Submitted by Michael Gold (not verified) on Thu, 07/30/2009 - 04:52.
Hello,
Great work on this project thus far! Your version of the of the Powermax optoisolator-based design is very accessible for a relative newbie like me (who works on software by day and is a hardware hobbyist only at night).
I ordered all the parts from (substituting parts that I had on hand like the powerstrip that are specific to the US grid) and I assembled the circuit on a solderless breadboard as per the schematics and the instructions. (If its of interest I can upload the list of part numbers I ordered from my US-based supplier). The build went smoothly, and I think I have a working power monitor circuit.
That said, on the software side of things, I'm encountering a couple of issues:
1) The Arduino sketches seem to be functioning, and I am getting serial data, however the frequency calculations seem to be off. Using my 'device under test' (a 100-watt incandescent light bulb - soon to be an antique we hope) I am getting readings like 89.xx, 102.xx etc. My first thought was perhaps the issue can be attributed to the difference in frequency (60Hz on this side of the pond). I looked at the at the Arduino code and didn't see anything specific to the 50Hz used in the UK that I would have needed to convert to 60Hz. On the other hand, I did see a call to delayMicroseconds() (set to 669), and changing that value seems to affect the frequency reading. What is the 669 microsecond delay for?
2)In the Java viewers I am not able to zoom - the X and Y buttons are not functioning when I click them.
for reference:
#java -version
java version "1.6.0_14"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_14-b08)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 14.0-b16, mixed mode, sharing)
Next I think I'm going to try to get everything working with one of my xBee modules...
Electronics seems to be working, Software too - mostly....
Hello,
Great work on this project thus far! Your version of the of the Powermax optoisolator-based design is very accessible for a relative newbie like me (who works on software by day and is a hardware hobbyist only at night).
I ordered all the parts from (substituting parts that I had on hand like the powerstrip that are specific to the US grid) and I assembled the circuit on a solderless breadboard as per the schematics and the instructions. (If its of interest I can upload the list of part numbers I ordered from my US-based supplier). The build went smoothly, and I think I have a working power monitor circuit.
That said, on the software side of things, I'm encountering a couple of issues:
1) The Arduino sketches seem to be functioning, and I am getting serial data, however the frequency calculations seem to be off. Using my 'device under test' (a 100-watt incandescent light bulb - soon to be an antique we hope) I am getting readings like 89.xx, 102.xx etc. My first thought was perhaps the issue can be attributed to the difference in frequency (60Hz on this side of the pond). I looked at the at the Arduino code and didn't see anything specific to the 50Hz used in the UK that I would have needed to convert to 60Hz. On the other hand, I did see a call to delayMicroseconds() (set to 669), and changing that value seems to affect the frequency reading. What is the 669 microsecond delay for?
2)In the Java viewers I am not able to zoom - the X and Y buttons are not functioning when I click them.
for reference:
#java -version
java version "1.6.0_14"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_14-b08)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 14.0-b16, mixed mode, sharing)
Next I think I'm going to try to get everything working with one of my xBee modules...
Overall, really nice work!
Michael