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Forum Index : Electronics : Piclog over the net.
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
Some of you may be aware the PicLog has the ability to create a simple web page which displays the current readings. The web page is handy because you can see what your windmill is up to, from a remote location, providing you have a web server and a permanent internet connection with fixed IP. I'm adding a new feature to the Piclog to make this remote logging a lot easier. Basically, the new version of the PicLog will send its data to TheBackShed, and everyone will be able to see the live data online. Its only a small change to the PicLog software, most of the hard work will be done by the web server at thebackshed. The web site will display the current windmill ( or solar ) data, as well as several customizable graphs and reports. Plus you can visit the web site at any time to see what your windmill is doing during the day while you are away. The server can display data for several windmills, anyone who has a PicLog and wants to share their data online. There is a lot more to tell you about it, but you'll have to wait for a week while I get the code up and running. Oh, and it will work with Petes power logger too. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
Well I've been working on the new Piclog version 1.5 over the last few weeks between paying jobs. The new Piclog has a lot of bug fixes as diagnosed by several forum members, special thanks to Gordon, Phill and Pete for pointing them out. I've also added the ability to send log data to a remote server. To use the remote logging, your Piclog computer would need a internet connection with access to www.thebackshed.com. In the post above I said it would need a dedicated IP address, but this isn't necessary. The Piclog sends its data as a web page request every 10 minutes, and thebackshed.com's server saves this data into a database. Why 10 minutes? Why not every 1 minute? Lets do the maths. Say we use 1 minute intervals, thats 1440 records sent per day, 525,600 per year, for only one PicLog. If we end up with 10 piclogs sending data, then thats over 5 million records per year. While the database will handle that many records, its still a lot of data thats not really needed. If we send data every 10 minutes, we reduce this data volume 10 fold, while still having more than enough data for our graphs. I did do some experiments using 1 minute, 5 minute and 10 minute intervals, with the data overlaid on the one graph, and all 3 intervals display the same on the graph, though the 1 minute interval line was very fuzzy. To display the data, I've using a Java graphing script that draws the graph on a web page. At the moment its displaying graphs for watts, volts and wind speed, over a 24 hours period. And it displays two days over eachother, making it easy to compare data from two different dates. More graphs will be added in the future. The graphs are live, so you can see how a windmill / solar panel / etc is performing at any time, from anywhere that has access to the internet. You could be at work and see how your windmill is performing during the day! Below is a set of graphs, display two days on top of eachother. 
The Piclog software has a few changes. The Setup screen now has a option to reset the watt hours at midnight, the software will either reset the watt hours every night, or keep a running tally. I'll be adding RPM and Wind Speed peak recording as well. Also added is the remote logging options, where you set the PicLog ID and Pin, and server address. The ID and Pin will be provided by me when I set up the server to accept data from your PicLog. 
The Calibration screen now has a amp reading filter, to filter out small changes around 0 amps. These small fluctuations can cause tray watt and watthour readings, especially if you use a Allegro current sensor or current transducer to measure current. 
If you enable the remote logging, the PicLog screen will widen to display a extra panel. This extra panel is a mini web browser, and is used to send the data to the remote server. It also displays the web page sent back from the server, confirming the data was saved in the servers database. 
I've been running the updated PicLog and server software for a couple of days now, but I have a problem, as you can see from the PicLog screen above, no wind! So I've connected up my solar panels to act as a power source for testing, you can see the rise and fall in the watts graph above, as the sun rises and falls during the day. Problem is, its not much good for comparing watts to wind speed or RPM, one of the graphs I want to add. So I'm looking for a couple of beta testers, forum members who are running a PicLog on a PC with internet access. If your interested, let me know and I'll send you the updated PicLog software, a ID and Pin to access the server. The PicAxe chip software is unchanged, so no need to reprogram it. Petes power logger will also work with the new PicLog 1.5 Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
I've given up on the windmill for now and plugged the solar panels back in. The graph test page is at http://www.thebackshed.com/piclog/Report3.asp. Its a pretty intense chunk of java, might take a few seconds to load the first time. Works better in Firefox than IE. The PicLog crashed last night with a overflow error, and I was running the executable so couldn't see what caused the error. So I've fired it back up under VB6, now when it crashes I'll be able to track the error. The traffic between the server and the piclog is just like visiting a web page using a web browser, its safe because its only going to one specific web page, and that web page contains no code other then pure HTML. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
If you are looking at the graph, move you mouse over the points and it will display the values at that point. It will also display any notes the PicLog owner has added to a specific record. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| dwyer Guru  Joined: 19/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 573 |
Hi Glenn Where i able get fully made piclog kits? same with Charge controller? As unfortunately l don’t have time to building the electronic kits any more maybe l have the feeling that lost my interesting in electronic over the years 
Dwyer |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Hi dwyer, I could send you a prebuilt logger and controller kit if you feel my design is exceptable for your needs. I have tried to not go this path as i dont want to be seen as flogging commercial products through the forum and would hope that some learning of electronics is gained from kit assembly. You poor old bugger i will make an exception for you 
Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| dwyer Guru Joined: 19/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 573 |
Hi Pete Many thank for your reply yes l still need a prebuilt logger and controller kit in next couple of month time so l can send you my e-mail ?? yes l am poor old bugger sometime very grumpy bugger 
At the momest l am still doing some testing my design windmill mount on the box trailer and i drive up and down the road with Tev's blades to see how the windmill performs . Dwyer |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
