I am starting this thread to ask people to give us feedback. We want you to tell us what you would like to see the Local Application software do that it does not do now. We will start a new thread in a while with a poll asking you to vote on these in order of priority we want to give the end user a lot of input on this. So beet on the software and tell us good bad or indifferent what you think and what you want changed or added.
Ryan
I have enjoyed using the Local app so I thought I would put some ideas on the table.
Under "Daily Values" : Maximums for Power, V input, Battery current along with time stamps.
In the "Charts" include an indication of the Aux state.
Not sure if this is possible but it would be useful to have a listing of the settings for the Classic including the wind track profile which is active.
Keep up the good work
Andy
Although cosmetic I would rather see an alternative layout with just a digital read out and skip the analog gauges. We are in the 21st century. This would shrink the size of the GUI and allow for not only PC use but potentially use with the many smaller handheld devices or areas within a PC desktop (Ipad, Iphone, Android, touch screen devices, Win8, etc, etc on the horizon). A good start!
There is a text only version in the works for the web based version so that all the smart phone users can use it as well.
This is a really nice user interface and I like the Classic look and feel. Very cool indeed!
Need an option for linear value charting instead of logarithmic -- so if you change the time interval, it is not changing the actual values. Right now let's say if you are charting Watts, it will display different peak Watts values if you are in he 1/2 hr interval than if you you go to the Day interval. I would like to see the actual values, even if you have to clip and show fewer samples.
Couple of little fixme's:
-Cumulative amp/hr shows some huge value - it doesn't make sense at all. The amp/hr value is actually more useful than watt/hr for battery based systems since you can roughty calculate 80% efficiency in/out into a battery if you know amp/hr values.
-Cumulative Kwh decimal point is off by one pos to the right (so it displays 10,000 instead of 1,000)
Quote from: Halfcrazy on October 04, 2011, 02:38:47 PM
I am starting this thread to ask people to give us feedback. We want you to tell us what you would like to see the Local Application software do that it does not do now. We will start a new thread in a while with a poll asking you to vote on these in order of priority we want to give the end user a lot of input on this. So beet on the software and tell us good bad or indifferent what you think and what you want changed or added.
Ryan
i too hold the view that a couple of different "skins" would be interesting. I find that the power panel locks up from time to time so maybe a refresh button would be useful rather than have to close and reopen the program. I am also of the view that a widget option be available so that it could be a small window on one deskstop and be able to see the main point without having to have the larger GUI open. So in summary:
1. A "skins" options to get different GUI.
2. A refresh button for when it locks up(or stop it from locking up)
3. A desktop widget for small window to monitor while multitasking.
Additionally I have done an export into CSV format and I have tried to change the time stamp in to a recognisable time reading without success. Could anyone address this. Also is there anyway to reduce the amount of sample every two sec is alot of data points.
Cheers...
Damani
Dapdan
You will want to download the latest Classic firmware and install it. Until that revision the MNGP was not telling the Classic what time it was. I think if you grab the latest firmware as well as make sure the Clock is set correct in the MNGP the time stamp should be correct.
1/2,
I do have the update firmware (24/09/2011). I will check to see if the time is correct, I did remember setting it though. I have to add that I was able to update both of my classic but the MNGP on the classic 200 refuses to update and it is still the last one from June.
Cheers...
Damani
Ok that is odd? I had one the other day that did not want to catch so I plugged it into a different Classic and it caught the first time. Some Computers seem to be a lot slower than others on sending out the data and the Classics boot loader misses it on occasion. I have an old Laptop here I use for Echolink on my Repeater and it is slower than slow and I have to try repeatedly when using it.
Maybe we need to lengthen the boot loader a little? Although I heard a rumor Monday we may have network firmware uploading available in a few weeks ::) This should make things easier.
Ok,
I checked the classic 150 and it had the right time. This was the same controller that was giving me the time stamp with the exponent of 12 or something of the like.
In terms of the firmware, I was uploading via an old acer netbook that was running window xp sp3. I was able to upload 23/092011 on both classics 200 and 150 but it didnt take on the classic 200 which is still at 06/06/2011 where the classic 150 updated to 24/09/2011.
Cheers...
Damani
Network based firmware management, please! Although I guess probably it will take one more usb firmware upgrade to get there :)
By the way, instead of a repeater like Ryan is using, I am using a small HP netbook computer with wireless and ethernet. It works really well, small and weighs only 1 pound or so, and it has no internal hard disk so it uses only about 13 watts with the display lights off. I use VNC to remote into it from my Mac in the house. I see some possibilities for a new product line.
