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Wind Sensors
#21
The ESP32 uses more power as some of the power saving stuff is still in development and I have not read enough to solve the issue with losing Wifi during sleep. In my testing via wifi I have not found issue with lag at 10 hz. There is lag to OPENCPN but SignalK has no issues. I have had issues getting the analog part right as my chip does not have the ref voltage fuse burned but I am getting it closer.. I feed the unit via a buck converter as it operates as the base for my anchor light. The Davis not that expensive.. compared to a cheaper unit that breaks or is generally flaky. The Davis runs fine at 3.3V even with the long factory wire.
The Esp32 has a more usable ADC. 12bit and several pins . Some are not useful with Wifi. I might add 1 more Mosfet to control my Motoring light as well. I was under the Impression ultrasonic sensors used a fare bit of power as it has elements so when it is cold or the wind is blowing they work harder. I wonder how they deal with spider webs. A little friction is not bad in the direction as the mast has some vibration to it.

Calypso claims LOL ya they seem to stretch the truth a bit and operating at 10hz is much different then as a home weather station taking a reading every 30 sec or so.
Well time to relax now it is close to -37 C right now as I am about 100km south of the Hudson bay.
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#22
(2018-12-29, 03:05 AM)Addelorme Wrote: The ESP32 uses more power as some of the power saving stuff is still in development and I have not read enough to solve the issue with losing Wifi during sleep. In my testing via wifi I have not found issue with lag at 10 hz. There is lag to OPENCPN but SignalK has no issues. I have had issues getting the analog part right as my chip does not have the ref voltage fuse burned but I am getting it closer.. I feed the unit via a buck converter as it operates as the base for my anchor light. The Davis not that expensive.. compared to a cheaper unit that breaks or is generally flaky. The Davis runs fine at 3.3V even with the long factory wire.
You mean the analog and pulse signals?  they can be very long wires.

The davis has a dead zone of 13 degrees or so because the potentiometer it uses.   The magnetic sensor I am using does not have the deadzone since the adc wraps from 0.58 volts to 3.85 volts.   I do have less resolution but it's till better than a degree at 10 bits.

Quote:The Esp32 has a more usable ADC. 12bit and several pins . Some are not useful with Wifi. I might add 1 more Mosfet to control my Motoring light as well. I was under the Impression ultrasonic sensors used a fare bit of power as it has elements so when it is cold or the wind is blowing they work harder. I wonder how they deal with spider webs. A little friction is not bad in the direction as the mast has some vibration to it.
It might be a great fit, but how much power does it use transmitting wifi?   It sounds like a nice option.   Do you have a dedicated receiver esp32 to a usb serial on raspberry to ensure it has the same latency as a serial port, and no issues establishing a link since it can just be 2 ad-hoc nodes.

Using wired system only uses a few milliamps and is also much simpler in other ways, but does require the wires.

Quote:Well time to relax now it is close to -37 C right now as I am about 100km south of the Hudson bay.

I'm waiting for sun to print the next iteration of the wind sensors, but not enough sun.
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#23
Issues with ESP32
Ya the dead zone was a pain to deal with it came down to my ref voltage not being fused in.
I had to remap the voltage to fix issues with the voltage curve then Float remap to deg. My dead zone is 350 to 0 deg. 
Power... well it is currently at about 240 millAMPS @12V Spec max 5. amps @ 5v. Part of that is the draw from the device used to read it.  so it is about 160 milliamps best guess. This could be reduced in the future when the code matures in regards to sleep functions.
Lag is not noticeable i am sending data to RPI WIFI no wires. But more testing is required. I don't drop the connection once it is set hence issue with sleep.

 I am redoing my PCB since I am new with Kicad and pooched a few things.
Can Pypilot read the Sk wind keys or do i have to stick to NMEA?
I ask because i am thinking of a rewrite to Sigksens as a sensor.
I am looking at the board and I am wondering about adding a BMP280, It might not work well in a air/water sealed box. Also a second mosfet to control a Motoring Light? 
I am using a 4" round plastic ip67 electrical box with the anchor light fixed to the lid. It fits my masthead. I need to decided about the connectors though the box. I need 1 2pin for 12v and 1 4pin for the Davis. Ideas?

I am heading out to the boat today to get my autopilot so I can test the Pypilot Motor controller.
I just received a Nextion display, I am thinking it might be a good client for Pypilot.
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#24
I'm really interested in everything you are doing, please keep posting! I've been looking at Nextion displays - I'd be very interested in your experience with sunlight readability.
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#25
(2019-01-04, 02:08 PM)ddelorme Wrote: Issues with ESP32
Ya the dead zone was a pain to deal with it came down to my ref voltage not being fused in.
I had to remap the voltage to fix issues with the voltage curve then Float remap to deg. My dead zone is 350 to 0 deg. 
Power... well it is currently at about 240 millAMPS @12V Spec max 5. amps @ 5v. Part of that is the draw from the device used to read it.  so it is about 160 milliamps best guess. This could be
Did you measure 160 milliamps at 12 volts?   This is a lot more than a raspberry pi zero.
Quote:reduced in the future when the code matures in regards to sleep functions.
Lag is not noticeable i am sending data to RPI WIFI no wires. But more testing is required. I don't drop the connection once it is set hence issue with sleep.
Wifi is not reliable for realtime data, and will have a much higher latency and this latency can change all the time.

People still use stainless steel rigging wire even with crevice corrosion I have seen several de masted, and they replace again with stainless steel when galvanized and spectra are both better.  So you can use wifi for wind sensors but I doubt I will.

It may work well in your one test case, but depending on what else it is doing, what else is going on wifi other networks around, or forms of radio interference, and also many other devices have much less reliable wifi than the pi.

I can use quadplex wire, so there are 4 wires in 1 instead of 2 in 1, so not much difference running the wires since you still need power.
Quote: I am redoing my PCB since I am new with Kicad and pooched a few things.
Can Pypilot read the Sk wind keys or do i have to stick to NMEA?
Currently does not get wind that way, but it's possible to do it.  What would be the advantage pver NMEA?  Is there additional data for wind?
Quote:I ask because i am thinking of a rewrite to Sigksens as a sensor.
I am looking at the board and I am wondering about adding a BMP280, It might not work well in a air/water sealed box. Also a second mosfet to control a Motoring Light?

This light is technically supposed to be halfway up the mast.
Quote:I am using a 4" round plastic ip67 electrical box with the anchor light fixed to the lid. It fits my masthead. I need to decided about the connectors though the box. I need 1 2pin for 12v and 1 4pin for the Davis. Ideas?

I am heading out to the boat today to get my autopilot so I can test the Pypilot Motor controller.
I just received a Nextion display, I am thinking it might be a good client for Pypilot.
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#26
(2019-01-04, 03:45 PM)seandepagnier Wrote:
(2019-01-04, 02:08 PM)ddelorme Wrote: Issues with ESP32
Ya the dead zone was a pain to deal with it came down to my ref voltage not being fused in.
I had to remap the voltage to fix issues with the voltage curve then Float remap to deg. My dead zone is 350 to 0 deg. 
Power... well it is currently at about 240 millAMPS @12V Spec max 5. amps @ 5v. Part of that is the draw from the device used to read it.  so it is about 160 milliamps best guess. This could be
Did you measure 160 milliamps at 12 volts?   This is a lot more than a raspberry pi zero.
I agree I need to do more tests Wifi uses power.
Quote:reduced in the future when the code matures in regards to sleep functions.
Lag is not noticeable i am sending data to RPI WIFI no wires. But more testing is required. I don't drop the connection once it is set hence issue with sleep.
Wifi is not reliable for realtime data, and will have a much higher latency and this latency can change all the time.
I am testing in a very noisy environment Rack of computers 2 openplotter systems Wifi router is 20 ft away with a floor and other stuff in the way. On the boat i will have less stuff in the way and it will be direct to Openplotter.

People still use stainless steel rigging wire even with crevice corrosion I have seen several de masted, and they replace again with stainless steel when galvanized and spectra are both better.  So you can use wifi for wind sensors but I doubt I will.
 my rigging is from 1976 never seen salt. Great lakes and Lake Winnipeg. I am thinking when i replace to go with Spectra.

It may work well in your one test case, but depending on what else it is doing, what else is going on wifi other networks around, or forms of radio interference, and also many other devices have much less reliable wifi than the pi.

I can use quadplex wire, so there are 4 wires in 1 instead of 2 in 1, so not much difference running the wires since you still need power. I have thought about it several times more times then i want to admit
Quote: I am redoing my PCB since I am new with Kicad and pooched a few things.
Can Pypilot read the Sk wind keys or do i have to stick to NMEA?
Currently does not get wind that way, but it's possible to do it.  What would be the advantage pver NMEA?  Is there additional data for wind? 
One less step converting to SK
Quote:I ask because i am thinking of a rewrite to Sigksens as a sensor.
I am looking at the board and I am wondering about adding a BMP280, It might not work well in a air/water sealed box. Also a second mosfet to control a Motoring Light?

This light is technically supposed to be halfway up the mast.
Yup 3 wires from motoring light to masthead unit
Quote:I am using a 4" round plastic ip67 electrical box with the anchor light fixed to the lid. It fits my masthead. I need to decided about the connectors though the box. I need 1 2pin for 12v and 1 4pin for the Davis. Ideas?

I am heading out to the boat today to get my autopilot so I can test the Pypilot Motor controller.
I just received a Nextion display, I am thinking it might be a good client for Pypilot.
Nice at the lake once i got the snow out of the boat -2c today no wind.
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#27
(2019-01-04, 02:56 PM)abarrow Wrote: I'm really interested in everything you are doing, please keep posting! I've been looking at Nextion displays - I'd be very interested in your experience with sunlight readability.

I have my doubts about sunlight kinda like a cell phone display but it is a nifty device. 4 wire touch display, cheap. Too bad it made me install a windows virtual machine to run their program. I have used linux since 1997.. And feel like a idiot took 10 minutes to find a file manager... Who was the smart ass who decided to call it documents... Files has less letters and more to the point.
While I am on a rant...  I would really like to have a pirate Alexa for the boat:}

I looks like a nice device and could be setup like Signalk Instrument panel.
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#28
I know what you mean! I keep Windows 10 on dual boot on my laptop so I can run GE2KAP and SAS.Planet. People who use it all the time have my respect. Linux user since 1.2.

Do you have a cheap source for Nextion displays?
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#29
(2019-01-04, 11:37 PM)abarrow Wrote: I know what you mean! I keep Windows 10 on dual boot on my laptop so I can run GE2KAP and SAS.Planet. People who use it all the time have my respect. Linux user since 1.2.

Do you have a cheap source for Nextion displays?

I think I paid $23 cnd It seems low cost.
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#30
image 1

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I have not been able to upload images to the forum unfortunately.
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