Another update for the Local App. This one addresses the Power scale. Here is what we decided to do. Now the scale is non adjustable and starts at 1KW and it will simply auto range up to the appropriate level. Please keep us posted if any of today's updates do not work as designed.
Thank you
Ryan
It's working great. Thanks!
Where do you find the download?
you can just hit "Update" on your existing application under the Application->About menu.
If you don't have the app, it is here:
https://www.mymidnite.com/?q=node/7
Thanks, I looked under 'downloads' but couldn't find it there. I thought there was a sticky in this section too for latest versions, but not...
thanks for posting.
Having a strange problem, when I click on the 'download button' All I get is some text and a lot of hyroogllyphics??? tried 4 times and still the same
started by updating AIR
II am using a EEEpc with W 7 & Firefox
previously had local panel installed an deleted before starting
Now even worse, I am the ADMIN and it will not let me remove the previous version???
Have to come back to this next Monday, off for the weekend...
mine seem ok
mine reset everything to metric and lost the serial # and all of the historic "live" data
Quote from: dbcollen on August 02, 2013, 04:54:19 PM
mine reset everything to metric and lost the serial # and all of the historic "live" data
DB;
I "think" Andrew mentioned the centigrade thing in the previous thread on the new app.
Frankly, it sucks, IMHO, as I don't know centigrade from camel $h!t. But not my call.
Tom
Well the real issue was that the Classic is C only and the local app was showing F and C the data is saved as C so that was confusing. We all need to harass boB to get the classic showing F.
Ryan
Quote from: Halfcrazy on August 02, 2013, 07:03:05 PM
We all need to harass boB to get the classic showing F.
That, or move to metric like the rest of the known universe ;)
Well, even here in the US - the metric system is the standard for science and engineering - so .....deal with it! :P
Quote from: mtdoc on August 02, 2013, 07:10:36 PM
Well, even here in the US - the metric system is the standard for science and engineering - so .....deal with it! :P
Well, its hard to teach an
old dog (me) new tricks. Many advantages to metric but I simply never learned it.
Its all good.
Tom
Quote from: TomW on August 02, 2013, 07:38:56 PM
Well, its hard to teach an old dog (me) new tricks.
From one old dog to another - I know what you mean -I was just razzin' ya all.. . But if you can learn
Kilo-watt hours then you can learn centigrade.
Quote
Its all good.
Yes it is. :)
Quote from: Halfcrazy on August 02, 2013, 07:03:05 PM
Well the real issue was that the Classic is C only and the local app was showing F and C the data is saved as C so that was confusing. We all need to harass boB to get the classic showing F.
Ryan
Yeah Yeah... As soon as I lose 100 pounds
boB
QuoteYeah Yeah... As soon as I lose 100 pounds
boB
Just go with 45 Kilograms smaller target right ?
Quote from: Halfcrazy on August 02, 2013, 07:03:05 PM
Well the real issue was that the Classic is C only and the local app was showing F and C the data is saved as C so that was confusing. We all need to harass boB to get the classic showing F.
Ryan
Consider boB harassed !! Now who was confused, never really saw any comments on this issue on the forums. So bring back the F and wait until boB has time. I'd rather see him working on the software for the MNBM myself. We have been wait for that functionality for a while now.
Unfortunately it wasn't the forums where the problems were, it was all the technical assistance calls Ryan was getting in the middle of the night!
That is where most of our design decisions come from!
Quote from: atop8918 on August 03, 2013, 05:07:41 PM
Unfortunately it wasn't the forums where the problems were, it was all the technical assistance calls Ryan was getting in the middle of the night!
That is where most of our design decisions come from!
Good to know he answers the phone in the middle of the night.
Never know when a guy might need a ride or bail. ;=<>
Tom
Quote from: rockhead on August 03, 2013, 11:49:48 AM
QuoteYeah Yeah... As soon as I lose 100 pounds
boB
Just go with 45 Kilograms smaller target right ?
Or even better - only 7 Stone!
