Forum

Now we have the batteries networked & internet connectivity in the Hog, the data is posted to EcoFlow's cloud service which enables the EcoFlow Battery App to present the data to all with access. Any shedder wishing to remotely check the battery state can install the EcoFlow app & contact me (providing their email details) for battery data access. However if you want historic data, then the EcoFlow app doesn't cut it, but we can scrape the data from the EcoFlow API, this isn't a public API nor is it documented, but there are posts discussing this on a number of home automation forums, the URL is as follows: https://iot1.ecoflow.com/api/v1/devices/queryDeviceData?sn=<MySerialNumbe> ThE API requires an API key & secret, which I've requested from email:support@ecoflow.com Once I have access to the API above, then I'll scrape the data from a service running on the shed Raspberry Pi, and post the data to grafana cloud as graphite metrics, a relatively trivial bit of python will do the job of scraping & posting. I've already monkeyed up a dashboard Battery Status, which will show us 2 weeks worth of charging & usage data. You'll need a Grafana 'free forever plan' account to access the dashboard (or the well drilling dashboard) register here, no credit card required... Currently the dashboard data is artificially generated, once I get the API keys I'll cut it over so it's the real deal.

Being a diverse & inclusive bunch, we've lots of ways of communicating with each other... For those who prefer the in person and face to face, there are the regular weekly 'Coffee & natter' sessions (alongside the 'Make & Mend' sessions), there's also the monthly 'Open Shed' meeting (in my experience that could be renamed 'Beer & natter' 😀). We've also a very active members online community of WhatsApp groups: for chit chat ('Shedders'); for specific larger projects ('The Outdoor Space', 'The Workshop', etc.); and announcements (you guessed it, 'Announcements') - These groups, by their nature, tend to be fast moving & conversational. Announcements get sent out to members via email. Though on reflection we should probably have an external physical noticeboard at the shed (a white board project if it's not on there already). And with Simon's contacts, we're getting more plumbed into the WendoverNews news cycle. For the wider world: project articles on the Wendover Shed website provide detailed write ups on our activities; our Facebook group and Instagram channel provide connection to the most popular online communities. For new joiners that prefer, we have paper based application forms. So now on to forums... Forums gives us an additional, members only, online space for longer running discussions on topics where posts, comments & associated threads of discussion are grouped together and rather more ordered than the WhatsApp group streams of consciousness. I'd expect to see more forum categories emerge to represent different interest groups over time. The posts/discussions are handy places to record tips & tricks or to develop ideas in an open way, but we'll see how the forums develops over time and how useful people find them. Electronic communications are not for everyone, and as I think is demonstrated above, we're trying to accommodate as many people as possible. That said, technology & the internet open up worlds of opportunity, information & entertainment, and now with a laptop permanently stationed at the hog, we also have the potential to help any technophobes that wish to, build their online confidence. Lastly, a word to pedants as I feel there's bound to be some in our midst, forums is a perfectly acceptable plural of forum 😀.

In order to enable a wider range of interest/project options the shed is going online... Phase 1 will introduce a shed WiFi network, ShedNet, using a tp-link M7200v2 loaned by Dave, I'll cover the SIM costs (I seldom have change for the session donations, so this will be my equivalent 😃). An old laptop and a raspberry pi3 will be setup initially. I'll network the batteries, and setup a push data for remote monitoring. Remote connectivity isn't possible with the M7200, that will come in phase2.