Quote from: Halfcrazy on October 11, 2011, 10:53:52 AM
Ok that is odd? I had one the other day that did not want to catch so I plugged it into a different Classic and it caught the first time. Some Computers seem to be a lot slower than others on sending out the data and the Classics boot loader misses it on occasion. I have an old Laptop here I use for Echolink on my Repeater and it is slower than slow and I have to try repeatedly when using it.
Maybe we need to lengthen the boot loader a little? Although I heard a rumor Monday we may have network firmware uploading available in a few weeks ::) This should make things easier.
How about a configuration summary screen. You could scroll through it to see how everything is already setup without navigation through various menus.
How about not forgetting the longitude and latitude every time you reboot the controller? While this isn't done often, if it is a mobile application like ours, every time you stop you're going through the Wizard all over again. It sure would be great to have that as a direct menu item. If you are in one location all the time, no big deal but that single thing alone would be enough to make someone mobile think twice.
The Classic does not forget the Long and Lat the wizard does not ask the Classic for it again when you run it. Anything you enter into the Classic and save to the Classic will always be there no matter how many power cycles the Classic is exposed to.
As far as re entering the Long and Lat every time you stop somewhere new this is really a non issue as the Classic currently does not use that data for anything. It will be put to use for features like turning lights or loads on so many hours after sun up or sun down etc.
Ryan
Just requests. In the Data screen:
Daily-
Classic uptime. Helpful to see how long it has been since last shutdown or restart.
Current charging method: Bulk, Absorb Float (I know, Float has a running clock but what the heck)
Date/Time as reported by Classic. That way you easily know if the RTC is working)
Current Longitude/Latitude -Just nice info to see since there is so much available space.
Lifetime-
Total Classic uptime
Total amps -maybe it works, not on mine.
That does it for the four lines available
Then ability to scale input, energy and battery amps. Big help for smaller systems and we do buy the Classic.
Date/Time on the Status screen too. Makes it easier to correlate production vs time at a glance without clicking.
BIG one - resolution scaling. For tablets running in portait mode the resize doesn't allow for maximize to fit widthwise. The height is no problem but the width puts the window scaling controls off the display. I kjnow that is a tall order given the nature of the app but it would help.
JFYI: We run this while mobile so the solar panels are in production while moving. The tablets are located to the right of the driver's right hand and slightly up. There is GPS mapping there but when stopped it becomes the info center of sorts. It runs weather channels reception, the 360 degree camera views and displays the local app. This might not apply to many but the resolution will come in handy as more people buy tablets.
Just wishes.
Tin Man
Thanks for all the ideas they are all great ideas and will get passed on to Andrew. The gauges do kind of scale now based on the Classic. For the battery amps if you turn the current limit down the Amps gauge will reflect that. the others do not range yet. The plan for the KWH meter is to have it start at say 1kwh and when the Classic goes past it will switch to 2kwh and so on. Maybe the input voltage can do something similar it could look at VOC and park say 10 volts above that?
Ryan
Something cool I'd like to see in the current GUI... A little marker that tracks the max for each gauge (except maybe Battery V). I'm reminded of the old gauges that had a marker that the needle would push as it went higher, and when it dropped back down the marker would stay. Like a little red triangle on the edge of the dial that points to the highest value.
Does that make sense? Purely cosmetic but it would still be nice to see the daily max value for the input values.
Otherwise, some way for the app to pull the logs from the Classic so I don't have to leave it on all day (it doesn't use a *lot* of power, but Activity Monitor (OSX) shows something like 20-25% of the processor usage when it's running) just to see how the system has performed while I was out.
As long as we are wishing, I'd like to have:
1. Make the 'midnitesolar.com' area under the Battery Volt gage a hot link button to launch the home page for MidNite
2. Add the ability to see and change what date and time the classic thinks it is
3. Auto scale the Battery Amp gage, I often run it 70-80 amps
4. Add an indication relative to equalize (i.e. how long to the next one & status of last attempt)
5. Add the ability to select and log certain logic states such as float, fault, etc
6. Store the Alerts data for later review and clearing or just last 24/36/48 hours
7. Remote reset capability
8. Manual over-ride to turn fans on or back to auto
9. Indication of fan state (i.e. on off, turbo on/off)
Thread Derail Warning, warning ...
Hi adec, WOW about 120 Amps DC MAX out of the Classic with that 3.75 Kw array ... perhaps you have a second Classic 150?
End of derailment ... Please resume normal traffic. Thanks, Vic
No second Classic ... yet. Waiting for the true parallel operation firmware to be done. Then we will add a second Classic and a grid tie inverter gated off float. Feed the batteries before we feed the grid. In the interim I rely on the Classic's throttling capability (set to 80 amp max feeding a 100 amp breaker) on sunny-money days and make use of the over capacity potential on cloudy days.
