Blue Charm BC063 Water-Resistant iBeacon – Quick Start Guide:
The following guide is suitable for this beacon only (BC063):
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 (me!), the owner of Blue Charm, within hours.
99% of the problems that beginners have with beacons are just a simple misunderstanding of one of the concepts. Admittedly, the world of beacons is a bit confusing with all of the TX, interval, broadcast, UUID…technical words. Especially since most people don’t understand that BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) is actually something different than regular Bluetooth. In other words, don’t feel bad at all if you are a little confused at first. I tried to make it as clear as possible in the instructions below, but that requires lots of words, which sometimes can be a bit boring to read when you are excited about a new beacon you just received in the mail!
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 “turn the beacon on” below). There is no absolute requirement to change the configuration settings.
That said, there are several situations in which you might want to change the settings, so if that is the case, please continue reading.
Click here for iPhone App instructions. Otherwise, just keep reading below for the Android instructions.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANDROID VERSION OF THE CONFIGURATION APP
Get the configuration app
-Download the “AXABeacon” app by AXAET from the Google Play Store.
-Open the app on your Android phone.
Turn the beacon on
-Turn on the beacon by pressing and holding down the larger button on the back side for 2 seconds until the LED light flashes green once, then release the button.
How to make the beacon connectable
-The beacon will be connectable for two minutes after you turn it on. (“Connectable” means you can connect to it with your smart phone and the AXABeacon app to configure its settings). The beacon device name will appear in the AXABeacon app screen as “pBeacon_n” during this connectable period.
-If the deviceName shows as “SCBEACON” (or perhaps some other name that you have already changed it to) then the beacon has been turned on for over 2 minutes and is no longer connectable for configuration. If you have already configured the beacon, then that’s perfect. If you have not yet configured the beacon, you will need to turn the beacon off, wait 3 seconds, then turn it back on again to make it connectable again (Device Name will then show as pBeacon_n again).
-To change the configuration of the beacon, use the AXABeacon app to connect to the beacon during this connectable period. (If you don’t see the beacon on the list, refresh the scan by clicking the refresh circle in the upper right hand corner of the app screen; if the two minute connectable window has expired, then turn the beacon off and back on again). To connect with the beacon, click on its name on the screen.
NOTE: Some Android phones are a little “sticky” with their BLE data cache, so sometimes even though you turned the beacon on seconds ago, when you rescan, the beacon still shows on the screen as “SCBEACON” or whatever other name you may have given it. If you tap the beacon name on the screen, it will say it is unconnectable. If that happens, try shutting down the app completely (by swiping the app up off the screen) and restarting. Alternatively, you can fully restart your smartphone. That will clear the cache, so that when you restart the beacon, it will properly show as pBeacon_n within the first two minutes. Don’t worry about this too much since it only happens on a few Androids, plus you really don’t need to configure your iBeacon more than once, if that.
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- Android Version – iBeacon is connectable
-After connecting with the beacon, you will then be able to change the parameters according to your preference (see below for details about parameters). In the example below, we are changing the major value from 2 to 1. Finally, enter the beacon password:
The default password is 666666.
After entering the correct password, click modify at the bottom of the configuration screen. (On some phones, the password text entry box may be covered up by your phone’s keyboard. If so, use your phone keyboard’s “Next” key or tap on the Name entry box to reveal the password entry box).
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- Android Version – After Connection, you can see the current configuration
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- Android Version – Let’s change the major from 2 to 1, then enter password, then click Modify
After clicking Modify, you will see a little message on the bottom of the screen showing “Modifying” which means the process is underway, i.e. the app is sending your new settings to the beacon (see below). Next, you will be taken back to the main app screen and see a list of beacons as before.
–The beacon will now automatically shutoff (you will see the LED flash red once if you are paying close attention, signifying the beacon has been shut down). The “pBeacon_n” device name will still appear on the AXABeacon app unrefreshed main screen beacon list (see below), but if you click the refresh circle in the upper right hand corner of the app screen, you will see that it disappears from the list (because the beacon has been shut down and is no longer broadcasting).
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- Android Version – After Clicking Modify
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- Android Version – Modified Successfully Shown
–Turn the beacon on again and tap the app’s refresh circle to see it appear in the AXABeacon app main screen again.
