Hey all,
I ordered one of the Rain8 Wifi’s a week or two ago because I want to replace my stand-alone irrigation controller and the wifi portion of the Rain8 makes the job very simple for me. I haven’t had a chance to get the Rain8 going yet, but I would like to talk a little bit about the wifi box that comes with it.
The wifi device is called a Device Air Master and is made by Comtrol. Now what’s cool about the Device Air Master (DAM) is that it will allow you to convert any RS-232 cable into an IP networkable device. A Virtual Comm port is loaded onto whatever computer you wish to control the device with and it acts as if it were plugged in directly via a serial cable.
I had a few issues that required me to call tech support, which I’ll get to later, but during my conversation with Mac, their tech support renaissance man, I found out that this box should work with any RS-232/422/485 device you plug into it. I would also note that the DAM allows 2-way communication, so feedback from the device plugged into it is also available.
Now onto the issues I had and more specifically, a single issue I had. Long story short, I found that the Belkin 54G+ router does not like the DAM. The DAM could see the wireless network via its web configuration but just could not access the network. Talking to Mac, he hadn’t heard of this problem before and I learned that they run a few D-Link DI624 routers without any trouble. I went out a few days later and picked up a Buffalo 54G router and without doing anything to the router I was able to get the DAM on the network without a hitch.
I haven’t test the DAM where it will eventually end up, outside on my detached garage, but I already have a Squeezebox out there and it works without any hiccups so I’m hoping the same will be true for the DAM.
I don’t think the Device Air Master is a perfect replacement for a hardwired connection but if you’re short on serial ports or if you don’t want/aren’t able to run a hard line, for $130 the Device Air Master makes for a decently priced alternative.
I ordered one of the Rain8 Wifi’s a week or two ago because I want to replace my stand-alone irrigation controller and the wifi portion of the Rain8 makes the job very simple for me. I haven’t had a chance to get the Rain8 going yet, but I would like to talk a little bit about the wifi box that comes with it.
The wifi device is called a Device Air Master and is made by Comtrol. Now what’s cool about the Device Air Master (DAM) is that it will allow you to convert any RS-232 cable into an IP networkable device. A Virtual Comm port is loaded onto whatever computer you wish to control the device with and it acts as if it were plugged in directly via a serial cable.
I had a few issues that required me to call tech support, which I’ll get to later, but during my conversation with Mac, their tech support renaissance man, I found out that this box should work with any RS-232/422/485 device you plug into it. I would also note that the DAM allows 2-way communication, so feedback from the device plugged into it is also available.
Now onto the issues I had and more specifically, a single issue I had. Long story short, I found that the Belkin 54G+ router does not like the DAM. The DAM could see the wireless network via its web configuration but just could not access the network. Talking to Mac, he hadn’t heard of this problem before and I learned that they run a few D-Link DI624 routers without any trouble. I went out a few days later and picked up a Buffalo 54G router and without doing anything to the router I was able to get the DAM on the network without a hitch.
I haven’t test the DAM where it will eventually end up, outside on my detached garage, but I already have a Squeezebox out there and it works without any hiccups so I’m hoping the same will be true for the DAM.
I don’t think the Device Air Master is a perfect replacement for a hardwired connection but if you’re short on serial ports or if you don’t want/aren’t able to run a hard line, for $130 the Device Air Master makes for a decently priced alternative.
