Microwave Radar Module from ICStation.com

[@zenithparsec]

The 0.5m - 7m range is what you can set the maximum detection distance to... e.g. you could stop it detecting things 1m away, but not 0.25m away... edit: 9:42 Yay! You got it!

[@sdgelectronics]

Controlling the enable pin is quite neat actually. I like that

[@jaredz9507]

I'm so fascinated by microwaves in the way they work, just bought one of these to run some led strips for my cabinet

[@Peter_S_]

10:15 the meter wasn't working most likely because it was set to 'A' rather than 'mA'.

[@unperrier]

I was about to comment the same thing, along the lines: he sets the A scale but uses the mA output.

[@unlost117]

@@unperrier Yes he was on the Amps range the whole time. Thats why it read out the incorrect 0.034 value initially (range on A, but probe in ohm/V/uA/mA socket). The 0.014A reading was correct after he moved the probe from mA to 10A socket.

[@RobertSzasz]

Oh, ick I dont think I like the way that meter is set up at all. What happens of you are planning to measure voltage, but set it to mA or uA, and, say, test a nice 18650 cell?

[@bluelightningnz]

Interesting module, thanks for the review!

[@bluelightningnz]

3:37 Obviously this was just for testing, but in a real installation it's best to avoid soldering wires that go into screw terminals - the solder crushes away and over time with oxygen and moisture leads to a bad connection. As long as the screw is undone sufficiently, you can use a small screwdriver to lever it open if needed.

[@GadgetAddict]

Pretty cool . Good timing with Halloween coming up. You can setup spooky things to happen when someone gets near. But if it's as sensitive as the same sensors being used in some lightbulbs, it will trigger alllll the time. Even if the person is around the corner of a wall.

[@ernieh5664]

Hi Julian, thanks for another good simplified explanation of a product...., regards potential uses for this.... could you use it behind 10mm gyprock plasterboard to activate something ? I assume a PIR sensor would be useless in that application. Thanks Ernie H.

[@markflack9191]

Are you going to use this to control the lights in the outdoor workshop?

[@JulianIlett]

Yes, probably. There are some 5V Christmas lights under there fed from a 12V battery. That should work well.

[@Martin-uf4ut]

@@JulianIlett sounds like a good plan

[@Xfixiateher]

your meter was on the wrong range on mA scale.

[@ejennings98]

Where did you get your Trim Pot screw driver from? What is the correct name of it?

[@dogastus]

Any idea what frequency this is working on?

[@Graham_Langley]

Can't help, but back when I worked on true Doppler intruder sensors we used 10GHz / X-band cavities from AEI.

[@subigirlawd_7307]

What a fun little board 👍

[@kasamikona]

Normally I wouldn't comment things like this but I gave the 555th like and that seems like an oddly appropriate number on this channel.

[@johngodden5196]

A trick for clearing the terminal connectors that have the tongue in them. Use a Jewelers blade screwdriver to push the tongue clear, making sure you loosen the screw first, so that you can insert the wire. Soldering the strands is not recommended as this will create stresses in the cable and it is likely to break off. It also reduces the surface contact area of the cable thus reducing the effective current capability.

[@ahmedalshalchi]

Are you sure of the garbage advice you gave on soldering strand wires ?

[@johngodden5196]

@@ahmedalshalchi Yes! It is not "garbage advice", as you call it, it is factual information. If you choose not to take it that is fine.

[@ahmedalshalchi]

John Godden .... Jet let me inform you one factual info about current flowing conductor, it is said that electrons are flowing above the surface of the conductor rather the inner material so that is why the fuses have a notch at the point of failure also soldering the strand wires will distribute the flowing current more balanced among wire threads by joining all surfaces to one plane , that is my idea and why I considered your advice as " garbage ", I didn't offend you but reacting to your false advice by scientific fact..... If you choose not to take it that is fine.

[@johngodden5196]

@@ahmedalshalchi I am not getting into a slanging match on Julian's site. I made suggestions, if you don't like them don't use them.

[@Dave2108]

Your bulb if you didnt know . Is a automotive bulb. LLB 501. 12v 5 w. also comes in 501A=amber. 501B= blue. and 501G = green

[@stevedotrsa]

And the wires are nickel or nichrome, so non-wetting for solder.

