Reef Angel Forum

Can we use the BT to program the Wifi adapter? Also does the graphic util for the wifi work in windows 8?

No, you can't program wifi with bt.
Yes, the wifi utility works on w8.

rimai wrote:Hi Guys,
I have a few boards that you can purchase in advance before they become available in the webstore.
They are going for $69.
PM me if you are interested in grabbing one of them.

Hi Roberto,

I can't pm yet, so my apologies for asking here in the thread, but do you have any of these available with an enclosure?

Dragging a laptop over to my tank is driving me nuts as I don't really have anyplace to set up shop other than the floor, so the BT module would be hugely worth it as far as I'm concerned!

Thanks!

I've got some
You should be able to PM now.

I'd also like one. Tried to PM you but msg seems to sit in Outbox.

Roberto,

the bluetooth worked a few times now Im getting the upload port is busy. I have rebooted the RA unit and uninstalled and reinstalled the BT module. Please advise

The WIFI is working fine

When that happens to me I either have to reboot the computer or go to tools in the Arduino app and change the port to the other port and then back.

My system uses port 4 and 5 and to upload it should be 4 so I change it from 4 to 5 and then back to 4 and it usually works.

Roberto, can please assist me with this attachment. ive uninstalled and reinstalled 10x times, i've switched the ports ive rebooted the controller. and still the same error:

Serial port COM7 already in use. try quitting any progams that may be using it.

i even waited 4 days before trying again. Please advise. getting very frustrated with this one.

Port already in use is a windows thing. It has nothing to do with the module.
Try this:
Click the BT icon on the right bottom corner and choose show devices
Right click the BT attachment and choose remove
Then click add device and install it again.
Confirm that both your com ports were installed correctly and make sure you are using the outgoing com port when you pick it in Arduino.

When is the BT adapter going to be in the store?

If you want one, just PM me.

What version of BT does this run?

--Colin

2.1
http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/De ... oduct=RN42

So here's something interesting.

In the past, the BT attachment had worked pretty well for me. Occasional "Port in use" errors, but that's it. Recently, it became pretty much unusable. It would either be a port in use error, or it would time out while trying to upload.

The fix? I moved my computer's BT adapter closer to the tank using a USB repeater cable. Now it works perfectly. I haven't even seen any port in use errors (unexpected benefit).

My theory is that the port in use errors are a sign of iffy signal strength and the RF noise in the house finally got to the point to where it interfered too much making the intermittent problems constant. Moving the computer's BT adapter away from the computer and a little closer to the tank seems to have solved everything.

Here's the cable I'm using. It's longer than I needed, but it's cheap.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HYJ ... UTF8&psc=1

--Colin

I thought I'd post my experience with the bluetooth attachment in case it may be of help to someone.

First of all, my computer quit shortly before I got the bluetooth adapter, so initially I used my wife's computer. The bluetooth adapter on her computer has always been weak. I had mixed results. I frequently got the "port's already in use" error as well as one or two others that I don't remember the specifics on.

Next, I tried it on a really old computer. i got it to work twice, but otherwise it usually started sending the code and just got hung in the middle.

A week or so ago I got a new notebook with a normal (i.e. strong) built it bluetooth adapter. I initially forgot to update the file Roberto linked to on the first page of this thread, but after doing that I have had no more trouble. I can now send code from every room of my house, and have never had a single error or failure!

Ted

Hmm will have to check that file update. Maybe thats why I have some issues. I never got mine to sync properly ever.

Any particular bt dongle that works best? My computer is maybe 12 feet away up one floor

I finally got mine in.. It took about an hour and half to get it up and running.. One thing I would like to stress.. You need to disconnect your wifi from the reef angel, plug the bt into the reef angel with new cable.. Then use old cable to hook wifi up to the bt module.. I kept getting timeout errors even though my wifi was working...

just got my adaptor. pugged it in, paired it, changed the dll file, and it worked perfectly in 2 minutes.
Question, after I upload new code, it doesn't seem to want to take effect until I go back to the head unit and unplug the BT. Once I unplug it, I can plug it right back in and everything is fine. Is this normal? (a small bother since i bought the BT so i wouldn't have to go back and forth. Before i got the BT i don't remember if i had to unplug the cable for it to start using the uploaded code). As always everybody, thanks for your help

No that's not normal. Mine takes effect right after the upload is done.

I'm not sure what would be causing that.

What OS are you uploading from?

windows 8 on my tablet

Mine also is immediate...

Nope. During the upload, the screen should go off, and the red light should flash. When it's over it should come back up and start running.

I'd like to see if anyone else has any thoughts but I can try using the cable again to see if it does the same thing. I can always switch to my desktop using win 7 now that I have blue tooth. Again, everything else seems to be perfect

I use Windows 8.1 with no problems.

screen on the head unit (reef angel +) goes off, red light flashes (and blue light on the BT attachment goes on). when upload finished, blue light goes off, red light stops blinking but screen doesn't come back on until I detach the BT and plug it back in.

screen goes off on head unit (RA+), red light starts flashing, blue light on BT goes on. when upload finished, blue light goes off, red light stops flashing but screen doesn't come back on unit I detach and reconnect BT

wonder if I ought to reinstall the software?

Any thoughts on what I should try or what might be causing this?

Reinstalling can never hurt.

I'd be interested in seeing what it does on your Windows 7 system.

Did you replace the rxtxSerial.dll file?