Event Station - User Manual

Event Station

Smart e-ink calendar for your home

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. First Startup
3. WiFi Setup
4. Calendar Setup
5. Timezone Setup
6. Altitude Setup
7. Event Filtering
8. Calendar Display
9. Weather Station
10. Changing Settings
11. Factory Reset
12. Firmware Update
13. Power Saving Mode
14. Technical Specifications

1. Introduction

Event Station is an e-ink calendar display that shows events from your online calendars. It connects to WiFi, downloads events from up to 8 calendars, and displays them on an 800×480 pixel e-paper display.

Main features:

• Display up to 32 calendar events
• Support for iCal and CalDAV formats (Google Calendar, Apple iCloud, Nextcloud, etc.)
• Mini calendar with 5 weeks, dots marking days with events
• Optional weather station (temperature, humidity, pressure)
• Battery operation with long life thanks to deep sleep

2. First Startup

After first power-on:

1. The display shows the Event Station logo and version number
2. After 5 seconds, WiFi hotspot information appears
3. You will see a QR code for connection and the WiFi network name

WiFi network name format: EVENTS-XXXXXXXXXXXX (where X are unique characters for your device)

3. WiFi Setup

Connection steps:

1. On your phone or computer, connect to the EVENTS-XXXXXXXXXXXX WiFi network (no password)
2. The configuration page will open automatically (captive portal)
3. If it doesn't open automatically, enter the address shown on the display (e.g., http://192.168.4.1) in your browser
4. Select your home WiFi network from the list
5. Enter the WiFi password
6. Click Save and Connect

After successful connection, the device will connect to your WiFi network and start downloading calendars.

4. Calendar Setup

The device supports up to 8 calendars simultaneously. Events from all calendars are merged and displayed together.

Supported URL formats:

• webcal://... - standard shared calendar link
• https://... - HTTPS link to iCal file

How to get calendar URL:

Google Calendar:

1. Open Google Calendar on the web
2. Click on the gear icon next to the calendar → Settings and sharing
3. In the "Integrate calendar" section, find "Secret address in iCal format"
4. Copy this address

Note: You must be the owner of the calendar. If the calendar is only shared with you by another user, the "Public address in iCal format" and "Secret address in iCal format" fields will not be displayed.

Apple iCloud:

1. In the Calendar app on Mac, right-click on a calendar
2. Select "Share Calendar" → "Public Calendar"
3. Copy the generated URL

Microsoft Outlook:

Connecting MS Outlook calendar is possible, but depends on how you use Outlook:

Outlook.com (Microsoft 365 / Hotmail / Live):

1. Sign in to outlook.live.com
2. Go to Settings → Calendar → Shared calendars
3. In the "Publish a calendar" section, select a calendar and set permissions
4. Click Publish and copy the ICS link
5. Paste this link into Event Station

Outlook (corporate Microsoft 365 / Exchange):

Depends on your company settings:

• If the administrator has enabled web calendar publishing, you can get an ICS link as described above
• If this feature is disabled (common for corporate accounts), direct connection won't be possible
• Alternative: Some organizations allow calendar export via SharePoint or third-party tools that generate iCal URLs

Outlook Desktop App:

Desktop Outlook does not provide a direct URL. You must use the web interface at Outlook.com or Exchange OWA (Outlook Web Access).

Entering URL in settings:

1. In the configuration interface, find the Calendars section
2. Paste URLs into fields "Calendar URL 1" through "Calendar URL 8"
3. Empty fields are ignored

Calendar Prefixes:

You can assign a custom prefix (up to 12 characters) to each calendar, which will be displayed before the title of every event from that calendar. This is useful for:

• Distinguishing events of individual family members
• Identifying the event source (work vs. personal)
• Quick visual overview of who the event belongs to

Usage Example:

Tip: Leave the prefix field empty if you don't need it.

5. Timezone Setup

In the Settings section, select the timezone from the list:

• Prague
• Bratislava
• Vienna
• Berlin
• Warsaw
• London
• New York
• Los Angeles

The timezone affects event time display and automatic daylight saving time switching.