[@snowbatsnowbat7197]

"A bulb is something you plant. That is a lamp." ~ my electronics instructor

[@Dave2108]

@@snowbatsnowbat7197 yes me bad.. thats what my Physics teacher use to say too.

[@BH4x0r]

ofcourse you have to put it on the 10A setting, because that's the amp sensing input, the 10A is the max of the multimeter. you can't truly use the volts input to measure current, it would limit the current so much you'd not even be able to pass a considerable amount of current through on a high voltage (lets say 230v) (and still less than a milliamp)

[@thedamnyankee1]

its a radar... 13 miliamps seems right. Its not not doing anything when its "off"

[@jeffbluejets2626]

On the jack plug terminals, loosen the screws, shove a small jewellers screwdriver or similar into the terminal end to push the tongue up, and your loose frayed wires should go straight in without soldering.

[@chilledoutpaul]

Hi Julian, i thought i would buy a few units but I C Station has a problem with their account registration page and their verification number part :(

[@oldedwardian1778]

jULIAN, WHERE DID YOU GET IT FROM AND HOW MUCH.

[@johnjacobjinglehimerschmid3555]

He put a link in the desc! www.icstation.com/microwave-radar-sensor-module-human-body-induction-switch-delay-time-sensing-distance-voltage-adjustable-switch-controller-p-13727.html

[@fidudidu2328]

Interesting, but the input of 12-36V was too high for the use with a NodeMCU. I used a "XYC-WB-DC" instead, works perfectly on 3.3V, can recommend it.

[@lezbriddon]

exact same bfo dopplar sensor module in our outdoor led light, every moth sets it off.....

[@whitehoose]

Other (cheaper) units are available :D (the RCWL-0516 being one - the unit has a non switched 3.3v output as well as a switched one). Being quite lightweight SMD I've always been wary of giving the output on both this and the PIR equivalent too much to do. **** after a bit of digging The max load is given as 3A 30w ***** I built a simple mosfet/transistor (both work with the same board as does the arduino PIR module) switch to "beef up" the 5v output capabilities i1150.photobucket.com/albums/o618/doppleganger1/mosfet%20switch_zpsacvh98lo.jpg (see big clive's how to kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHaYe3SJq5iLr7s). It's fine for a few LEDs but if you need to wrangle more pixies and you can also use the standard arduino relay blocks to switch beefier loads. This looks like a v2 (or possibly 3 or 5) with adjustments which the v1 is capable of - but you have to mod or hack the board and then work out resistor and capacitor values to add to give you the settings you require. It becomes a "bit of a project" to set up. This looks like all the work is done for you which while maybe not as much fun - strikes me as being a lot more practical though.

[@CyberlightFG]

This device detects any movement, I guess. It's pretty much unusable outside then. Right?

[@tornadokat]

No not "any" movement. Movement that will alter a microwave radio signal. Objects that do not contain much moisture or metal are less likely to trigger them. Moving objects that contain metal or water such as humans, animals, or plants are likely to, depending on size more than speed. There is a good video on KZbin showing an empty water bottle vs a full water bottle testing one of these type of sensors. I have these type around my house in areas that don't have any plants and they work well.

[@Graham_Langley]

It's not detecting Doppler shift so please stop saying it is. It's just looking for a change in the reflected signal and using a repurposed PIR IC to sense this change.

[@MrThomBeck]

And those changes are described by the Doppler effect. Objects moving away cause red shift in the reflection, and objects moving towards the unit cause blue shift in the reflection.

[@Graham_Langley]

@@MrThomBeck Nope, it's simple interference. In order to use the Doppler effect you have to measure the Doppler shift, which involves frequency measurement or pulse counting over time. I used to use a modified charge pump with a transistor clamping the voltage on the input cap to 0.6V below that on the integrating cap.

[@____________________________.x]

bigclivedotcom did some kind of analysis of these things, they are a bit odd IIRC

[@maicod]

yea he told it works through a closed door

[@beware_the_moose]

@@maicod they don't. I've been using them for a security system, they are indeed "spooky" but they don't really work through walls/doors.

[@maicod]

o thought Clive said they did

[@russellhltn1396]

@@beware_the_moose It probably depends on what the walls are made of and what frequency is being used. Depending on the details, it could either go either way.

