GEM: Values & Settings

[Teken]

Alright I have a few questions as it pertains to the GEM.

1. Why are some of the channels showing a negative number? This happens on 12 channels, I noted that the GEM software has *Toggle Polarity* in the channel tab. Can I use this toggle polarity to correct the inverted number?

Also the manual states if you have only one CT40 on a standard 120 / 240 volt line orientation of the CT or the wires in the GEM board are not relevant.

Is this the case?

2. The EtherX application has been set up so I can indeed communicate to the GEM and is on port 8083. IP configuration method is set to DHCP, and Operation mode is set to *Client*, the server IP address is set to my local computers IP.

The Engine G software has been set up per your last e-mail to select 5 devices, bind all serial numbers, and increment it by 1.

How do I obtain the graphs, charts, etc of the historic events etc?

3. How do I use the *Dashboard* to view live power events and set up the names etc??

4. What apps can be running at the same time as the GEM software?? As I want to be able to see live and historic events from my PC.

5. HTTP Packets: What is the site key and device that needs to be entered into the two fields to push the data from the GEM to this site and then be able to view it over the web??

6. 1-wire temperature readings: I have no 1 wire sensors installed, why are there random numbers appearing in various channels? None of the settings have been enabled in the temperature tab and also show no sensors listed. These readings are showing up in channel 1 & 3 for your reference. They currently show 3, 3.5, and one time was a whopping 500+??

Teken . . .

[ben]

Alright I have a few questions as it pertains to the GEM.

1. Why are some of the channels showing a negative number? This happens on 12 channels, I noted that the GEM software has *Toggle Polarity* in the channel tab. Can I use this toggle polarity to correct the inverted number?

Also the manual states if you have only one CT40 on a standard 120 / 240 volt line orientation of the CT or the wires in the GEM board are not relevant.

Is this the case?

2. The EtherX application has been set up so I can indeed communicate to the GEM and is on port 8083. IP configuration method is set to DHCP, and Operation mode is set to *Client*, the server IP address is set to my local computers IP.

The Engine G software has been set up per your last e-mail to select 5 devices, bind all serial numbers, and increment it by 1.

How do I obtain the graphs, charts, etc of the historic events etc?

3. How do I use the *Dashboard* to view live power events and set up the names etc??

4. What apps can be running at the same time as the GEM software?? As I want to be able to see live and historic events from my PC.

5. HTTP Packets: What is the site key and device that needs to be entered into the two fields to push the data from the GEM to this site and then be able to view it over the web??

6. 1-wire temperature readings: I have no 1 wire sensors installed, why are there random numbers appearing in various channels? None of the settings have been enabled in the temperature tab and also show no sensors listed. These readings are showing up in channel 1 & 3 for your reference. They currently show 3, 3.5, and one time was a whopping 500+??

Teken . . .

1. I wouldn't worry about the negatives in the real-time data view. The negative values have to do with 3-phase setup, and selecting the proper phase.

2/3. If the EngineG is up and running, and you've downloaded and installed the dashboard software, you can go to http://localhost:9009/ to view the dashboard.

5. SmartEnergyGroups.com requires you to register there first. Then you create a site, and a device within that site. Editing the site will give you your site token, your device name is whatever you called the device.

There's some instructions in this thread: http://www.brultech.com/home/community/ ... 225b#p1969

6. Can you do a refresh on the temperature tab and send me a screenshot?

Ben

[Teken]

Alright I have a few questions as it pertains to the GEM.

1. Why are some of the channels showing a negative number? This happens on 12 channels, I noted that the GEM software has *Toggle Polarity* in the channel tab. Can I use this toggle polarity to correct the inverted number?

Also the manual states if you have only one CT40 on a standard 120 / 240 volt line orientation of the CT or the wires in the GEM board are not relevant.

Is this the case?

2. The EtherX application has been set up so I can indeed communicate to the GEM and is on port 8083. IP configuration method is set to DHCP, and Operation mode is set to *Client*, the server IP address is set to my local computers IP.

The Engine G software has been set up per your last e-mail to select 5 devices, bind all serial numbers, and increment it by 1.

How do I obtain the graphs, charts, etc of the historic events etc?

3. How do I use the *Dashboard* to view live power events and set up the names etc??

4. What apps can be running at the same time as the GEM software?? As I want to be able to see live and historic events from my PC.

5. HTTP Packets: What is the site key and device that needs to be entered into the two fields to push the data from the GEM to this site and then be able to view it over the web??

6. 1-wire temperature readings: I have no 1 wire sensors installed, why are there random numbers appearing in various channels? None of the settings have been enabled in the temperature tab and also show no sensors listed. These readings are showing up in channel 1 & 3 for your reference. They currently show 3, 3.5, and one time was a whopping 500+??

Teken . . .

