bluetooth to wifi bridge/gateway?

[DixieMtCR]

I have a Victron SmartShunt to monitor my solar battery bank in my solar electrical room. The shunt uses bluetooth communication which can be connected to, using a smart phone. The app VictronConnect has all I need to monitor my OFF-GRID system.

The device is great and so is the VictronConnect app from Victron. But the range of the bluetooth is only about 20-30ft, which is pretty lame. I hate going outside several times a day to check on my battery levels, especially in the winter. The electrical room is about 150ft from the house.

Do any of you know of a bluetooth to wifi bridge or gateway that would allow me to access my SmartShunt via wifi. I have no other Victron equipment.

A Cerbo GX would facilitate this if I really wanted to drop $600 total for the Cerbo GX and the Display. I just can't justify it.

Seriously, I need a cheaper solution to just connect to the bluetooth SmartShunt device via wifi.


Solar Electricity Investment.
1840 watts of Solar panels. (2 sets) of 6 panels/100w each, wired 3s2p. (1 set) of 2 panels/320w each, wired 2p.
(3) 100/40 MPPT charge controllers
(8) 100Ah Sealed Lead acid batteries, wired together as 2s4p, 24volt system
(1) 4000 Watt Pure Sinewave Inverter
(1) Victron SmartShunt for monitoring Battery status
(1) 10-circuit manual transfer switch. Connects the solar through an RV 30amp inlet box to the load center. 120v only with solar.

Most of the day the items in the house consume between 500-800 watts. Microwave and coffee pot add another 1500-1800 each. Oregon is NOT known for its sunshine, so, solar energy must be monitored.

 

[bgflyguy]

In the files section there are some documents about setting up a raspberry pi instead of the cerbo gx. Seems easy enough, but I haven't done it.

 

[rmaddy]

A Raspberry Pi (RPi) running Victron's VenusOS is a much cheaper alternative to using a Cerbo GX. You would need a VE.Direct to USB cable to connect the SmartShunt to the RPi. The RPi has WiFi so it can connect to your home WiFi network. This setup would allow the SmartShunt to send its data to the RPi at whatever interval you choose. The RPI would send the data over the Internet to your VRM account (Victron Remote Monitoring). You can access that account using a web browser on any device anywhere in the world and see current and historical data provided by your SmartShunt (and any other Victron gear you may add).

I did this with a $50 RPi about 18 months ago. Apparently they are a lot more expensive now so it might cost a bit over $200 now. You don't need a screen but you can get a touch screen for the RPi for about $50 if you decide you want it.

 

[DixieMtCR]

In the files section there are some documents about setting up a raspberry pi instead of the cerbo gx. Seems easy enough, but I haven't done it.

Thanks, I will check that out.

 

[DixieMtCR]

A Raspberry Pi (RPi) running Victron's VenusOS is a much cheaper alternative to using a Cerbo GX. You would need a VE.Direct to USB cable to connect the SmartShunt to the RPi. The RPi has WiFi so it can connect to your home WiFi network. This setup would allow the SmartShunt to send its data to the RPi at whatever interval you choose. The RPI would send the data over the Internet to your VRM account (Victron Remote Monitoring). You can access that account using a web browser on any device anywhere in the world and see current and historical data provided by your SmartShunt (and any other Victron gear you may add).

I did this with a $50 RPi about 18 months ago. Apparently they are a lot more expensive now so it might cost a bit over $200 now. You don't need a screen but you can get a touch screen for the RPi for about $50 if you decide you want it.

Thanks for the reply. I have and RPI 400 has bluetooth but it sounds like the better way is the VE.Direct to USB adapter. I just ordered one of those.

I tried following instructions a few months ago on how to install the VenusOS on the PI, but did not have success. Tried 3 times and gave up. It just would not boot. Do you know of a document or youtube video that gives the instructions for installing VenusOS on the PI?

Yesterday, i ordered a 7" touch screen in anticipation of getting the PI installed.

Any help with the VenusOS install would be appreciated.

