Setting up monitoring system and configuring OEM kit

See attachment for my questions.

Help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Joe

[Edit: Attachment in-lined for everybody's convenience. RW]

 

Having problems getting my electricity monitoring setup working.
Initially trying to log readings to emoncms site to check the gear is working, but then will update to access the readings at the base station by modifying the open source code.

EmonTx V3 configuration

  • Using pre-built device including firmware;
  • I’ve made no configuration changes to the software;
  • Plug current sensors into CT1 and CT2;
  • Clamp current sensors around two mains leads;
  • Plug in AC- AC adaptor;
  • Red light illuminates for a few seconds then flashes for a few seconds then blinks once every 10 seconds or so.

Questions: I ordered a 433MHz unit, therefore I believe that the default values of RFM12B network group and frequency in the shipped unit should be 212 (or 210, it’s unclear which) and 433; but what about the nodeID? Does the base station need to know the nodeID and group of the EmonTx? Answer is probably yes as instructions state “each non-multi-node receiver must be told the nodeID of each sender it must listen for and decode”. I understand that if I was using a second EmonTx I would need to set this up with a different nodeID to differentiate it from the first unit. I believe that to set allow the EmonTx and base station to talk I need to go to the Raspberry Pi tab on the emoncms page and set the frequency, group (210?) and nodeID, when setting the nodeID here does this set the node ID of the EmonTx as well, or must this be known? If I must know it then how do I determine this for a pre-built EmonTx?
However, I’m not seeing the Raspberry Pi tab on the emoncms page, when the base station is powered up (after the EmonTx).

Base Station configuration
Update oemgateway.conf with the correct frequency of the unit (4) and the Read & Write API Key associated with my account from the emoncms site.
I had to enlarge the SD disk image, set the time-zone and change the password on the pi before I plugged in the RFM12Pi as I couldn’t log in to the Pi with the board attached – is this a problem?
Then I powered down the pi plugged in the RFM12Pi and powered up again. The green led pulses a couple of times, but never again…unless I power up and down, when I get the same sequence.
No values get displayed at the emoncms site, presumably because I’m unable to configure the Pi connected to my account.
Currently my Pi is connected to the internet via an Ethernet cable after having pulled my hair out all day trying to get the pi to talk to my router wirelessly. Has anyone else got this working? Problem appears to be that wlan0 is not available to the pi because the rt2800usb module associated with the wi-pi wireless dongle is not loaded; the module is present but I can’t get it to load. Has the wireless capability of the pi been consciously disabled on the base station image to avoid conflicts with the emon radio messages – can’t see why there should be an issue of having them both enabled. I guess I could upgrade/update the pi software but this might break the base station build.
Please can anyone offer advice:
Primary concern is just getting the system working;
Second is to get pi wirelessly talking to router at same time as emon radio comms.

Robert Wall's picture

Re: Setting up monitoring system and configuring OEM kit

Red light illuminates for a few seconds then flashes for a few seconds then blinks once every 10 seconds or so. This indicates that the emonTx is working correctly.

Does the base station need to know the nodeID and group of the EmonTx? The Group is 210 (where did you get 212 from?) and no, the base forwards the NodeID and does not need it.

If I must know it then how do I determine this for a pre-built EmonTx? It is loaded with the default sketch. The emonTx V3 page tells you what that is and you can find it on GitHub.

I'm not an RPi expert so I'll leave the setup of that to someone who is.  This http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/node/3887#comment-18624 and subsequent posts might shed light on your WiFi problem

 

joehandford's picture

Re: Setting up monitoring system and configuring OEM kit

Thanks for the suggestions Robert. I believe I have a fairly fundamental problem though...

Plugging the RFM12Pi board onto the Pi kills all network connectivity to the Pi. Take the RFM12Pi off and it is addressable again. With a keyboard and monitor attached to the Pi with the RFM12Pi attached it is not possible to logon to the Pi.

Anyone else experienced this?

Cheers, Joe

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