Note: If you have any questions about any of the following instructions, please feel free to CONTACT us any time. We are here to answer your questions or help in any way. Almost all emails are answered by senior support staff within hours.
Shortcut links to jump directly to various sections on this page
General Info App Screen
System Info
Beacon Name
Measured Power
Power On Always
Modify Password
Trigger Command/List (Motion Trigger)
Firmware Update
Power Off
Reset Configuration
Configuring a SLOT broadcast
Beacon Adv Type
Adv Interval
TX Power
Adv Mode
Connectable
Trigger Only Advertisement
UUID
Major ID
Minor ID
Upload
Trigger Command/List
Trigger Type
Trigger Action
Trigger Adv Slot
Advertisement Change
Trigger Adv Time
Trigger Adv Interval
Trigger Adv Power
Motion Sensitivity
Sensor ODR
Sensor Wake-Up Duration
General Information App Screen:
System Info (this field is not changeable by the user)
System ID is the unique MAC address of each beacon (it’s also printed on the sticker on the outside of the beacon)
Model is the model number BCProU1
Hardware version
Firmware version
Beacon Name
Default is BCPro_(six digit number randomly assigned during production)
Changeable: Name must be 17 ASCII characters or less
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
Measured Power
Default: -59
Changeable: Advanced users only. We recommend that you do NOT make any adjustments to this number.
What it means: This is a figure that we set at the factory that tells scanners how strong this beacon’s signal is expected to be when the beacon is 1 meter away from the scanner. In this case, our beacon is telling the scanner to expect the beacon’s signal strength to be -59 when TX is 0dBm and the beacon is 1 meter away. This -59 figure is static and doesn’t change ever (unless the TX level is changed). It is broadcast to the scanner with each iBeacon broadcast from the beacon. Keep in mind that this is a Measured/Calibrated/Fixed/Unchanging RSSI number, so don’t confuse it with the actual “live” RSSI figure that your scanner will measure and show when it is scanning for the beacon live. For example, when you use the KBeaconPro app to scan for beacons, on the scan screen of the app, you will see an RSSI figure for each beacon that moves up and down as the beacon or scanner are moved closer and farther away from each other.
Power On Always
Default: No
Not applicable to the BC-U1 since it does not have a button.
Modify Password
Default: 0000000000000000
Changeable: any password ranging from 8-16 ASCII characters
NOTE 1: It is NOT recommended for users to change the password. If you do change the password and forget what you changed it to, there is nothing we can do to help you. The beacon can NOT be reset to factory settings in order to get back to the default password. We don’t have any sort of secret backdoor password to get back into the beacon; that would be fake security, right? So if you try to change this default password, be sure to type very carefully and write down the new password.
NOTE 2: If you still want to change the password, please note that the password is stored in the beacon AND in the app. So when you use the app to connect to another beacon with a different password, you may initially see a “code 2” or “error 2” message indicating an incorrect password. If you do experience this problem, please use the app to change the password on your second beacon to the same password as your first beacon. In other words, if all the passwords are the same, it will be much easier. That said, we still recommend that you do NOT change the password. If you are concerned about security, change the Connectable setting (see below) on the broadcast slot menu page to “No”, thereby making the beacon unconnectable. (Unconnectable status saves about 20% of the battery power, but makes working with the beacon a bit tricky at first. We would suggest you leave it as connectable for now.)
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
Trigger Command/List
Default: all triggers set to Null, i.e. no triggers
Not applicable to the BC-U1 since there are no triggers possible (i.e. not motion or button triggers)
Firmware Update
Click to check if an update is available. “Network error” means no update is available.
Power Off
Not applicable to the BC-U1 since there is no power button.
Reset Configuration
Resets the beacon back to its original default settings. This comes in handy when you have made a number of changes to the configuration which result in the beacon not working as you expected.
Configuring a SLOT broadcast
Click on SLOT0 on the bottom of the Android app page or on the top of the iPhone app page. Here’s what you will see next:
The BC-U1 Pro is capable of broadcasting several different types of broadcasts. The most commonly used type is standard iBeacon.
The BC-U1 Pro has five different “slots” for broadcasting (slots are numbered 0 through 4). Most users will only use one slot, but if you wanted to, you could broadcast up to 5 different UUID numbers all with different configurations.
Update: On the latest production run of this beacon, we changed the default configuration to iBeacon, UID, and URL broadcasts BUT the UID and URL broadcasts are set to “trigger only adv” with no trigger assigned. So they will not broadcast unless you assign a trigger BUT since there are no triggers on the BC-U1, you can’t do that. You probably won’t need to use them, so in the end, this will have no effect on your regular SLOT0 iBeacon broadcast. In other words, the beacon default setting is broadcasting SLOT0 iBeacon only. If you ever want to use these other slots, turn off the “trigger only adv” on the one or ones you want to activate.
