[PLUG-TALK] Emporia VUE 3 boo hoo

[Russell Senior]

>>>>> "Keith" == Keith Lofstrom <keithl at keithl.com> writes:

    Keith> Keith Lofstrom <keithl at keithl.com> writes: I spent Tuesday
    Keith> attempting to configure the stock Emporia VUE 3 that I
    Keith> purchased in December.

    Keith> On Wed, Feb 04, 2026 at 06:12:24AM -0800, Russell Senior wrote:
    >> Have you found this:
    >> 
    >> https://emporia-vue-local.github.io/docs/tutorial/intro/

    Keith> Good point.

    Keith> Yes I have.  The two issues for me are (1) fixturing the
    Keith> contacts and (2) making a mistake and bricking the device.  I
    Keith> hope to learn together with others.

    Keith> The contacts on the board are for manufacturing programming
    Keith> and test.  That probably works with a production line fixture
    Keith> with a large array of pogo pins that contact MANY places on
    Keith> the circuit board.  The programming contacts are NOT robust
    Keith> for separate "mechanical" attachment by us ...  or for
    Keith> repeated reattachment, when new hobby code emerges.

Again, disclaimer is I don't have the hardware and am not a collaborator
candidate, but this is an opportunity to mention another thing I can
recommend, generally. There is a small company called SensePeek and a
product line called PCBite.

  https://sensepeek.com/

They are weighted pogo-pin tipped probes with a magnetic base, that
allows you to probe test points or exposed pins on circuit boards, hands
free and without engineering a custom test fixture.

I have the equivalent of this:

  https://sensepeek.com/pcbite-kit-with-4x-sp10-probes-and-test-wires

plus some extra board holders, like these:

  https://sensepeek.com/pcbite-holders-2pack

although i bought them in different kits and usually from various
in-USA, distributors based on shopping around for better deals.

It also helps that my desk is steel and I don't actually need the base
plate in the kit.

Tool nerds will appreciate what a pleasure it can be to use "good
tools", although the PCBite stuff probably only make sense if you are
doing this sort of thing a lot.

I notice the tutorial link above mentions a BDM frame which is a rough
equivalent of the PCBite, another hands-free solderless probe
solution. For example, shown here:

 https://digiblur.com/wiki/devices/plugs/wyze_plug_outdoor_wlppo1/#how-to-flash-esphome-or-tasmota

People hacking firmware on these things without hands-free probes are
probably just temporarily tacking tiny wires onto the test pads with
some solder, as is also shown in that link.


-- 
Russell Senior
russell at personaltelco.net