TR8 Manual - Dog agility timer

Short version

Your TR8 arrives ready to use. The keyfob is already paired, with its two buttons set to Treat and Refill — load the platter, press Treat, and a treat drops. Nothing needs configuring.

The one thing worth knowing up front is how to reach the machine’s own web page, where you’ll find the treat button, the battery levels and every setting:

Slide the power switch down. The status light settles into a slow blink once the machine is ready.
Join its WiFi. On your phone, look for a network starting with TR8-000. The password is password. Ignore the “no internet” warning — you’re connected straight to the machine.
Open http://42.42.42.42 in a browser. Type the http:// yourself; some phones assume https://, which won’t work.

Do anything on the phone first. As soon as you press a button on the keyfob, the machine shuts down its WiFi and puts all its power into remote range. Switch it off and on again whenever you want the web page back.

That’s everything most people need. The rest of this manual is reference — read the bits you need, when you need them.

What you have
Switching on
The web page
Teaching the keyfob
Using the keyfob
Loading treats
The button on the machine
Beeps and blinks
If something’s not right
The handheld remote

What you have

The TR8 machine. Holds the treats on a round platter and turns it one position at a time. It has a power slide switch, a status light, a buzzer and optionally a microphone and temperature sensor.
The keyfob. A small 433 MHz remotes. It has 2 buttons preset to Treat and Refill. It can be configured as seen below.
Your phone/tablet/computer, for setup and for checking on things. The machine hosts its own page — no app, no account, no internet.
A “Smart” handheld remote with a screen is available as an alternative to the keyfob — you use one or the other, not both. If that’s the one you have, skip to the last section.

Switching on

Slide the switch down. That’s the power switch on the machine. Slide it back up to switch off.
Watch the status light. After a moment it settles into a slow blink, about once a second. That means the machine is up and ready and can be accessed with the phone. After the first button is clicked on the remote it will stop all internet services and focus on the remote to increase range.

Switching off and on again really is the fix. A couple of the machine’s modes only end at a restart — that’s deliberate, not a fault. Whenever the web page has gone quiet or the machine seems asleep, slide the switch off, wait a couple of seconds, and slide it back down.

The web page

This is where you set the machine up, and where you check on it later. Your phone joins the machine directly.

Open your phone’s WiFi settings and join the network named after your machine. Look for access points starting with TR8-000. The password is password.
Ignore the “no internet” warning. There isn’t any — you’re connected straight to the machine.
Open a browser and go to http://42.42.42.42. Some phones add https:// automatically and that will not work. On most phones / computers you can access it with tr8-00.local (replace 00 with your number).

The page has three tabs along the top.

The main tab

Everything at a glance, refreshed every few seconds. The small heart beside the logo beats each time the page hears back from the machine, and vanishes if it stops answering.

Item	What it tells you
Treat	A big button — one press, one treat.
Beep	Tick to let the machine beep, untick for silence.
Platter	The fitted size, with the number still loaded in brackets, plus buttons to refill the count and to step to the next size.
Unit and remote Battery	The machine’s own charge, in volts and percent. If a “Smart” remote is connected you will get that info as well.
Machine ID and Remote ID	This machine’s identity code. And the remote ID.

The Config tab

Where you teach the keyfob — see the next section — plus a few settings you’ll touch rarely.

Join your home, work, club WiFi. Optional. Tap the dropdown to scan, pick your network, enter the password, press Connect & Save. You can add up to 5 networks. The machine restarts and joins the strongest one – and keeps its own network running too, so http://42.42.42.42 never stops working.
Timeout Minutes. How long the machine waits before going to sleep. Leave it at 0 to keep it awake and reachable at all times.
Only Access Point Mode and Force Long Range are for unusual installations. Forces the TR8 to not check for wifi networks even if it has details. And to setup to max range for the “Smart” remote.

Sleep needs a restart to undo. If you set a timeout and the machine reaches it, it sleeps properly — the light goes out and it stops answering. Only switching off and on again brings it back. Set the timeout to 0 if you’d rather it stayed awake.

The Log tab

A running list of what the machine has done — when it started up, when it joined a network, and any jams. If you ever need to report a problem, this is the useful bit to send. It clears every time the machine restarts.

Teaching the keyfob

Your keyfob arrives already taught — Treat and Refill. You only need this section if you want to change what a button does, add one of the other two actions, or set up a replacement keyfob. You teach one button at a time, and the machine remembers it for good.

Do this on the Config tab of the web page, in the section headed RF Remote near the bottom.

Decide which keyfob button does what. Four actions can be taught, listed below. Most people start with Treat.
Press Record beside the action you want.
Press the keyfob button within fifteen seconds, holding the fob near the machine. The page counts down while it waits.
Check it took. The page says Code saved! and a number appears beside that action. If it says Timed out, press Record and try again — closer to the machine, and a firm press.
Repeat for any other buttons you want to use.

Action	What that button will do
Treat	Turns the platter and drops one treat. The one everybody teaches.
Refill	Resets the treat count after you’ve reloaded the platter.
Platter	Steps to the next platter size — see Loading treats.
Sound	Turns the machine’s beep on or off.

You don’t have to teach all four. If your keyfob only has one or two buttons, teach the ones you’ll use and leave the rest blank — an untaught action is simply ignored. Clear unlearns a button if you want to reassign it.

Finish your setup before you start pressing Treat. The first press of the keyfob’s Treat button switches the machine’s WiFi off, and the web page with it. See the next section — it’s normal, but it means anything you want to do on the phone should happen first.

If there’s no RF Remote section on your Config tab, your machine wasn’t built with the keyfob receiver fitted.

