Reading power meter using software defined radio

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Reading power meter using software defined radio

prob

225 posts

Master Geek

#279666 31-Oct-2020 07:29

Will this work in NZ?, viz

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/using-rtl-sdr-to-read-value-from-wireless-electric-gas-water-meters/52453

richms

28168 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2595279 31-Oct-2020 10:09

No. Power meters here use GPRS (Yes, really that old standard) and I have never seen a smart water or gas meter in use here.

Richard rich.ms

PolicyGuy

1726 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2595293 31-Oct-2020 10:56

richms:

No. Power meters here use GPRS (Yes, really that old standard) and I have never seen a smart water or gas meter in use here.

Genesis are at least thinking strongly about remotely readable gas meters, I was asked to comment (customer survey thing) on a proposed marketing campaign for such.

[rant] Please do not dignify the remotely readable meters used by NZ gentailers as "smart meters". They aren't. They are thick-as-two-short-planks dumb meters with a GPRS modem. A real smart meter presents a consumer accessible real-time data interface, allowing the consumer to use the information they are creating. A modern smart meter would do so via a wireless (Bluetooth / WLAN) connection and provide a web server as well as an API-based interface.[/rant]

deadlyllama

1260 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2595298 31-Oct-2020 11:44

The smart meters have usually got a "light flashes every Wh" light on the front. They're pretty simple to monitor - I looked in to this back in my heady days of home ownership.

davidcole

6029 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2595392 31-Oct-2020 13:35

deadlyllama:
The smart meters have usually got a "light flashes every Wh" light on the front. They're pretty simple to monitor - I looked in to this back in my heady days of home ownership.

Stil requires something in your meter board. Which if they ever come to inspect it I doubt theylll be too happy about it. I had one running for a bit. Was hard to get it to detect a light without a nice blacked out cover over the light.

Previously known as psycik

Home Assistant: Gigabyte AMD A8 Brix, Home Assistant with Aeotech ZWave Controller, Raspberry PI, Wemos D1 Mini, Zwave, Shelly Humidity and Temperature sensors
Media:Chromecast v2, ATV4 4k, ATV4, HDHomeRun Dual
Server Host Plex Server 3x3TB, 4x4TB using MergerFS, Samsung 850 evo 512 GB SSD, Proxmox Server with 1xW10, 2xUbuntu 22.04 LTS, Backblaze Backups, usenetprime.com fastmail.com Sharesies Trakt.TV Sharesight

shanes

258 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2595618 31-Oct-2020 20:17

richms:

No. Power meters here use GPRS (Yes, really that old standard) and I have never seen a smart water or gas meter in use here.

Masterton District Council have just rolled out smart water meters.

We have one of these https://sensus.com/products/640-water-meter/ with the Toby.

SomeoneSomewhere

1802 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2595773 31-Oct-2020 23:46

deadlyllama:

The smart meters have usually got a "light flashes every Wh" light on the front. They're pretty simple to monitor - I looked in to this back in my heady days of home ownership.

Electronic dumb meters generally have this as well - a flashing light but mechanical counter wheels.

You might be able to get something out of the IR comm port but I doubt it.

Generally in commercial where the customer wants a connection to the BMS or even just for monitoring, you'll see a separate check meter connected after the power meter. Then you get full Modbus comms and a pile more data.