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- Android version – Refresh the screen and the beacon is gone, since it was shut down automatically
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- Android version – turn the beacon back on, tap the rescan button on the app, and the beacon reappears showing new settings (major is now 1 in this example)
–Remember, the device name will still show as “pBeacon_n” for the first two minutes, signifying it is connectable during this time. Just wait two minutes, refresh the scan by clicking the refresh circle in the upper right hand corner of the app screen, and the correct device name (the one that you modified or perhaps “SCBEACON” if you did not modify it) will appear.
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- Android version – the beacon is on, two minutes have passed, and now the regular name shows (indicating unconnectable), plus the major is now 1 instead of 2 (since we changed it to 1)
-Your beacon is now broadcasting your iBeacon broadcast.
-Once configured, the 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 iBeacon 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 center button for 2 seconds until the LED light flashes red once, then release the button.
Blue Charm BC063 Water-Resistant iBeacon Configuration Parameters
The default configuration settings are as follows:
Broadcast Mode: iBeacon
Device Name: pBeacon_n (when connectable) or SCBEACON (when not connectable). The regular non-connectable device name can be reconfigured to any name with maximum length of 12 characters. The connectable device name will always remain as pBeacon_n.
UUID: Main app screen shows CC6ED3C0-477E-417B-81E1-0A62D6504061. If you do want to change it, please enter new UUID in the modification screen WITHOUT dashes. (link to random UUID generator)
Major (ID2): 2. Can be reconfigured to any number between 0-65535
Minor (ID3): 9999. Can be reconfigured to any number between 0-65535
Period: 1000 milliseconds (i.e. 1 second). Can be reconfigured to any number between 100 and 9000.
Tx Power: 0 dBm. Can be reconfigured to -23, -6, 0. 0 is the most powerful setting, -23 is the weakest. 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).
Calibrated RSSI at 1 meter: -64 dBm. This number is factory-set and can not be modified.
Blue Charm BC063 Water-Resistant iBeacon Password Change:
PLEASE NOTE: The default password is 666666.
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.
-Use the same process described above to connect to the beacon. Click on the little gear icon in the upper right corner of the modification screen. You will then be taken to the password modification screen. Enter the old password, then enter the new password twice. Click modify to save it.
–The beacon will now automatically shutoff (you will see the LED flash red once if you are paying close attention, signifying the beacon has been shut down). The beacon device name will still appear on the AXABeacon app unrefreshed main screen beacon list, but if you click the refresh circle in the upper right hand corner of the app screen, you will see that it disappears from the list (because the beacon has been shut down).
-Turn the beacon on again to see it appear in the AXABeacon app screen again.
-Remember, the device name will still show as “pBeacon_n” for the first two minutes, signifying it is connectable during this time. Just wait two minutes, refresh the scan by clicking the refresh circle in the upper right hand corner of the app screen, and the correct device name (the one that you modified or perhaps “SCBEACON” if you did not modify it) will appear.
(Android configuration steps are now complete)
INSTRUCTIONS FOR iPHONE VERSION OF THE CONFIGURATION APP
Get the configuration app for iPhone
-Download the “AXABeacon” app by AXAET from the iPhone App Store.
-Open the app on your iPhone.
Turn the beacon on
-Turn on the beacon by pressing and holding down the larger button on the back side for 2 seconds until the LED light flashes green once, then release the button.
Switch to the app’s “Tag” screen
-When you first open the app on your iPhone, you will see a screen that has “Beacon” in the upper left. We won’t get into the details of this screen at this point, since it is not used for configuring. Briefly, for future reference, you can click the UUID in the upper right corner of this screen, enter the UUID of any beacon that you are watching, then when you go back to the “Beacon” page, if the beacon is nearby, you will see it’s info on this screen including Major, Minor, and estimated distance in meters. But you can’t connect to the beacon here for configuring, so skip this step for now.
-Tap the “Beacon” in the upper left corner to switch to the “Tag” screen. The tag screen shows any and all BLE devices near your phone.
-Place your new iBeacon close to your phone so that it will appear on the top of the list. (It’s easier to find it that way, especially if you have lots of BLE devices around you; you might be surprised when you first see this list showing how many BLE things there are around you!)
-You should be able to see your beacon on this tag screen now if you have previously turned on your beacon as per above instructions. Either named pBeacon_n or SCBEACON. Continue reading below for more info on this.
How to make the beacon connectable
-The beacon will be connectable for two minutes after you turn it on. (“Connectable” means you can connect to it with your smart phone and the AXABeacon app to configure its settings). The beacon device name will appear in the AXABeacon app “Tag” screen as “pBeacon_n” during this connectable period.
