In The Business Of Designing & Manufacturing Energy Consumption Monitors !

What options are there to get data from the ECM-1220.H to your computer! What format is the communication? Can I write my own software or interface? Is the data accessible over the internet or network? Can generated power such as renewable solar or wind power be monitored?

 

What options are there to get data from the ECM-1220.H to your computer!
	OPTION 1: USB Cable A USB cable can be connected to the ECM-1220.H for communications. Due to USB length limitation, 10ft is pretty much the maximum distance for communicating.
	OPTION 2: USB Active Extender Cable A USB "active" extender cable has built-in electronics to buffer the USB signal allowing greater lengths to be used. They will typically add 16ft to the standard 6ft or 10ft. A few of these may be daisy chained to extend the range further.
	OPTION 3: USB to CAT-5 Extender Cable A USB to CAT-5 USB extender uses a standard network cable to extend the range of a USB connection. This option provides up to 160ft range. The network cable must be dedicated for this purpose and cannot be shared with an existing network cable.
	OPTION 4: Wireless Mesh Network The ECM-1220.H is available with a wireless communication option. With this options, a USB to Zigbee dongle is plugged into the monitoring computer to complete a transparent connection.
	OPTION 5: (Coming soon) Wireless to Network This option will be similar to option 4 however, the dongle will have an Ethernet jack for connecting to a LAN or router (internet).
	OPTION 6: (Coming soon) ECM-1220.H to Ethernet Adaptor This option will allow the ECM-1220.H to be connected directly to a LAN or router (internet).

 

What is the communication format?
	Whether using USB or wireless communications, data communication is in the form of RS-232, operating at 19,200 baud. A Virtual Com Port (VCP) driver is supplied which causes the computer to view the USB connection as an RS-232 COM port. This method greatly simplifies communications and provides an easy gateway for those wishing to develop their own custom applications. The ECM-1220.H uses a proprietary set of commands, protocol and packet information. These are all readily available to any ECM-1220.H users. We also provide sample Visual Basic code.

 

Can I write my own software or interface?
	YES. Many of our customers have written their own custom code to interface to their home automation system or for custom logging or display. We are more than happy in assisting our customers with whatever data information they require. We hope to exhibit some of our customer's developments in the near future.

 

Is the data accessible over the internet or network?
	We are currently developing our real-time online website. www.mypowerpanel.com This site will enable the ECM-1220.H user to send data in real-time to this host site. There are many features which are planned for this site... more to come...

 

Can generated power such as renewable solar or wind power be monitored?
	The real-time data from the ECM-1220.H has the ability to indicate the direction of the measured power. The direction indicates whether the power is consumed or generated. Although our RTL-1220 software does not currently support this, our new web interface software does. We are more than happy to provide our customers with more information on this for software developers. One fine example of this is described here: http://www.electronichouse.com/article/affordable_energy_monitoring/C212