Underfloor heating with PID controller, NodeRed

Updated 2024-11-14 !

In a former post I did some hacking/checking how our underfloor heating control system handled the valves, actuators, regulating the heat. 

Now it was time to do some tests with NodeRed(NR), with a PID controller, and a Shelly 1(S1) connected via WiFi and driving the actuator.

The actuators are in my case controlled by 24 VAC and the S1 accepts 110 - 240 VAC, 24 - 60 VDC and 12 VDC. So in this case it was simple to just add a rectifier and a capacitor, to the 24 VAC, to get approx 36 VDC to source the S1.

Matter bridge, with Shelly, or non Matter devices

Matter is a smart home standard currently being developed by a consortium of over two hundred companies, including big players such as Apple, Google, Phillips, Amazon and Samsung.

Many new devices have Matter implemented, from the beginning, but devices, such as most of Shelly devices don't. On the other hand many hubs can be upgraded to Matter support. For example an Apple TV.

With a Matter bridge you can solve the incompability. This post will use Matter bridge plugin Manager and the Shelly plugin but it could be other devices shown in the picture below.

CTC heatpump MODBUS interface

Updated 2024-11-14 !

The installation of a CTC heat pump(HP), EcoAir 600, and the indoor module, Eco Zenith i360, was not optimal from the beginning, so to monitor it closely I checked how to retrieve data. 

The newer CTC HP:s are always shipped with a MODBUS TCP interface, without any additional hardware, which solved the issue.

MODBUS was new to me but after some reading and checking I found that there is a NodeRed node which solves the interface dialog.

MODBUS RTU gateway, WiFi, Ethernet, WEB server

In my project to get data from the Swegon Casa HRV, FTX, i needed a new solution to distribute the MODBUS data from the CASA.

The thing is that I have a Raspberry Pi(RPi) that is the central HUB for everything going on in our house, but away from the CASA, and the data is there vizualized in a NodeRed dashboard.

Since the CASA RTU is serial, using Waveshare USB to RS 485, and I didn't want to install a new long cabel to the central RPi I used another RPi which is near the CASA.

Shelly devices as "native" Apple HomeKit accessories

Updated 2024-11-09

I have been using Shelly devices for quite some time both on our boat, off grid, and also as HomeKit (HK) accessories via Homebridge (HB). 

I was really amazed when I found that some smart guys have created a software package that replaces the stock, official, Shelly firmware with the "Shelly-HomeKit" package which emulates a "native" Apple HomeKit accessory.

It's very nice done, really simple, and the flashing of the software is done over the air (OTA) with your ordinary WEB-browser.

Node-Red quick install

Updated 2024-11-06 !

Node-Red(NR) is Flow-based programming for the Internet of Things

This post isn't made as a complete install guide, there are several, just some links to the best information I have found.

The best thing is that even if you don't are a skilled programmer, but like logic flows, you can make really advanced things. It's pre-installed on some Raspberry Pi(RPi) distributions.

Running Node-Red with multiple instances ?

Swegon CASA, ERV (FTX), rotary heat exchanger and MODBUS

Fresh air at home is very important ! For more than 15 years ago, at a major renovation of our house, we installed an ERV or in Swedish FTX system. Since then there have been nice updates for FTX equipment so when one of the fans was a little noicy and when the motor for the rotor died it was time to do an upgrade instead of repairing the old one. So we purchased an CASA R7 Genius(R7).

For me its important to get as much data as possible, to optimize energy consumption in our house, so despite that the the R7 have a nice app we also added a SEM interface to get the data, via MODBUS, that is available.

AIS receiver and dispatcher ! The best ?!

Updated 2024-10-25

I found this amazing application, AIS-catcher, just scrolling around on Youtube and it includes "all" you need for an AIS receiver staying ashore or installed on a boat.

It is compatible with a wide range of Software Defined Radios (SDRs). These include RTL-SDR dongles (such as the ShipXplorer AIS dongle and RTL SDR Blog v4), AirSpy (Mini/R2/HF+), HackRF, SDRPlay, SoapySDR, and file/network input (ZMQ/RTL-TCP/SpyServer). 