I had to do a bit of fault finding tonight. The data stream to the server stopped just after 7pm. I had a look at the laptop running PicLog and it all looked fine, but it wasnt receiving any data from the com port. I suspected the USB to Serial adapter, but even after a reboot I wasn't recieving COM data. Fired up the CRO and checked the serial output from the PicAxe chip. Again, no data burst. Hmm, had the chip died, do I have a spare? Multimeter in hand, I measured a few voltages, and discovered the 5v rail was down to 1.8v! Was it loaded? The 7805 regulator was running cold, as was eveything else. I pulled the PicAxe chip and the rail voltage jumped up slightly to 2.5 volts. Ah-ha, a faulty regulator. Swapped the 7805 for a spare and the PicLog burst into life. I think the faulty 7805 has been stressed in the past, running on 24v without a heatsink. There were signs of heat damage, so I fitted a heat sink a few days ago before I put it back into service. It only gets slightly warm with the heatsink fitted. I now think the original 7805 was damaged and not regulating properly, and gave up the ghost tonight. Now that the PicLog is up and running with a new 7805, I see the voltge calibration is slightly out, and I would guess the amp calibration is out too. I'll re-calibrate these tomorrow. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
Yes Gordon still want beta testers, but didn't say when. Give me a couple of days to make sure I havn't broken anything in the software with my changes. I would like to have a 48 hour run without any hickups before I release it. Last night the 7805 died, and early this morning the PC rebooted itself after a windows update, arghhh! Fingers crossed there are no more unexpected outages. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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GWatPE Senior Member  Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
For those readers looking at helping out with testing. I run my important logging applications upon PC startup using logging to start with program startup, and my PC reboots after a power outage, so the only way logging is stopped, barring hardware failure is by the operator. Software updates and reboots may create gaps in the dataset, but logging tries to continue. Hi Glenn, do you intend to offer a listbox type choice of data to view? I prefer to mouse click to navigate the web. Browsing data is a chore if you have to key stuff in. The filenames become important when listing the data. Gordon. become more energy aware |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
Yes normally I do run PicLog on startup, but in this case I was running PicLog from the VB6 development environment, so didn't have that option. Most options on the web based log screen will be mouse driven, including date selection. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| windman1000 Regular Member  Joined: 21/06/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 91 |
you can count me in on testing logger to site, i dont have much wind but i can hook a a 50watt solar panel to the piclog with the mill. WindMan |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
Thanks Windman, glad to have your help. I'm just tidying up the software, found a small bug in the Wind Speed measurement, it was saved correcty on the remote server, but I had broken it when it saved to the local copy. Fixed now. Also fixed a couple of the bugs Gordon pointed out. I'll send you and Gordon a copy of the new version tomorrow after tonights test run. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| windman1000 Regular Member Joined: 21/06/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 91 |
Ok Im online Sudgestions Its Showing kmh for windspeed and im mph, and a drop down menu for other online logger members would be nice. it way to soon to see if its working ok or not but it looks great so far. Thanks Glenn |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
Hi Windman Yeah I'll set up the kmh, mph, ms, fs etc in the database, so it displays correctly for each member. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| GWatPE Senior Member Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
Hi Gizmo, With regard to the details that can be displayed. Is it possible for the column headings to stay visible in the browser window, while the data is still scrolled? Once the headings are scrolled off the screen, the columns no longer have much meaning. This would be like the freeze panes feature in EXCEL, or the headings on a listview box in VB6. Is the link that is in the thread, still pointing to the latest browser code? Hi windman, what about furlongs/fortnight. I might just fix my anemometer, so windspeed makes some sense. Gordon. become more energy aware |
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| windman1000 Regular Member Joined: 21/06/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 91 |
Well This online logger seems to be working great. The drop down menu for logging members is a nice touch. Glenn you have done a great job here again,To make things easy for you in the future you need to make up some kinda sign up / login form to get the members login ID an PIN so you dont need to make them up for every new member who wants to post there data on the online logger. ------------------------------------------------- Gordon? Hi windman, what about furlongs/fortnight. ------------------------------------------------- I think I miss something. anyway great job glenn Windman |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
Hi Windman Yeah it seams to be working fine. Its actually kind of cool, to see a PicLog on the other side of the planet sending its data to thebackshed here in Australia. Its phoning home 
I'll be making changes to the web pages over the next few days. Get it to display mph instead of kmh, add more graphs and reports, and sort out some time zone issues ( by default the main report displays yesterdays and todays data, but since your a day behind, it displaying todays and tomorrows data  . Needless to day, tomorrows data is empty ).
Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
I forgot to mention, I'll be adding the ability to edit your online data records. Say for example there was a sudden change, like a dump load cut in, or a storm passing over. Or even if you set up the piclog calibration wrong and it recorded massive spike in watts, which I have done before. You will be able to edit the online figures to change the values and/or leave a note to explain the change. Using your PicLog id and pin, you can log in and be able to click on each records to make changes. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5016 |
I just changed my system back to 12v from 24v. I had changed it to 24v a few weeks ago while testing one of Phills wind turbines, but all my gear runs on 12v, including the inverter. The last couple of days the dump load has cut in a few times, I have too much power and no way to burn it off without wasting it on the dump load. So I've gone back to 12v, connected up the 300 watt sine wave inverter, and connected the laptop power supply to that. With the laptop up and running the inverter draws 3 amps at 12v. I should look at powering the ADSL router from the same inverter, then the whole installation isn't costing me anytihng in electricity. Problem is the router is a long way from the inverter, will have a think about it later. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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