It seems to work great.
It would be nice to get readings in F. I'm also an old dog, I'll try a new trick but won't be very good at it and they make me cranky.
Thanks again I like it
Wade
Hi,
Centigrade is easy: 0=freezing & 100=boiling (for water at sea level and atmospheric pressure that is).
dRdoS7.
Quote from: dRdoS7 on August 04, 2013, 06:18:39 AM
Hi,
Centigrade is easy: 0=freezing & 100=boiling (for water at sea level and atmospheric pressure that is).
dRdoS7.
Yes, most of us old american dogs understand that, it is the fact that we don't do 5/9 -32 in our heads real well
Quote from: dbcollen on August 06, 2013, 12:07:49 PM
Quote from: dRdoS7 on August 04, 2013, 06:18:39 AM
Hi,
Centigrade is easy: 0=freezing & 100=boiling (for water at sea level and atmospheric pressure that is).
dRdoS7.
Yes, most of us old american dogs understand that, it is the fact that we don't do 5/9 -32 in our heads real well
But monitoring temperatures is all about trends. Absolute values are less important. Battery and PV panel manufactures use centrigrade in their temperature coefficients, so I can't see how knowing the temp in farenheit helps - though I do understand it might feel more comfortable seeing the number with a F after it instead of a C.
I know my basement where the batteries are is about 60f, I know my batteries run between 70f and 74f. when they get to 76f it is time to water them. I am just more comfortable seeing 70f than 20c.
found another bug, on the config>advanced tab. with aux 2 set to "waste not high" the values are volts "30" width "1" no matter what you set the volts to, in my case -.1v it always resets to volts "30" on the tab.
Phew lotsa bugs. Thanks for catching them dbcollen, I'll take a look.
I'm having an issue where the Local App keeps disconnecting from the Classic (or vice-versa). Every 1-2 minutes it will disconnect. I keep meaning to reset the Classic, but I only remember in the middle of the day when I'm getting power, and I don't want to lose the current KWH count (because resetting the Classic resets daily KWH to 0, which I don't think it should).
Altho, the connection issue might also have something to do with me poking the Classic with my iPad app development. I think a couple of times I connected without sending a disconnect signal when I was done.
That might do it. There is only one listening connection supported on the classic. If a connection attempt respects the TCP/IP methodology then it shouldn't be able to butt-in when the Local App is running. Some stacks don't follow the TCP/IP spec though and it's possible that your iPad is managing to disrupt the connection somehow.
If the disconnect is happening when you are not running your iPad, then that is probably not the problem. Some folks have noticed high noise on the Ethernet cable from the classic and we suggest using short cable runs from Ethernet to switch whenever possible.
I hadn't experienced the disconnecting issue until last week when the new version launched AND I was working on the app, so I'm not sure if one of those is to blame. I don't think it's the app causing problems, because it's still in development and hasn't run outside of the XCode SDK. Long cable runs tho; I do have more cable to the Classic than I need, and making a short cable has been on my todo for a while so I'll try that.
Any thoughts on saving the daily KWH when the Classic is reset, instead of setting it back to 0?
Quote from: TomW on August 02, 2013, 07:38:56 PM
Well, its hard to teach an old dog (me) new tricks. Many advantages to metric but I simply never learned it.
Crash course: 0= freezing. -10 is more freezing. Touch not the tongue to the metal thingie that's exposed to -10.
-40C is also, interestingly, -40F.
20 is room temperature, unless you live with my wife. Then it's 17. 30 is a damned hot day.
Easy peasy. :)
Quote from: Vern Faulkner on August 20, 2013, 09:49:45 PM
30 is a damned hot day.
Might be where you come from, but it's barely warm here. (We are not particularly hot, but 45-47 deg C (113-117F) is common here in summer)
I noticed this weekend that the Battery Offset in the Local App was reading +2.5 so I reset it to my normal setting of -0.1. I was then looking directly at the Classic and changed it to -0.2v on the Cassic. When I went back to the Local App Battery Offset was again reading +2.5v. Turns out if I set it with the Local App the Classic matches the Local App. If I change it from the Classic the Local App shows 2.5v. I also saw the Local App value for Battery Offset change while working with the Local App itself always changing to 2.5V but wasn't able to trace that down in the sort period of time I had. Anyone else see this. I'm current running 1370 firmware on the Classic and 0.3.27 of the Local App.
Yes there where a couple of those bugs in that version I just got a new version to test and will keep everyone posted.
Ryan
This is kind of ridiculous. Good design should come form anticipating the user's preferences instead of imposing some silly idea about how temperature should be represented. Gee, I think we could also use Kelvin if we wanted to be scientific. I have lived in Europe, Canada, and the US, so I know both metric and ISO as well as American and British measurements, but when I'm in the US I want the temps in F, and when I'm in Canada or Europe, in C. The code to convert from C to F is fairly simple ((9/5 * tempC) + 32 ) so we need to add this back into the LocalApp as an option, pronto. Ideally, the LocalApp should detect the language settings of the computer so if language is en_us, it should use F, and if it's en_uk, or any other European or commonwealth country, then use metric.
Also, with all due respect to Ryan great work ethic, the power users of this forum have done a better and more responsive support than Ryan. He is great for what he does, but he is neither a systems engineer, not a software engineer. Midnite is missing an opportunity to be perceived as the user friendly innovator like Apple, and since I care a lot about this company I will make sure Ryan gets the basic ideas about good software design.
Quote from: TomW on August 03, 2013, 07:24:58 PM
Quote from: atop8918 on August 03, 2013, 05:07:41 PM
Unfortunately it wasn't the forums where the problems were, it was all the technical assistance calls Ryan was getting in the middle of the night!
That is where most of our design decisions come from!
Good to know he answers the phone in the middle of the night.
Never know when a guy might need a ride or bail. ;=<>
Tom
Laszlo
Not sure if I am supposed to take that as a compliment or an insult?
I am sorry I seam to be upsetting people, In the future I will try to answer questions better. I will say that the issue is manpower, We can devote engineering time to a free product or work on say an inverter. It is hard to justify hiring a full time engineer to work on a free product. I can see endless possibilities but it takes Engineers and time. The issue was the upset customers calling saying "I set this software to F and my data is still all in C"
I consider myself pretty darn close to a systems engineer and probably closer to a software engineer than anyone knows. But here on the forum I find myself playing politician not Engineer or support staff.
I will now put on my Engineer hat.
"Yes the Local App can do anything. It should sync with the PC that it is installed on and auto update the Classics clock at regular intervals. It should sense what language the user has picked and auto change its language and units of measure. It should offer all sorts of stuff. It truly could."
Now my political hat again
"I am sorry you are unhappy with it. It is a free service we offer. Maybe we should charge for it and then put an engineer on it full time to get it to do everything everyone wants? I do not know if people would pay $20, $30 or what for it? I am all ears and open to suggestions?"
Ryan
Quote from: Resthome on September 03, 2013, 08:19:25 PM
I noticed this weekend that the Battery Offset in the Local App was reading +2.5 so I reset it to my normal setting of -0.1. I was then looking directly at the Classic and changed it to -0.2v on the Cassic. When I went back to the Local App Battery Offset was again reading +2.5v. Turns out if I set it with the Local App the Classic matches the Local App. If I change it from the Classic the Local App shows 2.5v. I also saw the Local App value for Battery Offset change while working with the Local App itself always changing to 2.5V but wasn't able to trace that down in the sort period of time I had. Anyone else see this. I'm current running 1370 firmware on the Classic and 0.3.27 of the Local App.
Resthome
Not an Engineer (But I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night) but there was a Bug in Local App version 0.3.27 that caused some weird behavior. I suspect it was a buffer over run but Andrew would know better. In any event please update to version 0.3.33 I think you will notice the bug is gone. Let me know if that works or not?
Thank you
Ryan
Yeah that was a bug in 0.3.27. It should be fixed in the most recent update. If not let me know and I'll add it to the list!
I am an engineer, but I don't play one on TV.
Quote from: Halfcrazy on November 18, 2013, 09:03:50 AM
Quote from: Resthome on September 03, 2013, 08:19:25 PM
I noticed this weekend that the Battery Offset in the Local App was reading +2.5 so I reset it to my normal setting of -0.1. I was then looking directly at the Classic and changed it to -0.2v on the Cassic. When I went back to the Local App Battery Offset was again reading +2.5v. Turns out if I set it with the Local App the Classic matches the Local App. If I change it from the Classic the Local App shows 2.5v. I also saw the Local App value for Battery Offset change while working with the Local App itself always changing to 2.5V but wasn't able to trace that down in the sort period of time I had. Anyone else see this. I'm current running 1370 firmware on the Classic and 0.3.27 of the Local App.
Resthome
Not an Engineer (But I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night) but there was a Bug in Local App version 0.3.27 that caused some weird behavior. I suspect it was a buffer over run but Andrew would know better. In any event please update to version 0.3.33 I think you will notice the bug is gone. Let me know if that works or not?
Thank you
Ryan
Yeah that was an old post. Haven't had a chance to get back to the boat to try 0.3.33 yet. I did try 0.3.31 and it was okay in that version.
Now if we can move the random Ethernet disconnects back to the top of everyone's "TO DO" list that would be great. The fact that the black box crew also sees this makes me think it's more of a classic network issue. I know boB has a lot on his plate, but it is rather an annoying problem that has existed since the beginning. At one time it was thought to possibly be related to Linksys wireless routers that a lot of us are using. I switched to a RadioLabs wireless router so I could use an outside wireless external antenna and the disconnects still occur. So has Midnite given up on resolving this or has it just fallen off the radar screen? Maybe we need to start a new thread on this and take a poll as to how many are still seeing this and what are their various configurations.
Resthome
Yes the Disconnects are still on our list. Please do keep us updated on all info you can. I will holler at Andrew on this one?
Ryan
Yup. Comms are next on my list.
Quote from: Halfcrazy on November 18, 2013, 06:38:27 AM
"I am sorry you are unhappy with it. It is a free service we offer. Maybe we should charge for it and then put an engineer on it full time to get it to do everything everyone wants? I do not know if people would pay $20, $30 or what for it? I am all ears and open to suggestions?"
Funny how people will complain about "free" software, and how it's not fulfilling their needs or their ideas about how it should work. Tell them to roll their own; the modbus registers are documented, and there are numerous libraries for reading modbus data into different languages. Go build your own local app and offer it for free.
That said tho, what you guys offer in the Local App AND MyMidnite.com are amazing, and definitely worth paying for. I know I would certainly pay for it since it's something I use a lot. Heck, I'm planning on charging for the iOS app I'm working on! You should too.
Quote from: crunnells on November 18, 2013, 08:12:34 PM
Quote from: Halfcrazy on November 18, 2013, 06:38:27 AM
"I am sorry you are unhappy with it. It is a free service we offer. Maybe we should charge for it and then put an engineer on it full time to get it to do everything everyone wants? I do not know if people would pay $20, $30 or what for it? I am all ears and open to suggestions?"
Funny how people will complain about "free" software, and how it's not fulfilling their needs or their ideas about how it should work. Tell them to roll their own; the modbus registers are documented, and there are numerous libraries for reading modbus data into different languages. Go build your own local app and offer it for free.
That said tho, what you guys offer in the Local App AND MyMidnite.com are amazing, and definitely worth paying for. I know I would certainly pay for it since it's something I use a lot. Heck, I'm planning on charging for the iOS app I'm working on! You should too.
First I'd like to say I can see exactly laszlo's point in his posting. I believe he was actually complimenting Ryan as its patently obvious to everyone that Ryan is a major asset to Midnite and its support environment.