6. Altitude Setup

If you have a BME280 sensor connected for atmospheric pressure measurement, enter your location's altitude in meters.

This value is used for:

• Correct calculation of relative atmospheric pressure
• More accurate weather forecast based on pressure

Default value is 250 m. Range: -500 to 9000 m.

7. Event Filtering

Event Station allows you to filter displayed events based on text contained in the title, location, or description. This is useful for:

• Displaying only events related to a specific meeting room
• Excluding blocking events (e.g., with title "NA" or "Blocked")
• Showing only events with a specific keyword

Filter Setup:

1. In the configuration interface, find the Calendars section
2. Select Event Filter mode:
   • Show all events - filter is disabled (default)
   • Show only matching - shows only events containing the specified text
   • Exclude matching - hides events containing the specified text
3. Select Search in: Title, Location, or Description
4. Enter Filter text (search is case-insensitive)

Usage Examples:

Note: The filter applies to all configured calendars simultaneously.

8. Calendar Display

The display is divided into several sections:

Top section (28%):

• Large day number - current day of the month
• Day name - Monday, Tuesday, etc.
• Month and year
• Mini calendar - 5 weeks, red dots mark days with events
• Indicators - battery status and WiFi signal strength

Calendar name (5%):

• Shows the name of the first successfully loaded calendar

Event list (57%):

• Date - day and weekday abbreviation
• Event name
• Time - start and end (for timed events)
• Location and description - if provided
• Sundays are highlighted in red
• All-day events don't show time

Footer - weather station (10%):

• Humidity, temperature, and atmospheric pressure (if sensor connected)

9. Weather Station

If a BME280 sensor is connected, the footer displays:

Humidity:

• Value in percent
• Status: Very Dry / Dry / Slightly Dry / Ideal / Slightly Humid / Humid / Very Humid
• Recommendation: "Humidify" or "Ventilate" depending on the situation

Temperature:

• Displayed in large font in °C

Atmospheric pressure:

• Value in hPa
• Weather status: Storm / Rain / Cloudy / Partly Cloudy / Clear
• Trend: "Improving" / "Stable" / "Worsening"

Humidity and pressure analysis takes into account the season (winter/summer) and altitude.

10. Changing Settings

To change settings (WiFi, calendars, timezone, etc.) you don't need a factory reset. Just:

1. Briefly press the RESET button on the back of the device
2. Wait for the calendar to display, followed by a popup with a QR code
3. On your phone or computer, connect to the EVENTS-XXXXXXXXXXXX WiFi network (no password)
4. The configuration page will open where you can change all settings
5. After saving settings ("Save and Connect" button), the device will update

Tip: The settings popup only appears after pressing RESET (power-on), not after automatic wake-up from sleep mode.

Note: If the popup doesn't appear or disappears, press RESET again.

11. Factory Reset

To restore factory settings:

1. Press and hold the RESET button
2. While holding the button, power on the device (or press RESET again)
3. The display will show "(Press RESET for factory settings)"
4. Within 5 seconds, press RESET again
5. "Factory reset in progress..." will appear
6. All settings including saved calendars will be erased

After factory reset, the device returns to the first startup mode.

12. Firmware Update

The device supports automatic over-the-air updates (OTA):

• On each power-on (not on deep sleep wake-up), it checks for available updates
• If an update is available, "Updating firmware..." is displayed
• After completion, the device automatically restarts

Manual update is possible through the web interface at /update-firmware.

13. Power Saving Mode

The device uses deep sleep for minimal power consumption:

During the day (6:00 - 23:00):

• Update every hour on the hour
• Automatic wake-up before event start or end

During the night (23:00 - 6:00):

• Wake-up at midnight (for date change)
• Next wake-up at 6:00
• If an event is scheduled at night, it will wake up for it

Protection mechanisms:

• Maximum active mode duration is 5 minutes
• After timeout, the device enters infinite sleep
• To wake up, press the RESET button

14. Technical Specifications

Event Station - User Manual