Is my BCS dead?

[np0x]

So, Adam received your BCS and it (appears) to work fine(that was my expectation, there aren't many things to go wrong). Based on the fact that I helped you work with the network stuff way back in January and we were unable to resolve it then, something about using an access point as a gateway(get's into NAT'ing issues). Seems to me, you need to run some CAT-5 and get all the wireless complexity out of play.

I suspect it is the complexity of what you are trying to do with your network which requires a bit of black magic to make it work, and not any fault of the bcs that it is not working.

The whole thread hasn't really taken into account the complexity of what you are trying to do and user error as components to this problem. While we all do pay for things, the world is complicated. He isn't MS with a team of indian QA testers who can test the returned BCS the day it arrives on his doorstep.

All that aside, I am struck by how out of place this whole thread seems, I would expect personal warranty issues to be worked out via some sort of private message format...

I am saying all of this because I don't think it is something that adam can say in this public context as the seller of the bcs. Maybe someday I will get a kickback. So far, no kickbacks.

[bsfixit]

Thanks Adam, I have extensively used the BCS by hooking it up directly to a cable. Brewed a few brews with it. when I first got it. I plugged it into my router.
then I login to the router and I can see the mac address of the BCS on the network.. I put the whole system away over the summer then, I could not get any lights on the plug to come on last week. after about an hour .. Then the lights started up but no system could even see it . Especially the router. it is the same router when I first got it. I tried 2 routers a macbook pro and a windows vista to get into the BCS. along with 3 cables.. could the female RJ47 plug terminals be dirty or that something has come loose in that area? I sat there in Macbooks network preferences window. It shows Ethernet status... I would go from " not connected" to
"device has its own IP " to "not connected" it did this cycle 5 or so times.

The frustrating part is I had it working last spring ! LOL I used a long cat 5 cable... strange Well I guess tinker with it for a couple of days and see if it acts up. the transformer is 6 volts right? after a little bit I guess send it back.. or a different one, because I have alot of time invested in my system, temp probes. HE control box SSR's .. But thanks I really appreciate it. if you can't get it to act up . I will start from scratch and see about getting it to be seen on the router. The only thing that is changed is my MACS OSX is upgraded from leopard to snow leopard.. .. but I tried a vista computer too. ..
well I am getting redundant. check it for a couple of days and send it back, I will paypal you for shipping or something.
Time to sleep.
Thanks for taking the time to look at it.
Regards,
Brett

[bsfixit]

sorry guys I am very tired. not making alot of sense.. I tried networking it last spring gave up . uses a cat 5 cable with success all spring. I put it away for the summer and picked up a bridge. tried to LAN the BCS but no lights came on .. the I went back to the cable only to pull up the control page. I could not. I tried for several hours with only cables computers and routers. no attempt to use the wireless N bridge again.. I went back to basics but nothing I did worked.
if you say its works Adam it works! you are the man. so check it when you get a chance and if all is still good I will paypal some shipping cost to you and it will work for me ! and brew a beer! Well goodnight!
Thanks again Adam,
Regards,
Brett

[gbrewer]

Thanks Adam, I have extensively used the BCS by hooking it up directly to a cable. Brewed a few brews with it. when I first got it. I plugged it into my router.
then I login to the router and I can see the mac address of the BCS on the network.. I put the whole system away over the summer then, I could not get any lights on the plug to come on last week. after about an hour .. Then the lights started up but no system could even see it . Especially the router. it is the same router when I first got it. I tried 2 routers a macbook pro and a windows vista to get into the BCS. along with 3 cables.......

I will start from scratch and see about getting it to be seen on the router. The only thing that is changed is my MACS OSX is upgraded from leopard to snow leopard.. .. but I tried a vista computer too. ..

Brett,

I think we are(were) trying to get you to bypass ALL network related issues. When you get the unit back, plug it directly into your computer. (not into the router). Power off you computer, connect the netword cable from the BCS to your computer, and power the computer back on. Make sure you are using a regular network cable and not a crossover cable.

Good luck!

[bsfixit]

Yes I did that, I tired 2 Macbooks and a windows PC, my point is I brewed 2 times with it connected directly to my computer, and played with the processes for many hours before I put it away for the summer in june. I found a cheap N wireless Bridge so I pulled it out of storage to find the lights did not work. I went back to the same trusty cable I used for hour and hours. I tried 2 other Cat 5 non crossover cables. I could not get the activity lights to work at all. Then I found the reset button when I took the cover off to check for water damage. Reset it while powered up, then the lights started to work but I could not bring up the control page.
Thanks gbrewer, I hope I made it clear I did attempt direct hookup and had used it with direct hook up since I got it about a year ago till June.


Adam....? If it works for you then I would like to attempt again. I found a brand new Cat5 cable to use. (4th cable)
If you ship it now I might get it back before Xmas. I appreciate everyones willingness to help.
Regards,
Brett

[ECC]

Hey Brett. I sent you a PM.

[bsfixit]

OK, I got the BCS back today. Along with the new expansion card. looks sweet! So, I fired up the bridge let it boot then I plugged in the BCS and fired that up.
Logged into my Verizon FIOS router and looked up the IP in the DNS page. It was assigned 192.168.1.8. My bridge is still set as DHCP. I assume that IP for the BCS and bridge will change whenever I boot up the WET610N bridge and the BCS, because I wont leave them on unless I do an overnight countdown to start the system early in the morning... I do not mind looking up the IP when I want to go into the BCS.

Anyway, It works like a charm! Thank you Adam!

I see the temp dials are gone. I have to read up on that part of the new firmware. Before the dials were all there but only showed a value if you had a probe connected and the temp input enabled. Its been so long it might be like relearning all over again. But I think it will all come back to me once I start setting up the processes and states.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I got it back and its working great! Now off to read about the new gauges setup..

Thanks again Adam!

[gbrewer]

http://forum.embeddedcontrolconcepts.co ... ?f=4&t=196 .... This should explain your missing gauges. I had a similar issue. Glad to read that your network and BCS issue have been resolved.

[bsfixit]

Thanks gbrewer, I upgraded my firefox to v 3.5 and the gauges work fine now.
This morning I could not access the BCS, double checked the IP in the DNS page on my router and the IP was still the same. I think this bridge is finicky. I tried to set the bridge to its static IP of 169.254.1.250. Then I could not access it, on the network or direct connect. So I reset the bridge and I am going to leave the bridge as DHCP for a few days and see if it drops its connection to the network because I heard that this bridge sometimes does that. Although the firmware upgrade for the WET610N was supposed to fix that problem. After I reset the bridge, the BCS was back up and running.

As a notice to others who want to try the refurbished ( 35 dollars ! ) WET610N dual band wireless bridge for their BCS unit. I could never get it to connect to my airport extreme.
I set the SSID of the bridge to match the SSID of my Verizon FIOS router AND set the same WEP security of the FIOS router in the bridge settings and it connected to the
network. As for the install wizard for windows or MAC ( I tried it on both OS), I could never get it to work. So I set it up manually as described above.
For those interested in where to get this wireless bridge PM me.

[gbrewer]

Do you leave your bridge powered up or unplug it with the BCS460? My Bridge is part of my control box. I noticed that it needs to be powered up in a certain order to make sure everything connects to the network properly. The bridge needs to be plugged in first. The bridge needs to sync with the main router and acquire the proper IP address(s). Once the bridge has connected, you can power up the BCS460. Since I have followed this power-up process, I have not had any connection issues. I also use a static IP address for the bCS460. Since I have a few laptops in the house, I don't want to spend any time guessing what the new DHCP address is for the BCS460.