Remote monitor SBMS0

[sailingharry]

I have a very nice SBMS0 install in my boat, that gives me at a glance every detail I want.  And since my boat is 100 feet from my house, I see that status often.  In addition, my boat has never had an "always on" internet connection (we use our cell phones for internet), so I've never considered monitoring.  In preparation for a winter in the Bahamas, I'm installing Starlink.  The boat will be "parked" in Florida for two months (Nov-Jan) while we go home for the bad part of the winter, and Starlink will be in "standby" which will give me a kind of slow but always on connection.  Maybe monitoring would be an idea?

I've read some threads about Node-Red, or Home Assistant, or stuff like that.  I don't have and don't wish to run any computer 24/7 while I'm gone, so those are out.  But it seems to me that it might be possible to see the 'Dacus remotely.  The concept (I really don't know what I'm saying here!) is that I should be able to reach out to the Starlink connection, and then using port forwarding or some such thing in the router, touch the SBMSO.  Is this possible?  

I should stress that this is barely even a "nice to have."  I'm not going to subscribe to anything, I'm not going to buy equipment, I'm not going to install some complex automation package, I just want to remotely see what I can see on my cell phone when I'm on the boat.  But if I can change some settings on the Starlink (and other places, perhaps), then it would be fun.

[Soggy Paws]

As you may know, we have a dedicated Node-Red setup for our energy monitoring on our nav computer, which we leave on 24x7.  I have RealVNC installed on that computer, and I can network in to see anything on it.  It is very low power (~2amps).  But you don't want to do that...

An alternative would be to set up a similar "system" on a cloud computer (AWS) and have the Electrodacus sent it's MQTT data directly to your "computer in the sky", which you can then access similarly from anywhere.  At least one guy I talked to had done that.  I have never gotten the time to investigate how hard (and expensive) it is to "rent" a small "cloud computer" (ie Amazon Web Services) to make it happen.  Probably for low end use, only $10/mo, but I have no idea.

I don't think you can network in to an Electrodacus without a helping "computer", even a small one, there (or in the cloud).

Sherry

[Soggy Paws]

Oops, meant to include the link.  Our electrical system writeup is here:  https://svsoggypaws.com/electricalsystems.htm

And my "software" writeup is here:  https://svsoggypaws.com/electrodacus.htm

[sailingharry]

You've kind of affirmed my suspicion -- no joy unless I start adding systems.

My objection to systems is not philosophical -- it's the ROI.  A new computer, mounted, configured, software (that I've never used before), a power supply, on and on.  Just to see that my battery is still at 100% (and if it's not, there's nothing I can do anyway!).

But, it may be the final impetus.  I do have a Pi4.  I've installed OpenPlotter and played with it.  I've read a bit about headless units, and think I can make it work.  I've got a spot behind my nav station to mount it, inches away from an open fuse.  I also want to pipe my AIS to MarineTraffic, which SignalK can make happen (I already have all my nav data, including AIS, on WiFi via a Quark).  My new Starlink arrives Wed, and so Starlink and a router and connect the 'Dacus and the Quark to the Pi.   I'm overwhelmed getting ready, but all I have to do is install the Pi and then I can play with it in the evenings on the way south -- if I succeed, great, if not no harm.

Research indicates a Pi 4B can handle a SignalK server and Home Assistant (I think HA may be the easy answer, but NodeRed might be an option too -- or even "in addition").

So much of this is the initial inertia.  Getting enough strange parts working together to qualify as "working" and then suddenly new horizons open.

[Helge Flataker]

I recently did a refactor and modernization of the ESP32 firmware for my own use. Since I already had a functional build pipeline and some spare capacity on the ESP32 chip I decided to implement a daily email functionality.

It enables the esp32 to send a daily email to your configured address - For now containing the SOC and temperature readings

It requires no extra hardware, only requirement is that the ESP32 is connected to a wifi network with internet access

This fork of the firmware was never ment for distribution, but if you are feeling experimental I can provide you with the binaries that you can flash on your device - At your own risk

[Dan Karau]

Since you assuming it will be at 100% the whole time...will you be disconnecting it from all loads/charging sources?  If so, I'd just discharge it to 75% SoC (LFP should not be "stored" at 100% SoC), disconnect the pos and neg leads and enjoy your time away from the boat.