EVU Smartmeter read out with ESP32 and send data via MQTT

29. August 2023 ingmarsretro Leave a comment

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Little by little, I am bringing many of my smarthome components to a common standard. I have decided to bring all devices together via a NodeRed server. The HomeMatic system also communicates with NodeRed. Among other things, I also transfer the measured values of the EVU meter (I have a Siemens IM350 smart meter installed) to the HomeMatic CCU. This is done as mentioned in an earlier post, via the LED pulse interface (1000 pulses/kWh). For this purpose, a phototransistor is simply attached above the LED on the meter, which detects the flashing pulses of the LED and converts them into the instantaneous power in the meter sensor transmitter unit HM-ES-TX-WM and integrates them over time and then sends the data on to the CCU. This works quite well in itself. Only the update rate (in the minute range) is too long for me. Also, the phototransistor seems to react again and again to the stray light of the neighboring LED (which displays the reactive power in 1000 pulses/kvarh). This causes discrepancies between the count via the HomeMatic sensor and the values read directly from the meter.

This is definitely more accurate. If you look at the IM350 Smartmeter meter in detail, or read through the manual, you will quickly see that it has a so-called “customer interface”. This customer interface provides some measurement data via a galvanically isolated data line every second. This includes, among others, the momentary active power in both directions, as well as the meter readings of active and reactive power in the reference and feed-in direction. So perfect starting conditions to replace the HomeMatic meter sensor with my own design. After a little Internet research, I quickly realized that I am not the only one who deals with exactly this issue. The data of the customer interface tumbles out after request over a data request line with a speed of 115kbaud. However, they are encrypted, and not directly readable. To obtain the 16-byte decryption key, the utility must be consulted. The key is tied to the smart meter serial number and is unique to each smart meter. After some phone calls with my Carinthian energy provider, the key code was sent to me by mail. In the next step I tested with a USB-UART adapter on a PC, if data really come out of the meter when the interface is wired correctly. For this I crimped a RJ11 connector to a suitable 6pin cable and wired the open end of the cable according to the datasheet of the meter. Not much is needed for this. A 5V supply must activate the interface, likewise the Data Request line must be switched to 5V and already the data packets are available at the Data Out line. By the way, it also works with a 3V3 supply. With a terminal program on the PC (I usually use putty or hterm) you can visualize the encrypted data.

Now it was time to think about how to decode and process the data. For this, one finds two approaches with net:

* via a RaspberryPi, with a Python environment and a Python script. The scripts here take over the reception and decryption of the data and then make them available for further processing in different ways

* via an ESP32. The ESP is also able to decode a 128Bit AES encryption and still has plenty of resources to process the data and send it via WiFi. Furthermore, an ESP is available in sufficient quantities for little money. So I decided to use this solution. There is an open source project on GitHub from the user https://github.com/Andre-Schuiki/esphome_im350 in which he provides an ESP32 IM350 decoder as a basis for own projects. With his sources you get a decoder that reads the meter data every second and outputs it via the USB UART programming interface and also via Telnet over WiFi. I used this source as a basis.

My goal is to put the data obtained from the smart meter into MQTT messages and send them to my MQTT broker. From there it is then a simple matter to get them into NodeRed and the HomeMatic CCU and store them there. So I adapted the code. This involved setting the wifi connection to the router to a static IP. (are to be defined in settings.h). The readout readings, as well as the RSSI of the wifi connection, are now provided via MQTT Topics. (the IP address to the broker is also to be defined in settings.h). If you compile the code now and run it on the ESP, then it should log into the respective network. As long as the ESP is still connected to a PC, you can check what it is doing via the programming interface and a terminal. If you now connect the RJ11 plug to the customer interface of the meter, the triangle above the label “KU” should flash in the display of the meter every second. If this happens, the measured values should already be displayed in the terminal (provided that you have not forgotten to enter the KEY from the utility in secrets.h). If this also works, then a look at the MQTT broker (with e.g.: MQTT Explorer) makes sure that the messages arrive. Now the ESP can be removed from the PC.

I chose a very simple solution and mounted the ESP on a breadboard. The 6pin cable to the smartmeter is soldered there. On the breadboard there is room for the pull-up resistors and a NPN transistor (BC547 etc.) for inverting the data pulses. I put the board in a small plastic box, which is now only connected with a cable to the customer interface and with a USB cable to a USB power supply.

The finished structure then (or currently) looks like this. The data ends up in the MQTT broker and NodeRed visualizes it and sends it to the HomeMatic CCU.

this is how the data arrives at the MQTT broker

and can be processed in NodeRed like this

if someone is interested in the customized scripts, I can send them to you. Regarding a publication on GitHub, I have to find out first which license conditions have to be fulfilled concerning the original repository. It will then be available here (public):

https://github.com/ingmarsretro/esphome_im350/tree/main/standalone_version_mqtt

miscellaneous and news

Integrating the heat pump (NEURA) into the Smarthome

10. March 2023 ingmarsretro 3 Comments

139 total views

A smarthome is no longer a rarity today and is very widespread. There are countless systems on the market that make your own home “smart”. The digital voice assistants from Google, Amazon and co. in conjunction with smart light bulbs are among the systems that are easy and quick to install. But there are also complex smart home systems, in which actuators for every lamp and socket are installed in the house distributors. The windows and doors are equipped with signaling contacts and secure the home or report if once forgotten to close the windows after shock ventilation. It goes without saying that these systems also contribute to energy optimization when programmed sensibly. I also operate Smarthome components from various manufacturers.

