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RE: ~50 µA ESP-NOW Outside BME280 Node; with LoRa Wake on Radio, part of three node "Heating System Monitor IV"

AB9NQ-William — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 02:23:16 GMT

~38.19 µA average current, ESP-NOW Outside BME280 Node

Update 8/5/2026 Switched to Channel Activity Detection (CAD) Interrupt on EoRa-S3-900TB, ESP-NOW BME280 outside node; from sx1262 "radio.startReceiveDutyCycleAuto()."

Nordic Power Profiler Kit 2 ~38.19 µA Average Current

Project Files updated 8/5/2026

Methodology note — CAD supersedes autoDutyCycle: The Hackster write-up’s published figures (51.30 µA average, ~83.5 months) were measured under the earlier autoDutyCycle WOR detection method. The project has since moved to CAD (Channel Activity Detection) as the pre-check ahead of the WOR receive window, which measurably reduces average current — 38.19 µA vs. 51.30 µA (a 25.6% reduction), improving theoretical battery life by 34.3% (~107.7 months vs. ~80.2 months) on the same 3000 mAh LiPo. The 51.30 µA / ~83.5-month figures should be considered superseded, not a number to reconcile against.

Acknowledgements

This project was the result of a collaborative engineering effort involving both hands-on experimentation and AI-assisted development. Each AI assistant contributed in different ways throughout the project.

Claude – Lead AI for all aspects of the project. Helped maintain technical focus, reviewed the evolving documentation for clarity and consistency, and provided extensive assistance in coding, organizing, and refining the final Markdown document.
Google Gemini – Provided valuable guidance during the migration to ESP32 Arduino Core 3.3.10, helping identify and avoid legacy code patterns from earlier ESP32 core releases. Gemini also contributed to development discussions involving SX1262 Channel Activity Detection (CAD), Wake-on-Radio (WOR), and ESP32-S3 Deep Sleep integration.
ChatGPT – Assisted throughout firmware development, debugging, architecture discussions, RadioLib integration, power optimization, Nordic PPK2 measurement interpretation, battery-life analysis, and technical review of the final documentation.
GitHub Copilot – Assisted with firmware implementation, code completion, and day-to-day development within the programming environment.
Jan Gromeš – Special thanks for the outstanding RadioLib library!

The successful implementation of an ESP32-S3 Deep Sleeping Wake-on-Radio node using the SX1262 and RadioLib was made possible through this collaborative process. While the hardware design, firmware integration, measurements, testing, and final engineering decisions were performed by the author, the insights provided by each AI assistant significantly accelerated development and helped improve the quality and accuracy of the final project.

"Project not possible without everyone's help."

73's,
William, AB9NQ

RE: ~50 µA ESP-NOW Outside BME280 Node; with LoRa Wake on Radio, part of three node "Heating System Monitor IV"

arvindsa — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:30:32 GMT

[mention:f0a26e8d1ffd4be9ba4d4c81332f9c5d:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] you seem to be at the lower limit of the current usage. Well done

RE: ~50 µA ESP-NOW Outside BME280 Node; with LoRa Wake on Radio, part of three node "Heating System Monitor IV"

AB9NQ-William — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:07:25 GMT

Time is valuable; link to Nordic Power Profiler Observations:

Nordic Power Profiler Kit 2 Observations

RE: HC-SR04 ultra sonic sensor working with Arduino Uno PLC server

kmikemoo — Sun, 24 May 2026 02:38:47 GMT

So close... you're onto something. Maybe you are just too early in the cycle.

RE: HC-SR04 ultra sonic sensor working with Arduino Uno PLC server

DAB — Thu, 21 May 2026 20:58:17 GMT

Every project is a learning experience.

RE: ESP32-S3, SX1262 LoRa with Duty Cycle, Wake on Radio, and Deep Sleep

shabaz — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 20:37:20 GMT

Interesting module.. even has a built-in display!

I've tried one or two smaller/simpler eByte modules in the past; they make nice stuff.

RE: Arduino Uno Pololu VNH 5019 Motor Shield using 2 Motors and 1 Joystick and 2 Xbee for wireless communication

DAB — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 19:01:56 GMT

No video and none of the links are active.

RE: Pedro Robot

shabaz — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 00:07:52 GMT

Hi,

I've got a few small suggestions that may be worth resolving. The nets indicated below with a red arrow have no label against them, so it's not possible to tell what is the VCC net (3.3V or 5V) and what the other net is. Please can you add net labels there, or, even better, a supply symbol.

The blue arrows show 220 ohm resistors, and the current draw will be at least 15 mA (if you're using 3.3V for VCC, otherwise it will be higher current), and while on it's own that may not be too bad, if someone presses multiple buttons, that current draw will rise significantly. It would be good to change those resistors to (say) 10k, or you may be able to remove them entirely, if that Arduino supports internal pull-down (I don't know if it does; a pull-up arrangement could be better, and have the switches connected to ground instead of VCC).

The green arrows show the supply connections to the servos. There could be a risk of burning out the servo motors, if something prevents the servo from moving (this can be quite likely with a robot arm project, where a user might try to pick or move something too heavy). One solution is better servo's, but they can be expensive. Another solution might be to put something like a polyfuse in series with the supply connection per servo, however you'd need to try it, to see what works. You could use a normal non-resettable fuse, but that would be annoying for users since they may blow frequently.

RE: Pedro Robot

Cliffyd43 — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 22:33:02 GMT

Very cool

RE: Pedro Robot

DAB — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 20:23:05 GMT

Interesting project.

RE: Using H450 (Toshiba TB67H450) Motor Driver Boards with Arduino

Lu_ — Sun, 09 Feb 2025 01:07:03 GMT

Hi shabaz i am trying to get the kikad file for the h450 module where I could get it??

RE: Little work [Hey, smile ]

DAB — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 18:17:18 GMT

Nice fun little project.

RE: Arduino UNO R4 WIFI - Remote Weather Station Demo

papavask — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 15:04:41 GMT

Great demo !!!!

RE: Integrating Arduino with MQTT for IoT Applications

shabaz — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:50:28 GMT

Reads like an AI generated article. Where are the schematics and code?

RE: Adding more Storage to an Arduino: Using 8-pin SPI Flash Memory Chips

shabaz — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 16:45:29 GMT

I find it hard to mentally visualize memory locations, so I created a simple memory map that can be printed from the web browser.