LinkMeter v2 Homebrew BBQ Controller - Part 2


 
Originally posted by Dennis C:
Thanks for the fast response. I figured that I would have to do some modification inside. I even thought of making a large box for the router instead of using it's own casing.

Thanks for the tip with the tape. Taking my time with the project as I'm in no rush
Click to expand...

Yes, it will work no problem. What I did was use all 90 degree pin headers and simply soldered a 5 pin female connector like is used for the 4 probe jacks to the serial port on the linksys. I ended up sitting the heatermeter board in the lower left of your picture above. Right above the front indicator LEDs.

As for the ports, this v2 was simply rotated 180degress from the v4. I matched the port numbers in Bryan's v4 photo with the numbers on mine.

PINBE.jpg
 
Originally posted by Kyle Christensen:
Out of curiosity, what wireless probes work with that RFM12B?
Click to expand...
You will have to build a separate unit using another RFM12B. This other unit will accept 6 probes(although you can only display 4) and runs on batteries. At least this was how it was explained to me. To me it wasn't worth the extra cost and time. That section of the board can be populated later if you really find yourself wanting to use it.
 
Originally posted by Kyle Christensen:
Out of curiosity, what wireless probes work with that RFM12B?
Click to expand...
You have to build your own using another RFM12B and the lmremote sketch. The driver can actually be coaxed into receiving temperatures from a 915MHz La Crosse IT+ wireless transmitter as well if you're really ambitious.
 
Have couple Question about the boards

R7-what is the value of component and what is it, on the parts list it just says AKA a wire, but looking at the picture of the board that Bryan made, it looks like a cap.

And I did not realize the shift register was changed

Whats the difference with the newer SR, from the fact the old one was 14 pins and the 595 is 16 pins.
 
Originally posted by John Bostwick:
R7-what is the value of component and what is it, on the parts list it just says AKA a wire, but looking at the picture of the board that Bryan made, it looks like a cap.
Click to expand...
It actually can be omitted entirely. Is this the V2 photo you're talking about? R7 is the bare chunk of metal between the shift register and the BC337 transistor. There's a small trace on the board that allows you to cut it and fill R7 with a different value if your LCD needs it for current limiting the backlight. The NewHaven Display in the recommended parts list has an integrated current limiting resistor. I put a wire in there because some people might be confused by having the space unpopulated.

The 595 shift register is a "latched" buffer. Meaning you shift in all 8 values and then flip the latch to have all outputs change simultaneously. This means we don't have to play games with the diode to form the AND gate. It is also IIRC 10x faster (because I use the SPI bus to drive data to it) and the code is slightly smaller and uses less SRAM. The biggest advantage though is that it seems to be completely reliable so half the HeaterMeter builders don't end up with non-functioning LCDs.
 
HA! Did anyone else get their "WRT54G-TM" from this guy today? Mine came in and is actually WRT54G Version 5, junk as far as being a Linkmeter.
icon_frown.gif


Dang it.
icon_smile.gif


Originally posted by Daniel Schoonover:
Thanks for this, I went ahead and bought one just in case an issue pops up with my GL.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Neil Mager:
They aren't that widely known, so not as popular
to buy as the gl.

This guy has 7 of them left:
http://tinyurl.com/79xm2pt

$20 including shipping

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bryan Mayland:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RJ Riememsnider:
Never seen these before. Are the internals the same as the regular g series? So we should look for a v4?
Click to expand...
It looks to me like the WRT54G-TM layout is identical to the WRT54GL (with the cutout) except they have 32MB of RAM and 8MB of flash. These are amazing actually, considering you can get them for under $20 on eBay. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> </div></BLOCKQUOTE> </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
HA! Did anyone else get their "WRT54G-TM" from this guy today? Mine came in and is actually WRT54G Version 5, junk as far as being a Linkmeter. Frowner

Dang it. Smiler
Click to expand...

Me too, I got a v8. May be time to file my 1st eBay resolution request.
 
I've noticed a strange problem I'm having with my ET732 probes. They work fine until I touch the probe wire and then it reads 0*, I stop touching it and it goes back to reporting the temperature correctly. Anyone else have this same issue?
 
OK... I cant seem to find this anywhere in the forum. To put this in context, I just completed assembling my PCB using the 3.2 version of the board. I have hooked it up to USBtinyISB (using the ICSP port) and am attempting to flash the OptiBoot bootloader (the one that came on the Arduino 1.01 Distro).

The lights on the USBtinyISB show activity (Red for power and green indicating that communications are in progress) but the green LED on the HeatMeter PCB is dark. Should this be lit?

