The following guide is suitable for this beacon only (BC011):
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 Thomas, the owner of Blue Charm).
Another note: Before we do anything, it should be noted that you can use your beacon straight out of the box just by turning it on (see below). There is no absolute requirement to change the configuration settings.
Final Note: As the product description for this item states, there is no iPhone app available for configuring this beacon. Please follow the instructions below for using an Android phone to configure the beacon. Once configured, the beacon will not need to be configured again. As mentioned above, you really don’t need to configure the beacon at all if you only plan on using one beacon. Just use it as is, with its default data.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANDROID VERSION OF THE CONFIGURATION APP
Get the configuration app
-Download the “KBeaconConfig” from the Google Play Store.
-Once you have installed the app, open the app on your Android phone.
Turn the beacon on
-Turn on the beacon by pressing and holding down the button on the front side for 5 seconds until the LED light begins to flash green, then release the button. Your beacon will be connectable for configuring for 30 seconds after turning it on. After that, it becomes non-connectable, which is the normal state for all beacons. Beacons do not need a connection to your phone; they operate independently from your phone (they are NOT like bluetooth headphones which require a constant connection or pairing).
Please visit our FAQ page if you are new to beacons and would like to increase your understanding of beacons in general.
Above photo shows the green light flashing
Next, we have some condensed instructions for the tech savvy. If you feel more comfortable going through it step by step, scroll down this page further to “Detailed Step-by-Step Instructions”.
Condensed Instructions
- Use the app to connect to the beacon within 30 seconds after turning the beacon on. If time runs out, press the beacon button once quickly to make it connectable again.
- Connect to the beacon by tapping on its name on the app screen. (MAC address shown will match MAC address on back of beacon)
- On the configuration page after connecting, make changes to the parameters you wish to change. Tap SAVE after each change to save and go back to the main configuration page.
- When done with all your desired changes, tap SAVE one last time to upload all of those changes to the beacon. You should see an Upload Successful message on your screen.
- Tap the Left Arrow button on the top left of the screen to return to the main app scan screen.
- Wait for changes to be scanned by your phone, or swipe down on the screen to have those changes be recognized by your phone quicker.
- Beacon name on screen will be “N/A” when beacon is not connectable, but will show the beacon’s true name (BlueCharmBC011 or whatever you may have changed it to) when the beacon is connectable.
- Your beacon’s TLM broadcast will appear every 10th broadcast. Watch the app scan screen closely to see it appear briefly. The TLM broadcast shows the beacon’s battery power and some other useful info.
Detailed Step-by Step Instructions
- Now that you have turned on the beacon, go back to the KBeaconConfig app screen.
- Your beacon will be connectable for 30 seconds after turning it on.
- Tap on the little staircase in the upper left corner to have the app sort beacons by signal strength, then hold your beacon close to your phone. It should then appear on the top of the scan screen since its signal will be strongest.
Here’s what you will see if the beacon is still connectable:
- The top beacon on the list shows name “BlueCharmBC011” and “Connectable: Yes”. If you are not sure this one is yours, or maybe you have multiple beacons, take a look at the back of your BC011 to see the MAC number (a unique fixed ID number) for your beacon, then compare this number to the MAC number listed for each beacon on the scan screen above. That will help you clearly identify which one is the correct beacon you are trying to configure. Go ahead and tap on your beacon on this screen now to connect to it. Skip down to point 6 below to continue.
- If your beacon’s connection time has expired, it will appear as “N/A(iBeacon)” and “Connectable: NO.” For example, look at the first beacon on the list below:
Don’t worry. Just tap the button on your beacon once quickly to make it connectable again for 30 seconds. Tap on your beacon name on the screen to connect to it. -
Next, you will make changes to the configuration of your beacon.
Side Note: Like I said before, the beacon already has default configuration settings, so you really don’t need to change any of these unless you have some specific reason for needing to do so. The most obvious reason would be that you have more than one of our beacons, so you will need each beacon to have a unique UUID/Major/Minor. If that is the case, the easiest solution is to just change the Minor ID number from 4949 to 4950 for your second beacon, then use 4951 for your third beacon, etc. That one small ID difference makes the beacons completely unique from each other.
