Victron monitoring solution, Venus, on Raspberry

Updated 2022-09-18 !

Victron have a state-of-the-art monitoring solution used by the GX products. It can monitor their other system components such as inverter/chargers, solar chargers, shunts, and batteries both local and remote all over the world.

If you have a smaller Victron solution it is nice to know that the same software, Venus OS(VOS), can run on a Raspberry Pi(RPi) instead of the more expensive and versatile GX products.

macOS Monterey on unsupported Mac

Updated 2022-08-16 !

In a former post I went trough how to update an old MacBook Air 4.2, (mid 2011, SSD, 4 Gb memory) to Big Sur and in this post I will update the Mac to Monterey with the same patcher !! 

This is despite that max OS for the Mac is High Sierra. This is done, among other things, due to that the patcher handles Macs with graphic cards from 2008 - 2011 which Monterey doesn't do natively.

Since my former upgrade, to Big Sur, included a format of the SSD disk I here used the patcher to do an upgrade from Big Sur to Monterey.

Awesome !!!

RS-232 with displays & AV equipment

The use case for this post is that a got a request from a customer where a commercial displays brightness, used for digital signage, should be put at a minimum when there is no people in the surroundings.

After some checking I found that on most displays, even on our own TV set, there is a connector for the RS - 232 protocol that accepts commands similar to the commands sent by the remote control.

A nice explanation on how it works is found here.

Davis PWS linked to pwsweather.com

If you are using Davis Personal/Professional weather stations(PWS) you will get a nice dashboard when you link your PWS to the Davis weatherlink(WL) site.

What you probably really miss is a forecast displayed together with your PWS data. The picture is showing a part of the dashboard at pwsweather.com(PW) after you have linked your PWS to the site.

An add on is that you via API:s can get both the current weather, forecast and other data free of charge, via the aerisweather.com(AW) site.

This post will handle the setup and also a Node-Red dashboard interfacing the aeris API.

Node-Red multiple instances, RPi

Updated 2022-07-04 !

On the same server/hardware you can have

• a test environment for Node-Red(NR), separated from production
• separated instances for different applications

Setup will follow for a Raspberry Pi(RPi) including how to auto start at power on.

A post for NR quick install.

NMEA 2000 temperature sensor, wet exhaust

In former posts I used the temperatur sensor DS18B20, in several applications, but now it was time for the boats exhaust temperature and checking out YDTC-13 from Yacht Devices(YDTC). (But please note that the YDTC can be used in any temperature application.)

When you are boating, using the engine, it's very important that the cooling water always is present otherwise major damages can follow. In "wet exhaust" systems it's easy to get the temperature which I posted here.

Exhaust temperature measure, boat

Updated 2022-06-10 !

In other posts I blogged about a way to measure temperature with a Raspberry Pi(RPi), direct connected or via WiFi, together with the marine applikation SignalK(SK). In this post I will follow up with a short brief about the practical solution, measuring exhaust temperature in a boat and sending an alarm if the temperature exceeds a set value .

In "wet exhaust" systems it is very important that the cooling water, injected in the exhaust system, always is present otherwise major damages can follow.

If you wan't to avoid a RPi check this post with approved NMEA 2000 temperature sensors from Yacht Devices 

Wine, Windows apps on Linux, Raspberry

What is Wine ? 

The OpenSource project, themselves, explains it as; 

Wine (originally an acronym for "Wine Is Not an Emulator") is a compatibility layer capable of running Windows applications on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as Linux, macOS, & BSD

So why ? In my case, I'm just running macOS and Linux, I had and old gadget where I had to change the settings and this could only be made with a windows program.

WeatherLink weather template, v2 API

I have written a post with the same subject before, also using NodeRed(NR), but this post is using the latest WeatherLink v2 API instead of the v1 API. 

The v2 API supports more devices and now also including the old ones.

If You want a more advanced weather site this is a very nice one coded in PHP also using the v2 API.

Read and write NMEA files, Openplotter, Signal K

This post is written for those who runs Signal K(SK), or applications that indirect are using SK, and want to write log files that could be read for later use.

Other applications could be Openplotter which includes SK or OpenCPN for example interfacing a NMEA 2000 network via SK.

There are sample files within the SK installation which can be used, for testing purposes, before you have created your own log files from your boat trips. Check here at "Input file/data".

Read & write Linux, ext4, volumes with Windows & Mac

In an other post I explained how to access and edit the data on an USB attached drive with the Linux "standard" ext4 filesystem. 

In this post I will explain how to read, write or add files using Windows, File explorer, or Mac, Finder, without third party software !

You "just" need a Linux machine, but since you want to access an ext4 filesystem there probably are a machine in the surroundings ?

In this post I will use a "simple" Raspberry Pi(RPi) and the ext4 media attached to one of the USB ports.

macOS Big Sur on unsupported Mac

Updated 2022-03-03 !

I'm having an old MacBook Air 4.2, (mid 2011, SSD, 4 Gb memory), which have been running Catalina for quite some time despite that the max OS is High Sierra. I have been using the great work by dosedudes1 and his Catalina patcher.

Unfortunately he didn't continue with patches for newer OS:s but have helped with a new patcher. This patcher even handles Macs with graphic cards from 2008 - 2011.

Using the patcher i got the mentioned Mac up and running with Big Sur after just over an hour.

 

New post !! Upgrade to Monterey.

Victron VE.Direct with Raspberry Pi/Signal K

Updated 2022-01-11 !

During my update of the cables going from the batteries, to the distribution panel and engines, I stumbled over the Victron SmartShunt(VSS). We had a 15 year old Mastervolt battery monitor but it didn't feel "true" and it wasn't at the right place in the boat. So instead of moving the old shunt we bought a VSS. 

Raspberry, edit config or add files before boot

The actual use case was that I have a Raspberry Pi(RPi) sourcing Vesselfinder with AIS data from nearby. I wanted to change/test a new configuration but on the other hand I didn't want to take the RPi down, during a longer period, since it's an online service.

So the solution was to make a bootable clone of the actual application and test with a second RPi. The major obstacle was that I then would have 2 hosts, with the same hostname, which will mess up the local network.

So how to change the host name on the cloned SD card before I'm using it in the second RPi ?

Another post on how to read and write Linux drives with Windows/MacOS

Davis weather station, WeatherLink, PHP

Updated 2021-12-05 !

In the harbour we are using a Davis weather station, Vantage Pro2, as our PWS(Private Weather Station).

If you like to display the data, online on the web, you can use the Davis service, Weatherlink(WL) where you register an account. 

Another way is to retrieve the weather data as XML or JSON, from the Weatherlink web-site, and use it in your own application (open source!).

Another approach with NodeRed could be find here.

Raspberry, restart network, or reboot, at ping failure

Using a Raspberry Pi Zero(RPi), with wifi, I sometimes have problem that the WiFi connection is lost. This is due to that, at our boat, we are using the Teltonika RUT 240 router. The router just have one receiver/transmitter, LAN and WAN WiFi are shared, and in some use cases the WiFi will temporarily be disconnected. To restart the WiFi quick the following solution is used.

This post will cover a solution, a bash script, with inspiration from this blogpost, but with some fine tuning. 😉
 

Another way could be using the watchdog function, described here, with reboot.

SIGNL4, automated alerting with free mobile app

I'm involved in several projects where you, as quick as possible, want to get an alert if anything fails. After a lot of Googling I found SIGNL4.

They have several ways to create an alert, can involve a team, have a nice app and is free, up to 5 users, if you use the "STARTER" option.

In this post, as an example, I will show how I detect if my AIS receiver/dispatcher stops receiving AIS targets, sent to Vesselfinder, and how an alert is forwarded to the SIGNL4 app.

I'm using NodeRed on a Raspberry Pi to realize the function

Ring doorbell install and relay

The electrical install instructions for the Ring Doorbell maybe could be a little easier to find  ? 

So will give some links where you are connecting to

1. Internal doorbells
2. No internal doorbell but charging the battery
3. External relay, triggering "anything"
4. Wireless relay

Ring Device manuals are found here.

Homebridge made simple, HOOBS

Updated 2021-08-08 !

I have written several post about the HomeKit Bridge, Homebridge(HB), but if You want another simple way, with GUI, to handle the server and plugins the guys at HOOBS have done a nice software package.

I personally prefer the Homebridge "native" install, which seems to be updated more frequently.

Raymarine AXIOM and NMEA0183

Updated 2021-07-24 !

Many newer MFD:s don't have any NMEA 0183(N1) connector. The  Axiom don't even have any Seatalk NG connector anymore, just the Device Net micro connector for NMEA 2000. Loosing the  N1 info, too for example the old VHF (position data for DSC), could be a problem so how to solve it ?

Some solutions

• Pick N1 data from the AIS
• NMEA 2000, N2 to N1 konverter
• SeaTalk NG, NG to N1 konverter

AIS dispatcher, stand alone

Updated 2021-07-14 !

The dispatcher "aisdispatcher"(AISD), Linux v1.2, from AISHub.net receives NMEA 0183 VDM/VDO messages, (NAIS) via an UDP/TCP connection, or serial interface, and forwards it to one or several destinations as UDP streams. It works at command line with no GUI.

Please note ! This software is "labeled" deprecated and the AISHub guys recommend you to use this package, with built in GUI, instead. The old version, described in this post, still works, for RPi OS before Bookworm, and is very lightweight.

The best AIS application ? is found here !

MySQL and NodeRed

Updated 2021-07-07 !

Sometimes the syntax for the Javascript in Node-Red is a little hard to get, despite some Googling. This was evident when i tried the run the "node-red-node-mysql" node inserting data in a MySQL database.

Also timestamps in different environments are a little complicated.

So this post will cover both areas with some code examples done on a Raspberry Pi.

Raspberry fan control, Node-Red

Updated 2021-07-01 !

Do You want to have control over the Raspberry Pi(RPi) ? 

Functions

• CPU Temperature
• CPU Load %
• Free RAM %
• Disk Usage %
• Shutdown and Reboot buttons
• Fan PWM control via GPIO

Other NR posts on this site

Volvo Penta NMEA 2000 Gateway

Updated 2021-06-15

It's always nice to have ALL information at the same place, navigator/plotter, when You are out with the boat. 

What could be missing is the engine information/data. If You have a Volvo Penta from 2006 or later it could be pretty easy.

There are some "standard" NMEA 2000 gateways to choose from, for example; 

• Volvo Penta has it's own 22813366, 3889758
• Raymarine ECI-100
• Maretron J2K100
• .....

HomeKit bridge with Z-Wave

Updated 2021-05-21 !

These devices are available for Apples HomeKit. The devices are Bluetooth, BLE, or WiFi connected so it could be a limited range in Your house.

The Z-Wave solution have a smarter setup running on a type of network called a "mesh network". One Z-Wave product will pass the signal along to another (“hop”) until the final destination is reached. Every device, not battery charged, acts as a messenger; the more devices you have, the more powerful and strong your network is.

Raspberry USB SSD boot made simple ? Check link