io_guy Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 He had the CAI board and changed over to the Raspbery PI. That is the reason that I did my temperature probes with the PI. What was the reason you switched? Would you mind sharing a few pros and cons for CAI vs Pi? The CAI uses the processors IO bus for software one-wire support over likely i2C or GPIO (this may be incorrect but I can't find a maxim chip on the thing anywhere). For me, this was unreliable - the sensors would sometimes not be detected on startup and my wire lengths were limited. At the time you also needed a separate program (WCLink) to connect it to the ISY. This has changed with the latest firmware, but it's still a little ugly to handle. The CAI board is tapped out for memory and new features. Since switching to the Pi (must be close to a year ago now) and a hardware controller, I have had zero failures with the system and that is with a one-wire network twice the size. A hardware one-wire controller on the Pi can use virtually any sensor, not just temperature. You also then have a Pi to run anything else on. Personally I run about a dozen home automation programs on mine, linking various devices in my house.
apostolakisl Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 This thread tells you how to configure CAI to post to ISY. viewtopic.php?f=81&t=10141&p=77241&hilit=watson#p77241 You would still need to write a small program on the CAI to tell it when to post what to where on ISY. Awesome little board! Is there any prefabricated cases or power supplies for them? I just hit ebay with cai webcontrol and this little kit came up. I think it is exactly what you would want. http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAI-Webcontrol- ... 1e8655b090
larryllix Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 I just hit ebay with cai webcontrol and this little kit came up. I think it is exactly what you would want. http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAI-Webcontrol- ... 1e8655b090 Nice! I think my wallet and my live-in monitor needs a rest for a bit though. I am still populating my great room with some dimmer wall switches, yet. **sigh** Let me think... Landscape the side yard this year? or CAI? hmmmmmm... I'm sweating now. BACK to reality! Time to get out and blow the snow out of the driveway. Snow banks are almost 8 feet high at front. No typo and it's not letting up this year! Thanks for the tease though!
apostolakisl Posted January 30, 2014 Posted January 30, 2014 I just hit ebay with cai webcontrol and this little kit came up. I think it is exactly what you would want. http://www.ebay.com/itm/CAI-Webcontrol- ... 1e8655b090 Nice! I think my wallet and my live-in monitor needs a rest for a bit though. I am still populating my great room with some dimmer wall switches, yet. **sigh** Let me think... Landscape the side yard this year? or CAI? hmmmmmm... I'm sweating now. BACK to reality! Time to get out and blow the snow out of the driveway. Snow banks are almost 8 feet high at front. No typo and it's not letting up this year! Thanks for the tease though! You could probably program a CAI to automatically plow your driveway. Or you could move to Texas. I emailed the guy selling those kits to see if he would sell just the accessories, no board since I already have plenty of boards.
larryllix Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 You could probably program a CAI to automatically plow your driveway. Or you could move to Texas. I emailed the guy selling those kits to see if he would sell just the accessories, no board since I already have plenty of boards. Meanwhile I am sitting on a small SCADA system RTU with 32 x 20A, 250vac latching O/Ps, 64 12bit bipolar analogue I/Ps, 64 dry contact status I/P and no ambition to write the polling routines to support the serial protocol needed after seeing things like this (CAI) that are close to Plug'n Play with only a limited amount of stress/excitement. This thing was used to control a private 1/2MW NG co-gen on our grid, when it was the rage era. But.. where's my application for it? I should put it up on some industrial used equipment site and sink the profits into all these little fun boards and gadgets. I can see the wig and blinking eyes on my snowblower already! Wait! How many extra bedrooms you got?
66splitbus Posted January 31, 2014 Author Posted January 31, 2014 Hey guys, thanks for all the info. I tried the ez way out and picked up 2441zth, not impressed at all so its going back for sure. Since it's wireless it doesnt report constantly, even when wired. Also the temp is a good 6 to 7 degrees off on both the internal and external temp sensors! Everything in my house, including weatherbug stations say its 68. This thing is telling me 75 and 74. I think im going to take a stab at the Raspberry pi. I have one laying around anyway so time to put it to use. And yes, certain silicone will kill your fishies quickly. I mostly have these little tiny shrimp which are really sensitive as well. Time to Pi!
shannong Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 You can adjust the temp and humidity offset to calibrate the 2441ZTH. Also, it sends temp updates every 60 seconds when connected to an external power source which should be fast enough for most. The reason I gave up on it and sent it back was that I couldn't query the current temp. Every other reading can be queried such as set point, humidity level, etc. You know, everyone except the one you care about most - the current temp. If a temp update message wasn't received on the network for whatever reason your screwed until the temp changes again which could be 60 seconds or half an hour. Ridiculous. Good luck with your Raspberry Pi project.
larryllix Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 You can adjust the temp and humidity offset to calibrate the 2441ZTH. Also, it sends temp updates every 60 seconds when connected to an external power source which should be fast enough for most. The reason I gave up on it and sent it back was that I couldn't query the current temp. Every other reading can be queried such as set point, humidity level, etc. You know, everyone except the one you care about most - the current temp. If a temp update message wasn't received on the network for whatever reason your screwed until the temp changes again which could be 60 seconds or half an hour. Ridiculous. I sure am glad to hear of your experiences with that one as it was next on my list of purchases and probably saved me a lot of anguish. The ability to query every parameter except the main one is a joke. It seems a lot of this stuff is designed by people that have never used it. A settable update/heartbeat time and pollable values or reporting by exception (change of value) would have been the best from my experiences. Every minute is a ridiculous scheme. Unfortunate. Pi will be next.
ppitkin Posted February 3, 2014 Posted February 3, 2014 Have you considered the Cao temperature/motion devices? https://www.mytaglist.com/specs.html Not sure how/if it could be integrated with ISY though as you need to get the data from their servers.
Recommended Posts