OWNERS

There’s a gadget on your desk. Now what?

Everything else on this site is written for people deciding. This page is for people who already have one, including the ones who didn’t buy it themselves and have no idea what it is yet.

Just unwrapped one?

Somebody gave you a small screen that watches something real. There’s no app to download and no account to make: plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port with the cable from the box, join the setup network it broadcasts from your phone, and hand it your WiFi details and whatever it needs to know about where you are or what to watch. Find yours below for its exact steps. The whole thing takes a few minutes.

Moved house, or changed the WiFi?

Your gadget holds on to the network it was set up on, which is lovely right up until that network stops existing. To run setup again, hold the screen for 5 seconds. Some start differently: Seismic Sentinel starts the hold as you plug it in, Pro Football Scoreboard needs about eight seconds, and Phosphor uses its CFG menu instead. What happens next differs a little from gadget to gadget, so each one’s start-over steps are in its row below. Then its setup network comes back, you join it from a phone, and you hand over the new details the same way as the first time. If something still won’t cooperate, its manual is the next place to look. If that doesn’t settle it, message me on Etsy. I wrote both the firmware and the manual.

Scanned a code and ended up here?

You’re in the right place. Pick your gadget below for what came in its box, how setup runs, and where its manual lives. If your question isn’t on this page, the FAQ covers the common ones, and you can message me on Etsy. I built the thing.

QUICK REFERENCE

Find your gadget

What shipped in the box, the steps its setup page walks through, and how to start setup over after a move or a new router.

Storm Sentinel

WiFi desktop weather station

IN THE BOX

  • Storm Sentinel unit, fully assembled
  • Removable desktop stand
  • USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches)
  • Stylus (the touchscreen works fine with fingers, too)

No wall adapter is included. The cable’s USB-A plug goes into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port.

SETUP

  1. Plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port with the included cable.
  2. On your phone, join the “StormSentinel-Setup” WiFi network. If the setup page doesn’t open by itself, open a browser and go to 192.168.4.1.
  3. Enter your home WiFi name, password, and zip code, then tap Save & Connect.
  4. Done. It restarts, joins your WiFi and shows your local weather within a minute or two.

START OVER

After a move, a new router or a new WiFi password:

  1. Hold the screen for 5 seconds.
  2. The screen says Entering Setup... and it restarts into setup mode.
  3. Join “StormSentinel-Setup” from your phone again and enter your WiFi name, password and zip code, the same as the first time.

Read the Storm Sentinel manual What it does, screen by screen

Satellite Sentinel

ISS & Starlink tracker

IN THE BOX

  • Satellite Sentinel unit, fully assembled
  • Custom desktop stand
  • USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches)
  • Stylus (the touchscreen works fine with fingers, too)

No wall adapter is included. The cable’s USB-A plug goes into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port.

SETUP

  1. Plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port with the included cable.
  2. On your phone, join the “SENTINEL-SETUP” WiFi network. If the setup page doesn’t open by itself, open a browser and go to 192.168.4.1.
  3. Choose your home WiFi from the list and type its password, then enter your zip code and choose your time zone. Tap Save & Connect.
  4. Done. It restarts, downloads fresh satellite data and has tonight’s passes ready in well under a minute.

START OVER

After a move, a new router or a new WiFi password:

  1. Hold the screen for 5 seconds.
  2. A red bar counts down, and at 5 seconds FACTORY RESET? appears. Lift your finger, then tap ERASE AND RESTART. Tapping CANCEL, or 15 seconds without a tap, changes nothing.
  3. It erases your WiFi network, location and time zone and restarts into setup. Join “SENTINEL-SETUP” and run setup again.

Read the Satellite Sentinel manual What it does, screen by screen

Seismic Sentinel

WiFi earthquake tracker

IN THE BOX

  • Seismic Sentinel, fully assembled
  • Desktop stand
  • USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches)
  • Stylus (the touchscreen works fine with fingers, too)

No wall adapter is included. The cable’s USB-A plug goes into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port.

SETUP

  1. Plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port with the included cable. Until setup is saved, the screen shows a large QR code and the status light breathes red.
  2. Point your phone’s camera at the QR code and accept the prompt to join the SeismicSentinel-Setup network; most phones then open the setup page automatically. Without a camera, join SeismicSentinel-Setup from the WiFi settings of any phone, tablet or laptop and browse to 192.168.4.1.
  3. Choose your home network and type its password, then enter a city and state or a ZIP code (spell the town carefully, since it’s looked up after the restart), your time zone, kilometers or miles, and the radius and minimum magnitude for alerts.
  4. Press Save & Connect. If the unit can’t get on your network, the page gives the reason (a wrong password, say). Once it’s on, it restarts and the first USGS reports show up soon after.

START OVER

After a move, a new router or a new WiFi password:

  1. Hold the screen for 5 seconds, starting as you plug it in.
  2. Unplug it. Put a finger on the screen and keep it there while you plug it back in, and hold through the start-up screen until the bar fills and RESET SETUP? appears.
  3. Lift your finger, then tap ERASE AND RESTART. That erases the WiFi, location and alert settings, so you’ll need your WiFi password again. It restarts into first-time setup with the QR code on screen.

Read the Seismic Sentinel manual What it does, screen by screen

Squawk Box

live flight tracker display

IN THE BOX

  • Squawk Box, fully assembled in its 3D-printed enclosure
  • Desktop stand
  • USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches)
  • Stylus for the touchscreen

No wall adapter is included. The cable’s USB-A plug goes into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port.

