Brultech ECM-1240 questions

[Ira]

Since Brultech is closed for the weekend...

I want to have one ECM-1240 next to my load center in my shop which is about 150' from my home. My shop load center also feeds my home's subpanel. I want one or two ECM-1240's in my home next to it's subpanel.

Questions...

1. Anyone know what the wireless range is for the ECM-1240? The Brultech website says that for the ECM-1220, it is 133/400 indoors/outdoors. Is it the same for the ECM-1240? Is it the same for the EtherBee?

2. If I have range problems with the ECM-1240 in my shop, can I connect a 2nd EtherBee to the LAN switch in my shop (resulting in one EtherBee in my shop and one in my home, all on the same LAN) and will the data look the same at the PC as if all ECM-1240's were talking to the same EtherBee?

3. Again, if I have range problems, I can connect the shop ECM-1240 to a Ethernet switch on my LAN via the EtherPort device, but how will the data from the multiple ECM-1240's look to the PC?

4. Anyone know if Brultech will sell an ECM-1240 without any split CT's? I only need one pair, so it seems like a waste of money to get two additional pair.

5. From the Brultech online store...what is the reasoning behind the ECM-1240 "Package B+"? It has "with wireless radio installed" (which I assume is the XBee radio), and the EtherPort adapter. Is that just for additional flexibility? Is there any reason for having both communications methods running at the same time?

Thanks,
Ira

 

[signal15]

I do NOT get 133ft indoor range with mine. I had it 80ft from the brultech unit, and I could NOT get a signal. The only thing in between was stick frame walls, no concrete. This was one end of the house to the other, so there were about 4 walls in between.

I had to move it, and now it's working fine at about 30 feet through one wall. I really wish the Zigbee router supported PoE. It sucks having to have a separate power supply for it.

 

[tenholde]

I believe that using two different etherbees will look very different to the software on your PC. With 2 ECMs talking to 1 etherbee, the PC must manage a single tcp connection that receives packets from both ECMs. With 2 etherbees, the PC would have to manage 2 tcp connections on different ports, each receiving packets from 1 ECM.

Can you run wire from the shop? You can extend the RS232 connection pretty far.

tenholde

 

[Ira]

I believe that using two different etherbees will look very different to the software on your PC. With 2 ECMs talking to 1 etherbee, the PC must manage a single tcp connection that receives packets from both ECMs. With 2 etherbees, the PC would have to manage 2 tcp connections on different ports, each receiving packets from 1 ECM.

Can you run wire from the shop? You can extend the RS232 connection pretty far.

tenholde

I have a LAN (ehternet) switch that is in the shop. Would a RS232-to-ethernet adapter do the same thing? Does having one ECM on EtherBee and another one on RS232 put me in a better situation that having one on EtherBee and one on Etherport?

I also plan on installing some Elk hardware in the shop that will utilize the RS485 interface to communicate to the Elk M1G in my home. Does that open up any additional possibilities? Elk also has an serial-to-ethernet adapter, but I don't know anything about it. Can it help me out?

 

[tenholde]

I believe that using two different etherbees will look very different to the software on your PC. With 2 ECMs talking to 1 etherbee, the PC must manage a single tcp connection that receives packets from both ECMs. With 2 etherbees, the PC would have to manage 2 tcp connections on different ports, each receiving packets from 1 ECM.

Can you run wire from the shop? You can extend the RS232 connection pretty far.

tenholde

I have a LAN (ehternet) switch that is in the shop. Would a RS232-to-ethernet adapter do the same thing? Does having one ECM on EtherBee and another one on RS232 put me in a better situation that having one on EtherBee and one on Etherport?

I also plan on installing some Elk hardware in the shop that will utilize the RS485 interface to communicate to the Elk M1G in my home. Does that open up any additional possibilities? Elk also has an serial-to-ethernet adapter, but I don't know anything about it. Can it help me out?

Depends upon which software you intend to use. The tenEcmServer products (http://www.tenholder.net/tenWare2/tenEcmServer) supports up to two ECMs connected one of the following ways:

One via serial port, and the other via etherbee
Both via etherbee
Both via etherport

tenholde

 

[Ira]

I believe that using two different etherbees will look very different to the software on your PC. With 2 ECMs talking to 1 etherbee, the PC must manage a single tcp connection that receives packets from both ECMs. With 2 etherbees, the PC would have to manage 2 tcp connections on different ports, each receiving packets from 1 ECM.

Can you run wire from the shop? You can extend the RS232 connection pretty far.

tenholde

I have a LAN (ehternet) switch that is in the shop. Would a RS232-to-ethernet adapter do the same thing? Does having one ECM on EtherBee and another one on RS232 put me in a better situation that having one on EtherBee and one on Etherport?

I also plan on installing some Elk hardware in the shop that will utilize the RS485 interface to communicate to the Elk M1G in my home. Does that open up any additional possibilities? Elk also has an serial-to-ethernet adapter, but I don't know anything about it. Can it help me out?

Depends upon which software you intend to use. The tenEcmServer products (http://www.tenholder.net/tenWare2/tenEcmServer) supports up to two ECMs connected one of the following ways:

One via serial port, and the other via etherbee
Both via etherbee
Both via etherport

tenholde

I haven't decided what software I will use. I somehow need to get the info into CQC, but it may not need to be realtime at that point.

What I'm not sure about is what the ECM "looks like" to your product or to CQC when there are a number of converters in the middle. I know there are serial-to-ethernet converters available, but that makes the device look like a network device to other side of the conversation. Maybe there are also devices that can sit on the opposite end from the ECM and intercept the network traffic and convert it back to serial so that the software thinks it is talking via a COM port. In my case, it would take another adapter because my PC doesn't have a serial port, so I would also need a serial-to-USB adapter to get it to my PC.

I guess what I should do it order one ECM with the EtherBee setup and put it in my shop to see if I can get a reliable signal. If I can, then I can use two ECM's via EtherBee. If not, then I can look into other solutions.

Thanks,
Ira

 

[bpwwer]

Since Brultech is closed for the weekend...

I want to have one ECM-1240 next to my load center in my shop which is about 150' from my home. My shop load center also feeds my home's subpanel. I want one or two ECM-1240's in my home next to it's subpanel.

Questions...


2. If I have range problems with the ECM-1240 in my shop, can I connect a 2nd EtherBee to the LAN switch in my shop (resulting in one EtherBee in my shop and one in my home, all on the same LAN) and will the data look the same at the PC as if all ECM-1240's were talking to the same EtherBee?

Yes, you can do this. I'm not sure, but can an EtherBee take input from lan connected ECM-1240's too? You might want to ask BrulTech directly but it might be better to put the shop unit on an EtherPort and let it talk to to the EtherBee in the house.

3. Again, if I have range problems, I can connect the shop ECM-1240 to a Ethernet switch on my LAN via the EtherPort device, but how will the data from the multiple ECM-1240's look to the PC?

It is really going to depend on the software right now. ECMServer supports multiple concurrent connections via ethernet but only one via RS-232. I don't think any existing software lets you mix-n-match all the different possibilities. Probably because most of us that are writing the software have pretty simple environments I have plans to extend ECMServer to support multiple ethernet and multiple RS-232 at the same time but that's a ways off because of other projects right now.

4. Anyone know if Brultech will sell an ECM-1240 without any split CT's? I only need one pair, so it seems like a waste of money to get two additional pair.

Probably should just call and ask. I bet they will.