For years, this has included the HomeMatic system, which communicates with its actuators and sensors both wired and via the Bidcos protocol. The HUE system from Phillips talks to its smart lamps and sockets via ZigBee. The gateways of these systems are connected to a LAN network and each system brings its own web server, through which it can then be controlled and set. An inverter of photovoltaic systems can provide its data via different interfaces (RS485, CAN, RS232). To bring all of them to a central display level, I decided to use the NodeRed system. The necessary NodeRed server runs on a Raspberry PI. (On the CCU3 with the Raspbian image is still enough space to run the NodeRed server – it is even available as a separate plugin for the CCU and is called “RedMatic”). With this configuration you can “slay” almost everything in the field of home automation. With ESP32 and Raspberry you can easily transfer status information via MQTT (Message Queueing Telemetry Transport). I use this for example with the small feed-in inverters of a balcony PV system, as well as with the PV inverters of an offgrid system. Here the data is received via different bus systems in the Raspberry or ESP32 and converted into the MQTT protocol. The MQTT broker collects the data from the individual devices and via NodeRed they can then be written to a database, visualized in the browser or on the smartphone and also easily processed in the HomeMatic system, as required.

Thus, it is possible to network almost all systems with each other smartly and, importantly for me, to visualize them on ONE platform. One single system was missing until now. That is my old Neura heating heat pump. The company Neura has not existed for several years and the web server “webidalog” developed by “b.i.t.” has never been updated. So the heat pump has a web server on a small with Linux computer onboard and builds the web application with an ancient Java version. For the operation a Java Runtime must be installed on the PC, which runs only with some tricks on a current Windows computer (keyword: virtualization). For the operation via a smartphone an html – version with limited functionality is available. My plan now was to find an interface, with which I can read out the data of the heat pump at least once, in order to have flow- return temperatures of the floor heating, boiler temperature, etc. also available in my NodeRed system. But since there is almost no documentation for the system and reverse engineering is a bit critical if the system should continue to run, I came up with the following idea:

With a “headles browser” it should be possible to parse the html version of the Neura WebDialog website and find the relevant data and turn it into MQTT topics via variables. And here I have to give a special thanks to my colleague Mario Wehr, who built the software structure to parse the website. The software is written in PHP and finally runs on a Raspberry PI. All you need is a php8-cli runtime and a few modules. The way the software works is that every time the heat pump website is called, a login is executed, then the data is parsed and sent to MQTT broker. The continuous calling of the php script I then simply solved with a cronjob that is executed every minute.

>sudo crontab -e

and the job then looks like this:

* * * * * sudo php /home/neura2mqtt/neura2mqtt.php -c

(if you put the files in the /home/ directory…). I have published the project on github at: https://github.com/ingmarsretro/neura2mqtt.

electronics hobbyist, Retro - Computer

A rebuild project for the Vectrex

20. December 2022 ingmarsretro Leave a comment

35 total views

It’s been some time again that I manage to find time and energy in the later evening hours to write here on the blog about one of my little projects. Over the past few years, I’ve gotten into the habit of listening to podcasts during car rides and at night. These primarily include podcasts on technical topics. Among them is a podcast called “Retrokompott” which is about home computers and technology from our youth. Their tagline is:

Retrokompott, eine Zeitreise in die Vergangenheit alter Homecomputer, Spielekonsolen und Games

[http://blog.retrokompott.de/]

In one of the contributions of Retrokompott one discussed for some episodes (172-177) about the Vectrex, the home – vector game machine of MBE. Among other things, homebrew projects, i.e. software developments of the users, were presented. “Vectorblade” is a game title, which was developed by Malban [http://vide.malban.de/]. The project was created with the Vectrexcompiler (vide), also developed by Malban. The sources are publicly available on the website. In the “compote” article, people were so enthusiastic about Vectorblade that my interest was piqued. The game module was also available for purchase through Malban for a while. However, I have not found a source through which I can easily purchase the module. So I thought, I’ll just rebuild it for myself. The special thing about this gamerom is the size of the game. It has 192 kB. To address this memory, Malban used bank switching technology. He uses a flash memory from SST, the SST39SF020, in his design. The bank switching is controlled by a quad 2-input NAND Schmitt trigger (74AC132). Malban has published on git the layout. There he uses the memory in the DIL package and also the AC132. Detailed instructions can be found here.

Since I still have some boards left over from my old homebuilt Rom module project, I was able to quickly put together a test setup. I didn’t have any flash memory available – but a sufficiently large EPROM. The video compiler and the source files are also published on Malban’s GIT. After a short study of his vide-compiler I managed to compile the project and create a ROM – file. With my “Far East Programmer” I could then “burn” the EPROM. With a few wire bridges and an AC132, my old ROM board project then became the Vectorblade experimental setup.

With the exception that no settings can be saved, the test setup works and the game can be played :). The next step of the rebuild was to draw the PCB. Here I wanted to build in the Schmitt-Trigger device in SMD design and the SST still in DIL. I also realized this design and tested it successfully. But there is a little catch – none of my suppliers has the SST39SF020 flash memory in DIL design in stock. I have now some boards with DIL – layout but no chips… So once again to the PC and redraw the design on PLCC socket. Thought – done and ordered a set of boards from the Far East producer.

A suitable case can be created with the 3D printer itself. To be more precise, I found what I was looking for on Thingiverse and was able to choose from a variety of suitable designs.