Each SLOT is independent and configurable. A beacon type can be set for each SLOT. Beacon parameters such as advertising interval, TX power, connectable enable/disable etc. can be configured separately for each SLOT. They are independent of each other. Each SLOT can be set to one Beacon type only, but it is possible to set the same type on two or more slots.
For example, if you set SLOT0 to be iBeacon, set SLOT1 to be URL, and set SLOT2 to be TLM, then the beacon would broadcast iBeacon, URL and TLM simultaneously. If you set the intervals for two or more broadcasts exactly the same, since they can not broadcast at exactly the same moment, they would instead broadcast sequentially microseconds apart. On the other hand, you could set the intervals for each slot totally different also.
Now let’s look at each of the menu choices on the SLOT0 page shown above.
Beacon/Adv Type
Default: iBeacon in SLOT0; other slots set to disabled/null.
For each slot, you can choose one of the following:
- Disabled/Null
- KSensor: Not available on the BC-U1 Pro
- UID: A Google developed broadcast protocol similar to, but not as popular as, iBeacon.
- TLM: A special broadcast to carry certain extra data. In the case of the BC-U1 Pro, it carries battery power readings and some other things. Keep in mind that our app will show you battery power readings on the main scan screen even if you do not turn on a TLM broadcast.
- URL: A Google developed broadcast protocol that broadcasts the URL (web address) of your choice. Was previously hot for a while, but rarely used now.
Some URL length rules and examples:
https:// counts as 1 character only.
https://www. counts as 1 character only.
Standard domain name extensions such as .com/ count as 1 character only but .com counts as 4 characters since is it missing the standard trailing slash; just add the trailing slash.
.net/ counts as 1 character only.
.bu/ counts as 4 characters since .bu is not a standard internet domain name extension.
Example: https://www.cnn.com/ is counted as 5 characters only.
Suggestion: If you want to configure a very very long URL with more than 17 countable characters, just use a free URL shortener such as bitly.com to create a shortcut URL for your long URL. For example, you could configure “https://bit.ly/3fiVEj8” into the beacon to take users to “https://bluecharmbeacons.com/bc011-ibeacon-multibeacon-quick-start-guide/”.
- iBeacon: Apple’s broadcast protocol. By far the most popular and nicely agnostic in terms of Android phones and iPhones.
- System: A simple broadcast the sends out just the MAC address of the beacon. Can be used in some usage cases, but typically we would recommend an iBeacon broadcast over this one.
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
Adv Interval
Default: 100ms
Changeable: Any one-decimal number between 100-10000ms, e.g. 200, 301.2, 546.5, 1285, 3000, etc. (1000 milliseconds equals 1 second).
(Note, the maximum interval for an Android phone is 40000ms. The maximum interval for an iPhone is 10000ms; actually the beacon can handle max interval of 40000ms but we still need to update the iPhone app version to allow this input.)
This is where you can set the amount of time between each beacon information broadcast. On this page, you can tap on one of the suggested choices (ranging from 100ms to 2000ms), or you can input a specific number into the input box at the top of the page.
Keep in mind that shorter intervals use the battery much faster but since the BC-U1 Pro is USB-powered, that is not a concern.
If you need to set the interval very long (anything longer than 3000ms would be considered long), that’s ok, BUT it will be difficult to connect to the beacon for configuring in the future. If you face this issue, just unplug and replug the beacon from power, and the beacon will broadcast at a very fast 100ms interval for 30 seconds. It should then be very easy to connect to the beacon during that time period.
Long Intervals may be problematic: You should also keep in mind that setting the interval to a very long period will make it very difficult for your smartphone (or other scanner device) to “see” the broadcast from the beacon. Why? Smartphones, and some other scanners, are not scanning 100% of the time; this would use too much of the phone’s battery. Instead, they scan for a short period of time called the “scanning window”. The specific scanning window used depends on the app, the type of phone, whether the app is in the foreground or background, etc. But you can easily imagine that if the phone is scanning for one second every three seconds (just example numbers), it could easily and repeatedly miss the beacon broadcast if the beacon was only broadcasting once every 10 seconds. Moral of the Story: Set your beacon advertising interval wisely to balance these two competing factors: saving battery power and making the broadcast easily scannable by your smartphone. (This advice does not apply to the BC-U1 Pro because it does not use battery power).
One of the nice features of this BC-U1 Pro beacon is that you can input very precise intervals. For example, the default interval is 1022.5 milliseconds. That’s a little longer than 1 second. Why such a weird number? Check out the knowledge box below:
Quirky intervals have a purpose: When beacons are being scanned by smartphones, there is the possibility that the scanning window of the phone and the broadcast of the beacon will not line up exactly. In that case, the broadcast will be missed by the phone. To reduce the chance of this happening, the smart people at Apple recommend that you set your advertising interval to one of these odd-looking numbers: 152.5 ms, 211.25 ms, 318.75 ms, 417.5 ms, 546.25 ms, 760 ms, 852.5 ms, 1022.5 ms, or 1285 ms. It is a bit complicated to explain this in detail, but suffice it to say, these intervals work better. This BC-U1 Pro beacon has been designed with this in mind, and as far as I know, Blue Charm beacons are one of the only brands of beacons on the market that allow the user to input these precise optimal interval numbers.