1. I wouldn't worry about the negatives in the real-time data view. The negative values have to do with 3-phase setup, and selecting the proper phase.

2/3. If the EngineG is up and running, and you've downloaded and installed the dashboard software, you can go to http://localhost:9009/ to view the dashboard.

5. SmartEnergyGroups.com requires you to register there first. Then you create a site, and a device within that site. Editing the site will give you your site token, your device name is whatever you called the device.

There's some instructions in this thread: http://www.brultech.com/home/community/ ... 225b#p1969

6. Can you do a refresh on the temperature tab and send me a screenshot?

Ben

1. So, these negative value will not impact the captured and recorded data? I want to make sure if and when I get this data logging down pat. That I don't see numbers showing either 0, or negative power use.

If the data is going to be reflected accurately, then no worries.

2. I will use the link provided and follow up with you.

5. I had just signed up with this web site, and will pose any future questions as it pertains to their portal use there.

6. I have refreshed and re-launched the GEM software several times and the two values you see are the ones that remain. Please note, the value with the insane 500+ remained in the panel for more than four hours.

As always I thank you for your continued support and guidance.

Teken . . .

[ben]

1. So, these negative value will not impact the captured and recorded data? I want to make sure if and when I get this data logging down pat. That I don't see numbers showing either 0, or negative power use.

If the data is going to be reflected accurately, then no worries.

2. I will use the link provided and follow up with you.

5. I had just signed up with this web site, and will pose any future questions as it pertains to their portal use there.

6. I have refreshed and re-launched the GEM software several times and the two values you see are the ones that remain. Please note, the value with the insane 500+ remained in the panel for more than four hours.

As always I thank you for your continued support and guidance.

Teken . . .

1. They won't affect the values recorded, and they're accurate, just ignore the negative sign.

6. I'm thinking there's 2 sensor values in your GEM, and its trying to load data from them. So, if you go to the Temperature Settings tab and hit the Update/Refresh button, it should show whether or not if there's a number on those channels, or if they're enabled.

Ben

[Teken]

OK, so after going through all of the GEM software and also refreshing the temperature values which showed no sensors activated, and all sensors in a *ON* state. I decided to disable all 8 sensors.

The result was still the same even after disconnecting and logging out. Relaunching the GEM software did nothing. Here is a snip-it of the final results.

Next, I was able to launch the *Dashboard* with the provided link in your previous post.

1. How do I change the sensor names?
2. How do I get the data into this dash board?

The Engine G is configured to talk and shows a green connected status using port 8083. The bottom of the Engine G data base is pointing to the correct location on my C drive. It also shows a green status.

I have selected every idiot button on this interface where it says *Start Real Time* monitoring to no avail!

NOTE: It would be greatly appreciated if ANY owner of the 1240 units could chime in and give me a step by step account of what needs to be done. As I have literally spent 8 days trying to get the data out of this blasted box!

I would like some pictures, documented steps, and explanations as to what *CAN'T* be run at the same time. As it appears to me that only one interface can be running at one time. This does not help me in the least. I need to see the live data, the captured & recorded data at all times.

The equipment appears to be rock solid . . . The software (1240) is simply brutal to say the least. As I stated to many people in various forums, my plan is to document and provide a You Tube video of how to set this thing up.

Why??

So others don't rip out every shred of hair out of their head trying to get data out of this box. Also, to share with those how much you can learn from monitoring your power via the GEM. Its safe to say it has provided me incredible insight as to what power hogs are present along with problems I wasn't even aware of.

The hardware is in my mind excellent. The older software is simply brutal on the first order and needs to be updated to be user friendly and make sense.

Am I frustrated?? Yes!

Teken . . .

[ben]

1. How do I change the sensor names?

Click "Configuration" in the EngineG software. You can label the channels there.

2. How do I get the data into this dash board?

Can you send a screenshot of your EngineG? Is received packets incrementing?

I would like some pictures, documented steps, and explanations as to what *CAN'T* be run at the same time. As it appears to me that only one interface can be running at one time. This does not help me in the least. I need to see the live data, the captured & recorded data at all times.

The live data is captured and sent to the database through the EngineG software, historical data is viewed through the Dashboard. Real-time can be viewed through the DataView (Tabular) in the EngineG menu.

The equipment appears to be rock solid . . . The software (1240) is simply brutal to say the least. As I stated to many people in various forums, my plan is to document and provide a You Tube video of how to set this thing up.

It's very old software, this is the exact reason why we're working towards releasing a Server/GEM combo, to take most of the grunt work out of configuration (comes down to configuring your channels, and adding the device to the dashboard).

What COM/Engine firmware version are you running? Should show these under the System tab of the GEM Setup software (with the latest ver. of that software).

[Teken]

FOLLOW UP: Alright after having some sort of GEM meltdown I had to reload the firmware for this box. I was informed by Ben that the firmware for both COM and Engine were out of date. During the initial firmware load both COM & Engine stated in the status window a successful update.

In reality my GEM was bricked.

This could be seen by the fact the the right side of the green LED was not on. For reference for others the GEM has two green LEDs which indicate firmware upload process, normal GEM activity, and the status of the box in general.

After hours of trial and error it was determined that a hard boot and reload was in order to bring this box from a bricked state. The process to reload the COM & Engine firmware is listed below and to enter the boot load process.

1. Unplug the GEM from all power source.

2. Remove the coin cell battery from within the GEM unit. This coin cell maintains the data and information for the device. User settings may have to be re-entered upon firmware upload.

3. At the bottom of the GEM is a small black reset button. Press and hold this button while applying power back to the GEM module. The GEM is now in a boot load condition.

4. Launch the GEM *Java* application and go into the *System* tab. Select the *Firmware and Advanced* tab. This will launch another small window, you will select the *Corrupt Firmware?* box and load the following firmware in order.

5. Load the COM firmware: A pop up window will appear asking you to point to the COM firmware location on your computer. Select the firmware, and click start. There is a few lines of text indicating what to do if the status bar does not move.

When this COM software begin to load you will notice that the left side of the LED will start to flash and alternate from Green to Red. The right side of the Green LED will remain solid. This process will take aprox 1-2 minutes.

This is a good state. Once this process completes you may continue to load the Engine firmware.

6. Load the Engine Firmware: You will repeat the same steps in 5. The difference is that the two green LEDs will not change state. Both should be lit during this process and it will take aprox 1 minute to complete.

7. Once the firmware has been loaded both status LEDs should be solid Green. If you see the right side LED completely dark. You're still bricked and need to perform the same actions stated above again!

8. At this point unplug the GEM. Insert the coin battery into the GEM module. Apply power to the GEM. Reload all settings to the GEM.

NOTE: If you notice under the *System* tab that the *PT settings* is completely blank. You will enter the default values of *TYPE 187* *Range 3* for the default values.

These values are what determines the power being displayed and captured by the GEM module. As stated in another thread I replied to, the TYPE value is what allows you to fine tune the voltage from your homes electrical panel. Increasing or decreasing this value directly changes what you see in the *Real Time Data* tab.

Why is this important??

Because if you're intending to capture, record, and display accurate *LOW* level wattage this will determine what you see.

I hope the above firmware steps helps the next person as it was quite frustrating to say the least to get this box up and running. It took a lot of time away from my other projects and I still can't get any blasted data out of this box to display ANY graphs / data.

Also, after this firmware upload the Real Time Data seems to stop recording and displaying the values while watching it? I have sent the screen captures for the Ben & Paul to review and am waiting for their reply.

Below is what I am seeing when the system stops reporting any data on the *Real Time Data* tab.

Also for future reference for the members, this is the current firmware and how it is displayed in the GEM interface and where the PT value needs to be entered for accuracy.

Teken . . .

[Teken]

UPDATE: One of the questions I had asked initially was why some of the values in the *Real Time Data* window were showing a (-) minus in front of the numbers. The GEM manual states if this is a single 120 / 240 with out a neutral wire that the orientation of the CT in the main service panel is irrelevant and does not matter.

In the 1240 manual it states that some of the breakers are out of phase and the for require the user to orientate the CT accordingly.

I can assure most of you, that you won't know which way to face the CT until you see the data displayed via the GEM *Real Time Data* window.

All I did was reverse the wires so it would show the correct polarity and ensure no chance of values showing up as negative or affecting the captured data for historic recall. Also, seeing the negative value simply drove me insane when I knew it could be changed!

Teken . . .

[Sigdigit]

OMG!!! I have been lurking here for at least two years, this is my first post. I really hope this device evolves into something user friendly. I have my own Davis weatherstation, and have configured it to upload to several servers in near realtime. I also have set up IP weathercams (thankfully Panasonic has good customer support, as I am not an IT guy, I am an end user with what I like to believe is above average intellect in such matters). I have no problem following stereo manuals to hook up AV systems, etc.

But this seems over the top. My fellow weather geeks are Linux programmers and web site designers. That is beyond the scope of my abilities. I've been interested in power monitoring since I saw the first info on the original Brultech units. I have saved up for a Greeneye and am anxious to buy, but don't want the Teken experience.

[topherhansen]

My experience has been much better. I'm slowly writing my experience down. Teken and I are among the early adopters and are helping to make their documentation and software better via our feedback.
I would still recommend buying one. I've already shaved off a few hundred watts from my baseline useage in only the last two-three days of analysis on my house. I also felt a lot less bad about using my AC when I realized how cheap it is.. the dryer on the other hand is more expensive than I thought.