The overlay is missing, but the game is fun even without it. Malban has managed to create a great game here.

electronics hobbyist, miscellaneous and news

MIDI DB50XG – an interface for the daughter board

16. September 2022 ingmarsretro Leave a comment

537 total views , 1 views today

Rummaging through a box of my old crafts I found the box below. It dates from the time when I was still working with Amgia, but also with PCs – I guess around 1996. I labeled the box “DB50XG MIDI – Wavetable Processor”.

Inside is a circuit board from Yamaha, which is called the DB50XG. This board was designed as a daughter board for PC sound cards with “Waveblaster” expansion port. She expanded the sound cards with a polyphonic MIDI wavetable sampler. In this way, the General Midi Standard and the Yamaha XG Standard could be re-established. Today nobody thinks about it anymore. At that time, if you wanted to generate sounds with a PC from midi data, then either external hardware was required, or a sound card with an onboard midi synthesizer or wavetable chipset. The PC then took over the control, the sending and receiving of the midi data via a sequencer software. Today, the midi sounds are generated directly on the PC and the samples and sound models are integrated into the software. At that time, the performance of the PC hardware was not sufficient. If someone is wondering what I’m palavering about here – what is Midi and why do you need it? – then let me put it briefly here: Midi is the abbreviation for “Musical Instrument Digital Interface” – i.e. a digital interface – a data protocol for musical instruments. Roughly explained, it serves to network and control electronic musical instruments with each other. For example, a large number of sound-generating devices can be controlled via a single keyboard. I will not explain here how the Midi standard works, what the data packets look like and how it looks electrically. As always, there is plenty of information on the web.

Back to the self-made box. At that time I packed the DB50XG in the plastic box and from the “Waveblaster” port, a 26-pin socket strip, led the necessary cables to the outside to start up the Midi board. And that was pretty simple. The board requires a power supply of +/-12V and +5V. There is a Midi-IN and a Midi-OUT (through) pin, a reset pin and two analog audio out pins – one per channel. The table below shows the connector pin assignment:

pin number	assignment
1	Digital ground
2	not connected
3	Digital ground
4	not connected
5	Digital ground
6	Supply +5V
7	Digital ground
8	not connected
9	Digital ground
10	Supply +5V
11	Digital ground
12	not connected
13	not connected
14	Supply +5V
15	Analoge ground
16	not connected
17	Analogue ground
18	Supply + 12V
19	Analogue ground
20	Audio out richt
21	Analogue ground
22	Supply -12V
23	Analogue ground
24	Audio out left
25	Analogue ground
26	reset

The whole structure was rather spartan back then. The power supply had to be established via one or more external power supplies. There was no galvanic signal isolation using optocouplers. So I had to rely on the proper setup of the Midi IO controller that I connected to the Amiga. Of course it couldn’t stay like this. And I can’t bring myself not to use the beautiful DB50XG board anymore or to throw it away in the electronic waste. The plan that emerged from this was to develop a new interface board – or to tinker, which should be as universally usable as possible.

It’s been a few years since this idea and I’ve always worked on it a little bit. I thought the interface board should fulfill the following points:

a simple power supply should supply the Yamaha board with energy. Ideally, there should be a USB port and, optionally, a connection for a universal power supply. All required voltages should be generated on the interface board from the 5VDC.
As in the past, the DB50XG should also be able to be plugged in as a “piggyback” circuit board
The midi-in signal should be able to be fed in via the 5-pin DIN socket and also via a pin header – of course nicely decoupled (this means that a microcontroller such as Arduino and co. can also be connected without any effort)
The sound, i.e. the audio signal, should be available for acceptance via a chinch socket and also as a 3.5mm jack socket and via a pin header per channel.
Word repetitions SHOULD be avoided, but I don’t care

This ultimately resulted in the following circuit diagram. The 5VDC supply of the USB source is routed directly to the 5V supply of the midi board. The +12V/-12V that are also required are generated by a DC/DC converter (TMR0522). This is supplied on the input side by the 5V mains. The optional “external” voltage input goes to a LM2596ADJ. This is a step-down voltage regulator that can work with input voltages up to 40V. The regulated output side is available in many areas. I have integrated the ADJ (Adjustable) type into the circuit here, as I have a few of them in the assortment box. The voltage source can be selected with a jumper on the board.

Based on this circuit diagram, I created a layout and initially produced it in my own etching bath. The result was the following circuit board, which served as a test setup. Technically, the board worked perfectly, but I didn’t like the arrangement of the components. I placed the step-down converter and coil on the back. The distance between the connection sockets was also too close together for me. And how you do it as a PCB layouter – you always do a second design. So also it is this time.

The test setup with a fitted Midiboard can be seen in the image below. The midi signal as a test source comes from the PC and is generated by a USB midi adapter from the Far East.

So sat down in front of the computer again and redrawn the layout. The following version came out. I then ordered this version from a circuit board manufacturer.

