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Re: Looking for comments from new members using Node Red
Another item you might want to put on the "how to" wish list, and to expand on one of the points I mentioned above is how to go about starting your first flow and maybe the first things you want to think about.
1) How does it connect with NodeRed?? Serial?? Network?? Get it communicating (or at least a serial or TcP node pointed to it).?? 2) First flow should probably be if you can turn the unit off/on via NodeRed.? Try the flow and verify the unit does what is expected. 3) Poll the unit for some data, maybe that's serial data to get a status of the unit.? Start small with one piece of data and work your way up. 4) Make lots of backups between small changes and develop some type of versioning system so when everything stops working, you can get back to a reset point. 5) Use the inject node to push data to the unit and verify it does what is expected (Send "change to antenna 1"). 6) Learn to use the debug mode often when things go weird. 7) Research on the web examples of code.? I've learned you have to think a bit like a programmer to research how to do something on the web.? Once you get that speak correct (or click on enough links) you'll find someone has already asked the question and solved the problem.? The hardest part is probably how to ask the question so your first click is the final answer. Spending some time looking at simple examples has helped quite a bit, but there are still simple flows that I'm confused on because I just don't have that advanced knowledge.?? Kyle AA0Z |
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Re: Station Upgrades with Node Red Integration
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýHi Scott, ? Glad to have you on board! ? Here is a link to the LP100 flow from Al, K0VM ? As you update equipment that has connectivity (serial, USB or network) you can consider bringing CAT info from the Elecraft K3¡¯s into Node Red, then be able to do band switching, antenna selection, etc automatically and with a graphical user interface. Node Red is not restricted just to Flex radios. I recently helped a ham interface his Icom 756 Pro III to his PalStar LA-1K amp and various software programs. ? Enjoy, experiment, and learn! ? 73 Dave wo2x ? ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Scott Dickson
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2021 10:47 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nodered-hamradio] Station Upgrades with Node Red Integration ? Hi Kyle! |
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Re: Station Upgrades with Node Red Integration
Hi Kyle!
I've just begun down the path for Node-Red use to integrate/remote my station. 2 x Elecraft K3 TopTenBand Decoders drive ICE-419b bandpass filters and SixPack for by-band antenna selection using CAT from the radios, so no Node-Red integration needed for that. M2 Orion rotator and 2 x TicRing rotators, along with many remote antenna switches (some Ameritron brand) for selecting beverages and other varieties of antennas not controlled by the SixPack. I also have six stack matches to integrate.? Currently using N1MMRotator to turn the Orion, but long-term I am going to use the method documented on YouTube by VE6WZ and use PSTRotator running on a computer at the remote site? I have not yet begun working on the manual antenna switches. I have an LP-100A - would love to be pointed to a flow for it.? I had planned to just let it run on the local computer via a serial connection. I use Teamview to connect to the local computer - have been doing this for a couple of weeks now, and working FT8 remotely.?? Also, my amps are all manual AL-1500, AL-1200, AL-811.? Gonna have to bite the bullet for new remote-controlled amps, OR set it up such that each is used only on a single band and use a remote-controlled relay to turn the power on/off.? Not elegant, but perhaps doable.? Will have to overcome resetting OP/STANDBY switch if trips out, as well as the need to retune on 160, 80, 40.?? --Scott W5WZ |
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Re: Looking for comments from new members using Node Red
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýToday 1/20/21 WA9WUD spent a little time getting me up and running with
Node Red. I am very grateful to Alan for the time he spent showing me several
commands to enter. Dave he used your Flex flow to get me my first dashboard. I
am both intimidate and excited to see what¡¯s coming up for me in the months and
years ahead.
?
73,
Ed KA9EES
?
? From: David De Coons wo2x
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 5:50 PM
Subject: [nodered-hamradio] Looking for comments from new members
using Node Red ?
Hi all
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Re: Dashboard Design Issue - Spacing
Alan, you mean put spacers between the W2 WATT METER and the Flex Radio group so it forces the Flex Meters group to the 2nd row, but then doesn't overlap the lower left hand corner of the Flex Radio group hanging down?
