New Sonoff Basic R4 ESP32-C3 and Bonus mmWave Zigbee Sensor

[@Razor_Burn]

Keen to see a Zigbee mmWave sensors comparison video as you always do thorough testing. Nice video Travis.

[@digiblurDIY]

Working on some things and trying to have a good list of things for sure. Little different to test due to interference issues though.

[@mt-qc2qh]

Good presentation and you are right "new isn't always better". I've migrated many of my sensors to the C3 and to alleviate wifi congestion on my mesh routers, I moved my devices to ESPNOW protocol, including my Sonoff ESP units.. With a simple little ESPNOW to WiFi bidirectional gateway, I expanded well beyond the router's dhcp capability,

[@MyProjectBoxChannel]

The basic R4 has a "magic switch" function and you can control it with a "normal light switch". By adding a wire link to the light switch, that powers the basic R4. It can detect the brief switch trigger/transition. It won't be turned off by that switch, just triggered. You link the two changeover contacts of the light switch together with a bridge. So you can put the basic R4 up by the light fixture, and directly control it with the light switch or over wifi, at the same time!🤯

[@ArifRoni]

doest the "magic switch" function works after tasmota/esphome flashing?

[@MyProjectBoxChannel]

@@ArifRoni that is a good question 🤔. My guess is that the "magic switch" function. Is implemented in software (and mabe some "hardware circuit"). So It would have to be implemented in tasmota aswell, somehow? It's a clever trick, and I would love to see it in more smart switches.

[@Sebdabub]

Would also be interested, if this works after tasmota is flashed

[@PCman50]

Oh boy. A new gadget to tinker with. Placing my orders today. 👍😎

[@Airbag888]

I'm past the mmwave era now.. stepping into the Air quality one and boy is it a rabbit hole

[@digiblurDIY]

I dabbled a little in that but I guess since my air runs so much it helps keep the dust particle level down already so adding sensors and other air cleaners never seemed to impact anything.

[@Airbag888]

@@digiblurDIYYou're probably also in a healthy area of the planet.. with the asthma affecting both kids I'm trying to find a reliable source for data on air quality in my home.. meanwhile do you have a link to the sonoff mmwave sensor? Any idea if it's 24GHz?

[@digiblurDIY]

Not really. They call this area cancer alley. No link to it yet or specs. New device.

[@digiblurDIY]

Found it... 5ghz - fccid.io/2APN5SNZB06P

[@ronm6585]

Thanks Travis.

[@TerraMagnus]

It would have been a nice touch on the mmWave sensor to skip the usb cable and make that magnet mount pull double duty as an inductive charger.

[@christopherellis2273]

I got a few of the older Basics last year for Christmas lights. The whole 10A rated device on a 20A circuit is always funny because the little extension cords my wife uses are probably 16gauge at best anyway. If you put 20A through them, they wouldn't have insulation on them for long. At least the Christmas lights themselves have fuses in the plugs.

[@digiblurDIY]

It should be a requirement that all extension cords have those fuses but I guess that would create more waste than waste from the house fires right?

[@MyProjectBoxChannel]

@@digiblurDIY in the UK all extention cords are fused. The reason for this is that socket outlets are on a 32Amp circuit breaker! That's a lot of power on the 230V used on everything. So every appliance plug, has at least a 13Amp fuse installed.

[@digiblurDIY]

@MyProjectBoxChannel this should be a requirement worldwide

[@MrJanulis]

Inspired by your video bought few “new” BasicR4 to play with Inkbird (again, bought them some time ago inspired by your other video), flashed Tasmota, started to set up and…. Spend all day long trying to figure out why it crashes and crashes and crashes. So after 12 hours or so I am just drinking Belgian beer and writing this :) as figured out that Blerry (guess who inspired to try it ;) ) isn’t stable on ESP32C3 running last Tasmota. And most probably I am dumb enough as I can’t find anywhere Tasmota binary 11.xx for ESP32C3 with Bluetooth. If someone could point me to it, would be very grateful. Anyway, thanks for your videos and, of course, for this opportunity to have an excuse for the beer :)

[@digiblurDIY]

I'd probably put ESPHome BT Proxy on it if you plan to use the BLE side of things on the ESP32C3.

[@hmtechsvc]

i really thought it was a throw back video just like you said lol. if you could post up the configuration video that would be very cool. also is there a way to make it standalone without any integration but just use maybe a bluetooth enabled app? just wondering and thank you so much for all your content!

[@digiblurDIY]

It was me going through the config of Tasmota figuring out the pins and then making the esphome YAML for it.

[@FrankGraffagnino]

great video... and diggin the haircut!

[@digiblurDIY]

Appreciate it!

[@BeardedTinker]

Isn't there a embargo on mmWave sensor release till 16th of October ;)

[@digiblurDIY]

Nope. Just no iTead product page yet. There are FCC docs too so definitely no embargo.

[@zhengyuan5047]

The Sonoff Basic R4 is even cheaper than Basic R2. By looking at your video, it seems it has much lesser components, notably it is missing a switching transformer. That could mean Sonoff is using a non-isolated power supply for this smart switch. Would like to hear from you about this in term of safety and reliability of the switch.

[@theavatar2006]

Just got a few of these today, flashed with esphome 2023.11.6 using the YAML off your site, it flashed fine, boots fine but pressing the button does not trigger the relay and when I add it to home assistant it does not see the relay as an entity. Has anyone come across this and know how to fix?