The finally manufactured printed circuit board then looks like this. Below she can be seen with the DB50XG board attached.

miscellaneous and news, repair and restauration

When the car mirror doesn’t work anymore

5. July 2022 ingmarsretro Leave a comment

25 total views

I hear and read more and more often about electrically folding exterior mirrors that no longer work properly on vehicles from the German manufacturer with the four rings. The problem occurs with many models that have been in service for a few years and are operated in our local climate. In Internet forums you will find some users who know this problem. Also in my circle of acquaintances there are a few rings drivers who have a stuck electric exterior mirror. As a solution, the manufacturer always recommends replacing the entire unit. If you don’t want to spend your savings pointlessly on newly produced residual waste, you can take on this problem yourself. There is even a fairly small cause that causes this problem. And best of all – it can be repaired without any material costs. The longevity of the repair has also been proven…

The error manifests itself through the following behavior:

the mirror makes squeaking, creaking noises when folding in and out
the mirror stays in the wrong position and can only be engaged by moving it manually
the folding behavior depends on the weather

There are many posts about this with possible causes – from defective motors and defective door control units. The best thing to do would be to replace the mirror unit right away and get a new door control unit – yes, of course…

The solution to the problem is simpler: a small steel bolt that is supposed to be pushed out by a small spring gets stuck in its guide. The mechanical part of the mirror is of course also exposed to the environmental conditions and so the area comes into contact with rain, splash water – in winter salt water. Over time, the lubricants lose their properties or are even washed out and the whole “work” becomes stiff. So what helps? Completely disassemble, clean, re-lubricate and reassemble.

For this almost one and a half hour operation, I started by removing the mirror from the door and examining it in the cozy workshop. The easiest way to do this is to remove the inner lining of the door (depending on the vehicle, a few screws and many clips…) The mirror is then connected to the door control unit with a cable and secured with Torx screws.

The easiest way to click out the mirror glass is to use a plate lifter (suction cup). Then carefully – if present – pull off the two flat plugs from the mirror heating (it is essential to hold the contacts on the heating foil against). Next, both plastic halves of the mirror housing can be removed. A little observation helps here, which screws to remove and how the halves are held together.

Now the core of the mirror is there. The two die-cast parts are connected to each other via a hollow axle. The connection cable to the mirror adjustment drive and to the heater runs through the axle. A large steel spring sits above the axle and is attached with a spacer and a clamping ring (I don’t know if that’s the correct term). The spring exerts a fair amount of pressure between the two parts – and this is now the only slightly trickier part – the spring has to come out. To do this, the clamping ring must be levered out while the spring is held under tension. It comes out easily – but putting it back in becomes a challenge if you don’t have the right tools.

The already relaxed spring can be seen in the picture. Now the two parts can be taken apart.

Here the parts are to be recognized in disassembled form. In order to reach the Corpus Delicti, the small gearbox with the motor must be unscrewed. Underneath you can see the bolt, which in this case was stuck firmly in its hole so that the spring was no longer able to push it out.

Bolt can be seen to the left of the mounting hole

the guide of the bolt must also be cleaned

The procedure is quite simple – clean everything, remove the corrosion and re-grease with lubricants. After that reassemble everything rejoice. Most of the time of the whole job is cleaning.

By the way: the mirror described here comes from an A5…

Arduino, electronics hobbyist, miscellaneous and news

UV sensor logger self-made

14. June 2022 ingmarsretro Leave a comment

47 total views , 1 views today

When summer comes, new ideas come. In the summer months, as is well known, the duration of sunshine is longer and the intensity of the sun’s rays is higher. Many use this property of the sun to boost their body’s vitamin D production, while others lie under the source of radiation to darken their skin color due to the high UV component. This, in turn, supposedly increases their attractiveness and stimulates hormone production and the willingness to mate… Unfortunately, the non-visible UV range in the spectrum of sunlight is known to have negative effects on the human body. Sunlight can also be used technically. On average, the power of the sun per unit area is assumed to be 1000W per m². Large-area P-N junctions in semiconductor materials are now able to generate electrical energy with an efficiency of up to aprox. 22%.

But the energy can also be used in other ways, or the UV component. Many retro collectors are certainly aware of the problem with yellowed old plastic cases. In order to get this under control, or to get it back to its original state from 30 or 40 years ago, you use H2O2, i.e. hydrogen peroxide and UV light, to get a bleaching process going. And so I came up with the idea for the following project.

At an online electronics store I found a UV sensor board from the manufacturer Waveshare in the sale. On it is a LITEON OPTOELECTRONICS LTR390 chip including a level shifter circuit. An I²C bus is available as an interface. A look at the data sheet revealed to me that the sensor records two wavelength ranges and outputs them separately. The ALS (Ambient Light Sensor from 500-600nm) and the UV (Ultra Violet range from 300-350nm). You can quickly make a simple logging board with this – I thought to myself. So I figured the board should be able to do the following:

Powered by a 18650 cell or USB
USB should also be able to charge the battery
a micro SD slot for recording the sensor data
an RS-232 port for direct logging on the PC
a cool OLED display
two buttons to operate the logger (interval, start/stop etc.)

The control should of course once again take over a chip from Atmega – the 328er. There are just enough of these in my assortment of boxes. To give you a quicker overview of the structure, I drew the following block diagram:

In the next step I created a circuit diagram from the block diagram in order to be able to create a layout out of it. Parallel to the creation of the circuit diagram, I also connected the single components together as a test using “air cabling” and tested whether everything worked as I imagined. And above all, everything should have space in the flash memory of the microcontroller.

