Few days ago I wrapped Station 1 with a plastic bag and a blanket to protect it from cold and humidity. Today, Sunday, I build something better. I wrapped station’s base with an enclosure. The requirements were, build around the base board mounted on the closet, easily accessible and side removable to convert it to summer mode and finally access the components inside without having to unmounted from the “wall”.
I unmounted the base board and screwed a back and bottom panel to it. Fixed permanently. Also made a cable hole, the cables from the sensors are coming from the front. Also removed the main board’s bracket to mount it a little bit lower so the USB connector on the top does not touch the top panel.
To those panel I mounted the side panel with only few small screws in case I need to remove it for maintenance.
At this point came to me that power line is coming from the back and a notch is required for the cable.
After some coffee and imaginative thinking I came with the idea for the removable front panel and top cover.
The front panel has an… overhang? L thingy to sit on the top of the box. A dowel on the right side, the melamine is much thicker than the 8mm MDF on the right, acts as a hanger for the front panel. This way the panel can be removed without any tools. The top panel is a simple lead with a handle to make it easier to lift.
Next I made a hole in front of the SSD to view the indications and of course the logo. Some art work has to be done.
Easily be removing and front panel and the top it is converted to summer mode.
BUT!
The network issues remained. Bad ping, disconnection, failure to post date. A couple of days ago I watched a video from Mario’s ideas about how he fixed the wifi issues on his esp32 c3 super mini. Similar Ali board with the 4 I have. He demonstrated wi-fi improvement by soldering a small antenna to the board’s antenna. I said, why not? I did it.
A simple 32mm long cable. So far it works much better! Consistent ping, remote circuit python over wi-fi connects fast. I am very happy! Let’s hope it is the solution to my problems! Thanks Mario!