Hi,
Nice piece of software. It's the sort of thing I am missing with my SMA Sunnyboy Grid-tied inverter. It would cost $$$ to add something like this to it.
Things I would add to LocalStatusPanel App:
1. An option to minimise to tray instead of closing app., so it's still logging. I leave a PC on as a media server. I keep pressing the close button after checking status force of habit.
2. Enable manual scaling of battery volts. That way it represents a fuel gauge better. 33 - 63 is too big a range, IMO.
Thanks,
dRdoS7 (Classic 200 in Australia. Actually it's in the garage).
Just a couple of minor suggestions
The minimise screen uses the same size physical window as the main display, the window is obviously sized for those meters. I find the min display most useful as I see all 3 of my classics
I will soon be monitoring another 3 classics so 6 in the window. Would be nice to scale height of this window to suit. Number of lines displayed.
The watts are whole numbers only so the trailing .00 is wasted also the extra 0 on the Energy.
One additional item I would really like to see is Batt Volts as not all the classics will be dealing with the same battery bank.
On main display the input volts are also whole numbers whereas batt volts has tenths shown. Not of major concern but a bit odd seeing a turbine input 26v and the battery at 26.7v
Scaling also would be nice, I often see the 68amp exceeded but the needle can't reach the 68!!
Dgd
Great software and I love all the fantastic ideas in this thread!
One simple ask: Could you place a revision history on the download page (http://mymidnite.com/?q=node/7) so one could tell at a glance if the currently installed version of the local app is the latest and greatest?
Thanks for all the work on these fine products!
-Dave
Quote from: Halfcrazy on November 04, 2011, 08:34:17 PM
Tin Man
Thanks for all the ideas they are all great ideas and will get passed on to Andrew. The gauges do kind of scale now based on the Classic. For the battery amps if you turn the current limit down the Amps gauge will reflect that. the others do not range yet. The plan for the KWH meter is to have it start at say 1kwh and when the Classic goes past it will switch to 2kwh and so on. Maybe the input voltage can do something similar it could look at VOC and park say 10 volts above that?
Ryan
The present automatic analogue meter scaling gives some strange meter ranges.
My batt volts meter has 9 volts to 39 volts. I cannot imagine in normal everyday working anything ever below 20 volts or over 34 volts.
To solve these meter ranges to everyone's satisfaction I would suggest the local app looks for a config file. In here a user could specify meter ranges. This is a common approach to allow end users to customise a program
Dgd
I have been thinking about this 'local app' (the nectar bottle is empty so clear head now :-\ )
It seems to me that its growing in complexity as it gets all these extra 'features' and seems to be heading in the direction of becoming 'one program to do everything' AFA the Classic is concerned.
I liked the local app when it first appeared, the idea of 'live' online monitoring voltages and currents and a car-dashboard like analogue display
was appealing (I suspect because it was different).
But IMHO its now trying to do too much - at least for one program.
What I would like to see is a simple local app that just does the live online monitoring and displaying. Perhaps with various display options from plain text/numbers in a minimal window to the car dash with skins options.
Then all those other current working or not-working-yet features separated out in other programs
eg, reports, text and graphics forms with range (start/end dates) selection etc..
Classic online setup as now done by the local app 'config'
Hopefully this would not be an onerous task as the local app probably is already coded in a modular form (Andrew?)
And please sort out the tcp/ip stacking either/and in the Classic code/local app code to allow multiple connections/invocations of the local app.
dgd
Quote from: dgd on January 05, 2013, 06:43:44 PM
And please sort out the tcp/ip stacking either/and in the Classic code/local app code to allow multiple connections/invocations of the local app.
dgd
Now, that in itself would be great. Not sure what is involved to do that but I would imagine it wouldn't
be all that difficult.
boB
Hi,
Would it be possible to have an option to save logs in YYYYMMDD filename format?
Thanks,
dRdoS7
Quote from: dRdoS7 on January 18, 2013, 06:54:39 PM
Hi,
Would it be possible to have an option to save logs in YYYYMMDD filename format?
Thanks,
dRdoS7
Yes, but it won't be too high on the list. However, for those from Oz, I did put in the text
below the date in the Revision screen "D/M/YEAR" so that at least one could tell how the
date was presented. There was no room in the logs screen to do this though.
Time here is tight now but maybe sometime in the future ?
boB
Daily Absorb time in data log could also be very helpful to help diagnose battery problems.
Erik
Quote from: SolarMusher on February 07, 2013, 08:38:14 AM
Daily Absorb time in data log could also be very helpful to help diagnose battery problems.
Erik
I'll second this request.