Ken

 

[rmaddy]

I have the RPi 3B+ and I followed one video and it just worked. I don't think the RPi 400 is supported. See the following:

raspberrypi install venus image

Victron Energy Unix/Linux OS. Contribute to victronenergy/venus development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

That has a list of supported devices.

Raspberry Pi 400 - Victron Community

community.victronenergy.com

That is specifically about the RPi 400 and it not working.

 

[DixieMtCR]

I have the RPi 3B+ and I followed one video and it just worked. I don't think the RPi 400 is supported. See the following:

raspberrypi install venus image

Victron Energy Unix/Linux OS. Contribute to victronenergy/venus development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

That has a list of supported devices.

Raspberry Pi 400 - Victron Community

community.victronenergy.com

That is specifically about the RPi 400 and it not working.

Well, how sweet is that!

It would seem that in nearly 2 years since this problem became apparent, those who update the PI code would fix the problem and do another build. I would assume there are a lot of 4s out there that don't work.

I notice that the PI3 B and B+ are running in excess of $200 USD.

So, is there a build of VictronConnect for the PI OS? One that is a running APP rather than tossing the PI OS?

 

[rmaddy]

So, is there a build of VictronConnect for the PI OS? One that is a running APP rather than tossing the PI OS?

No, just the full VenusOS.

I notice that the PI3 B and B+ are running in excess of $200 USD.

They stopped making the 3B/3B+ in the last year or two which is why they are so expensive now. I got mine just in time I think.

Getting a supported RPi 4 is probably the best path now.

 

[DixieMtCR]

No, just the full VenusOS.


They stopped making the 3B/3B+ in the last year or two which is why they are so expensive now. I got mine just in time I think.

Getting a supported RPi 4 is probably the best path now.

I have a RPI 400 that I bought from Amazon. Besides, something to tinker with, I am finding that there is a lot of stuff that is not compatible with it.

If the 3B/3B+ are outdated and gone, why are there not even greater apps for the RPI 4? Or, are the RPI's not trending any more and so no one is writing for them.

 

[Dynoman]

I have a Victron SmartShunt to monitor my solar battery bank in my solar electrical room. The shunt uses bluetooth communication which can be connected to, using a smart phone. The app VictronConnect has all I need to monitor my OFF-GRID system.

The device is great and so is the VictronConnect app from Victron. But the range of the bluetooth is only about 20-30ft, which is pretty lame. I hate going outside several times a day to check on my battery levels, especially in the winter. The electrical room is about 150ft from the house.

Do any of you know of a bluetooth to wifi bridge or gateway that would allow me to access my SmartShunt via wifi. I have no other Victron equipment.

A Cerbo GX would facilitate this if I really wanted to drop $600 total for the Cerbo GX and the Display. I just can't justify it.

Seriously, I need a cheaper solution to just connect to the bluetooth SmartShunt device via wifi.


Solar Electricity Investment.
1840 watts of Solar panels. (2 sets) of 6 panels/100w each, wired 3s2p. (1 set) of 2 panels/320w each, wired 2p.
(3) 100/40 MPPT charge controllers
(8) 100Ah Sealed Lead acid batteries, wired together as 2s4p, 24volt system
(1) 4000 Watt Pure Sinewave Inverter
(1) Victron SmartShunt for monitoring Battery status
(1) 10-circuit manual transfer switch. Connects the solar through an RV 30amp inlet box to the load center. 120v only with solar.

Most of the day the items in the house consume between 500-800 watts. Microwave and coffee pot add another 1500-1800 each. Oregon is NOT known for its sunshine, so, solar energy must be monitored.

I use the Victron BMV-712 Smart Shunt Battery Monitor with a Raspberry Pi. I can view the BMV-712 data real-time or look at the history. Victron provides this service free. It was relatively simple to accomplish watching the video.

Andy (Off Grid Garage) did a good video on how to use a Raspberry Pi and the Victron Venus OS to view real-time and store your Victron Smart Shunt data in the Victron cloud. I followed his video and now use it and it works well. I did this a while ago and at the time needed to use the model of raspberry pi 3 b plus. I don't know if the that is still a requirement. I picked one up on Ebay.

Thanks Andy!