The “airy wired” structure consisting of finished components can be seen in the picture above. An Arduino was sufficient for the first tests with the sensor and the OLED display. This enabled me to test the desired functions. So nothing stood in the way of creating the circuit diagram. An 18650 lithium cell will serve as the primary power source. Alternatively, there will also be a USB port that can charge the cell or operate the sensor. Because I’m lazy and component delivery bottlenecks are also a big problem at the moment, I use a ready-made Wemos D1 mini board to charge the battery. Like the OLED display board and the sensor board, this will find its place as a finished component on the circuit board design. As already mentioned, an Atmega328 in a TQFP housing is used as the controller. This will communicate with the OLED display (SBC-OLED01 with SSD1306 controller) and the LTR390 UV sensor board via the I²C interface. OLED and sensor are 5V compatible. However, the SD card is operated with 3.3V. For this, the circuit requires a voltage converter from 5V to 3.3V for the supply and a level shifter for the SPI data bus, via which the SD card exchanges data with the Atmega. Since the Atmega then also wants to be programmed with its firmware, I have provided a 2×4 pin header for connecting a programmer. The programmer needs six of these pins (GND,5V, MOSI, MISO, SCK and RESET) and the two remaining pins are intended for the serial interface. The two interrupt inputs of the Atmega are each wired with a button, which then makes the software operable. The battery voltage is measured and logged via a divider at one of the ADC inputs. The result of these thoughts is the following schematic:

A layout is then the next step. With a size of 12 x 4.5 cm, the circuit board is reasonably “handy”. The printed conductors are routed on both sides and the modules (charging circuit, display and UV sensor) are designed to be pluggable via pin headers.

The two images above show the preview of the “Top” and “Bottom” side of the layout. A circuit board could be created from the production data created in this way.

After some soldering work the hardware was ready. In order to breathe life into this “soldering” , software was required to do its work on the microcontroller.

When tinkering with the software, I used the free “Arduino IDE” development environment. The LTR390 documentation describes exactly which registers are used to operate which sensor functions. But there is also a ready-made library for those who are very comfortable – just like for almost all sensors and actuators that are to be connected to microcontrollers. In the Arduino IDE you can find the “Adafruit LTR390 Library” via the board manager, which you can use to communicate easily with the sensor. In my case, the OLED display is controlled by the SSD1306Ascii library. The “Wire” and “SPI” library take over the bus communication and the “SD” talks to the SD card. The includes then look like this:

#include <LTR390.h>
#include <SD.h>
#include <SPI.h>
#include <Wire.h>
#include “SSD1306Ascii.h”
#include “SSD1306AsciiWire.h”

I’m happy to post the entire code here if needed. However, it is not rocket science, but simple and certainly not optimized lines of code writing In the current code (firmware) version 1.3d there is a small selection menu that makes it possible to set the log interval of the SD card recording and of course the start or stop recording. It is logged in a text file. The data recorded are UV index, ambient brightness and battery voltage.

I’ve included an excerpt from the datalog below:

 Ambient[lx], UV-indx, Batt[V], Loggingintervall[s]  
 691.60,0.01,3.77,20  
 691.60,0.03,3.76,20  
 1184.00,0.03,3.77,20  
 1184.00,0.03,3.75,20  
 1191.00,0.03,3.77,20  
 1191.00,0.03,3.75,20  
 1198.60,0.03,3.76,20  
 1198.60,0.03,3.73,20  
 1211.60,0.03,3.76,20  
 1211.60,0.04,3.75,20  
 1223.00,0.04,3.75,20  
 1223.00,0.04,3.76,20  
 1234.20,0.04,3.76,20  
 1234.20,0.04,3.74,20  
 1243.60,0.04,3.76,20  
 1243.60,0.04,3.76,20  
 1252.00,0.04,3.75,20  
 1252.00,0.04,3.73,20  
 1261.20,0.04,3.74,20  
 1261.20,0.04,3.72,20  
 1269.60,0.04,3.76,20  
 1269.60,0.04,3.76,20  
 1278.40,0.04,3.76,20  
 1278.40,0.04,3.75,20  
 1288.40,0.04,3.76,20  
 1288.40,0.04,3.75,20  
 1298.20,0.04,3.76,20  
 1298.20,0.04,3.74,20  
 1305.80,0.04,3.73,20  
 1305.80,0.04,3.73,20  
 1313.20,0.04,3.73,20  
 1313.20,0.04,3.75,20  
 1321.60,0.04,3.74,20  
 1321.60,0.04,3.75,20  
 1331.80,0.04,3.75,20  
 1331.80,0.04,3.75,20  
 1341.60,0.04,3.74,20  
 1341.60,0.04,3.76,20  
 1349.40,0.04,3.76,20  
 1349.40,0.04,3.76,20  
 1358.20,0.04,3.72,20  
 1358.20,0.04,3.76,20  
 1365.60,0.04,3.74,20  
 1365.60,0.04,3.73,20  
 1374.20,0.04,3.72,20  
 1374.20,0.04,3.75,20  
 1380.60,0.04,3.75,20  
 1380.60,0.04,3.76,20  
 1386.60,0.04,3.75,20  
 1386.60,0.04,3.76,20  
 1394.80,0.04,3.75,20  
 1394.80,0.04,3.75,20  
 1401.40,0.04,3.73,20  
 1401.40,0.04,3.74,20  
 1408.60,0.04,3.75,20  
 1408.60,0.04,3.74,20  
 1414.20,0.04,3.73,20

This data can now be processed very easily and displayed graphically. As an Office user, you can use Excel, for example, and import the data there and display them as graphs. But it is even easier and also very fast with tools like Matlab. With a script like the one below you can visualize the log file.

