Contact closure email generator LED questions

Made my way through setup and the box works…However, I only got it to work once.

Questions

  1. upon saving the configuration, the box jumps out of config mode. Assume this is correct.
  2. With the box flashing a slow green, a change of state on an input and the led is fast blue. The only thing I read about blue means config mode. about a minute or 2 later the box goes back to a slow green.
    No emails

Hi James,

There was a recent update to firmware which flashes the LED Blue while attempting to send an email. So what you are describing is expected behavior for an input change.

What email server are you using to send emails from the device? Gmail, Outlook, etc?

Wow! Thank You for the quick reply. So I made me an free outlook account; Millergenerator@outlook.com. Set up broker as smtp-mail.outlook; (no coffee yet, but I think that’s right) PORT 587 Last night i toggled inputs and got 9 emails testing them, with the destination email being my work account. jlmiller@millercoinc.com I was feeling great, then it all came to a stop. I only got one powerup email, showing 52% wifi strength. Albeit I powered up many times.

Now, I’m getting old and my 1985 Computer science degree is antique material these days. I don’t think I messed up anything troubleshooting, but its possible.

I was going to bring to office and put on wifi here to see if maybe I had something going on at home. My home internet is actually a ptp ubiquity link to my office which has fiber.

Hi James,

Let me know what you find once it’s connected to the network there at the office. After it connects to your office WiFi you should see the LED blink Blue indicating it is sending the power up email, after that it should begin flashing Green, once it is close input 1 and see if it goes to flashing blue again indicating it is sending the input 1 close email.

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My bad; I got an email from outlook saying I hit my msg limit because I didn’t verify the new account. I resolved that! Box is working now.

Question: Do you make this unit with an external antenna? I might need to go a lil further in distance as I try to incorporate the unit on my farm. Thoughts or suggestions?

Having fun! Live a great story!

Currently we do not offer an external antenna on that device. It’s something that could possibly be added but we would have to have demand for such a thing to facilitate the investment.

Please let us know if you need anything else.

Thank you,
Travis

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My application: (hopefully many to follow) Picking up home generator status points; Engine run, position of transfer switch, etc.,etc.

I feel like I have conquered this box…and once you get to know it, it is pretty sweet.

I have your box powered from the 12vdc generator battery. Sort of a battery backup, if you will.

but my wifi, and networking components are NOT on battery backup. (easy fix, just a scattered network of fiber, media converters & RF across my farm, therefore multiple backups required).

So I kill power to the farm; 5-10secs later, Generator starts, Transfer switch moves, then probably 20-30seconds after that, the various nodes across my intranet restores…I’m not getting these initial change of state emails.

NOTE: Any change of state on the box, performs as programmed; So long as network is alive.

Questions:

  1. Does the box recognize no wifi or no internet signal when it sends emails? Can it hold said emails until it is restored?
  2. How long does the box wait when an input changes state before it sends email? Can this be tweeked?

I just ordered my 2nd box, I’ve seen enough to know I can make this work.

Thank You!

Hi James,

The device does not currently send notification emails when WiFi is restored. Only an initial power up email when the device is first powered up, and when the input states change.

It does buffer email messages however so it should send all emails once internet is restored. So if the inputs changed while internet connectivity was lost those input change state emails should be buffered.

Thank you,
Travis Elliott

Thank You Again for the quick response; You said: “It does buffer email messages however so it should send all emails once internet is restored. So if the inputs changed while internet connectivity was lost those input change state emails should be buffered.”…I don’t think this function is working. (or perhaps cockpit issues on my part)

More clarification on my part: NCD box is powered by battery. No loss of power there. But my wifi, routers and switches DO lose power. So I was missing/not getting the first 2 change of status. These being 1) Generator Started 2) ATS (auto transfer switch) moved to emergency power source.

Update: I installed ups’s on all intranet devices; Simulated power outage; Everything worked as it should. See the top 4 emails below: It’s not a bad thing for me to do anyway to the network for reliability purposes. I will be glad to test again with no ups’s if you like. maybe the debounce timers???

Thank You Again! Having fun!

Hi @james.miller

I will have another look at the firmware to make sure the email messages are not discarded if sending of the email fails. I know the input status changes are buffered but it is possible they are cleared out of memory if sending the email fails. If that is the case I can make a correction to the firmware and send you instructions to refresh the device.

Thank you again Everyone.

Hi @james.miller,

I was able to confirm that email messages were being removed from the buffer when they failed to send. I updated the firmware so the email messages are only removed from the buffer if sending is successful. You can update the firmware on your device using the instructions provided here:

If you have any questions on this please let me know

Thank you,
Travis

You people ROCK!

Ty very much!

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