This post is to introduce my new open source Trimble Thunderbolt Monitor v1.0. It is based on the Netduino hardware platform. It displays the status of the Thunderbolt on a 4×20 LCD screen. It is purely the first iteration of the code and I have a number of extra features to add in point releases.
There are 4 main screens and these currently rotate 1-4 every 10 seconds. There are a couple of finishing touches which need to be made (perhaps tomorrow) – these are rotating between the active alarms when on the alarm page and investigating why Lat/Long/Locator is not showing once a GPS lock is made.
Planned improvements are as follows:
- v1.1 – Big Time – Perfect for the shack, a large UTC clock filling the 4×20 display.
- v1.2 – Hardware buttons to issue fixed commands (a la Trimble Commander)
- v1.3 – NTP Server (requires Netduino Plus)
- v1.4 – Web Server – Allow basic remote monitoring / commands via browser (requires Netduino Plus)
I was going to add serial over IP support but struggle to see when I would need it. I’ll see what interest I get in the feature.
I have a couple of Netduinos, the original and the new Plus 2. I will produce two solutions, one with network support and the other without.
The project is built on SDK v4.2.2 so ensure your Netduino is running this firmware revision.
I plan to produce a PCB shield which contains all the hardware required to simplify the wiring. EG: MAX232, button inputs, led outputs for power, alarms and activity, alarm relays for external triggers, and LCD header pins. Let me know if this is something you are interested in (so I can prioritise.)
Some code was borrowed from a monitor application written by N7HQ back in 2009.
Pretty happy with v1.0 although some text to tidy up and a little more testing required.
I hope you like the project. Feel free to tweet or mail me with comments or suggestions.
PS: Thanks to VK4GHZ for inspiring me with his monitor project.
UPDATE: fixed the lat/long issue seen in the video.