I'll see if you can complete your button idea...my only issue with that is, anybody who connects with a larger resolution, there is going to be this spacer hanging out on the dashboard, right? Just wish NR did a better job of dynamically arranging the UI based on screen resolution. Kyle AA0Z |
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Station Upgrades with Node Red Integration
I live around 3 hours from a three tower M/2 contest station and have the opportunity to move my Flex down to the station full time as one of the two operating positions. The contest station just got 500Mbs fiber up/down so remote capabilities are now possible.? I'm hopeful we will get another Flex for the 2nd position in the near future.? Now I just need to purchase another Flex for my original remote station!? Lot's of Flex's in my near future.? LOL.??
As of right now, there are three hurdles that we must overcome to gain full access to the station without the amps. Here is the setup. One SixPack antenna switcher 2x6 with a rotary knob controller.? This controls tower what position is on what tower.? Tower 1 (6m yagi, 80M vertical, end fed), Tower 2 (40 meter beam), T3 (80M dipole, 20/15/10 Tribander, 160m diploe) Each tower has an Ameritron RCS-4 antenna switch at the base to switch the antenna on said tower.? Rotary control box in the shack. ? Rotators are Hy-Gain.?? Power meters are LP-100A but after the 800W amp which we are not using. ** Here are my questions regarding how to control all this via Node-Red. The LP100A is solved, as I believe there is a flow for that and it has serial on the back of the box.?? On the Six Pack antenna switcher, how do I switch that remotely?? Is that with the BandMaster box by Array Solutions?? Is there another solution? Same question regarding the Ameritron antenna switcher.? I don't think it has serial out or I haven't seen a flow for that if I can get serial out of it. The Hy-Gain rotators have an RS-232 kit board from Ham Supply I can purchase that brings RS-232 out the back and I'm assuming I can use another rotator node-red flow for a building block for building a new flow for the Hy-Gain. I know this forum isn't station design, but thought some of you might have an idea on what to purchase so I can eventually control all these things with NodeRed in the future. Thanks Kyle AA0Z |
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Re: Looking for comments from new members using Node Red
As a new user in the last 3 or so months and virtually no programming experience, here are some things that confused me the first time around after the install.? At first I think you very briefly go over the install of NodeRed.? The instructions on the Wiki are very good.
I don't think you get into FRStack at this time as that's a very confusing flow to load as one of the first. What is controllable and what are the limitations of NodeRed? What do you NOT want to control or monitor via NodeRed? General Items 1) Loading your first flow 2) The panel layout on the right hand side and what the different tabs are 3) Installing required or useful pallets 4) How to make a backup 5) How to get to the UI after deploying your first flow 6) How to tweak the UI ?- tabs vs groups 7) How to debug and troubleshoot your flow ?- expanding debug output default Nodes 1) What are the basic and popular nodes and their functionality (inject, switch, change, etc..) we would use in ham radio? 2) msg.payload and some background on how the nodes pass information from node to node 3) How to pass more than one payload from node to node 4) Again, more debugging and troubleshooting flows.?? 5) How to disable nodes to remove them from the flow and how to disable whole tabs. Formats 1) JSON and array data 2) Strings 3) HEX 4) How to convert data from one type to another Connecting to devices 1) TCP 2) Serial Dashboard 1) Overview of some of the different dashboard graphics (gauge, meters, LED, etc) 2) How to get to the dashboard 3) Column widths and how some dashboard nodes are locked vs unlocked and how to change them How to get started with your first "from scratch node" 1) Are there basic things you should be thinking about? 2) What type of data is coming out of the device that you need to read? 3) How to inject commands back into the device via an action? 4) Are there other troubleshooting tools other than the debug node? Good net resources to help you get unstuck on a problem? I could probably go on and on, but I'm sure most of these topics could spawn other questions.? Problem is going down the rabbit hole once a question is asked. Kyle AA0Z |
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Re: Clickable Azimuthal map flow for PSTRotatorAZ
