Energymeterpulsesensor locks up. <SOLVED>
-
Hi guys Im about at my wits end after a day and a half of trying to sort this issue, would appreciate some input.
Arduino IDE is 1.6.5
MYS version is 1.5.4
Have latest version of domoticz running on ubuntu on an HP mini.
Node sketch is v 1.0 unmodified except for a 20000 millis send frequency down from 100K I think, running on a pro mini.
All radio connections to the pro mini are soldered.
Gateway is working fine with my polytunnel node and has done for many months.
RF24L01+ PA LNA with 'adapter board' also have wee ceramic cap soldered across VCC and GND on the back of the adapter and big cap stuffed into the header sockets although I think these come on the adapter board too? Extra caps cant hurt? Didnt solve the problem anyway.
PSU is 5V 1A wall wart with direct feed to the RF adapter (has built in 3.3v reg, you know the one). Its all inside a plastic box wrapped in tinfoil aside from the aerial. Earths are all common. PA_LEVEL is set to HIGH. I might have had some transmission and interference issues to start with but have pretty much ruled them out now. I have swapped out the radio, the pro mini, the PSU and the adapter so hardware is not at fault.
I have set up a serial monitor on the PC MINI (ubuntu/domotics machine), and believe in linux you can have two apps accessing the same serial port, seems to work for me.
With domoticz not running the node happily IDs itself and pings away every 20 seconds as it should on the (gateway) serial monitor. As soon as I start domoticz however the gateway sends out the last known meter reading and the node goes quiet. If I reset the node it sends out its 'hello guys' lines then goes quiet again
The only thing I can think of is that I have yet to successfully tape the light sensor to the flashing LED in the meter box, as it needs to be pointing right at it with the board horizontal to reliably pick up and I need to make up a plastic thing to keep it in the right spot. So there is no signal coming from the light sensor. I cant read the code very well, could this be my problem?
Have attached GW log below, copied off the linux box serial monitor. The last line is when I start domoticz and it sends out the last known meter reading (dont know where this came from, I didnt enter it anywhere).
Many thanks,
Matt Little0;0;3;0;9;gateway started, id=0, parent=0, distance=0
0;0;3;0;14;Gateway startup complete.
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=255,c=3,t=11,pt=0,l=12,sg=0:Energy Meter
2;255;3;0;11;Energy Meter
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=255,c=3,t=12,pt=0,l=3,sg=0:1.0
2;255;3;0;12;1.0
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=1,c=0,t=13,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
2;1;0;0;13;
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
2;1;2;0;24;
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
2;1;2;0;24;
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
2;1;2;0;24;
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
2;1;2;0;24;
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
2;1;2;0;24;
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
2;1;2;0;24;
0;0;3;0;9;read: 2-2-0 s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
2;1;2;0;24;
0;24;
00;9;read: 1ad: 2-2-0 s=0;0;3;0;9;send: 0-0-2-2 s=1,c=2,t=24,pt=0,l=5,sg=0,st=ok:10677
-
<SOLVED>
OK so my presumption/suspicion was right, does need to be sending an active signal for the node to transmit any data.
Seems to be working well now, just have to find a spot in my long house where the gateway will reliably talk to the polytunnel AND the meter reader.
And for any others struggling with this, especially getting the sensor LM393 to work, I found it needs to be pointed directly at the LED in my meter, not side on. To achieve this I drilled a small hole in the top of a jam jar lid and epoxied the board to it, then taped the lid to the meter. Seems to be working a treat now. YAY! Thanks MS team, you have a great product. Next step is temp sensors for the kids bedrooms and a relay on their heaters (winter is coming to the deep south of NZ)
Cheers,
Matt
