STAGE — River Gauge E-Paper Setup Tool

00 — Network (optional)

Skip entirely if the Pi already has working WiFi — the install still needs an existing connection to reach it over SSH in the first place. Add networks here for the Pi to connect to in addition to that one — a work WiFi, a mobile hotspot for on-the-go setups, a backup network in case the primary one drops, and so on.

The Pi Zero W/WH/2W/2WH only has a 2.4GHz radio — it cannot see or join 5GHz networks. If a network you add doesn't show up, check whether it's actually a 5GHz-only SSID (or a dual-band router broadcasting the same name on both bands, where the Pi will only ever connect to the 2.4GHz half).

The generated script stores each password in plain text, same as any Pi WiFi setup. Don't post the generated script somewhere public once it has real passwords in it.

Fallback setup hotspot

If the Pi can't reach any known WiFi network (wrong password above, network changed, moved somewhere new), it broadcasts its own network so you can fix WiFi from a phone or laptop instead of re-flashing the SD card. Joining that network should pop the config page up on its own, like hotel WiFi sign-in does — no need to know the Pi's address. Only activates when normal WiFi is unreachable — otherwise stays off and out of the way.

Hotspot name (SSID)

Defaults to "<display label>-setup" if left blank.

No password to set here — the Pi generates a fresh 8-digit PIN and shows it right on the display whenever the hotspot is active, like a 2FA code. It changes periodically while nobody's connected, and holds steady once someone is, so it never gets pulled out from under a setup in progress.

01 — Display hardware

2.13" e-Paper HAT

250×122, single gauge. The original setup — one reading, one display.

Default

2.7" e-Paper HAT

264×176, 4 onboard buttons. Map each button to its own gauge and flip between them on the device.

Multi-gauge

02 — Stationrequired

Display label

Shown as the title on the display. Keep it short — long names get cut off at this screen size.

USGS site number *

Find yours at waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt — it's the number in the gauge's URL. Must report the measurement you pick below.

Measurement

Not every gauge reports both — check your site's page for which one it actually publishes before picking.

03 — Display behavior

Rising / falling trend arrow

Compares the latest reading to the recent baseline and draws a small arrow next to the flow number.

Flip display 180°

Turn on if your case or mount holds the panel upside down relative to the ribbon cable.

Full refresh every update

Clears ghosting completely, at the cost of a brief flash on every refresh. Turn off for smoother partial updates with occasional ghosting.

04 — Schedule

Refreshes per hour

Picks evenly spaced minutes for you — e.g. 4/hour sets :00, :15, :30, :45. Fine-tune or add your own below.

Refresh minutes, each hour

Click a chip's × to remove it. Spacing minutes out (rather than every 15 min on the dot) can help catch gauge updates that don't land on a clean interval.

Offset refresh by +2 minutes

Runs 2 minutes after each time above instead of exactly on it — e.g. :00 becomes :02. Helps avoid a race if USGS happens to publish its update right at the top of the interval, so the fetch doesn't just miss it.

Active hours

Run 24/7 (no quiet hours)

Skips the active-hours window entirely — refreshes happen around the clock. Only worth it if the Pi is plugged into wall power; on battery this burns through it much faster.

Display only updates between these hours. Outside this window, it just sits showing the last reading.

05 — Power saving

Disable HDMI at boot

Free power saving for a headless display — no downside if you're not plugging in a monitor.

Turn WiFi off outside active hours

Meaningful battery savings, but the Pi becomes unreachable over SSH during that window too. Only enable if you're comfortable with that trade-off. Not recommended in multi-gauge mode, since the display service keeps running (and needs WiFi) around the clock to respond to button presses.

06 — Battery / button (optional)

PiSugar model

Wires up the PiSugar's own onboard button — separate from any e-paper HAT buttons above — so pressing it forces a live refresh instead of waiting for the next scheduled update.

Preview

.147 with the WiFi symbol beneath it (dashed box above) — the last 3 digits of the Pi's IP address. Use it to find the device on your network and reach its web config page at :8080.

07 — Generated install script

copied