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Trimetric finally did an upgrade, and its an odd choice


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#1 craig333

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Posted 25 November 2019 - 07:51 PM

The WF-2030 is now out (and unavailable currently). It adds WIFI capability to the venerable 2030 monitor. http://www.bogarteng...ts/wf-2030.html

 

 

Interesting choice when most are going the bluetooth route.  What surprise me even more is they haven't come up with an upgraded monitor. Not necessarily from an engineering standpoint but a cosmetic upgrade. It looks dated compared to the Victron etc. 

 

I emailed them. $99. I won't be purchasing one. Seeing the S.O.C. and the voltage is all I care about on a daily basis. It would have made programming easier but since I see no reason to change my settings now, my batteries are happy, I don't see the need. 


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#2 pvstoy

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Posted 25 November 2019 - 11:46 PM

They may sell more units to home owners where wifi is available. Seems logical for the ones they sell to rvs could have bluetooth.
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#3 Oilbrnr

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Posted 26 November 2019 - 05:53 AM

It is much simpler for BE to go WiFi and and just serve up a webpage. I'd be willing to bet there is just a Raspberry Pi in that box.  Smart on their part. Eliminates the whole need to develop a app that has to through the approval process at Apple and whoever, if anyone, on the droid side. 

 

Victron's BT implementation is a hot mess IMHO.


Edited by Oilbrnr, 26 November 2019 - 05:58 AM.

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#4 rando

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Posted 13 December 2019 - 03:21 PM

This is a bizarro choice.   

 

Definitely understand that this is easier for them to implement (you can do it with a $7 ESP32 module) but being easier for the developer is not really a good strategy for product development - it should be easier for the user.  

 

It also appears that their User Interface design for the web interface takes after their UI design for the Trimetric - ie outdated. 


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#5 craig333

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Posted 14 December 2019 - 02:23 AM

It made more sense after I thought about it. Be very handy to do the programming from my desktop. I don't need bluetooth. Now that I'm happy with its performance all I ever look at is the S.O.C. I do understand bluetooth is better for those that can't just leave well enough alone :)


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#6 rando

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Posted 14 December 2019 - 03:39 PM

I think it would be fine for programming the monitor, but as you note you only do that once or twice.   For day to day use (ie getting a more detailed look at your battery and the charge/discharge history) or checking the state of charge while it sits in the driveway it would be pretty inconvenient to have to open settings, disconnect from your router, connect to the trimetric and then open a browser and go to a web page then the reverse when you are done. 

 

This is why everyone else uses bluetooth for this - it works seamlessly in the background and you can be connected to many devices simultaneously - you just open the app and wallah, you have the data. 


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#7 PaulT

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Posted 14 December 2019 - 06:36 PM

The unit gives historical data that is otherwise tedious to get from the Trimetric display. I checked with Bogart Engineering several months ago and the unit has been unavailable. I think they got one run of units out in the field and are taking the time to get real world feedback to improve the unit before committing to production. 

As to using WiFi rather than Bluetooth, there are a number of reasons for that choice at this stage of development.
Range is greater for WiFi especially for a unit that is likely to be buried inside cabinets inside an RV.  
Not having to pay for developing apps for Android and IOS until the unit is more mature.

Allowing the unit to be a host or client can be handy. 
A web server comes with Linux and no royalties are required to be paid to the Bluetooth owners. Linux is commonly used as the OS for ARM based embedded systems.

Building in Bluetooth is much easier for follow on products than for the first one.

 

My Nikon camera wireless adapter uses WiFi rather than Bluetooth so it isn’t a unique choice.

 

Paul


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#8 craig333

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Posted 14 December 2019 - 09:20 PM

I can see my Trimetric display looking through the window from the outside. Even easier than opening an app.


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#9 rando

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Posted 16 December 2019 - 06:47 PM

I can see my Trimetric display looking through the window from the outside. Even easier than opening an app.

 

Even easier! 


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#10 rando

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Posted 16 December 2019 - 06:59 PM

All good points.   I definitely understand why they went this way from their standpoint - it is much cheaper and easier for Bogart to implement a super basic web server on a micro-controller.     But the trade off is that it is more difficult for the user.  

The trimetric has a serial port (or UART) with a documented protocol right?   I am not sure if there would be much of a market, but maybe this would be an opportunity for a third party developer to add a BLE dongle and then code up a decent app?

 

 

The unit gives historical data that is otherwise tedious to get from the Trimetric display. I checked with Bogart Engineering several months ago and the unit has been unavailable. I think they got one run of units out in the field and are taking the time to get real world feedback to improve the unit before committing to production. 

As to using WiFi rather than Bluetooth, there are a number of reasons for that choice at this stage of development.
Range is greater for WiFi especially for a unit that is likely to be buried inside cabinets inside an RV.  
Not having to pay for developing apps for Android and IOS until the unit is more mature.

Allowing the unit to be a host or client can be handy. 
A web server comes with Linux and no royalties are required to be paid to the Bluetooth owners. Linux is commonly used as the OS for ARM based embedded systems.

Building in Bluetooth is much easier for follow on products than for the first one.

 

My Nikon camera wireless adapter uses WiFi rather than Bluetooth so it isn’t a unique choice.

 

Paul


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