Could a Buck Converter causes interference problems with an RF device?

@davee The tutorial I was referring to is:  https://dronebotworkshop.com/esp32-cam-intro/

At about the 14:20 point, a screen shot is shown which replies with some ....... and then the connection is made and shows the IP address to use to work with the camera.  I get to that point but all I get are continuous ....................... It does not seem to connect.  I'm quite certain that I have entered my ssid and password correctly.  I caught another YouTube video this morning and they did exactly as Bill shows.  I started watching a different tutorial yesterday but that presenter edited the camera viewer example sketch considerably.  I don't believe I have an actual AI Thinker but that choice in the IDE worked fine for my non camera testing.  Thanks for your quick replies.  It's likely something simple.  Are there other example sketches I could try?

SUCCESS today.  I tried the ESP32 CAM setup again today.  I used the example sketch called camera viewer that BIll used in his tutorial.  I changed the ssid and password to my ssid and password.  I installed and removed the comment slashes so that AI Thinker was used.  I compiled and loaded the modified sketch as I have been doing.  This time the connection was made and an IP address was shown in the serial monitor.  I used a browser on my desktop computer and was able to view a picture from the camera.  I tried the same IP address on a tablet and that worked also.  I don't know what I did differently today but it works really quite well.  Thanks for the help.

Hi @tedbear,

   I suspect that it is your ESP and your router that are not on speaking terms with each other for some reason, but I would add a print statement (or two) to be sure of the exact spot that is printing the dots, as I have a feeling that trick is also used elsewhere.

Editing the CameraWebServer.ino file

Go down to around line 93 and look for  something like:

#endif

  WiFi.begin(ssid, password);

  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {

 On a new line after the #endif put something like:

  Serial.printf("Camera initialised .. beginning Wifi initialisation\n");

 Then, if you look down a couple of lines you will see the likely source of those dots:

  while (WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED) {
    delay(500);
    Serial.print(".");
  }

So, immediately after this, add another newline with something like:

  Serial.println("");
  Serial.println("WiFi connected");

 ------------------

My guess is you will see the first added print, but not the "WiFi connected" one.

=============================================

That was the easy bit .. the tricky bit is figuring out why the WiFi is not connecting. Things to check:

• SSID and Password, yet again... remember they are case sensitive, and maybe ensure there are no characters that could be different in different countries ... characters like @ and # often prove troublesome ...I am tempted to say stick to A-Z  a-z 0-9 for both SSID and password, at least for a trial, although you may wish to go for a wider set for 'normal use. {Confession time ... I think I made the mistake of mistyping one character when I first tried the script ... it was something like '1' instead of 'I', so it took me a while to spot it!)
• WiFi range ... As Bill comments, the onboard antenna is not great ... move the ESP to within a metre or so of your router, with no walls, etc. in between ... it can do further than that, but eliminate the uncertainty whilst trying to make it work
• Have you put any limits on your router? e.g. only allow known MAC addresses to connect?
• Are you using 2.4GHz credentials, and is router support of 2.4GHz active? ESP can't do 5GHz
• Unlikely, but is your router out of date? I tried to set up a separate net using an antique (say 10 years old) Netgear router ... Bill's simple signal strength demo worked, but it would not make a camera connection. I didn't attempt to find out why.
• ESPs are notorious for power problems, but it normally reports brown out and resets...

Sorry, no easy diagnosis, but hopefully you can track it down. Let me know how you get on.

Best wishes,

Dave

@davee Thanks the tips and reply.  I understand your motive in checking to see "how far" the process got with the added lines in the sketch.  I suspect my problem was a mistake in either the ssid and/or the password.  I installed a mesh system two weeks ago so I have two networks in my home.  The network I was using was the new mesh network and I may have make a mistake there.  Now that I got the ESP32 CAM working, I'm not certain what I'm going to do with it.  My next step is to try the external antenna with one of my ESP32 CAM boards.  My soldering iron is in my farm shop with large snow drifts in front of the door.  I need it to move the 0 ohm resister from the internal antenna to the external one.

Hi @tedbear,

  Good to hear you have sorted that problem.

I hope you can retrieve your soldering iron soon - it sounds much too cold for my liking!

Best wishes, Dave