I also believe that the idea that the Local App and MyMidnite should not be criticised because they are somehow
free products is just a cop out excuse for some design omissions and whopper persistent bugs.
I also believe the MN software design and development people do a darn good job but clearly with insufficient resources to get on top of these issues.
I know several Classic users who ONLY purchased their Classic AFTER reviewing the MN web site and forum AND seeing that MN provided the Local App and MyMidnite software products. They bought into the
CLASSIC package that includes the Local App and MyMN.
Its pretty clear to me that is why MN invested some resource in developing this software, to market/sell Classics and enhance the MN experience for users.
These software and this forum and the fact that the MN support people, hardware and software design/development people talk to us in this forum is what IMHO pushes MN way above the competition
To address critics of LocalApp and MyMN by reminding them its free and if they are not happy then go and do their own software is not an acceptable response or a professional approach to dealing with issues.
Saddens me to see end users also buying into this scheme - to put down those users that point out LocalApp MyMN problems etc...
Note this is just my thoughts, no personal criticism of anyone intended.
dgd
I would like to join dgd in praising the MN crew, having been, a fair while ago, on the bleeding edge of a project that was a fair tad bigger than the My Midnite task.
We had far more than the small crew of enthusiasts that inhabit this forum to satisfy, all with slightly similar ideas, and in the end persevered to produce a rock solid program that met everyones needs but not necessarily their wants.
Again THANKS to Robin and boB, et al for taking suggestions and constructive criticism as intended: to better the best charge controllers, IMHO, on the market for the money, ie best value in its market niche.
Eric
Quote from: dgd on November 18, 2013, 09:22:40 PM
Quote from: crunnells on November 18, 2013, 08:12:34 PM
Quote from: Halfcrazy on November 18, 2013, 06:38:27 AM
"I am sorry you are unhappy with it. It is a free service we offer. Maybe we should charge for it and then put an engineer on it full time to get it to do everything everyone wants? I do not know if people would pay $20, $30 or what for it? I am all ears and open to suggestions?"
Funny how people will complain about "free" software, and how it's not fulfilling their needs or their ideas about how it should work. Tell them to roll their own; the modbus registers are documented, and there are numerous libraries for reading modbus data into different languages. Go build your own local app and offer it for free.
That said tho, what you guys offer in the Local App AND MyMidnite.com are amazing, and definitely worth paying for. I know I would certainly pay for it since it's something I use a lot. Heck, I'm planning on charging for the iOS app I'm working on! You should too.
First I'd like to say I can see exactly laszlo's point in his posting. I believe he was actually complimenting Ryan as its patently obvious to everyone that Ryan is a major asset to Midnite and its support environment.
I also believe that the idea that the Local App and MyMidnite should not be criticised because they are somehow free products is just a cop out excuse for some design omissions and whopper persistent bugs.
I also believe the MN software design and development people do a darn good job but clearly with insufficient resources to get on top of these issues.
I know several Classic users who ONLY purchased their Classic AFTER reviewing the MN web site and forum AND seeing that MN provided the Local App and MyMidnite software products. They bought into the CLASSIC package that includes the Local App and MyMN.
Its pretty clear to me that is why MN invested some resource in developing this software, to market/sell Classics and enhance the MN experience for users.
These software and this forum and the fact that the MN support people, hardware and software design/development people talk to us in this forum is what IMHO pushes MN way above the competition
To address critics of LocalApp and MyMN by reminding them its free and if they are not happy then go and do their own software is not an acceptable response or a professional approach to dealing with issues.
Saddens me to see end users also buying into this scheme - to put down those users that point out LocalApp MyMN problems etc...
Note this is just my thoughts, no personal criticism of anyone intended.
dgd
DGD
I do agree and can say that our goal is to make the Local App and My Midnite do everything everyone wants. The real issue is time and resources. At the moment the lead engineer on these 2 items (Andrew) has some very important items on his plate, (Like drag and drop firmware updating).
