Toronto-area Paid Gig

Community Jobs and Paid Consultancy
1

I would like to hire someone in the Toronto area to help with getting an arduino to read data over RS-485, using a MAX485 board connected to a REC battery management device. It has to be near Toronto because the consultant will need to have the actual REC device to probe for the format of the information and the appropriate query messages and to ensure the program works.

2

Your topic has been moved to the Jobs and Paid Consultancy category of the forum

3

Does the consultant still get paid for their time if it turns out that the data communication is encrypted and therefore cannot be decoded?

4

As this is work based on time for money ... what's the budget?

5

seems fair. would be looking for an estimate, though, before committing to paying even if encrypted.

6

i was thinking a couple of hundred bucks, but if it is more complicated than it appears, would consider larger budget.

7

thanks.

8

I attach the product manual which gives all the available info. You will see that the format of the query is well defined (I only need the example query LCD1? and to read its response.). The format of the response seems undefined in terms of start/end characters and delimiters, etc, but there is some information. Note that the manufacturer uses the non-standard baud of 56,000.

(attachments)

REC Manual.pdf (1.53 MB)

9

I attach the product manual which gives all the available info. You will see that the format of the query is well defined (I only need the example query LCD1? and to read its response.). The format of the response seems undefined in terms of start/end characters and delimiters, etc, but there is some information. Note that the manufacturer uses the non-standard baud of 56,000.

10

There goes your couple hundred bucks!

[edit]
But besides that, isn't the data format explained on page 9? Doesn't look difficult to decode.

1 Like
11

So, you are not willing to provide the test device? Seems strange. Do you have a spare device so when the test software destroys the first device?

12

Would probably be best to verify that the 56K in the manual is not a sloppy way of specify the standard baud rate of 57600. Appears it is actually 56000, if the youtube video I found of someone setting up the Windows monitoring program is correct.

13

Sorry, 56k bps has been one standard for decades.

14

Thank you.

15

i am willing to provide a test device but not ship it around the world.

i have no spare and not sure how an rs485 connection could destroy it but that is not a risk i am willing to accept.

16

i did not think it looked too difficult either, but I cannot get any response from the unit based on the query set out in the manual.

17

also, I read a paper that states a difference in bit rates less than about 3%, especially for short messages, should not impair communication so the baud may not be an issue.

18

Do they provide an application? If so, easiest path forward is probably to use the app to send a few commands and sniff the data on the RS485 bus.

19

thanks for this ...