SBC or DashBox?

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cpetku
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Sep 07, 2016 10:09 pm

SBC or DashBox?

Post by cpetku » Fri Sep 09, 2016 8:58 pm

I'm debating between the dashbox and a linux SBC. I Like the UI on the dashbox but am concerned the HW may be 3-4 years old. The other option is a Pi 3 or similar SBC with open source SW. The EmonCMS posts on you tube just don't excite me like the Dashbox UI. Does anyone have a compelling reason to use Open Source SW other than initial investment cost or have a site they are really proud of using something like EmonCMS? I'm familiar with Linux, so setting up a Pi, beagleboard or other doesn't bother me so long as I can get a good web server type experience. My only concern with the DashBox is the HW may be getting dated as it was introduced in 2013 and doesn't seem to have been updated since.

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bgrubb1
Posts: 176
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 1:17 am

Re: SBC or DashBox?

Post by bgrubb1 » Sat Sep 10, 2016 5:00 pm

Brultech HAS updated the Dashbox hardware.
I have one OLD silver Dashbox and one of the Newer Dashbox's that is black
The black one have a newer CPU card that uses eMMC memory for programs / temp storage and only uses the flash card for data storage
The Silver ones used the flash card for all memory
It's kinda like saying Rasperry Pi / Pi2 / Pi3
if the pi has enough horsepower to do they job, do you need the Pi3 ??
..Barry
cpetku
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Sep 07, 2016 10:09 pm

Re: SBC or DashBox?

Post by cpetku » Sat Sep 10, 2016 8:48 pm

bgrubb1 wrote:Brultech HAS updated the Dashbox hardware.
I have one OLD silver Dashbox and one of the Newer Dashbox's that is black
The black one have a newer CPU card that uses eMMC memory for programs / temp storage and only uses the flash card for data storage
The Silver ones used the flash card for all memory
It's kinda like saying Rasperry Pi / Pi2 / Pi3
if the pi has enough horsepower to do they job, do you need the Pi3 ??
..Barry
Thanks, information on the Processor and memory is pretty limited. Based on the pictures on the web site I assumed the black one was the original prototype and the silver box was what is currently sold. As I said, no details are listed anywhere on the internet about revision history.

I installed two 1240's back in 2011 and stopped using them in 2012 when the EtherBee power supply crapped out. At that time the PC they were connected to was also getting too slow to use with this app and one years worth of data. I recently resurected the monitoring system and installed the SW on a newer computer. I see you have had yours for a few years, so if you're happy with the performance with lots of cached historical data then I'll probably order one as I have a lot of projects going on and it may take me awhile to configure emonCMS for the views I's like. I assume the Brultech solution runs this as well based upon a couple of screen shots and like I said in my original post, paying the extra for support and a configured unit makes sense so long as the processor wasn't really old. My previous PC experience with the database that was used in 2011 is what drives this concern.

Maybe this next question belongs on another thread, but since the DashBox no longer offers Zigbee as an option, can it receive traffic from the EtherBee which is currently interfaced to my 1240's? My goal is to put the computer to sleep since it's drawing 100w continuously.

My next consideration is whether to upgrade one of the 1240's to a GEM first and move the old 1240 to a sub panel in the garage so I can find the real culprits. I'm not sure if the Zigbee radio on the 1240 is good enough for the distance though.
ben
Site Admin
Posts: 4254
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:39 am

Re: SBC or DashBox?

Post by ben » Mon Sep 12, 2016 3:01 pm

Send me an email and I'll send over a link to one of our DashBoxes that's been running for awhile. That should give you a good idea in terms of speed.

With SBCs, EmonCMS isn't the only option. For example, roscoe here got it working with Grafana: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1628&p=10427#p10427

The DashBox can take both HTTP and Binary formats. Binary through the STS cable interfaces, and HTTP formats through the network. Your EtherBee is compatible via the HTTP method.
Ben
Brultech Research Inc.
E: ben(at)brultech.com
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