Re: Re: Remote energy metering

[Chris Hunter <cjhunter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul -

thanks ... sounds like you've got a really good system evolving=20=20
there !   'will be good to see the home-page, too ...

I'd forgotten that the QRI (& QRH) units had digital inputs as
well=20=20
as relays, with pulse counters ... and hadn't caught-up on the pulse-=20
counting capabilities of the (eight-channel digital) ODI units ...=20=20
either way offers a very economical solution, too !   I was worried=20=20
about bandwidth on the bus being used-up by counting, but clearly the=20=20
counters mean that won't be a problem !   The object approach of=20=20
Cortex makes a lot of sense, too ... the more I get into it, the more=20=20
I like it !   And the DRM100' looks to be just the job ... how=20=20
accurate do you think the measurements are, by the time they are=20=20
displayed by Cortex ?

Putting it all together, keeping a proper track on everything now=20=20
looks to be very affordably possible !   Both as a basis for auto-=20
checking & verifying the overall operation & situation, and
for=20=20
allowing remote re-assurance - maybe a PDA version of Bwired - http://=20
www.bwired.nl/ - could be a good thing !

Now, if I could find a way forward on controlling our hi-fi, I'd have=20=20
a full house - with the two EK' VIA 'boards now available, I think I=20=20
at last have the motherboards identified (using the back-panel serial=20=20
socket for Idratek, and two of the three on-board COMs pin-out sets=20=20
for the hi-fi - each to have ASCII strings going in both directions,=20=20
for control & feedback), but I can't yet see a way of doing the
ASCII=20=20
strings while running Idratek ... the Idratek GPC unit would seem to=20=20
offer some hope, as also the user-macro capabilities of Idratek, but=20=20
'not sure they would take me all the way !!

good luck !

Chris


On 7 Apr 2007, at 13:01, lexfordparc wrote:

> Chris,
>
> Sorry for taking a while to respond to your request, work has
been=20=20
> manic including night shift.
>
> Sorry for taking a while to respond to your request, work has
been=20=20
> manic, including night-shift.   My Idratek system for Power=20=20
> Monitoring uses a QRI-001 : Quad 4A Relays / Inputs - as the
inputs=20=20
> are capable of pulse counting.   However, Idratek have updated
the=20=20
> firmware of the ODI-001 : Octal Digital Input to allow pulse=20=20
> counting & this will be my final solution - in addition, the
module=20=20
> is likely to change slightly to allow more pick-ups at 0V =85=20=20
> currently it only has one.   So, basically, I have some
bell-cable=20=20
> from the DRM100S, which connects to the digital input of the=20=20
> QRI-001, which connects to Idranet over Cat-5e shielded cable.  
I=20=20
> have a central server for the house, based on a Mini-ITX=20=20
> motherboard - VIA EN15000, running Windows 2003 R2 Server (no
need=20=20
> to run a server OS =85 I do, because I am in IT & look after
Windows=20=20
> servers all day).   Cortex then displays the pulse-counter
object,=20=20
> supplied by the QRI-001 as a graph (realtime, cumulative, and=20=20
> periodic).   So, at the moment, I am monitoring the kitchen ring-=20
> main =85 this consumes on average 2KWH per day (mainly kettle,=20=20
> washing machine, and dishwasher).
>
> Hope that gives you an overview? I am currently putting together
my=20=20
> homepage which will have more info and pictures in a few weeks.
>
> Paul