Here you’ll find all the tips and tricks you need to get your AlphaMon device configured and up-to-date.
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Why AlphaMon?
- What is Demand Management?
- OEM, Systems Integration and Technical support in Github
Connecting to your AlphaMon
The first steps after receiving your new AlphaMon device will be connecting it to the outside works. This section describes how to set up and test those connections so you can start producing fast results.
- Connect to AlphaMon with a Serial Terminal app using PuTTY
- Connecting to the AlphaMon using apps other than PuTTY
- Connect via UDP over your LAN
- Connect to an inverter, battery, smart meter or any Modbus-enabled device
- Connect to other AlphaMon devices using the built-in LoRa radio hardware
- Connect to external loads electrical loads, relays and switches
Security
- Whitelisting your LoRa Mesh Network
Home Assistant (HA) Setup
- Home Assistant Integration
- Home Assistant Glossary
- Creating HA Dashboards with AlphaMon data feeds via an MQTT Broker
AlphaMon’s Command Line Interface (CLI)
After installing and running a third party serial terminal app such as Putty, you can communicate with your AlphaMon using your keyboard and mouse. AlphaMon devices can be connected to your PC, laptop, tablet or even a smartphone using a standard C-type USB cable.
You can find a guide to the syntax of CLI commands here.
Communication is via a bi-directional serial interface operating at 115200 bps (8 bits, No parity, 1 Stop bit). Before entering CLI commands you must wait until the boot process is complete.
Using the AlphaMon’s CLI interface you can:
- List and edit your AlphaMon’s Configuration File (AlphaMon.cfg)
- Make backups
- List files, aliases and other operating parameters
- Reboot the AlphaMon
Note: To use AlphaMon’s CLI you may need to install a trusted, 3rd party “serial terminal” app such as Putty if your laptop, desktop, phone or tablet doesn’t already have one. Some Serial Terminal apps also allow you to save a complete copy of the log to your computer disk which can be useful for documenting key events.
AlphaMon Event Logs
From the moment your AlphaMon is reset it produces a date and time stamped event log that shows exactly what the device is doing. The first phase of the log occurs immediately after the AlphaMon is restarted, either using the on-board Reset Button or by removing and reapplying the power source/s.
The following tutorials will help you read and understand the two phases of log generation; the Boot Log and the Runtime Log. Both logs are viewed using the same USB-C serial and terminal app. When the boot-up process is complete the AlphaMon automatically transitions from the Boot Log phase to the Runtime phase, however the two logs contain different types of information but both a very useful diagnostic tools.
Note: The AlphaMon Platform also supports viewing your logs in real time using UDP Protocol over your local area network (LAN), as described here.
- AlphaMon Logs: A quick Overview
- How to read and interpret AlphaMon Boot logs
- How to read and interpret AlphaMon Run logs (coming soon)
AlphaMon Expressions
The AlphaMon Platform offers users a very powerful way to monitor sensors and control external devices and loads such as generators/gensets, hot water systems, grid import and export, time-of-day tasks, etc.
These features are often just referred to as the “Expression Evaluator”, but in fact encompass the following supporting features:
- The Syntax Checker (SC) – which scans, analyses and stores the text Expressions that you write.
- The Expression Evaluator (EE) – which computes the result of each expression approximately 20 times a second and signals the appropriate output device or register with that result.
- The Configuration File Editor (Config File) – which stores your raw, text expressions, ready for reload each time the AlphaMon is restarted.
The following tutorials describe various aspects of the Expression Evaluator: