What to buy and where to start (1st Timer)

Hi people.

i wish to monitor a single phase or if needed a 3 phase supply, what hardware is best? the raspberry pi base with rfm12, connecting to emontx V3 or the auduino??

i also want to know if the GLCD mobile monitor will display a 3 phase reading or each phase one at a time in rotation? 

I would like to build as much as possible as i want to improve my building skills i can even get the boards scribed if anyone has the  pcb layouts .

any suggestions would be much much appreciated .

 

Thanks in advance Bobdylan

Robert Wall's picture

Re: What to buy and where to start (1st Timer)

What is best depends very much on what you want to do - it's rather like asking 'How long is a piece of string'.
If you want the best accuracy and three-phase measurements, then 3 emonTx V3's talking to each other, each monitoring the voltage and current on one phase, is the way to go. If the voltage balance between the phases is good, then you can approximate by assuming that one voltage measurement will be representative and you can use the 3-phase sketch that allows you to have only one emonTx. I believe the emonTx V3 gives slightly better performance at low current levels than an Arduino and EmonTx Shield. 

The Base recommended at present is the Raspberry Pi.

You can modify the sketch running in the emonGLCD to display whatever you like - in moderation. Unfortunately, memory is tight and it's normally not possible to have any more than the sketches available on Github give you. You can swap features but you can add only very little before you run out of memory. Depending on what you want to show and the size of the lettering, it's certainly possible to show 3 powers, but probably not 3 real powers, 3 apparent powers, 3 currents and a voltage on the same screen page and have it readable at a distance.

The emonGLCD will provide a good test of your building skills. I don't recommend having PCB's produced yorself, but if you want to go down that route, all the necessary information is linked from the Wiki.

bobdylan's picture

Re: What to buy and where to start (1st Timer)

Thank Robert , will look into the 3 separate V3, it will be just down to costing.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.