Using the keyfob

One press, one treat. Hold the button down and it still only gives one — the machine ignores the repeats, so you can’t accidentally empty the platter.

The Treat button switches the WiFi off. The first time you press Treat after switching on, the machine turns itself into a plain clicker: it shuts down its WiFi entirely, so the web page can no longer reach it. The status light changes to a fast flicker to tell you that’s happened.

It’s a power-saving measure and it’s meant to happen — the keyfob keeps working perfectly, and so do the Refill, Platter and Sound buttons. Only the phone connection goes. It comes back when you switch the machine off and on again.

So the routine is: do anything you need on the phone first, then use the keyfob as much as you like.

The other three buttons — Refill, Platter and Sound — don’t switch the WiFi off. You can use them with the phone still connected.

Loading treats

Drop one treat into each hole in the platter. Every press then turns the platter by exactly one hole, so one press is one treat.

Tell the machine which platter is fitted

Platters come in 9, 15 and 21 holes. The machine counts down from whichever size it’s been told about, so the two need to match.

Press your keyfob’s Platter button, or the next-size button on the web page, to step to the next size. It goes 9, then 15, then 21, then back to 9. Three short beeps confirm each change. Stop when the number matches the platter you’ve fitted.

The size is remembered, so this is a one-off unless you swap platters.

Refilling

When you top the platter back up, tell the machine so its count starts again: press the keyfob’s Refill button, or the refill button on the web page. Two short beeps confirm it.

When the count reaches zero you get five beeps, once. The machine will still turn if you keep pressing — the count is bookkeeping, not a sensor, so it can’t actually see the treats.

Beeps and blinks

The machine tells you what it’s doing without a screen. Beeps are silent when you’ve turned the beep off — except the two warnings, which always sound.

Sound	Meaning
One long beep	Treat dispensed.
Two short beeps	Count refilled.
Three short beeps	Platter size changed.
Short then long	Beep switched on.
Long then short	Beep switched off.
Five beeps, once	The platter count has reached zero. Reload and refill.
One long two-second tone	The platter didn’t turn properly. See below.

Status light	Meaning
Slow blink, once a second	Normal. Ready, and reachable from your phone.
Fast flicker	Clicker mode — the keyfob’s Treat button or the machine’s own button has been pressed, and the WiFi is off. Restart to bring it back.
Briefly off	A turn is in progress.
Steady on	Working, with WiFi in its long-range setting.
Dark, nothing happening	Asleep, or switched off.

If something’s not right

What you see	What to do
The keyfob does nothing	If it’s new, it hasn’t been taught yet — see Teaching the keyfob. Otherwise try closer to the machine, check the machine is on, and if it still won’t respond, teach the button again.
The keyfob works but the web page won’t load	Expected — pressing Treat switches the WiFi off. Switch the machine off and on again to get the page back.
One long two-second tone, and no treat	The platter tried to turn and couldn’t. Switch off, check nothing is jammed in the platter or wedged under it, and that treats aren’t oversized for the holes. Switch back on and try again.
The web page won’t load, light blinking slowly	Check your phone is still joined to the machine’s own network — phones often wander back to your home WiFi on their own.
Nothing at all — no light, no response	It has either gone to sleep or run flat. Switch off and on again; if it comes back, charge it, and consider setting Timeout Minutes to 0.
The count doesn’t match the treats	The count is bookkeeping, not a sensor. Reload the platter, then refill the count. Check the set size matches the platter you’ve actually fitted.
It turns but no treat comes out	Usually a hole that was left empty, or treats too large to fall freely. Try a smaller or rounder treat.

The “Smart” remote

A larger remote with a screen and two buttons, sold separately, as an alternative to the keyfob. It shows how many treats are left and how both batteries are doing.

It replaces the keyfob rather than adding to it — a machine is set up for one remote or the other. If you’re using the keyfob, you can stop reading here.

Press	What happens
Treat	Dispenses one treat. The screen flashes Treat!
Reset, once	Refills the count after you’ve reloaded the platter. Shows Refill.
Reset, twice quickly	Steps to the next platter size. Shows Platter >
Reset, held for a second	Turns the machine’s beep on or off. A speaker icon shows which.

Reading the screen

■ ■ ■ ■ □ □ □ □ □

Host: 4s              Sleep: 71s

██████░░░░    ████████░░

Four treats left of nine, the machine answered four seconds ago, and the remote will nod off in a minute or so.

Row of boxes: One box per hole in the platter. Filled boxes are treats still to come.
Host: 4s: How long ago the machine last answered. A small, steady number is a healthy link.
HOST OFF: Shown inverted when the remote can’t reach the machine. It keeps retrying by itself.
Sleep: 71s: Countdown to the remote nodding off. Any button press resets it.
The two bottom bars: Battery level — the remote on the left, the machine on the right.

Pairing it

The handheld and the machine learn each other’s identity the first time they’re in range. Switch both on, stand near the machine and press Treat a few times, a couple of seconds apart. When HOST OFF is replaced by Host: 1s, they’re paired — and a treat should have dropped. Both remember it, so this is a one-off.

If they won’t find each other, give it a minute first — the handheld retries by itself every thirty seconds. If it still won’t connect, clear the pairing and start again: on the machine, visit 42.42.42.42/deleteclientmac. On the handheld, wait a minute for it to open its own network — TR8-00-remote, password password — join it, and tick Clear TR8 Machine ID on the Config tab.

Sleep

The handheld nods off after about ten minutes idle and the screen goes dark. Press Treat to wake it. That first press only wakes it — press again for a treat.