (40.0 KB)
Unzip and just double click the html file and it should run locally without issue!
Obviously all of the credit goes to the original author and I take no credit for his work! All I did was modify the code slightly to allow for 4 panels at once.
Edit: I made a typo in the app.js file - should be fine now.... again, edited for a typo
Make sure you read "A beginner's guide to the ESP8266" when starting with ESP8266 boards.
It has a project to store large amounts of temp data with timestamps in it's SPIFFS memory and display it on a web page. This little mouse also has a bigger brother, the ESP32.
Leo..