 %% Setup the Import Options and import the data  
 opts = delimitedTextImportOptions("NumVariables", 4);  
 opts.DataLines = [3, inf];  
 opts.Delimiter = ",";  
 opts.VariableNames = ["Ambientlx", "UVindx", "BattV", "Loggingintervalls"];  
 opts.VariableTypes = ["double", "double", "double", "double"];  
 opts.ExtraColumnsRule = "ignore";  
 opts.EmptyLineRule = "read";  
 opts = setvaropts(opts, ["Ambientlx", "UVindx", "BattV"], "TrimNonNumeric", true);  
 opts = setvaropts(opts, ["Ambientlx", "UVindx", "BattV", "Loggingintervalls"], "DecimalSeparator", ",");  
 opts = setvaropts(opts, ["Ambientlx", "UVindx", "BattV"], "ThousandsSeparator", ".");  
 datalog = readtable("F:\ingmarsretro\datalog.txt", opts);  
 clear opts  
 x=size(datalog); % groesse der tabelle  
 measurement=x(1); % anzahl messungen   
 uvi=datalog{1:measurement,2};  
 ambient=datalog{1:measurement,1};  
 messzeit = linspace(0,(measurement*datalog{1,4}),measurement); %zeitvektor von 0 bis zeitintervall aus datalog spalte4 * messungen  
 figure(1);  
 title('UV - Index');  
 subplot(2,1,1);  
 plot(messzeit,uvi);  
 title('UV - Index');  
 xlabel('Zeit [s]');ylabel('UV - Index');  
 subplot(2,1,2);  
 plot(messzeit,ambient);  
 title('Beleuchtungsstärke');  
 xlabel('Zeit [s]');ylabel('Beleuchtungsstärke [lux]');

If the script is executed, you get a plot that visualizes the measurement data.

The technical information on the sensor can be found in the manufacturer’s data sheet. Here are a few key points:

The LTR390 consists of two photodiodes, one for the visible spectrum of light and one that is sensitive in the UV range. The photodiode current is digitized in internal ADCs. An internal logic controls the ADCs and the connection to the outside world is established via an I²C interface. The resolution of ALS and also UVS can be configured in 13, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 bits. The sensor chip is housed in a 2x2mm 6pin package. The detector opening has an edge length of 280×280 µm.

Source: LTR-390UV data sheet https://optoelectronics.liteon.com/en-global/Led/LED-Component/Detail/926

clocks and watches, electronics hobbyist

Selfmade Nixiclock

8. April 2022 ingmarsretro Leave a comment

27 total views

The fact that the topic of retro has become more and more of a trend in recent years has not escaped me either. The “Industrial” and “Steam” style has also found its way into many households. People put many things on the shelf again, which represent the robust technology and the appearance of the past decades. For example, LED lamps flicker in the rooms, which were visually modelled on the light bulbs of the Wilhelminian era. The brass lamp holders are held in place by a cable sheathed with fabric mesh. Instead of the carbon or tungsten filaments in the bulbs, modern LED filament works. Thematically corresponding to this style, mechanical watches and electric clocks with illuminated displays of all kinds, for example, are in demand again. In keeping with this trend, I have already reported on the VFD watches in older blog posts. (VFD = VaccumFLuoreszenzDisplay) Until the end of the 90s, for example, this display technology was still frequently used in video recorders, hi-fi devices and various radio alarm clocks. After that, LED and LCD technology was standard. Today, the small OLEDs are finding their way everywhere. As part of the Retro Revival, VFDs are assembled into watches in the form of single-digit display tubes. These watches are available as finished devices or as kits (grother.de). Since these display tubes are no longer manufactured and only old stocks (new old stock) are available, prices are also rising. But it is even worse in terms of price – a technical development from the 1920s is a display technology based on the principle of the glow lamp. In this case, in a glass flask filled with noble gas, a digit bent from wire is attached as a cathode, in front of a thin metal grid as an anode. If a voltage is applied, the noble gas begins to glow along the wire formed as a digit. Seen from the outside, this creates the impression of a luminous number. In such a tube, the digits from 0-9 are usually accommodated and for each digit there is of course a separate connection. Many of the readers will surely know this type of tube. It is called NIXIE – display tube (comes from the designation “Numeric Indicator eXperimental No. 1”

A watch with such display tubes is still missing in my collection. So I wanted to own one. But buying is easy – and also very expensive. So I decided to build a Nixie clock myself. It all started with a lengthy search for the tubes, because even for these you have to lay down a lot in the meantime. And I need at least six pieces, because my watch should also have a second display. So I searched the Internet on various platforms – and in the bay I found what I was looking for. There a board equipped with Nixie tubes was offered, which was broken out of some old device. The function of the board was given as “unknown” – but it was very cheap. The seller had two of them. So I risked it and bought the two boards equipped with five Nixies each.

The tubes were then successfully soldered out with some caution. The type of tube is the Z574M, for which you can also find the data sheets in the network and thus also has the socket circuitry.

With the help of the wiring, it can then be easily contacted and thus check digit by digit of each tube. The characteristics of the 574 are:

Anode ignition voltage: 150V
Anode burning voltage: 140V
Anode extinguishing voltage: 120V
Max anode voltage: 170V
Cathode current min: 1.5mA
Cathode current max: 2.5mA

With a suitable power supply unit, I was able to quickly set the necessary supply voltages for the functional test.