[@Graham_Langley]

@@russellhltn1396 The commercial security ones I worked on used 10GHz (X-band) which went though glass and wooden doors quite nicely which could cause all kinds of false alarms. For example we had one in a secure area with that would alarm at particular times. Turned out to be the security guard using the toilet on the floor above during his rounds and the soil pipe ran through the secure area close to the detector. Foil over the pipe fixed that one. Reflection caused problems too. We had one in an industrial building that would go off around 6am during the week and a bit later at weekends, which coincided with the unit next door starting operations but the detector wasn't pointed that way. Turned out they brought a large van in through a side door at night and depending on the angle it was parked at it could reflect the detection pattern out through some windows.

[@jamesmclaughlinprimitivele4587]

Wow can't believe they sell these. Can't say why.

[@williamsquires3070]

Oh, and here I thought it was an adjustable snake-interface module... 😏 I wonder where Julian is going to put this module in the vocoder project? Maybe make a Theremin with it... Yeah! 😎

[@notyoung]

A small Phillips screwdriver does a nice job of pushing the "door" out of the way in the not-quite-an-elevator terminals.

[@Graham_Langley]

Years ago I made up a double-ended tool for doing this from a knackered hex wrench with flats ground on the ends - the bend let you lift the wire protectors when there was restricted access - but I've not seen it for some time now.

[@grahamrdyer6322]

That current loss is far to high for battery equipment, I'll stick to pir and it's micro amp loss.

[@muppetpaster]

Or you can set up your meter in the right range!!!

[@beware_the_moose]

I wish some of these modules would give more than just on/off, it would be awesome to have distance or size discriminating capabilities... Apparently they *don't* work with doppler shift, they work based on something far less easy to understand.

[@russellhltn1396]

Actually, they work on something far simpler - interference. You have a transmitter creating a steady signal. The receiver picks up the transmitter directly as well as any reflections in the room. The reflections will either add or subtract from the direct signal. Any changes in the room reflections will result in a change in the received signal level. All you have to do is rectify the incoming signal to DC and then pass it though a cap so you only get the changes (you're not interested in the actual levels - just the change). Aside from the one-transistor oscillator and crystal receiver, everything else is DC to low audio in frequency. Absolutely nothing is critical. The sensitivity adjustment determines how big a AC signal is needed to trigger. This method is used for both microwave and ultrasonic motion detectors.

[@Graham_Langley]

@@russellhltn1396 Exactly, although you don't need any rectification just a threshold detector of some kind.

[@russellhltn1396]

@@Graham_Langley The actual level doesn't matter. It's the change in level you're looking for. That's much easier to do if you AM demodulate the signal and then run it though a dc blocking cap. Once you've done that, then you can use a threshold detector on the resulting AC signal.

[@Graham_Langley]

As you say it's not Doppler and I do wish people would stop saying it is. Doppler implies it works on the frequency difference between transmitted and received signals, meaning it would have to do some kind of pulse counting over time before triggering. This kind of module seems to use a repurposed PIR IC and just looks for a a change in the reflected signal. As for distance and size the two are indistinguishable using simple techniques. Credentials: In a past life I designed commercial security microwave and PIR detectors.

[@russellhltn1396]

@@Graham_Langley yeah, it's a lot easier to understand in the time domain. But I suppose you could make a Doppler augment if you say you mix the return signal with the original and look for the presence of the difference/beat signal. To do it the way most people describe it would take some precision devices. You're only talking a few Hz on a GHz signal.

[@christopherguy1217]

Time to get a u-current gold from Dave Jones so you can measure those small currents.

[@umxrr8677]

Gooooood morning all

[@bloodyl_uk]

Morning?, it was 6pm when the video landed, but then I'm not typing anything you haven't already read. 🤣

[@pulesjet]

Your mind is being cooked by Microwave RF Radiation. YOUR DOOMMMMMMMMED.

[@Okurka.]

His doomed what?

[@felixcat4346]

more silly electron babble from Julian

[@ahmedalshalchi]

Do you have better silliness to show us , Sir ??

[@demolishedman50]

Harsh and not worth saying. I'm not a fanboi but I found this video interesting because I have some use cases. On the other hand most of the vocoder stuff is meh.

[@daverhodes382]

More clown comments from Joseph.