First off, apologies for the time it's taken me to reply to some of the comments - I wasn't getting any notifications that the comments had been posted, and so have only just seen them all.
Peter: At present I'm using the Maxstream XBee modules because there's a readily available "shield" to add it to the Arduino. The XBee module is only used for communication, the actual sensing is done by the hardware I've built and the calculations of the power usage, etc. is done by the Arduino board.
Ken: After attending Homecamp at the end of last year, I have thought about measuring the mains frequency but haven't tried to do so just yet. Once I get the next prototype up and running (which has the ability to turn the power on or off) I want to try measuring the mains frequency and turning the attached device on or off automatically based on the load on the National Grid.
Robert: It would be perfectly possible to measure the power per minute with Mazzini. At present it reports the consumption every five minutes, but it would be a trivial change to measure make the reporting every minute instead.
Al: Thanks. I see you're planning on going to the next Homecamp, so I'll see you there if not before.
Brian: An Arduino would be a perfect match for your needs. It's got enough inputs and outputs, and you could easily hook it up to a Linux box via either USB or something like the XBee boards I'm using here. In fact the Mazzini prototype talks to a Linux box which then uploads the data into a database and to Pachube.
First off, apologies for the
First off, apologies for the time it's taken me to reply to some of the comments - I wasn't getting any notifications that the comments had been posted, and so have only just seen them all.
Peter: At present I'm using the Maxstream XBee modules because there's a readily available "shield" to add it to the Arduino. The XBee module is only used for communication, the actual sensing is done by the hardware I've built and the calculations of the power usage, etc. is done by the Arduino board.
Ken: After attending Homecamp at the end of last year, I have thought about measuring the mains frequency but haven't tried to do so just yet. Once I get the next prototype up and running (which has the ability to turn the power on or off) I want to try measuring the mains frequency and turning the attached device on or off automatically based on the load on the National Grid.
Robert: It would be perfectly possible to measure the power per minute with Mazzini. At present it reports the consumption every five minutes, but it would be a trivial change to measure make the reporting every minute instead.
Al: Thanks. I see you're planning on going to the next Homecamp, so I'll see you there if not before.
Brian: An Arduino would be a perfect match for your needs. It's got enough inputs and outputs, and you could easily hook it up to a Linux box via either USB or something like the XBee boards I'm using here. In fact the Mazzini prototype talks to a Linux box which then uploads the data into a database and to Pachube.