Chapter 2: Requirements; Hardware Requirements; Esp8266 Board; Source Of Power - OLIMEX ESP8266 Series Upgrade Manual

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CHAPTER 2: REQUIREMENTS

CHAPTER 2: REQUIREMENTS
The minimal connection requires several hardware and software prerequisites.

2.1 Hardware requirements

2.1 Hardware requirements
You would need: an ESP8266 board; a way to power the ESP8266 board; a USB < - > serial cable with
level shifter; and a personal computer. Each of these is discussed below.
Note that you might already own some of the necessary hardware pieces listed below. For example, as
long as you have a fitting 5V power supply unit or USB < - > serial cable there is no need to purchase a
new one.

2.1.1 ESP8266 board

2.1.1 ESP8266 board
The main component of the setup. During your initial research of the ESP8266EX chip, it is highly
recommended to use one of the following three boards, which are suitable for beginners:
•
ESP8266-EVB
•
ESP8266-EVB-BAT
•
ESP8266-EVB-BAT-BOX
You can also use one of the following two boards, but they are harder to power up and you might need
to cut and solder SMT jumpers in order to change boot modes:
•
MOD-WIFI-ESP8266
•
MOD-WIFI-ESP8266-DEV
MOD-WIFI-ESP8266 and MOD-WIFI-ESP8266-DEV are suitable for people already familiar with ESP8266. They are small,
affordable and fit custom designs perfectly. However, their stand-alone usage might provide a challenge for beginners. The
main difficulty comes from the hardware adjustments you would need to perform in order to change the boot mode of the
board. Entering UART mode would require cutting and soldering of SMT jumpers (hardware revision B of MOD-WIFI-ESP8266-
DEV introduces a button for easier access to UART boot mode).
2.1.2 Source of p ower
2.1.2 Source of p ower
The ESP8266-EVB board gets powered via the barrel power jack named "PWR". You need to apply exactly
5V DC.
The corresponding power supply plug (or female jack) that fits the DC barrel has 2.1mm inner diameter
and 5.5mm outer diameter. The length of the male plug should be between 10mm and 14mm.
ESP8266-EVB-BAT and ESP8266-EVB-BAT also have a similar barrel jack named "PWR", which can be used
for powering the board. These two boards also have a Li-Po battery circuitry – you can also power them
using the Li-Po battery connector.
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Upgrading ESP8266