ESP32 Board Type ?

Hi,

Have an ESP32 38 pin board with identical heat spreader markings to the web pic below, but usually those web pages also show the backside of the board which are often marked DO IT, so its easy to assume that one should select DOIT ESP32 DEVKIT when using the Arduino board manager etc.

However the board I have just has a plain pcb coating with no makers marks at all.

Spoke to the supplier on the off chance they might know, who said the boards regularly change, and suggested using NodeMCU-32S, which so far does seem to run ok with my test code.

However do wonder, in the absensce of any makers markings how we are supposed to know the board type, or is that just a problem of buying cheap ebay boards ?

The other question being is how would we know if the wrong type of board is selected or are the differences just down to the number of pins available on the different boards ?

I just looked into my ide 1.8.10 with the ESP 1.04 boards downloaded - I think I counted 62 boards available - 62!

Wp100 said:

However do wonder, in the absensce of any makers markings how we are supposed to know the board type, or is that just a problem of buying cheap ebay boards ?

Click to expand...

Yes, it is one of the problems of buying cheap $bay boards. How much $$ did you save over a board with some documentation or, at the least, documented user history?

If you really want to look into it, you can search for what goes into a "boards entry", but I think you are probably ok with what you chose (although I would have tried DOITESP32 DEVKIT V1) - again, probably...like I asked, how much did you save?

Hi,

My 'generic' board was probably about 30% cheaper, though seems the only 'named' board is the Wemos/Lolin ones here in the uk, so will probably get one of those for the final build, always keep one module as a spare.

Porting the code seems to be going ok, just the odd little problem, once done, looking forward to getting the project connected by wifi and ble.
Suppose thats when the headaches really start ...

Thanks

Wp100 said:

or is that just a problem of buying cheap ebay boards ?

Click to expand...

Yes!

Hi,

Seems its a bit difficult in finding a genuine ESP32 board.

The Wemos Lolin as pictured above do seem available from uk and far east sources, but looking for an Expressif board is a bit harder,
Below is a pic from Expressifs site of their current board, but the next pic is from Amazon UK being sold as by Expressif, yet the heat spreader does not bear the Expressif name, so is it really a genuine board ?

Any proven links of genuine sites / suppliers appreciated.

You can buy the ESP modules and mount them on your own board. Isn't the only difference between the different boards the description of the I/O pins? If you make your own and use the IOn definition for the different pins, wouldn't it work anyway?

Mike.

Seems its not just a case of cloned chips being used and not as good as Expressifs originals, but some web posts about the wifi not being as good due to differences in the pcb etc etc.
**broken link removed**

Mouser US stock the Espressif modules for just £9, but the delivery charges even higher at £12, trouble is ordering 2 boards means the import threshold is exceeded so duties and carrier charges will be added !

Wp100 said:

Seems its not just a case of cloned chips being used and not as good as Expressifs originals, but some web posts about the wifi not being as good due to differences in the pcb etc etc.
**broken link removed**

Mouser US stock the Espressif modules for just £9, but the delivery charges even higher at £12, trouble is ordering 2 boards means the import threshold is exceeded so duties and carrier charges will be added !

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link - and this is an interesting one that links off of that one https://www.esp32.com/viewtopic.php?t=1358

Got me thinking about the two boards that I have.

This one,

which is in use in this project (still working fine). BTW: I just checked and I paid US$6.79 for it back in Sep 2018 (US$10.49 if shipped from USA).

The other board (below) is much older and was, coincidentally, purchased because it was one of a few 'established if not official' boards and I did not want to start learning with something that was buggy. Not sure but I think it was $25-$30 at the time.



Looks to me like it may be V0?!


It make sense that the functional quality of the board with particular respect to the antenna would be dependent on a good design, it is just not something that I thought I could easily get information on until now, I wonder if there are other, more thorough, reviews of just that aspect.

Wp100 said:

Mouser US stock the Espressif modules for just £9, but the delivery charges even higher at £12, trouble is ordering 2 boards means the import threshold is exceeded so duties and carrier charges will be added !

Click to expand...

Amazon has them, apparently from Espressif for US$5 each (q=5).

I do not know about GB shipping and fees and the like, is this service reliable?

Hi,

As in my pic above #5 , seems Amazon UK are stocking that Expressif board but the heat spreader does not bear the "Expressif" name ?
If shipped by Amazon uk delivery is normally good, so might post a question on that listing to see if others who have bought it say if it looks genuine.

Thought I had found this Wemos Lolin board , above pic #3, but it was out of stock so asked them when it was coming in again, got this rather surprising answer, not sure what it refers to , though exect it will also be the same for all other suppilers of that board ?

We have some in stock, but I believe Lolin changed something with them and we're currently in talks with them regarding the change before we put them back on sale. Obviously we want customers to get exactly what they order so are just being cautious. Lolin are quite slow to respond so it's taking longer than it perhaps should. I'll get this chased up again tomorrow.


Think for the time being will just work on my clone board and see how that performs as I am not doing complex work on it.

Wp100 said:

Hi,

As in my pic above #5 , seems Amazon UK are stocking that Expressif board but the heat spreader does not bear the "Expressif" name ?
If shipped by Amazon uk delivery is normally good, so might post a question on that listing to see if others who have bought it say if it looks genuine.

Thought I had found this Wemos Lolin board , above pic #3, but it was out of stock so asked them when it was coming in again, got this rather surprising answer, not sure what it refers to , though exect it will also be the same for all other suppilers of that board ?

We have some in stock, but I believe Lolin changed something with them and we're currently in talks with them regarding the change before we put them back on sale. Obviously we want customers to get exactly what they order so are just being cautious. Lolin are quite slow to respond so it's taking longer than it perhaps should. I'll get this chased up again tomorrow.


Think for the time being will just work on my clone board and see how that performs as I am not doing complex work on it.

Click to expand...

Amazon and eBay customers get pretty cranky when a board arrives and it does not look like the photo (exactly) of if you need to change code vs previous order. Or, in the case of ESP boards, change the serial driver or other flag on the IDE. It is just easier for the seller to wait for the new board to arrive and make a new listing. .

gophert said:

Amazon and eBay customers get pretty cranky when a board arrives and it does not look like the photo (exactly) of if you need to change code vs previous order. Or, in the case of ESP boards, change the serial driver or other flag on the IDE. It is just easier for the seller to wait for the new board to arrive and make a new listing. .

Click to expand...

The Amazon seller has actually replied and says they pic is outdated/being updated and that they are Espressif boards.

.. and yes, you were right about that Wemos Lolin board, seems its a problem with progrmming from the Arduino IDE, though they did not say exactly what, just that they are still waiting for Lolin to reply.
Can only assume their customers must have been complaining /returning them as faulty if they could not program them up..