StokerLog Version 5 Preview


 
Hi Amir,

No problems, just thought I'd check. What is the latest version of your Stokerlog and where would I find it?

Thanks,
Bill
 
I did my first stoker cook this weekend and used Stokerlog too.

The stoker held the temperature like a rock, but I did have some problems with losing connection between stokerlog on my pc and the stoker.

I haven't had the chance to troubleshoot to see why - but this is running over a new wifi network I set up, so my network setup may be the cause.

A few questions -

1. Is stokerlog using a stateful telnet connection to collect the temperature information?

2. If the connection is dropped for some reason, will stokerlog try to reconnect?

3. Is it bad to make input to the stoker via the keypad while stokerlog is running? Ie: if I want to disable the fan for 5 minutes, or change the display to scan the probes in use.

I set up two wrt54gl wifi routers running dd-wrt.v24_std_generic. One was set up as the master router and a second was set up in client bridge mode and was located with the stoker to act as its interface to the wireless network.

The dropped connections seemed to happen at random; sometimes after as little as 20 minutes, sometimes after as long as a few hours.

Signal strength between the bridge router and main router indicates ~37%.

Stokerlog was a great tool in keeping track of my cook! E-mail logging to my mobile phone worked well, but I'm not sure I got any 'alarm' e-mails. Will Stokerlog send e-mails when a fire alarm is tripped or when one of the meat alarms is tripped?
 
Originally posted by Kelley Nelson:
1. Is stokerlog using a stateful telnet connection to collect the temperature information?
Click to expand...
Yes. It also uses HTTP to get configuration data the first time it runs (and when you hit refresh/F5)

2. If the connection is dropped for some reason, will stokerlog try to reconnect?
Click to expand...
No. But you can hold the shift key down and hit start again and force a manual restart without losing your log data and such.

3. Is it bad to make input to the stoker via the keypad while stokerlog is running? Ie: if I want to disable the fan for 5 minutes, or change the display to scan the probes in use.
Click to expand...
No, you can make any changes you like. However, if you do something that invalidates the current configuration, like unplugging a probe, then you should hit F5 on stokerlog to get them back in sync.

Stokerlog was a great tool in keeping track of my cook! E-mail logging to my mobile phone worked well, but I'm not sure I got any 'alarm' e-mails. Will Stokerlog send e-mails when a fire alarm is tripped or when one of the meat alarms is tripped?
Click to expand...
Yes, if you have checked the alarm setting in stokerlog.
 
Thanks Amir - I am doing some bench tests to find the root of my connection problem.

I'll look into Tomato as well - I did have to reboot my AP today because it seemed like it hung.
 
It looks like my connection problems were on the pc side and not with the stoker > bridge > router link. I've had 10 hours of uptime on a stokerlog session now. (It's running today while I'm at work.)

Amir, I think it would be very helpful for the stokerlog program to automatically reconnect if the connection got dropped. Maybe after a configurable number of retries it could give up and send an alert e-mail. Lots of people will be running this over a wifi connection that has to penetrate external home walls and may have a greater chance of weaker signal and dropped connections.

I also tried some different router and client bridge settings. Once I have some more testing done, I'll post my findings.
 
Agree it would be useful to have. I will put it on the TODO list
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Originally posted by Amir:
Ken, you mean the log time shown in the program?
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Not really, sometimes that is the same number, however, in the event of a loss of communication, or other unforseen event, the log time is reset. It's also possible to start another food item at a later time. In either case, I would like to send that ET to my phone.
 
Originally posted by Amir:
Here it is. I have made no changes to it since. The final version will simply indicate that it is V5.
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Hey Amir, Sorry to be a pain - I just tried that link for the StokerLog5 and all kinds of bizzare things happened, none that resulted in me getting the file. Would you verify the link is correct?
Never mind, I tried it from home and the link works fine. Don't know why it doesn't work at work.
Thanks,
Bill
 
Amir,

I hate to be a bother too but I downloaded your Stoker Log program and for the most part, it has not been stable with me. Last night, I put 2 butts on @ midnight and 3:30pm, it says it lost connection to the device. It did it again @ 6:30 and then again another 3 hours. I have not figured out what the problem is. I checked my network settings and still nothing. I can used the regular stoker interface and it does not lose connection at all. HELP
 
Got home a little while ago. Upgraded my stoker's firmware software. Did al of my updates to the dot net app for windows. I also gave the stoker a static IP address as well. beforehand it was dhcp assigned. Idon't think it will matter but I thought I would try all of this with the hopes of keeping a constant connection with the stoker. Amir, I did read somewhere that you needed to be on the updated stoker firmware so I hope this will work for me.
 
Connection issues are outside of stokerlog functionality. However, stokerlog does bring out issues faster since it relies on a single connection working. The browser interface starts a new connection everytime it updates and as such, if your network goes up and down, it still works.

Static IP address is a good thing. Please get everthing working first with wired internet access (even if you have to test it inside the house without a fire). Once that works overnight, then you can see wireless works.
 
Bill, looks like the hosting site no longer allows direct linking. When you click on the link, wait unit the page comes up and then click on "Save this file now." I just clicked on it and it worked.

I will create a permanent download page for it soon. If you have trouble, let me know and I will provide the link sooner.
 
Thanks guys, I figured out my problem. It was a setting in my netgear router. Actually, I found it on this thread too. http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9270072103/m/9620001284

Once I made the change, the stoker log stayed connected like it should have.

If I could see how to post my snapshot, I would. It ran through the whole night, about 10 hours..

This is great because I have another cook tonight and I really want to graph it correctly without losing my connections constantly.
 
Hi Amir,

I haven't had a chance to use Stokerlog for a quite a while but just downloaded the latest and finished a 24hr cook. Everthing went well and your software has really evolved nicely!!

There were only a couple minor glitches.

1. I had set the email updates to send to my verizon cell phone ever 60 min. using my gmail account for SMTP but did not get any. Test messages went thru quickly everytime though.

Is there a way to only send alarms via email similar to what we did with the web alarm?

It would be nice to be able to select between only alarms, only updates at fixed interval, or both.

2. During some cooks I like to spray the meat with apple juice occasionally towards the end of the cook. The AutoLid Detection works about 60-70% of the time in sensing the lid being open so there are sometimes minor temp swings when doing this.

Can you add a button, or a hotkey combination, to manually start the Autolid detection delay?

Being able to start the delay manually from stokerlog, before opening the lid, would fix my problem and be easier than disconnecting the blower or using the 5 min delay on the stoker front panel.
 
Hi Barry. Looks like my job as a software developer for stoker is secured for good
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I will create a wish list thread for V6 soon and let's put the feedback there.

We still have some family over so no time to do any coding but as soon as that is over, I will see if I can get through some of the features.
 
Amir,

Again your software is great. I did another successful cook with it last night. smoked butts for about 10 hours with no intervention and all from the comfort of my office. Please let me know when you post the thread on enhancements. Being an IT guy myself, I understand the value of listing to the end users and helping them get the most out of the software. I will have some items for your wish list as well?
 
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