raydas
Solar Devotee
Posts: 166
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Post by raydas on Sept 12, 2019 18:45:09 GMT
Thanks for the lead, I have never used AliExpress before. I went ahead and ordered it, should take about three weeks to get here. I hope the thing works.
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Post by mediadogg on Sept 12, 2019 19:13:01 GMT
? ? ? ? You didn't see my link, in the very next post, to the one available immediately on Amazon? I would feel badly if I posted days apart, but the posts were literally 5 minutes apart!!!
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raydas
Solar Devotee
Posts: 166
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Post by raydas on Sept 12, 2019 19:22:28 GMT
I had already ordered the cable when I saw your post. Besides that I am boycotting Amazon.com, just a personal thing.
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Post by retrodaredevil on Sept 12, 2019 20:29:27 GMT
Hang on. Just for grins, I thought I would "Google it." Masses of hits. Including this one: DSD TECH SH-RJ12A USB to RJ12 6P4C Serial Cable with FTDI ChipSeems like exactly what you need, and minimal $13 risk, with Amazon guaranteed return. Took me all of 15 seconds. Trying to support your efforts, but wasting time by taking your word for stuff and finding the exact opposite, is no fun. (Oh, and I went ahead and ordered one - just to have in my toolbox.) The pin out on the Rover is TX, RX, GND, GND, 15V, 15V. I'm not sure what will happen when you plug those in, but the 15V might break something just like it did to my Raspberry Pi. (In my DIY cable I made sure the two 15Vs weren't connected to anything)
I do recommend creating a DIY cable just like I did shown on the thread here: renogy.boards.net/thread/535/using-rj11-cable-connect-raspberry . I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about creating the DIY cable. If you do create a DIY cable, I recommend getting a multimeter to make sure you don't send 15V anywhere it isn't supposed to go. Just hook TX to TX, RX to RX, or whatever. Should be solid, pretty much guaranteed to work. I am so backlogged with fun stuff to do, but I might give this a whirl this weekend. If you don't mind cutting me a little slack and give me the link to the PC software you want to use. I know it is the thread somewhere, but I want make sure I know exactly which one you are focused on, and I might give it a shot - I mean, that is, if it would help you. Oh, I see a couple of links from bupkis ... is that what I should use? Actually, you'll be hooking TX to RX and RX to TX. Most people use www.renogy.com/template/files/Solar%20Station%20Monitor.zip to changes settings and monitor their systems. Some people like me create a custom program to monitor the data and usually store it somewhere or display it. Just to clarify, according to the official HP CC diagram, it uses an RJ12, not RJ11. The difference is, one has 8 leads and the other has 6 leads. That might make a difference when you plug in the wrong RJxx. I am still waiting for a response from Renogy, if they will not supply these, then give us a name of a company that does supply them. RJ12 uses 6 pins and RJ11 uses 4. Both have the same connector. If you try to use an RJ11 cable you won't be able to use TX, which is the pin that the Rover uses to communicate data back to you. So theoretically, you could make a program to set certain values with an RJ11, you just wouldn't know if they were successful and you wouldn't be able to read anything.
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Post by Admin on Sept 12, 2019 23:51:19 GMT
It is a 30A CC. I gave up on the idea of making the RS232-USB cable, so I hope Renogy makes them available again. Unfortunately this will not be happening. The transition will be moving with our Element Series charge controllers--Voyager, Wanderer, Adventurer, Rover. The HP series is available on other portals, but not Renogy's main portal at www.renogy.com
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Post by mediadogg on Sept 13, 2019 4:11:41 GMT
Just hook TX to TX, RX to RX, or whatever.... Actually, you'll be hooking TX to RX and RX to TX. Most people use www.renogy.com/template/files/Solar%20Station%20Monitor.zip to changes settings and monitor their systems. Some people like me create a custom program to monitor the data and usually store it somewhere or display it. Great post and great info! I'll take a closer look over the weekend and make modifications to that cable if it makes sense. I have the tools to clip off the RJ-12 and crimp on a new one with the correct pinout, so that is not a problem. I'm sleepy now, so I will read the rest of the info more carefully tomorrow. Thanks again. Edit: Took a quick second and have found the info even more instructive, and I will be jumping all over it this weekend!!!
