The PyPortal needs to connect to an IoT Relay in order to control power to the outlets. The IoT relay has 4 outlets:

1 outlet normally on
2 outlets normally off
1 outlet always on

Connect your light or appliance to the outlet marked "Normally Off" and connect the PyPortal USB adapter to the outlet marked "Always On". This allows the PyPortal to be plugged into the same IoT relay as the device it is controlling without turning itself off.

You will need to connect the PyPortal to the IoT Relay using the D4 connector. See the diagram below for the wiring. This connector uses 3 wires (white, red and black) but we only use two of them (white and black). Make sure the black wire is the topmost wire on the PyPortal and the rightmost wire connected to he IoT Relay. If you want to extend the wires so the IoT Relay can be placed further away, then read this learning guide for some tips about how to solder wires together for a battery switch, where the techniques explained there will work for extending the wires.

The PyPortal needs to connect to the internet to control the switch remotely. Read the next section on configuring the PyPortal for the internet using the secrets.py file and installing the CircuitPython files.

This guide was first published on Dec 11, 2019. It was last updated on Nov 04, 2019.

This page (Connecting the PyPortal) was last updated on Nov 25, 2019.

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