On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 05:45 AM, David De Coons wo2x wrote:
For the azimuth map, once I have created it in PDF format I import it to Microsoft Word. I convert to Word document then I can delete the header info leaving just the map. I right click the map and save as PNG. Next edit the PNG file in MS Paint and resize to 500 x 500 pixels.I decided to leave the header as a reference at hand. Another way to eliminate the header is to create the map on pdf and use snipping tool to select the desired area (no headers) and save the snip as PNG, then edit in MS Paint for resizing. Santiago ? -- ______________ 73 de Santiago HI8SMX - KB8SMX web:? YouTube: HI8SMX? Twitter: @hi8smx Instagram: hi8smx |
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Re: Clickable Azimuthal map flow for PSTRotatorAZ
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýFor the azimuth map, once I have created it in PDF format I import it to Microsoft Word. I convert to Word document then I can delete the header info leaving just the map. I right click the map and save as PNG. Next edit the PNG file in MS Paint and resize to 500 x 500 pixels.73 Dave wo2x On Jan 20, 2021, at 8:38 AM, Santiago Mejia via groups.io <hi8smx@...> wrote:
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Re: Clickable Azimuthal map flow for PSTRotatorAZ
Gary, followed same principle but created a different map to sort of have a different perspective. It is a bit off center but close enough for the purposes of having an idea.
73, Santiago ______________ 73 de Santiago HI8SMX - KB8SMX web:? YouTube: HI8SMX? Twitter: @hi8smx Instagram: hi8smx |
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Re: Help with Modified MKCM SPE Amp.json
Scott The IP address that would give the message you show should be the IP address of your raspberry Pi.? If Node-Red and FRstack are on the same Raspberry Pi, use the Loopback IP and port :5025 This sets the communications between FRStack and Node-Red For the SPE amp connection, you need to configure the COM port in the FRStack configuration file, ?located at "/usr/local/frstack/appsettings.json. Here is a link to the MKCM instructions.? The configuration file is show about 3/4 ways down: Here is a screenshot: E-mail me if you need more help.? We can Team View?or Zoom. Alan WA9WUD On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 8:02 AM Scott - W5NJK via <w5njk=[email protected]> wrote:
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Help with Modified MKCM SPE Amp.json
So I've downloaded this node and it displays, but I get an ECONNECREFUSED error on the GetSPEINFO function.? What am I missing in the setup?? The IP address is set to the radio (192.168.1.34:4996). My Node-red is running on a Pi, and it feels like I need a port setting opened up but I'm pretty sure I don't have firewall installed (yet) |
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Re: Looking for comments from new members using Node Red
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýI heard about Node Red on the Flex Radio Community where a video and resources were posted. ?After watching a practical demonstration of Node Red and visiting the official web site, ?I downloaded and installed Node Red following the detailed instructions on the site. ?I watched the tutorial on how to get started using the Node Red tools and began creating flows. ?The Flex Radio Community then announced the creation of the nodered-hamradio groups io. ?This group was formed to provide a resource for ham radio related Node Red activities. ?There are a number of experienced users who constantly monitor and answer questions in the group. ?In a very short time, I was creating flows, and with the help of the group, customizing the flows to my specific radio station. ?Node Red is very visual and it is not necessary to know software coding to produce useable results. ?I now have an active display where I can monitor and control various aspects of my station either locally or remotely outside my network. Enjoy the adventure, Bob, KN4HH? On Jan 19, 2021, at 6:50 PM, David De Coons wo2x <RocketNJ@...> wrote:
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Re: Clickable Azimuthal map flow for PSTRotatorAZ
After a couple of swing and misses I got it. Created the file and found how to import it. I configured the zoom/pane features and the coordinates on mouse over. Great addition to dashboard.
______________ 73 de Santiago HI8SMX - KB8SMX web:? YouTube: HI8SMX? Twitter: @hi8smx Instagram: hi8smx |
Kyle AA0Z
Dave wo2x
Scott Dickson, W5WZ
Edward Dowdy KA9EES
Santiago Mejia
Scott - W5NJK
Bob Watson