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Post by mediadogg on Sept 15, 2019 19:29:47 GMT
Inspired by all the good info here, and because it is something I also wanted, I decided to take a shot at making my own cables. I made two kinds: (1) re-wired a standard USB to RJ12 cable to match the Renogy CC pinout, and (2) Made a custom DB9 (female) to RJ12 matched to Renogy pinout that plugs directly into the USB to DB9 (Male) adapters available everywhere. Here is a PDF file with some pictures. Enjoy. Let me know if you find mistakes, or you have questions. I did test both cables with Renogy Adventurer, Rover and Wanderer models that have the BT RJ12 jack, using the Renogy Solar Station Monitor referred to in this thread. Here are some things I ran across that might save you some time to know about: (1) Installation of the Renogy software on Windows 10 x64 PC resulted in things going to folders not expected by the software ("C:\Windows\SysWOW64"). You can just move things around to fit how you want it installed. Don't forget to install the USB drivers. (2) The program must be run in "administrator mode." (3) The Administrator password is 111111. (4) The program is a bit hard to use IMHO. I found it worked better for me, after setting the device ID to a different one for each CC. Use the "Device ID Setting" menu. (5) Once you finally get it monitoring the controller, if you don't see the device info (e.g. serial #), "Stop Monitoring" then select the device from the drop down box, and then the info will populate, and you can then restart monitoring. (6) I found the update intervals very long, smallest that you can change it to, is 10 seconds (the default). The BT software updates more frequently.
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Post by iamsoinsane on Sept 16, 2019 14:17:53 GMT
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raydas
Solar Devotee
Posts: 166
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Post by raydas on Sept 16, 2019 15:11:53 GMT
I looked at the richsolar rs232 cable, without a connecter diagram, you will have to "assume" that the cable maker knows what they are doing. It is to bad that Renogy is making us look at other sources for a product that should have on there shelf.
I ordered a cable from AliExpress, as soon as it arrives I will give it a try to see if it works with my Rover 20A CC.
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Post by mediadogg on Sept 16, 2019 15:42:17 GMT
I looked at the richsolar rs232 cable, without a connecter diagram, you will have to "assume" that the cable maker knows what they are doing. It is to bad that Renogy is making us look at other sources for a product that should have on there shelf. I ordered a cable from AliExpress, as soon as it arrives I will give it a try to see if it works with my Rover 20A CC. The pinout is described in the manual, and it appears to be the same as the Renogy pinout. I wouldn't go plugging in some cable that can bring 15V into your PC without doing some reading or research. Once again, at the risk of being "reported," I politely and humbly suggest you read before posting incorrectly that something doesn't exist. If I hadn't just built my own, I would order the Richsolar cable. It looks to be "the one."
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Post by mediadogg on Sept 16, 2019 15:44:35 GMT
Good research. Good find! I would have ordered this, if I hadn't just built my own.
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Post by mediadogg on Sept 16, 2019 16:28:27 GMT
I looked at the richsolar rs232 cable, without a connecter diagram, you will have to "assume" that the cable maker knows what they are doing. It is to bad that Renogy is making us look at other sources for a product that should have on there shelf. I ordered a cable from AliExpress, as soon as it arrives I will give it a try to see if it works with my Rover 20A CC. Oh, I thought I had mentioned this before, but I checked and I must have forgotten. Since I was the one who mentioned AliExpress, I went back and took a look after learning from making my own cables. I don't know which one you ordered, but fair warning - all the ones I saw on AliExpress will need the same re-wiring that I did for the one I bought off Amazon. On the other hand, the recent find of the RichSolar cable appears to be already wired correctly (for Renogy CC compatibility).
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raydas
Solar Devotee
Posts: 166
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Post by raydas on Sept 16, 2019 16:39:57 GMT
The one that I ordered also said that it was wired for an mmpt CC, which sounded a lot like a Renogy CC. This should be interesting to see which cable works best for a Renogy CC. As for price, the richsolar is priced about the same as the one I ordered. Does richsolar ship from the US.
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Post by iamsoinsane on Sept 17, 2019 14:40:09 GMT
The one that I ordered also said that it was wired for an mmpt CC, which sounded a lot like a Renogy CC. This should be interesting to see which cable works best for a Renogy CC. As for price, the richsolar is priced about the same as the one I ordered. Does richsolar ship from the US. Yes raydas, USPS says its coming from Montclair, Ca.
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Post by iamsoinsane on Sept 18, 2019 22:11:14 GMT
Quick update. The rj45 rj12 rs232 usb cable works with no issues. Plugged it in, set the port, and good to go!
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