Crescent City

At a glance

The key numbers

Board revision V2.0. Battery and charging figures are measured on V2.0 boards.

Also on the board: Qwiic / STEMMA QT (I²C) connector, 2×12 header pins, addressable RGB LED, BOOT and EN buttons.

Full spec sheet

Getting started

From the box to your first upload

The board arrives ready to use — no soldering, no drivers. Steps 1–2 get the built-in demo online; steps 3–4 set you up to write your own code.

1. 1

   Plug it in

   Connect the board to any USB‑C charger or computer port. It powers up and starts the built-in Weather Clock on the OLED display.

2. 2

   Put it on your Wi‑Fi

   On first boot the board creates its own Wi‑Fi network called HW‑WeatherClock. Join it from your phone and a setup page opens (or go to 192.168.4.1). Pick your home network, enter its password and your location, and choose °F or °C. Your local time and weather appear on the display.

   The board uses 2.4 GHz Wi‑Fi. If your router broadcasts separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz names, choose the 2.4 GHz one.

   Setup details

   Location: country, state or province, and city. A ZIP or postal code works in the city field, or type latitude, longitude instead. The board looks the place up and shows what it found. If it can’t find the place, the setup page opens again so you can correct it.

   RGB LED: tinted by the temperature outside.

   BOOT button: a short press shows an info page (location, firmware version, IP address, battery). To change Wi‑Fi or location later, hold BOOT for 3 seconds.

3. 3

   Set up the Arduino IDE

   Install the free Arduino IDE, then open File → Preferences and paste this into Additional boards manager URLs:

   https://espressif.github.io/arduino-esp32/package_esp32_index.json

   Open Tools → Board → Boards Manager, search for esp32, and install esp32 by Espressif Systems, version 3.3.6. Then pick ESP32S3 Dev Module under Tools → Board.

   Arduino settings

   Match these settings under Tools:

   Board	ESP32S3 Dev Module
   USB CDC On Boot	Enabled
   Flash Size	8MB (64Mb)
   Partition Scheme	8M with spiffs (3MB APP/1.5MB SPIFFS)

   Stay on version 3.3.6 of the board package: versions 3.3.7–3.3.10 have a Bluetooth bug.

   No driver install is needed — the board uses the ESP32‑S3’s native USB, which Windows 10/11, macOS, and Linux recognize out of the box.

4. 4

   Upload your first sketch

   Select the board’s port under Tools → Port, paste this in, and click Upload. The onboard LED cycles red, green, blue:

   #define RGB_PIN 48   // onboard RGB LED
   
   void setup() {}
   
   void loop() {
     neopixelWrite(RGB_PIN, 40, 0, 0);  delay(400);  // red
     neopixelWrite(RGB_PIN, 0, 40, 0);  delay(400);  // green
     neopixelWrite(RGB_PIN, 0, 0, 40);  delay(400);  // blue
   }

   If the port doesn’t appear or the upload won’t start: use a data-capable USB‑C cable, or hold the BOOT button while plugging the board in, then try again.

5. 5

   Keep going

   Take the board tour below, grab the pinout diagram and user guide, then build something from the example projects — including the full source of the Weather Clock your board shipped with.

Board tour

Know your board

Both sides, and what everything on them does. Photos show a V2.0 board, with the OLED display fitted on the front.

Front

What’s on the front

• ESP32‑S3 module up top — its antenna end sticks out past the board; keep it clear of metal.
• EN (reset) and BOOT buttons, with the RGB status LED between them.
• USB‑C for power, charging, and programming.
• CHG and SYS ON indicator LEDs by the USB port.
• Qwiic / STEMMA QT connector (JST‑SH 4‑pin) for solder-free I²C sensors.
• Pin names printed beside every header pin, so you can wire it up without flipping the board.

Back

What’s on the back

• Every header pin labeled on the back too — power (3V3, GND, 5V_IN), GPIO numbers, and TX/RX.
• 30‑pin ribbon connector for the OLED display.
• LiPo battery connector (JST‑PH 2.0 mm) with polarity marked + / −.
• Board revision code printed along the edge (EE202603B on V2.0) — include it when you contact support.

70.1 × 25.4 mm (2.76″ × 1.00″) · ≈76.4 mm incl. antenna overhang · 0.1″ header pitch, breadboard friendly · Designing an enclosure? Download the 3D model (STEP)

Downloads

Documents & references

Missing something? Email us and we’ll send it over.

Example projects

Four ways to start building

Support

Stuck? We’ll help.