Recommendations on a RS485-Wifi server/gateway

[MaxVonEvil]

Hi all,
TLDR question; Is there a readymade RS485-to-Wifi gateway/server (other than a pi-0) which is compatible with a Nixie RS485 network port? Is Nixie able to talk to anything non-SoCat over the network?

Background: I used a direct RS485 cable connection for Nixie/NJSPC at our old place, yet the layout of the new house does not lend itself well to cable, so I'm looking at wireless options.

As I have a good wifi-mesh covering the backyard, I would like to get a RS485-Wifi gateway known to work with Nixie's network port option. I understand one option is putting a Pi Zero by the pump, running SoCat, yet I've had outdoor Pi's die on me before, due to the seasonal hot weather here in southern Nevada.

For wireless RS485 in general, I can see there's been some discussion of the Elfin EW-11, however I'd like to avoid having RS485 hardware in the controller end, as end state goal is having Nixie running in a docker container on a Synlogic NAS, instead of on a Pi.

I was looking at equipment such as this one, or any of these others on Amazon, yet not sure if they are compatible with Nixie?

What caught my eye is that the Nixie port setup, where the description says 'Socat, ETC'

So I guess my question is, what's the ETC for? What else can Nixie talk to over the network. To illustrate what I'm hoping to do is this. Question is, what can I put in front of the pump?

PS: I suppose a slightly alternate option is one of these com-port servers where you install a virtual com port driver on the controller side, however if there's a way to avoid having to install anything driver-wise on the host-os of the NAS it would make me sleep better :)

Thoughts? Any hardware recommendations? Thank you!

[rstrouse]

Lets start with I don't use any of the mentioned adapters. From the brief read over of most of them, they are the same concept. Including the EW11. The device itself is a TCP server running on an assigned port that relays the RS485 data over the socket. This is the way all of them work and there is no adapter in the pi for its use.

[CodeSlinger69]

The EW11 was great for me when I was using njsPC as a front-end to my EasyTouch. I had njsPC running in a VM on my PC in the house, and the EW11 sending RS485 signals over Wifi. Sounds like what you want to do too.

If you start getting into a full Nixie build, however, you're gonna need a RPi at the pool equipment pad. There are a lot of wires that need to be connected to the RPi, not just the RS485 bus. I am in Phoenix and have the same heat problem as you - I'm currently exploring enclosures and fans to keep the thing cool. My write up is here if you are interested in this path.

[MaxVonEvil]

Thanks for the quick replies gents,

@rstrouse, it looks like I might be doing some experimenting on some of those units (hooray for Amazon's 30 day return policy, lol) and see what works. Btw, I might have messed up on the terminology as I thought Nixie was the new name for NJSPC.

@CodeSlinger69 Thanks for the suggestions, I'll certainly be following your fan/cooling adventures as my current ESP setup may need some help if the summers keep getting hotter. I'll share my thoughts in your discussion.

Just for some some background, my pool adventures started at a rental house where a) I could only do minimally invasive changes which needed to be fully reversible+removable when we eventually bought our own place. As the rental was equipped with a noisy singlespeed 1kW pump, I bought my own Intelliflow VS and plumbed it in with pipe unions, so I could put the old clunker back when we eventually moved post-Covid.

I've been on Home Assistant for years, building my own custom dashboards, ESP32 devices and all the smarts of the house is in NodeRed, including pump, lights and valve actuator controls for the pool. While the capabilities of NJSPC indeed are impressive, I never had clorinators or any proprietary pool control panel - I guess I didn't know what I was missing. Long story short, I've only been using NJSPC to control my VS pump for a long time and the ESP based controller I built on the side just ran the relays and a DS18B20 stainless temperature probe mounted inside the pump basket.

A quick note on the last item, the pentair pumps feature those threaded drain plugs on the side of the pump basket, I bought a spare plug here, drilled a hole through it and pressure mounted the sensor in it, no sealant required.

[MaxVonEvil]

Well, so that didn't work ... :)

For my curiosity and your reading entertainment, I ordered one of these kwang-bong brand RS485-wifi servers on Amazon, as I wanted per the thread above to explore alternatives to the Pi-Zero/SoCat route.

What made me pull the trigger on the purchase was it has a transparent-mode, where supposedly all traffic is relayed to a IP port on either UDP or TCP, dealer's choice. Seamed like a good match with NJSPC

While the setup documentation reads like the lovechild between a Mandarin toaster-oven manual and a migraine attack, I managed to get the device onto my network and configurable via it's web interface. Hooked it up to a powersupply and the pump's data port, configured the UART:

Configured the network side of the gadget, seems straight forward:

On the NJSPC side, I configured a RS485 network port matching the settings on the gadget:

I got as far as it actually connected and NJSPC says the port is open as shown above, yet no data comes through. I know from experience using cable previously, that once there's comms are established, the pump display blanks out with a DISPLAY INACTIVE message, locking out local control. That does unfortunately not happen.

