Does anybody know of a low powered chip that's standalone can be used as an addon to the ESP8266,which is capable of sending rf signals in the 60ft range?
Basically I'm trying to have a setup with a few low powered devices that can talk to a central device. I figured each one having wifi would be too expensive and power consuming so I was think of sending rf signals to communicate. I'm more than open to ideas since this is my first project of this sort. Please and thank you!
Nordic's nRF24L01 was all the rage before the ESP came along. It's 2.4GHz, but you don't have to worry about following the Bluetooth Smart protocol - you can do what you want.
Very low power. There are $2-$3 boards everywhere.
Agreed, I use NR24L01's for multiple low power arduino sensors that send temperature data every 10 minutes to a central hub: a raspberry Pi connected to the internet. The batteries on the sensors last for up to a year.
These boards are dirt cheap. 2 dollars cheap. It depends if you'll be running these devices from an outlet or battery. The ESPs will do exactly what you want but there's a learning curve. I don't know your experience with all of this, but I recommend picking up an arduino starter kit, some rf shields, a good soldering iron, and misc wires/caps/transistors etc. Play around with that stuff first and it'll be easier to transition into the ESPs.
You're doing way better than I am at the writeups. I suggest the arduino starter kit because it comes with a bunch of other components that are helpful to a beginner besides the arduino.
Basically I'm trying to have a setup with a few low powered devices that can talk to a central device. I figured each one having wifi would be too expensive and power consuming so I was think of sending rf signals to communicate. I'm more than open to ideas since this is my first project of this sort. Please and thank you!