I’ve got an emonTx v1.2 (I think - had it since around 2012 or 2013) and a couple of emonTH v1 units. They have worked nicely for years and I don’t yet want to invest in upgrading everything, especially since they used the (recommended at the time) 800MHz transceivers instead of the 400MHz ones that are used with the newer stuff.
I installed emoncms on my own server a while ago - version 8.3.6 - and this works with my existing equipment. However, I see that a lot of stuff has changed since then, and I am suspicious that it might not work with my old hardware. I’m moving to a new server with PHP7 (only) and would like to run an up-to-date version of emoncms. Will this be possible with my hardware?
I don’t know of a reason why not. You will of course need to set the RF frequency and the correct input definitions for your (older) emonTx and emonTH sketches in the emonHub configuration. Off the top of my head, those should be the only things you need to watch out for.
Thanks. I’ve got the new server setup and I’ve manually copied over the inputs and feeds from the old database (though in hindsight I think the database schemas are almost identical). My nodes are piped through a Raspberry Pi running the Python forwarder (can’t remember the name of the software) and I’ve checked the POST format it uses, and it should be fine. The only problem is that this weekend the wifi in my (remote) location decided to die and cut the Raspberry Pi off from my server. Will fix it soon and report back on whether it works or not!
I’ll eventually get newer hardware but the old stuff I have is solid and does the job (when the wifi works). The major sticking point for me is that the stuff I bought used the at-the-time recommended 800MHz radios, whereas the new stuff all works with 400MHz so isn’t compatible. Kinda irritating…
If you ask in the shop, they might be able to supply you with radio-free devices to add your own 868 MHz radios, or possibly they might even solder them in for you.
It would probably be worth just swapping everything over to 433MHz at some point, to be compatible with future equipment (assuming that 433MHz will be the actual standard from now on!). Just needs a bit of desoldering/soldering on my part.
Desoldering the rf module isn’t something to be taken on lightly, unless you have the correct tools. The shop concentrated on 433 MHz because overall sales of that far outstripped the 868 MHz version, and it wasn’t viable to keep the two lines running side by side. Obviously a lot depends on how many 868 MHz modules you have presently in use.