WTI remote power strip: Difference between revisions

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I have a Western Telematics, Inc RPB+ remote power strip.
I have a Western Telematics, Inc RPB+ remote power strip. I picked it up on eBay.
 
It's a power strip with an RS232 port on it.


On the outside:
On the outside:
* 5 switched AC outlets, individually controllable
* 5 switched AC outlets, individually controllable
* Can switch up to 15A on one port, up to 15A for all ports.
* Can switch up to 15A on one port, up to 15A for all ports.
* 9 pin RS232 port (you need a null modem cable to connect)
* 9 pin RS232 port (use a null modem cable to connect)
* Dip switch for setting baud rate
* Dip switch for setting baud rate
* An LED for each outlet on the front panel
* An LED for each outlet on the front panel to indicate power on state.


Inside it has:
Inside it has:
Line 23: Line 25:


To substitute a flash device I could drop in a 16F628A, then I'd get
To substitute a flash device I could drop in a 16F628A, then I'd get
3.5k of RAM and 224 bytes of RAM.
3.5k of RAM and 224 bytes of RAM. To do that though I'd need to understand
what it's doing. Instead I plan on removing the ADM232, and adding an ESP32-Wrover-IE.
I can drill a hole in the front panel to fit an external antenna; otherwise no signal
will be going through the aluminum case. This will give me WiFi control of 5 devices.


== Operation ==
== Normal operation ==


Manual [[File:wti_power_strip.pdf]]
Manual [[File:wti_power_strip.pdf]]
There are DIP switches to set serial port rate. I keep it at 9600.


From bellman,
From bellman,
Line 33: Line 40:
  minicom --device /dev/ttyS0
  minicom --device /dev/ttyS0


The menu should come up.
The prompt is '''RPB+>'''
 
The menu should come up. If it does not try typing "/S", that gives you status.
 
# Dart
#
#
#
#
 
The basic command is "/n ON | OFF | BOOT", where "n" is a port number 1-5.
 
BOOT powers down, pauses, then powers up.
 
== ESP32 operation ==
 
The ESP32 will need to have its UART connected to the UART of the RPB+.
It will need to interface (I suppose) to Home Assistant on the WiFi side.
I will make it look like one device with 5 power switches. I will ignore
the "reboot" feature and just support "on" and "off".
 
It looks like ESPhome can handle all of this, of course. I am starting to think
there is not anything I cannot do with ESPhome. There is a
[https://esphome.io/components/switch/uart.html "UART Switch"] component
that does exactly what I need.
 
=== PIC 16C56 ===
 
Datasheet is here https://www.microchip.com/en-us/product/PIC16C56
 
[[Image:pic16c56pinouts.png|thumb|left]]
<br clear=all>


# LCD Monitor
=== MAX 232 ===
# LCD Monitor
# Phone
# 12V to Powerpole bus
# Keyboard light


The basic command is "/n ON|OFF|REBOOT", where n is a port number 1-5.
[[Image:max232.png|thumb|left]]
I wrote php code to talk to it a long time ago.
<br clear=all>

Latest revision as of 04:14, 2 January 2022

I have a Western Telematics, Inc RPB+ remote power strip. I picked it up on eBay.

It's a power strip with an RS232 port on it.

On the outside:

  • 5 switched AC outlets, individually controllable
  • Can switch up to 15A on one port, up to 15A for all ports.
  • 9 pin RS232 port (use a null modem cable to connect)
  • Dip switch for setting baud rate
  • An LED for each outlet on the front panel to indicate power on state.

Inside it has:

  • a PIC 16C56 microcontroller, in a socket
  • 5 nice relays and associated drivers to interface to PIC
  • a 555 timer
  • an ADM232 on the serial port
  • a power supply

A PIC 16C56 has:

  • 18 pin DIP
  • 1.5K memory
  • 25 bytes of RAM (whew! takes my breath away!)
  • 1 8-bit timer
  • It's OTP = one time programmable

To substitute a flash device I could drop in a 16F628A, then I'd get 3.5k of RAM and 224 bytes of RAM. To do that though I'd need to understand what it's doing. Instead I plan on removing the ADM232, and adding an ESP32-Wrover-IE. I can drill a hole in the front panel to fit an external antenna; otherwise no signal will be going through the aluminum case. This will give me WiFi control of 5 devices.

Normal operation

Manual File:Wti power strip.pdf

There are DIP switches to set serial port rate. I keep it at 9600.

From bellman,

minicom --device /dev/ttyS0

The prompt is RPB+>

The menu should come up. If it does not try typing "/S", that gives you status.

  1. Dart

The basic command is "/n ON | OFF | BOOT", where "n" is a port number 1-5.

BOOT powers down, pauses, then powers up.

ESP32 operation

The ESP32 will need to have its UART connected to the UART of the RPB+. It will need to interface (I suppose) to Home Assistant on the WiFi side. I will make it look like one device with 5 power switches. I will ignore the "reboot" feature and just support "on" and "off".

It looks like ESPhome can handle all of this, of course. I am starting to think there is not anything I cannot do with ESPhome. There is a "UART Switch" component that does exactly what I need.

PIC 16C56

Datasheet is here https://www.microchip.com/en-us/product/PIC16C56


MAX 232