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
TX Power
Default: 0 dBm
Changeable: -40dBm, -20dBm, -16dBm, -12dBm, -8dBm, -4dBm, 0dBm, or +4dBm.
On the TX Power setting page, you are selecting the power at which the beacon will broadcast. High power (+4dBm) will make the signal reach further away. How far? The maximum range at +4dBm is about 90 meters. Keep in mind that this is an “open air, line of sight” figure. Any obstacles, walls, glass, furniture, humans, etc. will shorten this distance.
Optimizing automations: Many users want to program a home automation device, Arduino, or Rasberry Pi to react to the presence of a beacon. Sometimes they want this reaction to only occur when the beacon is very close. With this goal in mind, they set the TX power to its lowest setting, so that the scanning device only “sees” the beacon when the beacon is very close. OK, fine, that works in some cases but often this results in unstable behavior. A better approach is to set the TX power at one or two levels higher than the minimum needed. This ensures that the beacon is clearly “seen” by the scanner (and doesn’t pop in and out of range frequently). Then the scanner should be programmed to check the RSSI signal strength of the target beacon to determine its proximity. With this method, your program can take a running average of the RSSI figures (or use some other simple mathematical smoothing approach) in order to avoid unpredictable behavior due to the unstable nature of BLE signals.
The bad news is that as of today, most beacon scanning apps on smartphones do NOT take this approach. So until the coders improve these apps, you may be stuck with the non-optimal “adjust the beacon TX to set the reaction range of the app” approach. (See our Usage Case examples for instructions how to do this with a HomeAssistant system. )
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
Connectable
Default: Yes
“Yes” means the KBeaconPro app can connect to the beacon to adjust settings. “No” means that the app will not be able to connect to the beacon unless the button is clicked once or the battery in removed and then reinstalled.
Setting connectable to “no” can prevent other devices from maliciously connecting after your beacon is deployed. (Unconnectable makes working with the beacon a bit tricky at first. We would suggest you leave it as connectable for now.)
If you set this to “no”, but later you want to connect to the beacon again, you can use one of the following methods:
a. Unplug and then replug the beacon from power; the device will then enter connectable mode for 30 seconds.
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
Trigger Only Advertisement
Default: No
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
UUID
Default: 426C7565-4368-6172-6D42-6561636F6E73
Changeable: Any proper length and formatted UUID where each digit is hex. i.e. has a Value of 0 to 9 or A to F. Note that with this app, you need to enter dashes in the correct spots.
Note: The app offers you some alternative UUIDS to select to be compatible with services like Air Locate, WeChat, etc. You can choose one of these or just use the default UUID or make up one of your own.
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
Major ID
Default: 3838
Changeable: Any number from 0-65535, e.g. 58 or 229 or 5791 or 59985
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
Minor ID
Default: 4949
Changeable: Any number from 0-65535, e.g. 58 or 229 or 5791 or 59985
Make your selection on this menu page, then tap SAVE in the upper right corner of the screen. You will then be taken back to the previous page.
DON’T FORGET TO UPLOAD
Now that you have set all of your SLOT0 confirmation settings, press the left arrow in the upper left corner to go back to the General Info page of the beacon. On that page, click on the UPLOAD button to upload all of those saved settings to the beacon. If you do not do this, the saved settings will NOT be uploaded to the beacon, and the beacon’s configuration will not be changed.
Trigger Command (“Trigger List” on iPhone) Menu and Submenus in the KBeaconPro app
Trigger Command/List
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Trigger Type
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Trigger Type – Button
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Trigger Details Page
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Trigger Type
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Trigger Action
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Trigger Adv Slot
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Advertisement Change
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Trigger Adv Duration
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Trigger Adv Interval
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Trigger Adv Power
Not applicable to the BC-U1 Pro since it does not have any triggers to set.
Don’t forget to disconnect from the beacon, otherwise it won’t broadcast
-OK, we are done now. But don’t forget to disconnect from the beacon, otherwise it won’t broadcast. You can disconnect by tapping the left pointing arrow on the general info page of the app. You will then jump back to the main scan screen of the app.
Don’t forget to restart the scan on that page to see your beacon appear. Remember also that only Android phones will show the UUID. iPhones will only show the major and minor.
Note: If you have any questions about any of the preceding instructions, please feel free to CONTACT us any time. We are here to answer your questions or help in any way. Almost all emails are answered by senior staff within hours.