Wireless PAB Extension

[CaptCrash]

Well the project is getting a bit closer to being complete.

Of the outstanding tasks, I have most of them now complete

Buttons/Menu Systems
The buttons and the menu now operate without impact on the operation of the radio link. Changing settings still requires a restart and this will interrupt the link, but otherwise, everything operates on a reliable basis.

Documentation
Quite a bit of documentation has been added to the source code, this has helped to clean up the code as well, as there was still some code that was present for previous debugging.
The source code now also has a cabling guide to assist with wiring the modules.
This includes pin outs for Arduino Pro Mini 5V and Arduino Mega boards (my two test platforms).

Outstanding tasks remaining
* Update the Transmit/Receive pair addresses based on the channel selection (currently to use more than one radio link, these addresses need to be changed per pair in the source code). I have forgotten to do this, more code changes ...

* Publish source code, schematics, bill of materials etc

* Route a final PCB, design a case and mount the hardware, I am 1/2 way through doing this, I need to finish routing the PCB, then test fit the components, solder it up and confirm it works (or fix what doesn't). Then design case to suit the final structure. This is proving to be a bit more painful than I had hoped. Getting my little PCB mill to mill double sided boards is proving to be a bit painful. It also doesn't help that Im learning some new milling software at the same time.

[doggydoc10]

Awesome. Thanks for the update. Can't wait to see the final results


Always at sea;

Dr. Antonio Longo

[JosephWatts]

Thanks for discussing such a useful information here.
I also want to build a wireless system for the range if upto 1Km with a speed of 2Mbps.
Is it possible using the Arduino and the NRF24L01?
Or you people would like to suggest any other module?

circuit board manufacturing

[CaptCrash]

Thanks for discussing such a useful information here.
I also want to build a wireless system for the range if upto 1Km with a speed of 2Mbps.
Is it possible using the Arduino and the NRF24L01?
Or you people would like to suggest any other module?

1Km for the NRF24L01 would be quite a challenge, it may be possible with external directional antenna but would be skeptical that the speed of the communications would be maintained.
My tests have all been much shorter than this, initially with the onboard antenna. With these a step up in speed 1/2's the distance.

From what I have read (I have not tried high gain or directional), 1Km+ distances are possible, but not with 2Mb/s only with 250Kb/s using the standard NF24L01+ LA + Antenna. You may be able to achieve better with a high gain directional antenna rather than the standard omnidirectional antenna but this would need to be tested.

Of the things I have read about, the one that looks most interesting is http://hackaday.com/2012/05/18/addin...ly-for-meters/ however as is mentioned in the linked page comments, there may be regulatory issues with doing such a thing depending on where you are.
Another choice would be the introduction of a Yagi antenna on each end of the link (details on operation here http://www.marcspages.co.uk/tech/index.htm), however knowing if this would mean you can achieve 1Km at 2Mb/s is beyond my level of knowledge.

[WernerP]

any news on the wireless PAB test?

[CaptCrash]

Its been working well since I last posted.
I had one issue with a microwave oven being used and making it loose connection as the oven was quite noisy (electronically).
I simply moved the microwave further away from the receiver and its been fine since.

There is still a little bit of tidy up on the code but over all it working really well, I should get back to tidying it up and making a better case for both ends so it doesn't get damaged by the damp air.
Overall Im very happy with it.

I have used the same idea to work on another project to see if I can deliver firmware to the various PAB devices I have. I am looking to record the firmware delivery to a single powerbar 6D PAB. This is logged to a microSD card. Then I can attach my recorder to each of the other powerbars and replay the firmware. This way I don't have to go through the silliness of dragging cables to each and every powerbar to do a firmware update.

If I can reverse engineer the process enough, Ill make it so that I can just put firmware on the MicroSD from a computer (shock horror, even a mac) and then send that to the target (hello updates for touch, expansion box and powerboat without most of the day in effort).
At the moment, Im having an issue with talking to the microSD and the CAN bus at the same time, I should really get back onto making it work as my equipment is getting a bit behind in terms of firmware and I would rather spend the effort making the process smoother than to go through another lot of cabling fun.

[CaptCrash]

I noticed the other day that someone was looking for a method of connecting powerbars wirelessly to their profilux controller.
Unfortunately I wasnt able to respond at the time, so Im posting in this thread hoping that the person will notice.

If this is something you are looking for (wireless PAB extension), then let me know.

[doggydoc10]

That would make my life sooooo much easier!
Yes 100%


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[faltaren]

Does ghl have any plan replacing the pab with wireless?

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[CaptCrash]

That would make my life sooooo much easier!
Yes 100%

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Hi, Would you like a list of the parts needed or do you want units put together?
I am happy to send you a list of parts to purchase and solder together yourself, I can then send you the source code for the arduino's.
Or if you want I can build up a little bundle for you and post it to you in a box.

If you want it made up, let me know how many you want and Ill price up the parts, I expect it will be about AUD$120 including freight world wide per pair assembled and tested.
The parts are around AUD$70 if ordered from eBay or about USD$180 from SparkFun (a more reputable and reliable source). Its about an hour of soldering and then 15-60 minutes to install the software onto the two arduinos depending on if you have the libraries installed on your PC or need to download them.

Let me know what you would prefer

If enough people are interested I can do a batch, work out the costs etc and offer it as a project or complete kit.
This would probably bring the cost down a bit per unit, as there would be less freight etc and I can do another run of boards, so its just plug together rather than soldering each kit up, saving heaps of time and making it more reliable.

Also just to make sure people don't have too high expectations, this has only been tested on my two systems.
They are PIII Ex based with power bar's, touch, expansion boxes etc. One of these systems has a heap of powerbars 6D PAB's (6 I think) and three expansion boxes. So quite a bit of measurement going on, lots of PAB messages and it has been very reliable.
I have not used it with the P4 or the new powerbar's/expansion boxes, so this may need some additional testing and/or changes to the code

I just want to make sure people have a reasonable expectation.