Shannon Hicks

I had one project recently that required more than 30 Mayfly boards where each would interface with one SDI-12 soil moisture sensor array that requires 9v excitation. So I drew up this little custom PCB (not in Eagle), had it printed, and assembled the boards myself. It’s essentially one channel of the Sparkfun level converter board mentioned…[Read more]

For those interested in the Eagle files for the full Mayfly board, we have released the Eagle .brd and .sch files for the latest Mayfly v0.5b board.
https://github.com/EnviroDIY/EnviroDIY_Mayfly_Logger/tree/master/hardware

We’ve used a Mayfly successfully with a variety of SDI-12 sensors from different manufacturers, including ones that require 9v or 12v excitation. I usually use a custom simple logic level converter with most of them, similar to the Sparkfun item Greg mentioned above. However the only ones that gave us problems were the YSI 6-series sondes, so I…[Read more]

It might be an error in how the file was downloaded from Github. Try downloading this zip file that contains both the sch and brd file. Click on the gray “Download” button on the top right to download the zip file.
https://github.com/EnviroDIY/EnviroDIY_Mayfly_Logger/blob/master/hardware/protoshield/protoshield_mayfly_v1_zip.zip

Digi makes a variety of gateway modules, for bridging an Xbee network to Wifi, Ethernet, or cellular.
https://www.digi.com/products/networking/gateways/xbee-gateway

Or you could build your own and have full control over it and guaranteed compatibility with whatever Xbee modules you’re using. I haven’t needed to build a wifi one yet since the…[Read more]

I just posted the Eagle files for the protoshield: https://github.com/EnviroDIY/EnviroDIY_Mayfly_Logger/tree/master/hardware/protoshield

Is that sufficient for what you need for making your own shield?

Edit: I also added the Eagle files for the basic outline of the full Mayfly board showing the headers and the mounting screw…[Read more]

What sketch are you running? Is it a sample from this forum, or from our Github repo, or something you wrote?

The AREF pin of the micro on the Mayfly is not tied to anything (except through a capacitor to ground as suggested in the ATmega datasheet), so when you use the standard analogRead(0) command, it uses the default 3.3v reference setting. If a user is more advanced and wants to use an internal reference by using certain commands, or by connecting…[Read more]

That simple Xbee serial printing example doesn’t require any additional libraries installed in you IDE or called by your sketch. All it is doing is printing text to the 2 separate hardware serial ports on the Mayfly.

I have never used the programmable versions of the Xbee 900HP. There are infinite combinations of ways to configure an Xbee…[Read more]

The Mayfly’s bee footprint was originally set up to only power modules that require moderate current supplied to the Vcc pin of the module, such as Xbee RF modules (900Mhz and 2.4Ghz), Bee wifi, and Bee bluetooth. There are even GPS modules with the Bee footprint that work great on the Mayfly. Then when we started using 2G and 3G cellular…[Read more]

We have successfully used dozens of Xbee Pro 900HP radios with Mayfly boards for our logger network here at the Stroud Center and at other locations. You can program the modules to be in “pin-sleep mode”, meaning you can toggle the sleep mode by driving a pin high or low. You can also use cyclic sleep and other “smart” sleep methods if you want…[Read more]

For more than a year now, all boards, either the ones bought separately or as part of the starter kits, are the latest v0.5b. The only difference between the .5 and .5b is the power options for the bee socket via jumper SJ13 to give you the option of powering the bee socket either from 3.3v Vcc of the board (default) or directly from the LiPo…[Read more]

Our Amazon inventory is back up and running again. Some of you have noticed and already ordered some boards and kits. We should be able to keep the storefront stocked unless there are a lot of large purchases. If you know you’re planning to order more than a dozen boards soon, I’d appreciate a heads up so that I can plan our inventory…[Read more]

Are you connecting to the Mayfly directly using the onboard microUSB jack, or a separate FTDI adapter connected to the FTDI jack on the Mayfly? Are any LEDs powered on the Mayfly when you turn it on? I hand-check and program every Mayfly board when it leaves my workshop with a sketch that blinks the red and green LEDs and prints the temperature…[Read more]

Yes, I’ve done it before where the logger sends alerts directly from the station, but it’s usually easier to implement this using a script on whatever server you’re hosting your data on. Because if you want to change the value of the trigger points, or do some filtering of single spikes that occur during low turbidity (like from trash or fish…[Read more]

There are 3G and 4G modules that work just fine with the Mayfly. Are you meaning you want instructions on how to do it, or you’re just looking for the hardware?