Hi,
After reading a post about which settings to change after a VMM I thought: how about a save and restore settings function in Local App?
As an alternative, or in addition, an option to print out current settings and/or where they are not the defaults.
dRdoS7.
I think the current dash is excellent, love the analog needles. I believe the battery gauge would be more appropriately named charge as I'm fairly certain that is what it is. Charge power created by the unit. Below that could be an actual amp gauge that would swing left and right showing how much of the charge current is going into the battery. If a cloudy day this could swing left and show how much battery current it is taking to bolster the charge current and run the loads.
P.S. The local app and my midnite web site are making me want to push the order now button. I've been bouncing all around between Morningstar, Outback, Bluesky, and Midnite. Midnite is winning mostly because of this. Now if only it would monitor a battery shunt and show be my loads it would be a true off-grid full system monitor.
- Jeff
Jeff
Monitoring a shunt and logging it on the Classic is very close. We have the MNCSM or Current Sense module well under way. Brad has the prototype running and the real boards are on order. boB is getting started on code. In its early release the MNCSM will do monitoring and logging of Amps in and out. Also End Amps will also have the option to be triggered by the MNCSM as well.
As time rolls on boB will be making a full on battery state of charge meter out of the MNCSM and Classic
Ryan
Quote from: Halfcrazy on April 08, 2013, 04:24:30 PM
Jeff
Monitoring a shunt and logging it on the Classic is very close. We have the MNCSM or Current Sense module well under way. Brad has the prototype running and the real boards are on order. boB is getting started on code. In its early release the MNCSM will do monitoring and logging of Amps in and out. Also End Amps will also have the option to be triggered by the MNCSM as well.
As time rolls on boB will be making a full on battery state of charge meter out of the MNCSM and Classic
Ryan
Ok you've convinced me, I'm ordering. Can I get on a list to be notified the second I can add this to a Classic? I'm getting a 150 lite as it will be mounted in the "basement" of an RV so I have no need of a LCD screen on the unit. I will have it connected to a wireless access point so I can monitor from a laptop. By the way I really like the design of this unit and wish I could mount it in the living space and show it off. Some day I may trade up to a new RV and then we'll see if there's room. I can always add the LCD later right?
- Jeff
I wouln't be in a rush to mount the unit in the small living space of a RV. Unless you like the noise of fans wizzing away all day.
You can remove the LCD unit from the unit and mount it remotely on its own with a cable conected. That said I hardly ever use the LCD on my classic its just easyer to do it on the laptop inside the house.
Future classics will be lite versions for this reason.
Kurt.
After re-reading the local app manual and thinking about "what would I like" here's the revision.
One more gauge and the ability to change what each gauge is reading. I would like three input gauges one showing array voltage, second array amps, and third array power. The next three would be battery voltage, battery amps with 0 at the center so it could show charge and discharge, then load amps which would always be positive.
- Jeff
Oops, one more gauge. Battery fuel gauge on the bottom left.
Quote from: unyalli on April 10, 2013, 05:18:07 AM
After re-reading the local app manual and thinking about "what would I like" here's the revision.
One more gauge and the ability to change what each gauge is reading. I would like three input gauges one showing array voltage, second array amps, and third array power. The next three would be battery voltage, battery amps with 0 at the center so it could show charge and discharge, then load amps which would always be positive.
- Jeff
Jeff, I can certainly see that gauge you are talking about with 0.0 amps in the middle.
Just like my old amp meter in the old car.
boB
Quote from: offgridQLD on April 10, 2013, 04:54:07 AM
You can remove the LCD unit from the unit and mount it remotely on its own with a cable conected. That said I hardly ever use the LCD on my classic its just easyer to do it on the laptop inside the house.
Future classics will be lite versions for this reason.
Same here, I rarely look at an MNGP now and there is nothing to see on an MNLP.
Once the web interface code is in place on the classic then Lite with just a blank front panel is the future.
Dgd
I have a bug to report, but it's kinda specific to strange setups like mine (MacBook Pro, OS X, running a dual screen setup)
I run an extra monitor on my laptop most times, and I usually have the Local app visible on that monitor. When I disconnect the monitor, all of my other app windows relocate themselves to the laptop screen so that I can see them, but the Local app remains off screen and I have no way to access it or move it unless I do so before disconnecting the second monitor.
Currently I've got a situation where it's put itself *way* off screen somewhere and I have no way of getting it back, short of uninstalling it or deleting the app settings.
So, my feature request would be to have it check to make sure it's window position is within the active monitor(s) coordinates, and if it's not, move it there.
That is a good point I have like 5 programs that do this when I unplug my second monitor. I will mention this and add it to the Bug list.
Ryan