SETUP

  1. Plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port with the included cable.
  2. On your phone, join the “SquawkBox-Setup” WiFi network. The setup page opens by itself; if it doesn’t, open a browser and go to 192.168.4.1.
  3. Pick your home WiFi from the list, then enter its password, your city and state or zip code, a search radius, and your timezone.
  4. Aircraft start appearing within about a minute.

START OVER

After a move, a new router or a new WiFi password:

  1. Hold the screen for 5 seconds.
  2. When Reset settings? appears, lift your finger and tap the YES button. Tapping anywhere else, or waiting 10 seconds, keeps everything.
  3. That clears the WiFi, your address and the lifetime records. It restarts with “SquawkBox-Setup” back on the air; join it and set up again.

Read the Squawk Box manual What it does, screen by screen

Pro Football Scoreboard

WiFi pro football scoreboard

IN THE BOX

  • Pro Football Scoreboard unit, fully assembled
  • Custom desktop stand
  • USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches)
  • Stylus (the touchscreen works fine with fingers, too)

No wall adapter is included. The cable’s USB-A plug goes into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port.

SETUP

  1. Plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port with the included cable.
  2. On your phone, join the “ProFootball-Setup” WiFi network. Your phone may warn that it has no internet; that’s expected. If the setup page doesn’t open by itself, open a browser and go to 192.168.4.1.
  3. Choose your home network, enter its password, then pick your club (they’re listed by city), time zone and brightness.
  4. Press Save & Restart. The week loads in about a minute.

START OVER

After a move, a new router or a new WiFi password:

  1. Hold the screen for 5 seconds.
  2. Keep holding until ERASE EVERYTHING? appears, at about eight seconds. On the way the brightness changes at one second and a countdown bar appears at three; that’s expected.
  3. Lift your finger, then tap ERASE. That clears the WiFi, your club, time zone, brightness and screen orientation, and it restarts into setup with “ProFootball-Setup” on the air. CANCEL, or 10 seconds without a tap, keeps everything.

Read the Pro Football Scoreboard manual What it does, screen by screen

Phosphor

network monitor display

IN THE BOX

  • Phosphor unit, fully assembled
  • Custom desktop stand
  • USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches)
  • Stylus

No wall adapter is included. The cable’s USB-A plug goes into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port.

SETUP

  1. Plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port with the included cable.
  2. First start only: if the screen asks you to tap each target, tap the center of each crosshair as it appears in the corners. That tunes the touchscreen.
  3. On your phone, join the “PlankLabs-Setup” WiFi network. If the setup page doesn’t open by itself, open a browser and go to 192.168.4.1.
  4. Tap Device Settings (WIFI), pick your home network and type its password. You can also add an extra target to watch and choose a display color. Tap Save.
  5. Done. Verdicts start rolling in within a few seconds.

START OVER

After a move, a new router or a new WiFi password:

  1. Tap CFG, then CHANGE WI-FI. Phosphor puts “PlankLabs-Setup” back on the air.
  2. Join it from your phone and pick the new network the same way as the first time. If the setup page doesn’t open by itself, go to 192.168.4.1.

Read the Phosphor manual What it does, screen by screen

Tide Station

digital WiFi tide clock

IN THE BOX

  • Tide Station unit, fully assembled
  • Custom desktop stand
  • USB-A to USB-C cable, about 3 feet (36 inches)
  • Stylus (the touchscreen works fine with fingers, too)

No wall adapter is included. The cable’s USB-A plug goes into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port.

SETUP

  1. Plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port with the included cable.
  2. On your phone, join the “TideStation-Setup” WiFi network. If the setup page doesn’t open by itself, open a browser and go to 192.168.4.1.
  3. Pick your home WiFi and type its password, then enter your NOAA station ID and choose units and a time zone. The setup page tells you where to look the station ID up and lists ten popular stations.
  4. Tap Save & Connect. Live tide data starts flowing as soon as it joins your WiFi.

START OVER

After a move, a new router or a new WiFi password:

  1. Hold the screen for 5 seconds.
  2. At 5 seconds the screen says Resetting... and it erases its saved WiFi and station, then restarts into setup. Let go sooner and nothing is erased.
  3. Join “TideStation-Setup” from your phone and run setup again.

Read the Tide Station manual What it does, screen by screen

True of all of them

  • It joins 2.4 GHz WiFi networks, not 5 GHz-only ones.
  • It runs on 5 V USB power. No wall adapter is included. The cable’s USB-A plug goes into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port.
  • Updates arrive over the air on their own. There’s nothing to press and no cable to plug in.
  • The data is for delight and general awareness, never for navigation, emergencies, or anything safety-critical.

If it won’t connect

  • Check the network: it needs 2.4 GHz WiFi and won’t join a 5 GHz-only network.
  • No PlankLabs gadget can join a WPA3-only network, or a network that asks for a username or sends you to a sign-in page, which is common on school and hotel WiFi. A normal home password (WPA2) is fine.
  • Retype the password on the setup page.
  • Setup page not opening? Open a browser on your phone and go to 192.168.4.1.
  • Changed routers or moved? Use the start-over steps in your gadget’s row above, then run setup again.

Still stuck?

The manuals go deeper than this page ever will, and the FAQ answers the common ones: WiFi requirements, over-the-air updates, warranty, and what happens if a data source changes. For anything else, message me on Etsy and I’ll answer. That goes for gifts too: you don’t have to be the buyer.

Open the manuals