Installing Ubuntu 24.04 or 24.10 on an old MacBook Air(2011)

Updated 2024-10-14 !

I have done several posts Blogging about how to keep an old MacBook Air(MBA), mid 2011(A1369), with SSD disk "alive". I have used the fantastic software package OpenCore Legacy patcher to upgrade the Mac to the latest Mac OS. 

A while ago i tested Mac OS Sonoma(14.5), on the mentioned Mac, but I had to admit that Sonoma was a little to much for the 13 year old companion.

I really like the Mac and everything works, after a battery change, so it ended up with installing Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS or if you want the latest scroll down and get Ubuntu 24.10.

iCloud drive sync with a Linux, Ubuntu, device

Updated 2024-10-12

With my project to keep a MacBook Air 2011(MBA) alive, Ubuntu installed, i searched for a solution where my iCoud drive(iCD) was continuous synced with my MBA. This must work both ways so even a file change made on MBA should be replicated to iCD.

There is MultCloud, are there others ?, but the free version is just 5 Gb data traffic per month. There is also a work in progress (availabel as Beta) with rclone and iCD. 

So while waiting for a free working version I solved my sync between iCD and MBA with Syncthing(ST). ST doesn't sync with iCloud so the work around here was to use my MacMini, Mac OS, as the "Middle man". It's always on and synced with iCD.

Ubuntu Desktop for beginners or easy start !

This post is for both Windows and Mac users ! 

I have been running Linux, Raspberry Pi OS, since several years but almost just the Lite version (without Desktop).

But when my old MacBook Air "gave up", with Mac OS, it came naturally to use Ubuntu Desktop since it's also based on the Debian Linux distribution and the most used Linux distribution.

So it ended up with installing Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS(UOS) or the later 24.10 !

SeaTalk1 to NMEA 0183 converter, DIY

Updated 2024-08-30 ! 

!! Another SW solution is available for RPi 5 here ! using the same HW.

Thanks to Thomas, (the guy with the nice marine interface board), it's now possible to decode, one way, the SeaTalk1(ST1) sentences in a pretty simple way. You just use OpenPlotter(OP) and/or SignalK(SK) and an Optocoupler.

The thing that made it, is that Thomas has released a "how to" and Python source code, that will read the data from a GPIO pin on the Raspberry Pi, (RPi), and format it so the standard parser in SignalK can translate it to SignalK delta format. It is then available as NMEA 0183. It's even possible to send the data in to a NMEA 2000 network, with a proper hardware interface.

LK System, Floor heating

Updated 2024-08-15 !

Do You use a floor heating system from LK Systems ?

We had a problem that in some rooms, despite that the thermostat worked, the temperature was too high.

To check if it was the valve, or something else, I just took away the actuator and forced the valve to be closed. Cable ties did the work.

The valve was OK so what was the problem ?

Building your own floor heating controller,  PID controller ? 

Waveshare CAN hat with Signal K & OpenPlotter

Updated 2024-07-08

To get information from the NMEA 2000(N2K) network, to the RPi, I have been using Actisense NGT-1, for a long time, and later also the Yacht Devices YDWG 02 but now it was time for a Raspberry Pi(RPi) CAN hat(CH) from Waveshare(WS). WS have 3 different models but I picked the 2 channel isolated one.

It's recommended to use an isolated one which also is demanded for those interfaces which can be approved by the N2K group.

Raspberry Pi OS Lite with GUI, RDP, VNC, Chromium

Updated 2024-07-01 !

I like the Raspberry Pi(RPi), with Raspberry Pi OS Lite (no Desktop is included), headless operation, and then adding the software You need. Until now I haven't had a use case where I needed a Desktop but now was time. 

Why don't use the Raspberry Pi OS with Desktop ?? In that package there is a lot of software I don't need and I really want to optimize the RPi. I think that the less software You install the happier RPi will be...

😉

OpenPlotter v4 stable, install guide

Updated 2024-06-30 !

OpenPlotter(OP), a Boat Navigation application, is really a nice and simple installation of

• OpenPlotter(OP)
• OpenCPN(OC)
• SignalK(SK) 

and other supporting applications for Your boat.

