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I use an sdr dongle to monitor my electric meter. (Most meters transmit current reading continuously)
Dongle is on a PC running a program that writes it to a database. I can pull up usage from whenever and see the spike where someone ran the hot water for too long
And this will be my next electronics project
Right after I install a vibration sensor and piezo that activates upon my wife's highly kinetic door closing style. Gotta train them somehow.
Add a door closer (the piston variety). The door will always close and you CANNOT slam it. Daughter variously slammed doors or left them wide open
Interesting - I’ve been looking at SDR and RaspberryPi recently. Subscribing to this thread.
I don't see why it couldn't be done. If the antenna is outside you'd have to figure out a way to weatherproof the SDR.This is probably a wierd question. Is there a software defined radio that can attach directly to an antenna to minimize cable losses? Or is a Long run of ethernet not doable either? Particularly interested in vhf/uhf.
If we're already hacking and experimenting, maybe stick a Raspberry Pi in a box with your SDR (or get a cape for it...) and use the Pi as your ethernet to USB adapter? Hell, if you've got strong wifi, you could rely on that.I don't see why it couldn't be done. If the antenna is outside you'd have to figure out a way to weatherproof the SDR.
The only problem I see is that all the SDR's I've seen are powered and connected to the computer with a USB cable, not an ethernet cable. USB would limit you to about 5 meters unless you have a USB cable with an active extension cable like this:
Monoprice USB Type-A Male to Type-A Female 2.0 Extension Cable - Active, 28/24AWG, Repeater, Kinect, and PS3 Move Compatible, Black, 49ft - Monoprice.com
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This may or may not work...YMMV
(My father used to say that my mother could make a mercury wall-switch click).And this will be my next electronics project
Right after I install a vibration sensor and piezo that activates upon my wife's highly kinetic door closing style. Gotta train them somehow.
They say there's something for everyone in Ham radio. Your just going to have to try it first. I'm a little old fashion I like plenty of knobs but one radio I've been looking at is the YAESU FTDX-10, the price is right but to justify it over my Icom IDK.I want to get into HAM radio, but I have plenty of expensive hobbies already so I've been putting it off. Then I figured out that with an SDR, USB or PCI-E, I can leverage a computer or cell phone and make a system that integrates far easier with tech that I 1) own and 2) understand vs new single purpose boxes. I bought an RTL-SDR, which is listening only, and I'm working on studying for my licenses. Lime SDR looks really cool, as they make both PCI card and USB versions. I'd love to have a highly configurable version based upon a cell phone as well as a more powerful base station PC. The big question is amplifiers, which I hope to get some insight into during my studies but also from old timers. I'm not sure which band would work best (and honestly still defining my use case, so can't really tell yet) but having a portable antenna would be really nice as well as a big mast.
To echo @Silverado, ham radio isn't a hobby, it's 100 hobbies in one, and the learning never stops.I want to get into HAM radio, but I have plenty of expensive hobbies already so I've been putting it off. Then I figured out that with an SDR, USB or PCI-E, I can leverage a computer or cell phone and make a system that integrates far easier with tech that I 1) own and 2) understand vs new single purpose boxes. I bought an RTL-SDR, which is listening only, and I'm working on studying for my licenses. Lime SDR looks really cool, as they make both PCI card and USB versions. I'd love to have a highly configurable version based upon a cell phone as well as a more powerful base station PC. The big question is amplifiers, which I hope to get some insight into during my studies but also from old timers. I'm not sure which band would work best (and honestly still defining my use case, so can't really tell yet) but having a portable antenna would be really nice as well as a big mast.
This sort:This sort: ... Or this sort: ...(My father used to say that my mother could make a mercury wall-switch click).
I can't tell you about system specs,Alrighty....it turns out I need a new laptop and am interested in doing it right the first time for SDR. What specs should I be looking out for? Mac? PC?
Would a desktop be better than a laptop? I don’t mind buying a cheaper desktop and have it be dedicated to this, depending on what I can find. ...
Nearly all modern meters transmit unencrypted, not just electric, but in many areas, water and gas meters also.I use an sdr dongle to monitor my electric meter. (Most meters transmit current reading continuously)
Dongle is on a PC running a program that writes it to a database. I can pull up usage from whenever and see the spike where someone ran the hot water for too long
One option is to have an SDR connected to the antenna and then USB into a Raspberry Pi running sdr_tcp or SpyServer -- this makes your SDR available on the network (via WiFi or Ethernet); this his how those public SDR servers work:Is there a software defined radio that can attach directly to an antenna to minimize cable losses? Or is a Long run of ethernet not doable either? Particularly interested in vhf/uhf.
This pretty nifty, but how do you determine that it is your meter that you are tuning in? Trial and error? Is there some way to match the data to something that I can see on the meter?I use an sdr dongle to monitor my electric meter. (Most meters transmit current reading continuously)
Dongle is on a PC running a program that writes it to a database. I can pull up usage from whenever and see the spike where someone ran the hot water for too long
Every transmission includes an "ERT ID" which is all or part of the serial number of the meter, you can check it against the # printed on the face of the meter. So it's easy to tell which meter is yours, but you'd have to go climbing fences to figure out which neighbor is which!This pretty nifty, but how do you determine that it is your meter that you are tuning in? Trial and error? Is there some way to match the data to something that I can see on the meter?
Monitor their nighttime power usage with binoculars.Every transmission includes an "ERT ID" which is all or part of the serial number of the meter, you can check it against the # printed on the face of the meter. So it's easy to tell which meter is yours, but you'd have to go climbing fences to figure out which neighbor is which!
When my best friend's father retired from Oak Ridge,
In college, there was a pair of binos on the bar in my dorm room, next to ourWhen my best friend's father retired from Oak Ridge,
they gave him a pair of binoculars as a retirement gift.
A few days pass, and then my friend or his sister spot him
perched out on the second floor balcony, glassing the neighbor's house.
"Boy, these binoculars are great! You can see everything!"
"Dad! You're not supposed to look in peoples' houses with binoculars!"
The id is labeled on the meter face and is in the radio data packet.This pretty nifty, but how do you determine that it is your meter that you are tuning in? Trial and error? Is there some way to match the data to something that I can see on the meter?
LOLEvery transmission includes an "ERT ID" which is all or part of the serial number of the meter, you can check it against the # printed on the face of the meter. So it's easy to tell which meter is yours, but you'd have to go climbing fences to figure out which neighbor is which!
So the data packets have the current reading, not the current load. I relay the readings into a database and run a report that identifies those patterns. It's pretty easy to tell when someone takes a shower, etc...Monitor their nighttime power usage with binoculars.
When the consumption goes down just as the lights go out...
Cross-match it with the Democrat donation database,The id is labeled on the meter face and is in the radio data packet.
If you have good neighbors your could go snap a pic of their ids and track their usage too. Then casually mention, "Wow, Carl! How'd you use 1219kwh last month? You growing marijuana or something in the basement?!"
If you go mobile, you can drive around town and read everyone else's meters too. This is exactly how your electric, gas and water meters are read by the utilities nowadays.
I constantly kick my neighbors butts in electricity usage, according to my bill. It's like they don't even know it's a competitionThe id is labeled on the meter face and is in the radio data packet.
If you have good neighbors your could go snap a pic of their ids and track their usage too. Then casually mention, "Wow, Carl! How'd you use 1219kwh last month? You growing marijuana or something in the basement?!"
If you go mobile, you can drive around town and read everyone else's meters too. This is exactly how your electric, gas and water meters are read by the utilities nowadays.