Ok, now back to our configuration process…Take a look at the Beacon Detail screen below:
- For example, let’s change the broadcast interval from 1000ms (1000 milliseconds equals 1 second) to 900ms. Tap on the “Adv Interval” section, and you will then be taken to the advertising interval selection screen. Choose any interval by selecting one of the radio buttons or input a number at the top of the screen. (Oops, there’s a little bug here; you can not enter 100ms. 101ms is the shortest possible interval setting.)
- After making your selection, tap SAVE in the upper right corner to save this setting temporarily. (It is not uploaded to the beacon yet; that will come later.)
- Now you will be taken back to the configuration page. Choose any other parameter you wish to adjust and do the same steps as you did to change the advertising interval.
- Once you are finished making all your desired changes, tap SAVE in the upper right hand corner to upload all your desired changes to the beacon. If successful, you will receive an Upload Successful message on your screen. Tap on OK.
- Next, tap on the left-facing arrow in the upper left corner to return to the main app scan screen.
- You should now see your beacon there. The changes may take a few moments to take effect.
- Note that the beacon’s full name will not show here since the beacon is probably not connectable anymore. It will only show as N/A. You can check the MAC number on the screen and compare it to the number on the back of the beacon if you like.
- Tap the beacon button one time quickly to make the beacon connectable, and to display the name of the beacon.
- Your beacon’s TLM broadcast will appear on this main screen every 10th broadcast. Watch the app scan screen closely to see it appear briefly. The TLM broadcast shows the beacon’s battery power and some other useful info.
Your beacon is now configured according to your needs and is broadcasting.
-Once configured, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons operate totally independently from your phone. You can take your phone 1000 miles away from the beacon or turn your phone off; there will be no effect on the beacon. The beacon will just keep on broadcasting its broadcast. It is not like a regular Bluetooth device that needs to be connected to your phone to operate. So once it is configured to your wishes, don’t connect to it in any way anymore. Just turn the beacon on to broadcast, and turn it off to stop broadcasting.
-If you wish to stop broadcasting, turn off the beacon by pressing and holding down the button for 8 seconds then release the button when the LED begins to flash. It will flash eight times, indicating that the beacon is now off.
Blue Charm BC011 Multi Beacon Configuration Parameters
The default configuration settings are as follows:
Broadcast Mode: iBeacon
Device Name: BlueCharmBC011 (when connectable) or N/A (when not connectable).
Advertising Interval: The beacon broadcasts once every interval. Default is 1000ms, i.e. 1 second. Broadcasting more frequently uses the battery faster. Broadcasting less frequently saves battery life but make it more difficult for apps to “see” the beacon reliably.
Connectable: Default is “0” which means you need to click the button on the beacon to make it connectable for 30 seconds. If you select “1” for this parameter, then the beacon will always be connectable; this is less secure, and uses about 10% more battery power.
UUID: Main app screen shows 426C7565-4368-6172-6D42-6561636F6E73. If you do want to change it, please enter new UUID in the modification screen. You can just change one number if you want or change the entire thing. (link to random UUID generator)
Major (ID2): 3838. This is a hex-formatted number. For example, our default hex, 3838, represents 14,393 in decimal. Can be reconfigured to any decimal number between 0-65535 but must be entered in hex. (link to convertor to determine hex equivalent to any decimal (regular) number)
Minor (ID3): 4949. This is a hex-formatted number. For example, our default hex, 4949, represents 18,761 in decimal. Can be reconfigured to any number between 0-65535 but must be entered in hex.
Period: 1000 milliseconds (i.e. 1 second). Can be reconfigured to any number between 101 and 9000.
Tx Power: 0 dBm. Use a more powerful setting for longer range (but 10-15% shorter battery life). Use a weaker setting to make the beacon harder to find; your user app will only see and react to it when up close to it (e.g. things like opening the garage door when you are up close to it, rather than too far away).
Measure Power a.k.a. Calibrated RSSI at 1 meter: -59 dBm. We don’t recommend you ever change this number.
Blue Charm BC011 Multi Beacon Password Change:
PLEASE NOTE: The default password is 0000000000000000.
If you change the password and then forget it later, there is nothing we can do to help you. Without the correct password, you will no longer be able to modify the beacon settings. There is no way to reset the beacon to restore the old password or to recover the new password. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.