You can see here that the tube draws a current of 2.8mA at a burning voltage of just under 140V. This corresponds to an output of 392mW. So if I extrapolate and all six digits of the watch are continuously energized, then the power supply for the tubes must bring about 2.3W.

So the tubes already work. Now I can think about what the clock should look like and even more how I want to design it.

The idea is that a microcontroller should control all six tubes. I want to realize this with 8-bit 4094 shift registers, of which four bits each are used for a tube. These four bits from the shift register should then control the tubes via binary coded decimals (i.e. BCD). However, since the tubes have a connection for each digit, ten separate digit controls must be generated from the four BCD lines. This will be done by a CD4028. The IC CD4028 is a “BCD to Decimal Decoder”. To switch the relatively high voltages of the Nixies, the BCD decimal decoder will drive a suitable transistor. This is where the MPSA42 will do its job. This is an NPN bipolar transistor with a collector-emitter dielectric strength of 300VDC at a maximum collector current of 500mA. In order to be able to use the tubes as flexibly as possible, I have come up with the idea of designing a separate circuit board for each tube. These individual display boards should then be plugged into a main patine. So if a digit is defective, you can simply pull out the board in question and repair it. Then you don’t have to solder around the motherboard.

The microcontroller should find space on the motherboard. The low- and high-voltage supply and the shift registers are also to be accommodated on the mainboard. The display boards only carry the Nixie tube and its driver transistors and the BCD decimal decoder. By means of post connectors, they should be easy to plug into the motherboard. To make these formulations a little easier, I have made this sketch:

Based on this idea, I now began to draw the circuit diagrams. So it started with the display board on which the tube is located. The circuit design is very simple. Two opposite post connectors should give the board a stable hold on the motherboard. One of the connectors supplies the BCD decimal decoder (CD4028N) with the four data inputs and the 5V supply voltage for the logic. On the other side of the board, the “high voltage” is provided for the tube.

From this I could then simply create a layout and then produce it as a prototype as a board.

Nach dem Ätzen und Bestücken der ersten Platine und fünf Weiteren war der erste Schritt der Nixieuhr getan:

In order to test the first part of the work, I had a DEB100 digital experiment board available at my workplace. The following short video shows the test result:

After all six boards were equipped and tested, I had dealt with the planning of the motherboard. At the beginning, of course, there was again the creation of a circuit diagram. From an external 12VDC source, which should ideally be a simple plug-in power supply, the supply voltages had to be generated. On the one hand I needed a 5VDC supply for the microcontroller, the shift registers and the BCD decoders and on the other hand a “high voltage” of 140VDC for the Nixie tubes. The 5V supply was done quickly – here a 7805 linear controller should do its job. Since the power consumption of the digital components is relatively low, no complex measures were required here. The 7V difference on the 7805 at the few milliamperes he packed without great power dissipation heat dissipation. For the generation of the 140V I made a step-up converter with an MC34062 (Inverting Regulator – Buck, Boost, Switching) controller, which switches a 220uH inductor via a FET. Via a voltage divider with trimming potentiometer at the output, a voltage feedback can be sent to the comparator output of the controller and thus the output voltage can be adjusted. As a microcontroller, I always use Atmega328 and the like for most of my projects (due to the stock level :)). This is also the case here. The result is the following circuit diagram:

From this I made a layout again and etched and equipped a board again. However, this prototype test board was only a version with four digits. The reason was also that I did not have a larger raw board available

After various successful tests with the prototype board, I ordered professionally manufactured boards from the board manufacturer I trust. After assembling them, I then created a test program that could control all digits. A short test video is linked below:

The following photos show how the clock looks with the “beautifully” manufactured boards. To make the whole work even more nostalgic, I had the idea to mount the boards on a milled wooden panel. (Thanks to Gebhard for the woodwork). In order to keep the watch electronics permanently dust-free, I had a transparent Plexiglas hood made.

As so often, I made the software with the Arduino IDE. To flash the microcontroller I use the AVRISP mkII Programmer. If somebody is interested in the code, I can also post it here on the blog.

Retro - Computer

I’m looking for ONE button from the Commodore Plus4

18. February 2022 ingmarsretro Leave a comment

56 total views

The title says it all. I am looking for the RUN/STOP button for a Commodore Plus 4 computer. The model that I prepare is already finished except for this missing button. I’ve looked on the bay and at flea markets, but nobody can help me there, or you can get whole keyboards, but unfortunately at an unfair price. So if someone has a Plus4 standing around to slaughter and can help me with the key at a fair price – I would be very happy.

Retro - Consoles

Speech output in the 80s – Speak and Spell

20. January 2022 ingmarsretro Leave a comment

262 total views

Many of the readers of this post may be familiar with the Hollywood movie E.T. (The Extra-Terrestrial), in our regions in the translated version: “E.T. – Der Außerirdische”.

At least the older readers will know him. The film was shown in our cinemas in 1982 and I had the opportunity to see it at the time. As a child, you (at least I) always immersed yourself in the stories and lived in them. Briefly told, the story follows a small alien who was accidentally left behind on Earth while his fellow aliens flew away in their spaceship, fleeing from government agents. So little E.T. in a shed where he was found by local children. They befriended him and helped him contact the spaceship. To do this, he constructed a kind of radio system from everyday objects. For example, the antenna consisted of an umbrella, a record player with a circular saw blade, a clothes hanger with a dinner fork, and a child’s toy that could produce synthetic voices. This toy is called “Speak & Spell” and was developed by the Texas Instruments company.

