If anyone is interested, I have documented how I am progressing in replacing an ME-ARC remote to monitor my Magnum Inverter with an Arduino and an RS485 IC (lowest cost possible).
https://microcontrollerelectronics.com/solar-power-system-monitoring-with-an-arduino/
I don't have a Magnum but thanks for sharing - you sure do an excellent job of documenting a project !
I will pass this on to a friend who has Magnum .
Larry
This is pretty nice, Earl !
So, you don't just happen to live within commuting distance to MidNite Solar, do you ?? :) ;)
Ah, boB.. when are you opening an office here in Belize? :)
Quote from: earl on December 12, 2019, 01:41:09 AM
Ah, boB.. when are you opening an office here in Belize? :)
Oh NO ! That would be a long commute !
;)
Quote from: boB on December 12, 2019, 03:56:27 PM
Quote from: earl on December 12, 2019, 01:41:09 AM
Ah, boB.. when are you opening an office here in Belize? :)
Oh NO ! That would be a long commute !
;)
But that's a business expense !
Merry Christmas Earle.
Thank You for this information and code. This is like a Christmas present for me. I have been studying Python Code samples that reads the Magnum equipment with the goal of converting it to Arduino C. I have not made much progress on this however so this code answers a lot of questions for me. The code compiles well and the hardware does not look that hard. I am modifying your code to accept an I2C 4X20 LCD that I prefer and also to use a standard RS 485 shield. I usually use the Mega so have lots of serial ports I can use without having use Soft Serial or worry about an extra wire for the LCD. Assuming I get this work in the next while I will post the code here.
A question? Did you ever try to send commands to the ARC?
Once again thank you.
Will
Hi,
I have not yet tried to send anything to the inverter but plan on trying that. I had to have a means of doing that (keypad? did not like that idea) so I added/changed a few things from the original circuit.
I have an updated version and document it here.
https://microcontrollerelectronics.com/updated_solar_power_system_monitoring/
this has an OLED instead of an LCD and has an ESP8266 for accessing it wirelessly via a web interface. Also I switched to an STM32F103C8T6 so there are more serial ports (and it outputs 3 volts which i needed for the ESP8266)
Now with the WEB interface, I can get the commands via a browser and try sending something to the inverter.. at least off / on...
Earl