I just got this today and I've been playing with it a little bit. I'd say it's worth the $28.
You plug it into com port with the provided cable. 1 plug. Simple.
Download the software from their site. iOs apparently has the software in the app store. I'd rather that android did as well. This removes a star IMO.
They have PC software as well on their site. From videos I have seen it's also compatible with a little tweaking with many other solar logging apps. If you're techno savvy it can also be bound onto your wifi network as a client rather than an access point but that's advanced.
Connect to the wifi network eBox-WIFI-01 etc etc etc (it's an open network, more on that later)
Open the app and click wifi or ble. This one is wifi. From there there are lots of nifty bits of information, as well as timers that you can set for the load output, custom settings such as float voltage, max charge voltage, max discharge voltage, etc.
After playing with it a while I checked my daily Kwh production. (0.26kwh) the charge controllers display only shows cumulative Kwh production and only in tenths of Kwh.
At this point I wanted to dig into the adapters web based software and customize it a little bit.
-----------------------------------------------
!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!
------------------------------------------------
Beyond this point you CAN and very well MIGHT do permanent damage to the device. "Bricking" the device and rendering it useless. Observe caution and only make changes to the access points web based software if you're 112% you know what you are doing and accept FULL RESPONSIBILITY for your actions. < / RANT >
Ok so as I have said the network is open. People like myself WILL want to see what sort of settings inside there that they can dick around with including possibly locking you out of it.
To justify my own paranoia and close that open door to even the most elementary hackers I decided that I HAD to password protect the wifi network.
So while connected to the wifi network what you will want to do is to login to the "gateway" which you can find in the android advanced setting or by using a port scanner.
In my case the gateway address is 11.11.11.254
I'm sure yours will likely be as well.
Once you open that page in a web browser you will be asked for a username and password. It's a pretty standard username and password used on lots of routers.
Username: admin
Password: admin
Now you're in. Turn back now or accept the possibility that you're gonna break it.
Click on AP settings tab on the left hand side of the home page.
Now on the AP settings page near the bottom you will see encryption is disabled.
Click on the tab and select the available encryption. The protocols should be left to the default. TKIP AES OR TKIPAES. I left it on AES
In the password field set a password you WILL REMEMBER. If you forget it you're locked out.
Save the changes and you'll get a successful message click restart.
Now you'll notice that you're no longer connected. Go back to wifi settings and you'll see the network is now password protected.
Login using your unique password you created. It will work just like before except now it can only be logged into using a password.
You might be tempted to change the SSID of the station. DON'T. The app will no longer work.
You might want to set it up as a client to connect to your wifi network. DON'T.
Any other modifications are beyond the scope of this article. The purpose of this write up was merely to lock the front door before someone else did it for you and ruined your new toy.
This advice should not be followed BY ANYONE.
You'll break your play pretty and want a refund. But alas you'll just have a plastic paper weight.
You plug it into com port with the provided cable. 1 plug. Simple.
Download the software from their site. iOs apparently has the software in the app store. I'd rather that android did as well. This removes a star IMO.
They have PC software as well on their site. From videos I have seen it's also compatible with a little tweaking with many other solar logging apps. If you're techno savvy it can also be bound onto your wifi network as a client rather than an access point but that's advanced.
Connect to the wifi network eBox-WIFI-01 etc etc etc (it's an open network, more on that later)
Open the app and click wifi or ble. This one is wifi. From there there are lots of nifty bits of information, as well as timers that you can set for the load output, custom settings such as float voltage, max charge voltage, max discharge voltage, etc.
After playing with it a while I checked my daily Kwh production. (0.26kwh) the charge controllers display only shows cumulative Kwh production and only in tenths of Kwh.
At this point I wanted to dig into the adapters web based software and customize it a little bit.
-----------------------------------------------
!!!!!WARNING!!!!!!
------------------------------------------------
Beyond this point you CAN and very well MIGHT do permanent damage to the device. "Bricking" the device and rendering it useless. Observe caution and only make changes to the access points web based software if you're 112% you know what you are doing and accept FULL RESPONSIBILITY for your actions. < / RANT >
Ok so as I have said the network is open. People like myself WILL want to see what sort of settings inside there that they can dick around with including possibly locking you out of it.
To justify my own paranoia and close that open door to even the most elementary hackers I decided that I HAD to password protect the wifi network.
So while connected to the wifi network what you will want to do is to login to the "gateway" which you can find in the android advanced setting or by using a port scanner.
In my case the gateway address is 11.11.11.254
I'm sure yours will likely be as well.
Once you open that page in a web browser you will be asked for a username and password. It's a pretty standard username and password used on lots of routers.
Username: admin
Password: admin
Now you're in. Turn back now or accept the possibility that you're gonna break it.
Click on AP settings tab on the left hand side of the home page.
Now on the AP settings page near the bottom you will see encryption is disabled.
Click on the tab and select the available encryption. The protocols should be left to the default. TKIP AES OR TKIPAES. I left it on AES
In the password field set a password you WILL REMEMBER. If you forget it you're locked out.
Save the changes and you'll get a successful message click restart.
Now you'll notice that you're no longer connected. Go back to wifi settings and you'll see the network is now password protected.
Login using your unique password you created. It will work just like before except now it can only be logged into using a password.
You might be tempted to change the SSID of the station. DON'T. The app will no longer work.
You might want to set it up as a client to connect to your wifi network. DON'T.
Any other modifications are beyond the scope of this article. The purpose of this write up was merely to lock the front door before someone else did it for you and ruined your new toy.
This advice should not be followed BY ANYONE.
You'll break your play pretty and want a refund. But alas you'll just have a plastic paper weight.
