the latest update of WD has a new version of HB1 wirereader
with support for the 8 channel 1 wire relay
where you can set which channel is turned on or off via a schedule or triggers (temperature and windspeed…I could add rain too)
I could add iphone/android app control over your local LAN (WIFI) easy enough (e.g like how the WDliveapp works)
but to do control over the internet to your phone is harder…will need to think about the best way to do that
Your addition of the 8 channel relay open so many possibilities for home automation or links into other projects based around external conditions, on my wish list would be:
Rain detected/Rain stopped
Day/Night -
Lightning detected - maybe linked to Thunderstorm limit with so many strikes per second as recorded on WD, so relay operates irrespective of type of system used to detect the lightning,
A future enhancement could be adding AND - OR to the triggers/relays, so for example if rain was detected and lightning detected a relay would trigger giving a sort of confirmed result.
The use of a remote means of operating a relay would add a great deal of value to me.
As an aside - do the inputs on the 8 channel relay board do anything?
my understanding is that you have 8 inputs and 8 outputs
I am opening the outputs (LED light glows)
and I would presume then that then closes the circuit (from the input)
Ah OK, when I had a play with the board nothing much happened so I assumed it needed to have some level of processing via a working connection to a PC.
As I read it, if you leave the the “Relay Control” switch for a channel “on”, and you apply an appropriate voltage (or link to the +5) on the corresponding input, then the relay for that channel will switch. But the manual isn’t very clear, and I’ve no idea how the software knows if a channel is being used for an input or an output :dontknow:
[quote]The 8-Channel I/O supports eight channels of input or output. By default all eight output relays are enabled. If a channel is used for input the output relay can be disabled by sliding the appropriately numbered relay control DIP switch (marked
I can get the relay LED to light up and you can hear a click
so the relay (output) is being energised
but using my Digital voltmeter and set to make a sound when there is a circuit, I can not find any circuit! (tried all pin combinations)
That’s odd, have you tried putting a piece of wire in the relay terminals and tightening them down, and then trying the meter on continuity, maybe their is a coating on the pcb stopping a good connection.
You can set up to use an input trigger , lets say you have a RG-11 Rain sensor
You can have the output , open or closed
So we want the RG- 11 output to go high when rain its the sensor and low know rain
This feeds the input on the relay board by using the 5v setup on the relay board
to make a hi or low input trigger ,which will make the relay output switch on or off
This setup is a stand alone ,not connected to the pc
Using with wd setings will triggered the output relay ,
Use as a switch relay on or off .so if wd is set to trigger the I/o board when it rains
The output relay should switch on or off or maybe set a timer in wd for the relay to stay on
for a time limit
Will setup some info on my website with images showing different setups
This is really looing good, the temperature has a defined on/off, how does the wind, rain and lightning relay know when to turn off after the parameter has been met or exceeded or is it as simple that when the wind or lightning fall below threshold the relay changes state, and with the rain relay, this resets at midnight?
Couple of yet further suggestions, could the relay indicators be numbered 1 - 8 and the wind have an 5 minute average check box for wind exceeded, just to remove gusts from tripping the relay in and out.
will need to probably have it a user selectable or similar how the rain and strikes and wind thresholds are reset?
eg wind below a certain speed it turns off
and when rain resets to 0 (midnight) or no rain for a period of time etc
I have come up with a way to control the 8 channel relay from a mobile device over the internet…
(i.e to turn/off channels…override)
using Dropbox data store (which is a free to use web service API)
(uses your dropbox account (free to setup))
(i.e utilises a simple database)
I have a test app working…just a demo of changing data in a simple database…which will be used to send what replays to open/close
do you have an android phone?
I received the new Hobby Boards 8 pt relay board today. I have had a HB lightning detector running for several year usung the Dallas 1-wire reader wiith WD.
I went to the FAQ and found the 1-wire setup instructions and kind of remembered what I did to get the lightning detector to work. Stopped WD.
Downloaded and installed the new zip version bld 293. I downloaded the drivers ( 64-bit for W7&8 ) and installed since the drivers I had were several years old. Was v403, now v404…
Ran the new version HB1 program. Pressed the search button and found the lightning detector. Copied and pasted the address and pressed save.
Went to the 8pt relay page and it the search, copy, paste and save. Did the test relays and all looked good. The closed the HB1 program.
Restarted the new version WD. The 1-wire program started as normal, along with webcam capture, croncloud, and realtime clientraw FTP.
No HB1 startup.
Tried restarting the computer, with the same results
Manually starteded HB1 program with 1-wire reader still running. 8pt relay does test switch but no automatic operation.
No errors found in the error log.
Questions.
0. What did I miss?
Should HB1 start automatically
Should the 1-wire reader and HB1 both be running
HB1 has no USB/Serial setup - does it get info from the 1-wire setup?
This looks like this board has a lot of possibilities.
Thanks,
Gus