We have passed the Local App on to a new Engineer and he is feverishly getting it ported over to work as an Android App. As soon as he has this in its Beta stages he will be digging in to the Local App with both feet first.
I also agree using the statement "Its Free" is a cop out and do not mean it to sound that way. I guess what I am saying is we build a charge controller that is comparably priced (If not cheaper) then the competition so the monitoring is a non money maker if you will. If we added say $50 or more to the cost of the Classic to cover the software it would pay for another Engineer but that also would drive the cost up causing less people to buy the product. So as I see it we have a balancing act. We will do our best and will never come to the point where we say "We will not do any more work" on either of these products.
Please be patient with us on this but at the moment we have a lot of engineering projects going that are pretty intensive. The Inverter project is huge.
Ryan
Quote from: Halfcrazy on November 19, 2013, 09:11:08 AM
We have passed the Local App on to a new Engineer and he is feverishly getting it ported over to work as an Android App. As soon as he has this in its Beta stages he will be digging in to the Local App with both feet first.
excellent news, apps we need :)
Quote
So as I see it we have a balancing act. We will do our best and will never come to the point where we say "We will not do any more work" on either of these products.
Please be patient with us on this but at the moment we have a lot of engineering projects going that are pretty intensive. The Inverter project is huge.
I can appreciate its a resource balancing task. No criticism of anyone or MNs processes but end users, like me, always want bugs fixed now and new suggestions for features implemented asap or preferably yesterday.
Anyway I have patience - until tomorrow! or the next idea comes to mind or the next bug surfaces etc.. ;D
Please keep tolerating our impatience.
dgd
Yes and we truly do (At least I do) the kick in the but once in a while to keep us moving. Mike will be working hard towards getting the Local App up to speed. I am excited to get him into the meet and potatoes of the Local App. We wil need to start a thread "The bugs and Missing features we want Mike to FIX!" 8)
It should be a big help to get Mike involved as Andrew has almost enough work to keep him busy for a few days
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
Sorry I have not been feeling well and did not have a chance to respond. My comment and intention was not about flaming you. I know and admire your work ethic. Somebody was saying you had made the call about defaulting to Celsius because you answer the phones late at night when nobody else does.
What I did try to say is that MN attracted a lot of talented people with the great product and support who are already contributing a great deal back to Midnite and it would be smarter for Midnite to leverage this talent and listen to their ideas. This would be similar to the platform effect being used by Apple -- create a platform, or ecosystem, to whihc other scan contribute and then profit from it.
The LocalApp now is a more mature software than two years ago, and control over the look and feel customizations -- the skin and the temp display options for example -- should be handed off to the end user. Also, the modbus part of talking to the Classic could be put into an API so other people could also write their own app using different GUI or no GUI at all.
There is high quality and quantity of open source software for charting, monitoring, and data representation so the place where I would like to take Midnite is to be able to benefit from those tools and the contributions of the engineers who are on this forum.
Quote
Not sure if I am supposed to take that as a compliment or an insult?
I am sorry I seam to be upsetting people, In the future I will try to answer questions better. I will say that the issue is manpower, We can devote engineering time to a free product or work on say an inverter. It is hard to justify hiring a full time engineer to work on a free product. I can see endless possibilities but it takes Engineers and time. The issue was the upset customers calling saying "I set this software to F and my data is still all in C"
I consider myself pretty darn close to a systems engineer and probably closer to a software engineer than anyone knows. But here on the forum I find myself playing politician not Engineer or support staff.
I will now put on my Engineer hat.
"Yes the Local App can do anything. It should sync with the PC that it is installed on and auto update the Classics clock at regular intervals. It should sense what language the user has picked and auto change its language and units of measure. It should offer all sorts of stuff. It truly could."
Now my political hat again
"I am sorry you are unhappy with it. It is a free service we offer. Maybe we should charge for it and then put an engineer on it full time to get it to do everything everyone wants? I do not know if people would pay $20, $30 or what for it? I am all ears and open to suggestions?"
Ryan