Thank you for your response. I can confirm that there is activity on the TX pin following a reset. The operation of holding the boot button and tapping the reset button during the 'connect' attempt, did not produce any different result. Anything else I might try? I do have another pair of ESP32 unit...

Hello, I am in the process of setting up a pair of NodeMCU ESP-32 units where one will act as a web server and the other, a web client. The end result will be a unit atop my ham radio tower (mounted on the antenna mast) that will provide me compass heading, temperature, humidity and barometric press...