I've tried some of the other modes the serial server offers, yet none of them yields any different result:

So, hands down I think I've given this server the time of day, to reasonably determine if it might work with NJSPC. While I think I'm at the end of the rope with this thing and about to return it next week, I would appreciate a note if you think there's something obvious I might have missed.

Alternatively if there's other industrial hardware out there known to be Socat compatible, i.e. NJSPC can speak to it - I would not mind giving it a try.

[CodeSlinger69]

I still don't understand what you are trying to do here. If all you want to do is run njsPC on a box inside your house, as a front end to the OCP, then get an EW11. Its proven and works.

[MaxVonEvil]

@rstrouse, correct - that's exactly what I did, yet so far no love with this cursed device. I got as far today as the pump display went into DISPLAY INACTIVE state, so it must have received something, however nothing is coming back the other way. I'll need to doublecheck wiring etc.

@CodeSlinger69, thank you - yet correct me if I am wrong, the EW11 needs a transceiver device in both ends, right? I am attempting to avoid that setup, as my end-state goal is to run NJSPC inside docker on my NAS, which runs a few other critical systems. See graphic in post above. As I can't attach a RS485 transceiver to my NAS, I'm leaning towards a network server such as the one I gave a shot above. If you're telling me that the EW11 is able to do that, run a socat server in one end, I'm all ears.

[CodeSlinger69]

@CodeSlinger69, thank you - yet correct me if I am wrong, the EW11 needs a transceiver device in both ends, right? I am attempting to avoid that setup, as my end-state goal is to run NJSPC inside docker on my NAS, which runs a few other critical systems. See graphic in post above. As I can't attach a RS485 transceiver to my NAS, I'm leaning towards a network server such as the one I gave a shot above. If you're telling me that the EW11 is able to do that, run a socat server in one end, I'm all ears.

The EW11 is a bridge between your RS485 bus and your WiFi network. Its exactly the thing you describe in the title of this thread. One end of the EW11 has 4 wires that you connect to the RS485 bus on your OCP. The other end of the EW11 has an antenna - you configure the EW11 to connect to your WiFi network.

From there, the OCP's RS485 bus is addressable over your local network, and njsPC natively supports this kind of connection.

[MaxVonEvil]

Okay, great - initially when I had a look at it, it only seemed as it was a hardware-hardware bridge, meaning it needed something in both ends, yet if it's not the case I'll give it a go. Thanks for clarifying!

[rstrouse]

You do not need two devices for the EW11.

[MaxVonEvil]

Yes, I found a cheaper kit with only one EW11A device on Amazon. It was super quick to set up and worked immediately. This accomplishes what I set out to do; getting wireless comms up and getting NJSPC off the Pi and onto the NAS.

The only snafu I ran into, was getting the paths right in the docker-compose.yaml file, for running on top of my Synology NAS. If others are interested in going the same route, look here for the nitty-gritty, but here's what my file looks like.

services:
  poolcontroller:
    container_name: poolcontroller
    restart: always
    user: node:dialout
    ports:
      - "4200:4200"
    volumes:
    - /volume1/docker/njspc/poolcontroller/data:/app/data
    - type: bind
      source: /volume1/docker/njspc/poolcontroller/config.json
      target: /app/config.json
    image: msmi/nodejs-poolcontroller
  poolcontroller-dashpanel:
    restart: always
    container_name: poolcontroller-dashpanel
    ports:
      - "5150:5150"
    volumes:
    - type: bind
      source: /volume1/docker/njspc/poolcontroller-dashpanel/config.json
      target: /app/config.json
    image: msmi/nodejs-poolcontroller-dashpanel
    depends_on:
      - poolcontroller

Before uploading the compose file, I SAMBA'ed into the Pi, grabbed the /data folder and copied it into the docker file structure using the Synology Filestation:

And here is what the final setup looks like;

now I just need to stick it all in a nice outdoor box ;)

[MaxVonEvil]

We'll, the NJSPC software is relatively easy to set up, I prefer running it on Docker myself. Once you have the web interface (poolcontroller-dashpanel) running you configure a network port and exactly as you say, you provide the IP and port (default tcp/8899) of the EW11. You also need to know the serial config of the heater (may be 9600 N 8 1, guessing here) and set that up in the EW11.

As for heaters, never really bought one as the new house came with an even older model, which looks like it was made in Russia and eats plutonium fuel rods for breakfast, lol. But hey it's got a switch, so I can control it business as usual.

[MyTek]

Well thanks for all the info! I'll reach back out if I change this up a bit and get something working.

[MyTek]

Oh one last thing. Do you have a link to the ew11 you bought? I see a bunch of ones on ebay and aliexpress but the prices are all over the place so I don't want to get screwed!

[MaxVonEvil]

Yep, there is a link above. Look for linked word 'Amazon', it's listed at around 20 bucks

[MyTek]

Well how about that. Thanks!