a good solar charge controller should have a undervoltage cut of
we built a smal thing that can monitor the line voltage/ batt voltage and temp
in connection with a small powersupply that has a charger for a battery included we use these as powersupplies with monitoring for our stations
it also works with the mikrotik ups packet ;-))
scripts for temp and powerfail and low batt alarms are also reday…
Some more explanation on this script please? Does it only have to be run once at startup or does it need to be run every 5 minutes or so? Any chance of an English translation?
Lokking for something similar. Several of my AP’s (rb532A’s) are running on ordinary 12V battery’s with low amp battery charges. In case of a powercut the rb’s run much longer then similar costing UPC’s
Also, lost already some standard MT 12v adapters. With battery don’t need them.
By monitoring the voltage input (POE supply) I would like to have the router send me an warning message by mail when the power drops below a certain voltage. This way I know when there is a powercut (charger down) but the rb still runs on the battery. This way I can intervene before the router really goes down because of power drop.
A UPC can’t do the job. It maintains the same output power untill it ´dies´. Connecting the rb’s serial to the UPC is not an option since the rb’s are up in masts and powered by POE.
So, my question, if your script uses the UPC package, how is actually the voltage monitored? Just on the board where it comes in by POE? I don’t know of any voltage monitor on the rb’s so far?
hi
you cant monitor the voltage directly
but you can messure the input voltage - if you split it from poe
and just plug it in into the power jack
should work with our module that you can plug into the serial port
a new version oft the voltage/temp control script will be postet on wiki in e few days
Sounds interisting. But what if the rb is inside an outdoor case 6 meters high in a mast? the box has no more space to have any module connectiong to the serial port.
And how do you split the power from the POE port to lead it to the power jack?
I don´t know…
the module is tiny - a bit larger then a wireless module - should fit with a short serial cable
and when you put only the 2 pairs of the network cable with data into the rj45 plug an the other 2 pairs (blue=+/brown=-) into a plug for the powerjack you have won …
or just use a rj45 double connector and get the voltge from there…
Odie: I am definately interested in your modules. You make these yourself? Or where to get them. I´m not a elec.dude so don´t want to make it myself. If it all would fit in a watertight standard box I definately want to get something like that.
Tully: Yeah, the rb333 will probably my future investment for AP’s. That will solve my problem in new future setups. Thanks, I thougt I red something like that but couldn’t find it last night… must have been too tired!
Browsing on the web found this: http://www.ipenabled.com/sp2.html
Maybe a bit more on cash spending but could be handy for some occasions and would also give the ability to monitor lots more, water, temp. etc. If you don´t want to work with your hands but let your wallet speak could be a nice alternative.
Is this thread dead? I was looking around for a method to do this as well.
I have found a device that can monitor temp, and external temp, voltage on 3 different inputs (eg solar panel, battery, etc) it also has a load sensor, I don’t recall how much of a load it will handle. The odd ball thing is that the device needs 3 - 6 volts to work, but can monitor voltages higher then that. The best part is that it has a serial interface that ti sends the data to. Now, it seems all good, but I have no clue on scripting, but I’m sure the device will work for what seems to be wanted. It is small enough to fit in an anttenna enclosure with a RB.
In search of the serial device I also came across a device that had a RJ45 connector, and a small processor on it, wit several analog, and digital inputs and outputs. They were mentioning that it could be programmed with basic, as well as otehr programming laguages, since it had ram on it, and an eeprom, assuming it runs a scrip on it as well, and could monitor or do whatever you want with ethernet connectivity. This device was about 1 inch wide, 2 inches long, and 1 inch tall. very small!
But to my original question, is this idea dead? or is there a use for this voltage monitoring?
I don’t know much about scripting but what I use for battery backups are standard ups’s. The 1 at our main gateway was 160 dollars at office max and is a 24 volt unit. Then I remove the origainal battery and hook up larger deepcell batteries. I have 4 large batteries in 2 seperate series for 24 volt setup and it is capable of very long run times (have tested up to 4 hours and still going). There is a cisco 2800 with 2 wics, a fortigate 400 router, a trendnet 24 port switch, 1 pc for intermapper network monitor and 3 seperate wireless radios outside the building. I also have another unit that was 60 dollars at walmart and it is a 12 volt unit. On this one I only used 2 deepcell batteries because I didn’t have to hook them in series because of the unit being 12 volts. With a setup like this you don’t have to worry about low voltage and the charger is built in. However it can take a while to recharge low batteries due to there size. Hope this helps.