Dan & Howie, As Dan said, there was quite a long period getting out the kinks out of Optics but now I'm not having any problems. I'm monitoring 19 systems for my customers and most problems recently have been getting a good internet connection. I finally got one on Huges Net working and all problems were the wifi extender. I put in a new one and it's working fine now. I use Exede (Viasat) at my house and it works fine hard wired to the modem/router. Had problems here with wifi extenders. The Optics is really useful now trying to tweak systems with LiFePO batteries. Those delicate voltage settings sometimes require a few small adjustments to balance between minimizing generator run time and keeping the battery from shutting down. The only problem lately with the Outback/Lithium combination is not being able to set the low battery cutout high enough on the MATE 3 to get the inverter to shut down before the battery does. I've had a few system shutdowns where I have had to go to the site and reboot the battery. Many of my customers are second homes and sometimes rented out so monitoring the system is useful. I have had a few situations where I have had to talk the renters through manually starting a generator or rebooting a battery, saving me a 3 hour round trip service call.
John Blittersdorf NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installerâ„¢ CV Wind Service (and solar) 200 West Road N Chittenden, VT 05763 On Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 11:01 PM Dan Fink <danbo...@gmail.com> wrote: > Mac; Interesting to hear that you've had success via satellite internet. > Which flavor was it, Hughes, Excede or both? It was 3-4 years ago that I > tried and failed with it at 2 different sites (one was my own > residence).....there have been a few firmware updates since then, so I > might just give it a try again. > Satellite, powerline ethernet extenders, and LAN cable over 50 feet are on > the official Outback "not recommended" list. Their networking document is > located here: > > http://www.outbackpower.com/downloads/documents/appnotes/optics_conn_app_note.pdf > > Howie; I've found that a Klein Scout Pro 3 LAN cable tester is a handy and > inexpensive tool for diagnosing bad or damaged-while-pulling LAN cables. > And a cheap RJ-## LAN cable termination kit so you can make custom length > cables for Outback and Midnite systems, instead of finding someplace to > hide all the inevitable ugly extra cable length with the factory-supplied > LAN cables. > > As for the Midnite remote monitor system, I've tried and failed on > satellite, their application notes say it won't work, but I'd love to try > it again if anyone else out there has had luck with Midnite over satellite. > > Dan Fink > Owner, Buckville Energy Consulting > NABCEP Certified PV System Inspector > IREC Certified Instructorâ„¢ for: > ~ PV Installation Professional > ~ Small Wind Installer > NABCEP Registered Continuing Education Providers > d <dan.f...@greendustrialtraining.com>anbo...@gmail.com > 970-672-4342 > > > > > On Mon, Oct 12, 2020 at 7:22 PM Mac Lewis <maclew...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi Howie and Wrenches, >> >> We have quite a few OpticsRE sites functioning fine on satellite >> internet so I don't think that there is any defined limitation there. I >> like to use a Hub 10.3 with systems that you intend to have on Optics. >> Optics not perfect but its better than other off-grid monitoring and gives >> decent control to the administrator. Hoping to see something made for >> mobile devices soon. >> >> I find online monitoring to be super useful as a solar integrator and >> worth the effort to install properly. Hardwire is preferred way to do >> this, but I have had good success using a TP Link Wireless Nanorouter in >> client-mode (serving only the internet device hardwired in). The nice >> thing about client mode is that the Mate won't get booted off of the >> network by other devices connecting to the network through the TP Link. >> >> There may be some anomalies with integrating older equipment but I'm not >> sure on that. >> >> Good Luck >> >> >> _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org > >
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the other: https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: http://www.members.re-wrenches.org