If not, how do I know that he bootloader was correctly applied?

Sorry if this was allready covered...
 
Originally posted by J. Winn:
I've noticed a strange problem I'm having with my ET732 probes. They work fine until I touch the probe wire and then it reads 0*, I stop touching it and it goes back to reporting the temperature correctly. Anyone else have this same issue?
Click to expand...
The probes actually carry current on the braid so there's a chance that touch them could affect the reading. The ET732s seem more susceptible than the other maverick probes. I don't know how the actual maverick device reads them to prevent false readings. For some reason I ran into this a lot when doing my initial experimentation but it rarely happens in practice and I'm not sure why.
 
Originally posted by Kevin Scott:
The lights on the USBtinyISB show activity (Red for power and green indicating that communications are in progress) but the green LED on the HeatMeter PCB is dark. Should this be lit?
Click to expand...
The green LED on the HeaterMeter only blinks twice once the HeaterMeter firmware is installed on it. If you have a spare LED/resistor you can hold it on the AVR pin 19 and ground and the bootloader will blink on boot I think. The easiest way to detect the presence of the bootloader is to try and load a program on it over serial. If the program loads, it must have the bootloader!
 
Originally posted by J. Winn:
I've noticed a strange problem I'm having with my ET732 probes. They work fine until I touch the probe wire and then it reads 0*, I stop touching it and it goes back to reporting the temperature correctly. Anyone else have this same issue?
Click to expand...

ET-732 probes are piles of crap. I sent the ones I bought back and got the ET-72s instead.
 
Ah hah, that's probably why mine kept shorting out, I run my cords between my drum and lid so the metal was probably shorting them.

Originally posted by Bryan Mayland:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by J. Winn:
I've noticed a strange problem I'm having with my ET732 probes. They work fine until I touch the probe wire and then it reads 0*, I stop touching it and it goes back to reporting the temperature correctly. Anyone else have this same issue?
Click to expand...
The probes actually carry current on the braid so there's a chance that touch them could affect the reading. The ET732s seem more susceptible than the other maverick probes. I don't know how the actual maverick device reads them to prevent false readings. For some reason I ran into this a lot when doing my initial experimentation but it rarely happens in practice and I'm not sure why. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
Originally posted by Daniel Schoonover:
ET-732 probes are piles of crap. I sent the ones I bought back and got the ET-72s instead.
Click to expand...

Haha...I already had them from my ET732 when I buy new ones I'll have to get some 72s. I thought the ET732 was suppose to have improved probes. Oh well.
 
I used the linkmeter this weekend it it works great; did ribs and Boston butt. The only issue I have is I think I may have over estimated my blower needs. Except for after I would open the lid and the system was working to recover, the fan was blowing blow 10% the whole time so it just going on and off. Would a smaller blower probably be better?
 
One of the major issues I saw with the ET-732s is that their thickness makes them difficult to manage. IMO.

Originally posted by J. Winn:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Daniel Schoonover:
ET-732 probes are piles of crap. I sent the ones I bought back and got the ET-72s instead.
Click to expand...

Haha...I already had them from my ET732 when I buy new ones I'll have to get some 72s. I thought the ET732 was suppose to have improved probes. Oh well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
I use the ET-732 as my pit probe only. I do have to be a little more careful to make sure it has no bends/kinks in it, but it has always been reliable for me.

I don't use it for the food probes so maybe this sensitivity makes it not a good solution for them. Since the pit probe just sits there after I have it setup, it just works.

I don't see any advantage to using them for food, as the extended temperature range doesn't really help with food anyway.

dave

dave

Originally posted by Daniel Schoonover:
One of the major issues I saw with the ET-732s is that their thickness makes them difficult to manage. IMO.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by J. Winn:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Daniel Schoonover:
ET-732 probes are piles of crap. I sent the ones I bought back and got the ET-72s instead.
Click to expand...

Haha...I already had them from my ET732 when I buy new ones I'll have to get some 72s. I thought the ET732 was suppose to have improved probes. Oh well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
Me too...grrr
and there was another one that was a tm for $20 at the same time that I almost went for instead.
Piece of crap we go.

Sorry about the bad info guys.

Neil

Originally posted by RJ Riememsnider:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">HA! Did anyone else get their "WRT54G-TM" from this guy today? Mine came in and is actually WRT54G Version 5, junk as far as being a Linkmeter. Frown
Dang it. Smiler
Click to expand...

Me too, I got a v8. May be time to file my 1st eBay resolution request. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
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