[@theavatar2006]

So they say the definition of insanity is trying the same thing and expecting different results, but its actually trying the same thing and getting different results... Flashed it again and now it works, after flashing it about 20 times...

[@yasirahmedfarib2429]

💜💜💜💜 Can i use sonoff basic 2 with a 3 blage sealing fan Xan its handel the load in long term Tell me plz plz plz

[@digiblurDIY]

I'd say yes as long as the startup is less than 10A

[@PCman50]

Would it be possible to do a tutorial on flashing with ESP Home and use them as Bluetooth proxies? Also not sure if you mentioned this but they have internal chip temperature monitoring making them more safe.

[@digiblurDIY]

Basically what I did here. I just didn't show the entire part of plugging in the USB and sending the file over. The yaml file is there

[@PCman50]

@@digiblurDIY Thank You in advance. Quick question: I get this error when installing your esp proxy yaml file. Already have ESPhome generic and WiFi access. It starts installing then stops a few seconds in with this error. "Platform Manager: Installing platformio/espressif32 @ 3.5.0 Error: Please upgrade to the PlatformIO Core 6" My hardware is raspberry pi 3b.. yeah I'm about to upgrade to a mini PC. But for now, any suggestions? Thanks again

[@BobThiel-l1f]

Went to flash Sonoff Basic R4 on Home assistant and received error message that it does not support Arduino. I was using the YAML file from your web site. Any suggestions.

[@digiblurDIY]

What version of esphome?

[@BobThiel-l1f]

Embarrassed to say Home Assistant 2021.12.7

[@digiblurDIY]

Can you update esphome? Probably might be some new features that aren't supported there

[@BobThiel-l1f]

Yes, will try that and let you know how it goes. Thanks,@@digiblurDIY

[@BobThiel-l1f]

Updated HA 10.5 and ESP 10.2. Was able to flash the YAML file., but no wifi connection. error: an error occurred. Improv Wi-Fi Serial not detected

[@Ender_Wiggin]

I really want the ESP32-C6. Want to move all my IOT to wifi 6 2.4 Gig

[@digiblurDIY]

Been toying with a couple on Esphome. Works okay but I would say still highly beta stage. It will be awesome when we see devices coming out with the C6 embedded.

[@PhillyStafford]

How much will the mmWave sensor retail for? 🤔

[@digiblurDIY]

We don't know yet.

[@finipini]

One thing about the case : i really liked the look of the 2d version case ( you showed that too, the one it was zigbee too) but i thing that had some security issue, we can,t secure very well the cables. What i don,t understant is why they do the solder traces again, the r2 version back then with thick wires was way better.

[@digiblurDIY]

Yes the one with the wires was definitely the better one. They just need to make a small relay that is 15A and skip the basic stuff here.

[@RossReedstrom]

It's cost of manufacturing: by making the really wide trace, when you wave solder you get the thick solder "for free": notice how the one gap happens right where the track in thinner to go around an smd component.

[@DIYtechie]

I like the sonoff basics because it was and perhaps is the cheapest easiest way to get an ESP with a built in power supply. No usb charger needed. You can cut it and make it a dry contact.

[@digiblurDIY]

They are definitely weird at this time. I guess if you need something with GPIO pins to connect to.

[@gorgonbert]

7:03 superglue 😂

[@digiblurDIY]

I like the hot glue suggestion, easy to pop off and redo.

[@gorgonbert]

@@digiblurDIY I was trying to be funny 😋... hot glue seems sensible 👍

[@digiblurDIY]

Here I am going all turret mount thinking in my head and you guys with the easy glue logic here. 🤣

[@gorgonbert]

@@digiblurDIY Leave it up to the lazy guys figuring out the easiest solution 😉

[@Leonvolt28]

2:20 DrZzs😂

[@digiblurDIY]

No comment ;)

[@simdevils]

This is super random, but you have a good bald look 👌

[@digiblurDIY]

Never ever random in this weird video

[@finipini]

​@@digiblurDIY yeah, to prove it is the right year you,d just needed to show your new hair cut sooner 😅.

[@RambozoClown]

Magnetic mount + hot glue = no movement.

[@digiblurDIY]

I do like the hot glue method so you could redo it if necessary

[@KeyBored101]

Lol I really thought it was an old video

[@digiblurDIY]

I should put 2023 in the thumb/title ;)

[@lmamakos]

Please, it's "millimeter wave" not "em-em wave". Just like 2.4 giga-hertz and not gee-h-zee.. Millimeter size wavelengths because stupid-high frequency for the doppler radar thing they're doing. You can be the trend-setter in the home automation community and use the correct naming.

[@digiblurDIY]

Probably not some toothpaste that can be put back in the tube unfortunately even with this one being 5ghz.

[@Tntdruid]

Most of the Sonoff are junk 😄

[@digiblurDIY]

Their stuff hasn't wow'd me in a while. The list of devices that are meh are quite long over the last couple of years.

[@Airbag888]

Meanwhile I had to throw out almost 20 shelly 2.5s and all my sonoff working flawlessly...

[@marcusone1]

I still think the Sonoff S31 is still my all time favorite plug! Sonoff Mini with external antenna was nice for in ceiling lights.

[@PCman50]

Yes indeed. I have at least 10 in my home. Cost was an amazing $9-$10. Solid device and with the added energy monitoring a great value.