An overall information about the OP package is found here 

and you can watch the OP v4 progress here.

Raspberry Pi 2, 3, 4, 5 USB SSD or USB drive boot

Updated 2024-06-06 !

After having tested several methods creating a bootable USB SSD, or other USB drive, for Raspberry Pi(RPi) 3 4 and 5, I finished with this simple method

• Create the setup you want on a ordinary SD card(Or use existing)
• Make a bootable backup/clone of the SD card saving it to the USB SSD
• Remove the SD card and boot from the USB SSD

Having a RPi 4, 5 ? Use this post on how to write the OS direct to the SSD.

 

Raspberry 4,5 USB SSD boot in 60 seconds !

Updated 2024-06-05 !

Yes, it's really true ! Thats the maximum time it takes to write the Raspberry Pi(RPi) OS to a bootable USB SSD and maybe read this post ?

If you have a RPi 4, 5 and a USB SSD or other USB drive, that works as a boot media, just use the RPi imager which can write the image direct to the USB  storage.

Having an older RPi ? Use this post instead.

If you already have a SD card with working applications and you want to "transfer", copy/clone, them to a bootable SSD use this post.

Bredbandskollen, Internet speed, CLI

Im using NodeRed together with Speedtest by Ookla but just the other day it wasn't showing the right data so it was time for "Bredbandskollen", the command line version.

Bredbandskollen has always been a reliable source when testing internet speed. I'm using their WEB-site and the iPhone app and it have always worked very well.

This post will show how to plot data in a graph according to the picture.

Raymarine E120 & E80 backlight failure

Just the other day the backlight for our classic Raymarine E 120, Navigator(MFD), stopped working.

It's from 2006 so I'm not surprised that things happen. You may wonder why we keep it instead of buying a new one but the thing is that we have 2 installed together with a well functioning radar so buying new stuff will be a hefty price tag.

After some Googling I found out that the backlight is produced by a CCFL, a type of neon light, and can give up after some years.

The Googling also gave some tips how to change to a LED backlight. The picture above is showing a test with a short LED light strip to verify the solution, with dimming working, and checking the health of the MFD.

Signal K charts, offline & online

Updated 2024-05-03 !

In Signal K(SK) there are 2 applications, in SK appstore, that can handle charts

• Freeboard SK(FSK)
• Tuktuk Chart Plotter(TT)

FSK, preinstalled, uses the OpenSeaMap charts(OSC) when you are online. If you want to use offline charts or other chart resources you have to install "@signalk/charts-plugin"(CP)

IVT, Bosch heat pump easy integration, Home Assistant

In search of the optimal solution on how to interface our IVT Heat pump, first try here, I stumbled over a nice integration for Home Assistant(HA). A first quick setup is shown at the right.

The first obstacle was that it was HA which I knew about but never used.  So it was "back too school" and doing a blog post about a HA Core install.

Home Assistant core install, Raspberry Pi and Python 3.12

The best way to start with Home Assistant(HA), and Raspberry Pi(RPi), is off course to use the ”Raspberry Pi imager” and in the menu select "Other specific-purpose OS => Home Assistant and home automation => Home Assistant". This will install the HA operating system.

It works very well and here are the install instructions. 

On the other hand if you want to add HA to a RPi which you already have up and running, without Docker, you need to install something which is called "Home Assistant Core".

Please check the "Remarks" below before you start.

IVT, Bosch heat pump easy integration, NodeRed

If you are running the IVT Anywhere or the Bosch Easy remote app you probably also can retrieve its data with for example NodeRed. 

With the nice application Bosch XMPP you can set up an integration with the cloud service supplied by your vendor.

OpenPlotter V3, install guide

Updated 2024-03-01 !

OpenPlotter(OP), a Boat Navigation application, is really a nice and simple installation of

• OpenPlotter(OP)
• OpenCPN(OC)
• SignalK(SK) 

and other supporting applications for Your boat.

An overall information about the OP package is found here.

Install guide for the new stable OP, version 4, is found here.