Per Malmberg
Everything is possible, including the impossible. It just takes a little longer…
Archive for September, 2006
Do it yourself
Sep 30th
…if you want something done properly. Argh!
As I stated in an earlier post, I had the file monitoring working. Well, so I thought. After installing the computer that will be the one I’ll use to log all the data I discovered something that really ruined my day – networked drives does not support monitoring very well.
I am (read was) using a class named FileSystemMonitor that comes with the .NET platform. This class has the capability to monitor changes in the filesystem. Nothing in all the articles I’ve read about this class have suggested that it won’t work over a network – I’ve actually seen several examples that are supposed to work on a network drive.
After much testing I’ve come to the conclusion that this class won’t do what I need it to do. Sure, it works on the local file system just fine but networked drives is just a big black hole it seems. Very annoying.
So – I’m currently writing my own file monitor with support for networked drives.
Work continues
Sep 27th
I spent the larger part of yesterdays evening working on my little project X.
The current status is:
- Real-time monitoring of the data is working.
- Real-time monitoring of new files is working (i.e whenever a new file with the same name as one of those already monitored is created it will immediately be parsed and the data available for inspection in the graph.
- Classes for multi curve graphs are almost complete.
I’ve got a lot of ideas for what this application shall be capable of, but I won’t publish these ideas yet simply because they are just that – ideas. The first milestone is to complete the multi curve graphs and to implement a configuration file. Hopefully I’ll have at least one of these solved tonight.
X Development
Sep 24th
I’ve not yet got a name for the application I’ve previously mentioned I’d write, so I’ll just name it X for now. I’ve decided to use the already existing Lämpömittari files that Statlink produces since they give the data in an easily readable format. I’m currently workin on the file parsers/monitors.
Current features are:
- Regular expressions for parsing
- File system notifications for real time monitoring
- OOP, obviously
Statistik
Sep 21st
I generated some statistics from the data from 19:00 last night to 06:25 this morning. Looks pretty damn good to me 
A few thoughts on the PC-to-heat-pump interface
Sep 20th
I’ve always thought that if you want something done properly, you should do it your self. While working with the interface last night a few issues came to mind. Obviously it is all about costs – the device wasn’t expensive so I’m not complaining, just stating a few things I’d like to see changed.
- It is not possible to solder the new cable onto the device due to the black cover that has been applied on the circuit board.
- The D-sub is only soldered on one side of the circuit board. This makes it more prone to break. I realize a single layer circuit board has been used, but a viable option is a D-sub like this one. It would have given it a bit more robust design.
- Due to the choosen D-sub, it is not possible to fasten the device onto the heat pump without using a strap of some sort since the circuit board is covering the two screw holes in the D-sub.
It has arrived
Sep 19th
The piece of hardware I’ve been waiting for arrived today. As can be seen, it’s just a four-wire cable, with some circuitry for galvanic isolation in one end and a D-sub with an USB-plug for power supply.
The image shows how it looked like before I started working on it. Today the curcuit board is mounted inside the heat pump, and the D-sub is located at the computer in the other end of the house, connected with the cable I’ve previously mentioned.
The initial tests looks promising; now I’ve got to set up the logging properly and then write the applicationI’ve been thinking about that will parse the data and present it as diagrams. I know there’s an application that does this already, but I’ve got some additional things I want it to do.
Levererad
Sep 19th
[Detta inlägg är hämtat från min tidigare blogg och därför skrivet på engelska]
The piece of hardware I’ve been waiting for arrived today. As can be seen, it’s just a four-wire cable, with some circuitry for galvanic isolation in one end and a D-sub with an USB-plug for power supply.
The image shows how it looked like before I started working on it. Today the curcuit board is mounted inside the heat pump, and the D-sub is located at the computer in the other end of the house, connected with the cable I’ve previously mentioned.
The initial tests looks promising; now I’ve got to set up the logging properly and then write the applicationI’ve been thinking about that will parse the data and present it as diagrams. I know there’s an application that does this already, but I’ve got some additional things I want it to do.
Värmepump
Sep 19th
[Detta inlägg är hämtat från min tidigare blog och därför skrivet på engelska]
The first thing I’ll write about on this blog is my shiny, newly installed geothermal heatpump. It’s an IVT Greenline HT+ C6, with an additional volume tank of 100L.
So what’s there to write about such a thing then? Well, it’s not something that interests the general public, but I know that people with a system like, or similar, to this one likes to read about other people’s experiences.
I’m currently waiting on some hardware that will enable me to connect my PC to it and log temperatures and other interesting data over time. The hardware in question is actually just an RS232 cable, but with added galvanic isolation between the PC and the heat pump. I guess I could have built it on my own, but it was cheap enough, and it comes with a nice (at least it looks promising) program to log the data.
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