Questions regarding new build

[Cyrus Kalbrener]

I am building a new nano from from acquired parts. I have the main board together, and I have a few questions:

1. The bluetooth module in the docs is obsolete. I found a more modern module that boots up and I can connect to it, but I think the baud is off as I only get "^@^@..." in a bluetooth serial terminal about every five seconds (the expected update rate for the bGeigie, correct?). Does anyone have experience troubleshooting this issue?

2. I can't seem t source the copper grill that protects the geiger tube. Does anyone know of a source for this? See photo below.

3. After powering on the board (before installing the iRover or geiger tube) if I quickly flip the mode switch the nano starts to register about 2 clicks per flip as if the tube is connected. Is this a known issue? Could it be a wiring problem? How could that switch cause the nano to register a click?

[Rob Oudendijk]

Hi,

The BLE needs a special firmware to get it to run correctly. We created this together with Michael Kroll (http://www.mkroll.mobi).

Use only the recommended version.

regards

rob

[Sean Bonner]

To clarify a bit what Rob means below - the “more modern module” won’t work with the bGeigie. Only the specified model with the custom firmware will work.

-s

Sean Bonner
Co-Founder, Director of Global Operations
http://safecast.org

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[cyr...@gmail.com]

That is important to know. There original board in the parts list is no longer available, but the one offered by kit hub seems to be available in multiple versions (1.0 v1-v3). Would any of those versions work?

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/safecast-devices/65810459-B03E-45EC-8890-F71F6B97C5D5%40safecast.org.

[Sean Bonner]

If you have questions about what Kithub is offering you’ll need to contact them directly relating to those, as we’re not involved. Kithub has direct relationships with Dr. Kroll and Seeed and produces the needed parts themselves.

As a rule, the parts listed for the bGeigie Nano are specific and not interchangeable with other versions or other models  - as with the iRover we discussed previously.

-s

Sean Bonner
Co-Founder, Director of Global Operations
http://safecast.org

[cyr...@gmail.com]

Could you elaborate on why the bGeigie and the ios/android apps need a special Bluetooth implementation? What is it about what it is doing that requires anything above just listening to the same data that is being logged? Is it something about error handling or dealing with intermittent data over long stretches of time? I only ask because hooking a bluetooth module up to the bGeigie and getting it to transmit the logging data with a different implementation seems to work fine, but the application (android) doesn't see it. Clearly there IS something that keeps it from working. I'm curious about what it is, since it isn't clear in the docs.

[fe...@bigroses.demon.nl]

If you have a windows device with bluetooth LE, you could give RadExSaDa a try: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/radiation-explorer-for-safecast-data/9p26k9ttt7dk?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

If that doesn't work, you can enumerate the Device and Read Characteristic UUID's using: Bluetooth LE Explorer

Post them here and I will update RadExSaDa….

[cyr...@gmail.com]

Here is a shot from Bluetooth LE Explorer. It shows up in the Radiation Explorer BLE Device drop down but it will not connect.

 

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[Edouard Lafargue]

Hi,

The Safecast Android app expects a specific Bluetooth device - there are dozens of BLE peripherals that look all the same but transmit their data differently. Since the app is open source, you can add support for your own module, it looks like it is fairly similar to the one we use on the kit. All the code is on Github ;-) if you are lucky, it should be a matter of changing the service/characteristic to the values used by your BLE module, or better yet, implement an algorithm to select the right service/characteristic based on the device name...

Alternatively, I could give it a try myself (I am the author of the app)  though without a sample of the actual module, I won't be able to test that it works properly...

Ed

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/safecast-devices/CAE9goaa%2Bu998vFkGjGXWt7tfBkPs033zBEjD5ikGOAL6BBgUuA%40mail.gmail.com.

[fe...@bigroses.demon.nl]

I've tried this BLE-dual-model-Bee on the bGeigie with no succes in changing RadExSada to received data.

RadExSaDa can successfully connect to the device's BLE characteristics, but no data is transmitted except one '\0'.

So the problem here is on the bGeigies firmware side not being able to send data to this BLE Bee.

On Monday, July 1, 2019 at 10:43:32 AM UTC+2, Edouard Lafargue wrote:

Hi,

The Safecast Android app expects a specific Bluetooth device - there are dozens of BLE peripherals that look all the same but transmit their data differently. Since the app is open source, you can add support for your own module, it looks like it is fairly similar to the one we use on the kit. All the code is on Github ;-) if you are lucky, it should be a matter of changing the service/characteristic to the values used by your BLE module, or better yet, implement an algorithm to select the right service/characteristic based on the device name...

Alternatively, I could give it a try myself (I am the author of the app)  though without a sample of the actual module, I won't be able to test that it works properly...

Ed

On Sun, Jun 30, 2019, 01:39 cyr...@gmail.com <cyr...@gmail.com> wrote:

Here is a shot from Bluetooth LE Explorer. It shows up in the Radiation Explorer BLE Device drop down but it will not connect.

 

On Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 2:25 AM fe...@bigroses.demon.nl <fe...@bigroses.demon.nl> wrote:

If you have a windows device with bluetooth LE, you could give RadExSaDa a try: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/radiation-explorer-for-safecast-data/9p26k9ttt7dk?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

If that doesn't work, you can enumerate the Device and Read Characteristic UUID's using: Bluetooth LE Explorer

Post them here and I will update RadExSaDa….

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[Cyrus Kalbrener]

I just got  a tinysine Bluetooth Smart Bee, which is the same model sold on KitHub as the bGeigie bluetooth module. It also does not connect to the Safecast Android app. If I connect with a bluetooth terminal app on the same phone I get the regular log messages just fine. I have tried not pairing it and pairing it and either way it does not work. If I set the Safecast  app to "autoconnect" it will show up with as two characteristic IDs separated by commas:

EF080D8C-C3BE-41FF-BD3F-05A5F4795D7F,

067978AC-B59F-4EC9-9C09-2AB6E5BDAD0B

[Sean Bonner]

That’s not the same model as Kithub sells. Kithub uses the same ones we do which are the BLEBee made by Mikro-Labs and sold by Seeed Studios

https://www.seeedstudio.com/BLEBee-v2-0-0-p-2461.html

But again, we run custom firmware on the modules as the default firmware that they ship with won’t work.

-s

Sean Bonner
Co-Founder, Director of Global Operations
http://safecast.org

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[cyr...@gmail.com]

So I purchased the same bluetooth module pictured here ->  https://shop.kithub.cc/collections/environmental-monitoring-kits/products/safecast-bluetooth-module

and you are saying that this is not what is actually sold by kit hub and it is not compatible. Can you understand my confusion?

[Sean Bonner]

Sorry, my mistake. I was looking at an old file, it appears they updated the screenprint on the module so it’s the same thing but named differently. Anyway, hardware is the same but the firmware issue is also the same, so if you bought that anywhere except kithub then you need to change the firmware as the firmware the comes on it by default won’t work.

-s

Sean Bonner
Co-Founder, Director of Global Operations
http://safecast.org

[cyr...@gmail.com]

Ah,  very well.  Where would I find the firmware then?

[Jam]

I just looked at the link and I don’t recognize that module. Maybe it’s electronically equivalent to the usual modules for the bGeigie Nano? Or maybe somebody at KitHub just used a “representative” photo of a random part that kinda looks compatible?

Anyway, I know of two modules that work but both are (were) from MiKro-Labs. The older version v1.0.1 is discontinued but would work if you could find one. The newer version v2.0.1 is current and recommended. As far as I know, the only difference between v2.0.0 and v2.0.1 is a firmware tweak specifically for Safecast.

Anyway I have used v2.0.0 modules and updated them with success.

- jam

[Sean Bonner]

Unfortunately I don’t have a good answer for you on that one

We worked with the manufacturer of the module when he first made it, he later sold the design to Seeed and wrote new firmware for it for broader usage but that broke how it worked for us. He used to provide the Safecast firmware on his website:

http://www.mikro-labs.com/

But that seems offline at this point so I’m not sure where you could find it. We buy all our modules from Kithub who has an arrangement with Seeed to put on the custom firmware when they are made.

Bluetooth was not part of our original design and was added some time later when this module became available, it’s not something we designed and it’s development/production is entirely outside of our hands.

-s

Sean Bonner
Co-Founder, Director of Global Operations
http://safecast.org

[Sean Bonner]

Sorry again, I was correct at first and incorrect in my correction.

The BLEBee made by Mikro-Labs and sold by Seeed is the only module that works, and it requires the custom firmware.

The Tinysine Bluetooth Smart Bee is a different module entirely and does not work no matter the firmware.

Kithub sells many different kits and many different parts and it’s possible that photos of similar modules got mixed up at some point, however the module they sell for bGeigie’s is the BLEBee not the Smart Bee.

-s

Sean Bonner
Co-Founder, Director of Global Operations
http://safecast.org

[Ferdinand Oeinck]

I have this one working on my bGeigie:

http://wiki.seeedstudio.com/BLE_dual_Bee_v1.0/

 

I connected it first to an UartSBEE v5:

http://wiki.seeedstudio.com/UartSBee_v5/

 

and programmed it to 9600 baud.

 

Then I added service UUID 0000FFE0-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB and

characteristic UUID: 0000FFE1-0000-1000-8000-00805F9B34FB to RadExSaDa.

 

Those UUID’s need to be added to the iOS and Android app so that  these can receive data too from these BLE BEE’s

 

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