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I'm using a -12E with three light sensors and a sketch I've successfully used with an Uno. I cannot get the -12E to print anything but 0 or 1023 for a light level (0 when I connect the grounds, 1023 without grounds).

I've successfully printed from a single light sensor but now I'd like to try three.

I'm curious to know what I'm missing. Any guidance would be appreciated.

Code is as follows:

const int photocellPin_0 = 16; // D0
const int photocellPin_1 = 5; // D1
const int photocellPin_2 = 4; // D2
int photocellReading_0;
int photocellReading_1;
int photocellReading_2;

void setup() {
  delay(4900);
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println("Startup");
  delay(100);
  pinMode(photocellPin_0, INPUT);
  pinMode(photocellPin_1, INPUT);
  pinMode(photocellPin_2, INPUT);
}

void loop() {
  delay(1000);
  photocellReading_0 = analogRead(photocellPin_0);
  photocellReading_1 = analogRead(photocellPin_1);
  photocellReading_2 = analogRead(photocellPin_2);
  Serial.println("-----NEW ON READING-----");
  Serial.print("Photo Sensor #1 = ");
  Serial.println(photocellReading_0); // the raw analog reading
  Serial.print("Photo Sensor #2 = ");
  Serial.println(photocellReading_1);
  Serial.print("Photo Sensor #3 = ");
  Serial.println(photocellReading_2);
  delay(5000);
}

This is based on an adafruit sketch I pulled off of some website (modified for three photo sensors) and I'd credit it if I could recall exactly where I got it from.

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  • 1
    you can only use analogRead on pin A0 on the ESP8266. you can multiplex or even use a relay to switch out sensors, or use a cheap and precise I2C ADC, like the 16-bit ads1115 ($2.5), which gives you four hi-res analog inputs. you could also use a cheap pro mini or nano to expand IO, but they don't have the best ADCs...
    – dandavis
    Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 10:04

1 Answer 1

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The ESP8266 ESP-12E has only one analog input, that is A0 (which tolerates a range 0-1 volt).

digitalRead() statements are not appropriate for a photocell within a potential divider since you will simply get a boolean result 0 or 1 from the connected pin.

You can read one photocell connected on A0 by analogRead( A0 ) assuming it is so connected within a potential divider that a maximum of 1 volt is presented to pin A0.

The Arduino Uno by contrast has 6 Analog inputs which tolerate up to 5 volts

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