-If the deviceName shows as “SCBEACON” (or perhaps some other name that you have already changed it to) then the beacon has been turned on for over 2 minutes and is no longer connectable for configuration. If you have already configured the beacon, then that’s perfect. If you have not yet configured the beacon, you will need to turn the beacon off, wait 3 seconds, then turn it back on again to make it connectable again (Device Name will then show as pBeacon again on the “Tag” screen of the app).
-To change the configuration of the beacon, use the AXABeacon app to connect to the beacon during this connectable period. (If you don’t see the beacon on the list, refresh the scan by clicking the magnifying glass in the middle of the top section of the app “Tag” screen; if the two minute connectable window has expired, then turn the beacon off and back on again; then click the magnifying glass to rescan again). To connect with the beacon, click on its name on the screen.
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- iPhone version – Tag List shows the beacon with name pBeacon_n; Connectable indicates YES.
-After connecting with the beacon, you will then be able to change the parameters according to your preference (see below for details about parameters). In the example below, we are changing the major value from 2 to 1. Finally, enter the beacon password:
The default password is 666666.
After entering the correct password, click “modify all” at the bottom of the configuration screen. Wait a few seconds as the app quietly communicates with the beacon and sends over the new configuration to it. (On some phones, the password text entry box may be covered up by your phone’s keyboard. If so, tap “Hidden” to hide the keyboard or use your phone keyboard’s “Next” key or tap on the Name entry box to reveal the password entry box).
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- iPhone version – main connection screen showing the current settings
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- iPhone version – we are going to change the major from 2 to 1. Then enter password, then click modify all.
–The beacon will now automatically shutoff (you will see the LED flash red once if you are paying close attention, signifying the beacon has been shut down). The “pBeacon_n” device name will not appear on the AXABeacon app tag screen list because the beacon has been shut down automatically and is no longer broadcasting).
–Turn the beacon on again to see it appear in the AXABeacon app “Tag” screen again.
–Remember, the device name will still show as “pBeacon_n” for the first two minutes, signifying it is connectable during this time. Just wait two minutes, refresh the scan by clicking the magnifying glass, and the correct device name (the one that you modified or perhaps “SCBEACON” if you did not modify it) will appear. The iPhone version app “Tag” screen will now show that the beacon is “CONNECTABLE: NO”; that is totally fine since you no longer need to connect to it. Remember, you only need to connect to a beacon to change its configuration. During normal usage, beacons DON’T need a connection (unlike Bluetooth headphones or other such stuff).
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- iPhone version – two minutes has elapsed and the beacon now shows its regular name and is no longer connectable
-Your beacon is now broadcasting your iBeacon broadcast.
-Once configured, the 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 iBeacon 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 center button for 2 seconds until the LED light flashes red once, then release the button.
BC063 Apple iBeacon Configuration Parameters
The default configuration settings are as follows:
Broadcast Mode: iBeacon
Device Name: pBeacon_n (when connectable) or SCBEACON (when not connectable). The regular non-connectable device name can be reconfigured to any name with maximum length of 12 characters. The connectable device name will always remain as pBeacon_n.
UUID: Main app screen shows CC6ED3C0-477E-417B-81E1-0A62D6504061. If you do want to change it, please enter new UUID in the modification screen WITHOUT dashes. (link to random UUID generator)
Major (ID2): 2. Can be reconfigured to any number between 0-65535
Minor (ID3): 9999. Can be reconfigured to any number between 0-65535
Period: 1000 milliseconds (i.e. 1 second). Can be reconfigured to any number between 100 and 9000.
Tx Power: 0 dBm. Can be reconfigured to -23, -6, 0. 0 is the most powerful setting, -23 is the weakest. 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).
Calibrated RSSI at 1 meter: -64 dBm. This number is factory-set and can not be modified.
Blue Charm BC063 Water-Resistant iBeacon Password Change:
PLEASE NOTE: The default password is 666666.
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.
-Use the same process described above to connect to the beacon. Click on the “Modify Password” button on the modification screen. You will then be taken to the password modification screen. Enter the old password, then enter the new password twice. Click OK to save it.
–The beacon will now automatically shutoff (you will see the LED flash red once if you are paying close attention, signifying the beacon has been shut down).
-Turn the beacon on again to see it appear in the AXABeacon “Tag” screen again.
-Remember, the device name will still show as “pBeacon_n” for the first two minutes, signifying it is connectable during this time. Just wait two minutes, refresh the scan by clicking the magnifying glass, and the correct device name (the one that you modified or perhaps “SCBEACON” if you did not modify it) will appear.