The Speak & Spell is a handheld children’s computer from TI (Texas Instruments) that consists of a keyboard, a display and a small speaker. The heart of the device is a speech synthesizer IC, which makes it possible to generate an artificial voice. An audio output similar to the human speaking voice is achieved via LPC (linear predictive coding). With an internal ROM and optionally also external ROM modules, various tasks (spelling, word guessing games, etc.) can be realized. Selection and entry are made via a keyboard.

The Speak & Spell children’s computer originally came from a three-part toy series with “talking” computers. There was also a Speak & Math and a Speak & Read. You can occasionally find collectors presenting their devices on online video platforms. The devices were initially sold in the USA, Great Britain and Japan. Depending on the country of delivery, there were also different ROM modules with mini-games such as Mystery Word, Letter or Secret Code. These computers were intended for children from the age of 7. Later, more language libraries were released in seven language variations. Among other things, there is said to have been a module for the German language.

The first Speak & Spell was introduced at the 1978 Consumer Electronics Show as one of the first portable devices with a visual display and pluggable ROM game cartridges. This model was also used in the film E.T. known. It differs from later generations of devices only in terms of the keyboard, which in the original version still consisted of “real” keys. The TMC0280 synthesizer chip works inside. This was developed by a small team of engineers under Paul Breedlove † (1941-2021), engineer at Texas Instruments in the late 1970’s. This development began in 1976 as a result of TI research on speech synthesis.

At the beginning of the 1980s, a revised version of the device came onto the market. Here the keys have been replaced by a membrane keyboard. A Speak & Spell Compact version has also been released. In this case, the optical VFD display has been dispensed with and the size has been halved. There was another edition in the late 1980s. This time the VFD was replaced by an LC display and the keyboard got a QWERTY layout. As part of the retro wave (my guess) the company “Basic Fun” brought the classic Speak&Spell back onto the market in 2019. It looks similar to the 80s version, but is technically up to date (everything is generated in a small chip that was bonded directly to the “mini board”). The version also no longer has connections to the outside world.

The following chips are installed on the mainboard of the version sold before 1980:

TMC0271 (microcontroller and VF display controller for 9 digits with 14 segments each)
TMC0530 (or TMC0351, TMC0352) 128kBit ROM
TMC0281 (TMC0280 series speech synthesizer IC)

The model that is in my collection is one of the versions sold after 1980. The following ICs are installed here:

TMC0271 (microcontroller and VF display controller for 9 digits with 14 segments each)
TMC0281 (TMC0280 Series Speech Synthesizer IC)
CD2304 and CD2303 (ROM)

The VF-display has eight digits with 14 segments each. The supply voltage of 6V is obtained from four C-cells connected in series. The 9V and 21V for the supply of the VFD and microcontroller is provided by a discretely constructed DC/DC converter, which is located on its own circuit board. The membrane keyboard is plugged into a 13-pin Flexiprint socket. There is a small speaker for playing the sound, or you can connect headphones via a 3.5mm jack. The sound is obtained directly from the synthesizer chip. In order to adjust the output impedance to the speaker, a small audio transformer has been installed right next to the jack socket. Another socket serves as an external power supply. A trimming potentiometer changes the playback speed/pitch of the audio output.

The TMC0280, later called the TMS5100, is the single chip speech synthesizer that used a 10th order LPC model using pipelined electronic DSP logic. The phoneme data for the spoken words are stored in PMOS ROMs. The enormous capacity of 128 Kbit was the largest ROM that was still affordable at the time. Additional memory module cassettes can be inserted via a recess in the battery compartment. The contents of the memory modules can be selected using a key on the keyboard. The data rate of the audio output is slightly less than 1kbit per second.

miscellaneous and news

The weather globe – or the Goethe glass

7. January 2022 ingmarsretro Leave a comment

61 total views

Again and again I look for simple, interesting things. This time I was fascinated by a measuring device or rather “display device”, whose operating principle is extremely simple and yet very effective. In addition, from my point of view, it is also an eye-catcher – it is the so-called Goethe Barometer. The best-known form is probably the bulbous glass hanging on the wall with a beak, similar to a watering can, in which the water level indicates the air pressure. I found a slightly differently constructed version of this glass on the net…

A little about the history of this structure:

To a gentleman named Evangelista Toricelli (1608-1647), an Italian physicist and mathematician, we owe the knowledge and proof that the air pressure is subject to fluctuations. He built the first barometer named after him in 1643. In 1644 he developed the mercury thermometer.

A small compensation area in the indicator tube protects against overflow

Der deutsche Dichter Johann Wolfgang Göthe, beschäftigte sich auch mit den Naturwissenschaften. Er machte selbst viele naturwissenschaftliche Experimente und entwickelte später ein einfaches, aber wirkungsvolles Barometer auf den Grundlagen des Toricelli.

Die Funktionsweise:

The barometer shows air changes quickly and precisely. When the air pressure rises, the water column in the indicator pipe falls and when the air pressure falls, it rises. This is made possible by the air trapped in the glass. The volume of the air always remains the same at a constant temperature. If the external air pressure rises or falls, the trapped air is compressed or expanded via the water column. Since the water cannot be compressed, it is the ideal medium to make the pressure differences visible. The height of the water column thus indicates the air pressure. If the air pressure is high in good weather, the external pressure is higher than the pressure of the trapped air and the water column decreases as the trapped air is compressed. At low air pressure, it can expand and the level of the water column increases.