RMS-300 – Remote Monitoring System

RMS-300 The Super RMS; Is a unique remote voltage monitoring, data acquisition, and control device specifically designed for use with battery powered wireless internet repeater sites, or other AC & DC powered remote equipment RMS-300 Has ultra low power consumption and won’t put a drain on your power source. Uses only 1.2 watts. RMS-300 Is powered by DC voltage from 10 to 60 volts. RMS-300 Uses embedded Ethernet technology for internet data acquisition and remote voltage monitoring. RMS-300 Allows you to monitor voltage at your home solar energy system or remote repeater site. RMS-300 Uses the LINUX operating system for versatility, stability, and security. RMS-300 Gives you the situational awareness you need to keep your equipment operational and reliable.

Main Features

  • Four layer PCB with Nickel Immersion Gold plating and red solder mask.
  • 400 – MHz Arm Processor (500 Mips !).
  • 256 – megs of Nand Flash. Create and store custom applications.
  • 64 – megs of SD-Ram.
  • Hyper efficient Low Noise Switching Power Supply, accepts 8 – 60 vdc input.
  • Can be powered directly from 12, 24, or 48 volt battery banks.
  • Battery backed-up, real time clock.
  • One onboard temperature sensor – 25c + 100c.
  • Eight 24 bit isolated voltmeters (+/- 100 VDC). Each voltmeter has its own 24 bit Delta Sigma ADC.
  • Four Latching Power Relays for devices using up to 240v – 15 amps AC/DC current.
  • Three programmable push buttons.
  • Six general purpose I/O pins.
  • Five alarm input pins.
  • Power output port, 5.0vdc (500ma).
  • Power output port, 3.3vdc (500ma).
  • One full serial port for controlling cell phones, modems, GPRS, etc.One
  • console serial port for full terminal access.
  • Two USB 2.0 ports for cameras, wireless clients, extra Ethernet, etc.
  • Runs real Linux! 2.6.33 kernel.
  • Send SMS messages, Email alerts, SNMP traps, Remote Syslog Messages.
  • Ping watchdog, power cycle equipment after a set amount of ping timeouts.
  • Command line utilities: ping, ftp, email, relays, etc.
  • Flash new firmware over the internet.
  • Dual Watchdog Reset circuits, processor integrated, and extra hardware.
  • Control RMS-300 via web page, telnet, ssh, or snmp.
  • Full SNMP v1, v2, v3 support (default v3).
  • Supports external USB relays, voltmeters, and temperature sensors.
  • Hardware is user accessible from files on the board.
  • Make your own utilities and scripts to upload. (Bash, PHP, Perl, Python, Lua, TCL)
  • Pluggable connectors for ease of use.

APPLICATIONS

  • Use RMS-300to monitor battery levels, room temperature, signal strength (RSSI) on radios and more. RMS-300 has 8 onboard isolated voltmeters giving it the ability to measure DC voltage from -100 to +100 volts with 24 bit accuracy.
  • RMS-300also has 4 latching power relays giving it the unique ability to turn on/off devices remotely using an Internet connection.
  • Use the power relays to remote start a generator. RMS-300has 5 dedicated input pins used for door alarms, solar panel theft prevention, or to monitor motion sensors.
  • RMS-300has an on-board temperature sensor and can alert you to dangerous temperature conditions. RMS-300has a full featured serial port, control modems, cell phones, gsm modules, and other devices that use serial communication. RMS-300 has two USB 2.0 ports that supports several USB devices concurrently using a USB hub. Control USB cameras, store data on USB flash drives, control USB speakers etc. RMS-300 has 6 input and output pins used to control your own custom devices
  • RMS-300can alert you via email or SMS messages when your battery bank is low. RMS-300 has ping monitor software that allows you to monitor network devices and alert you to failure and possibly power cycle the device. Monitor all this information remotely over an Internet connection using an ordinary web browser.

RMS-300 gives you direct hardware control of fans, lights, computers, cameras, modems, radios, etc… No more guessing what your battery levels are.  No more wondering if your signal strengths are at an acceptable level. No more long drives to reset a fussy radio.

RELAYS

RMS-300 Has Four Latching Power Relays Remote Control Of AC/DC Powered Equipment

 

RMS-300 has four latching power relays for remote control of AC/DC powered equipment. Control of each relay can be done with a web browser. The picture below shows a portion of the RMS-300 relays web interface. In the picture below all relays are in the default “Normally Closed” position.

The relay will be toggled to the “Normally Open” position as shown below.

The relays can also be toggled with RMS-300 relay Scripts. Relay scripts are made up of simple commands that control the relays. Complex relay actions can be performed to control your equipment.

VOLTMETERS

RMS-300 Has Eight 24 Bit Isolated Voltmeters For Sampling DC Voltages Up To 100 Volts!

Each voltmeter is capable of measuring up to +/- 100 VDC with 24-bit accuracy. Each voltmeter has its own 24 bit Delta Sigma ADC. The data and power lines for each voltmeter are isolated with a chip-scale air core transformer. This enables each voltmeter to measure different DC voltage sources without any effect on the main board or other voltages.
This technology enables the ability to measure (but not limited to):

  • Positive and negative voltages
  • Separate power sources
  • Individual batteries in a battery bank
  • Shunt voltages for equipment that may be drawing or generating power.
  • Solar panel voltage and amperage
  • Wind turbine voltage and amperage
  • Battery charger voltage and amperage

Note 1: Voltmeters that have nothing hooked up to them so that the positive and negative inputs are floating may read spurious positive and negative voltage readings, this is normal. You may dampen the voltage reading by sacrificing accuracy using the precision box. Use a number between 2 and 6 to increase or decrease the decimal place.

Note 2: Due to variations in components and the manufacturing process, voltmeter readings may differ slightly from each other and from your hand held DVM. Use the adjustment box to fine tune the voltmeter to display the expected value.

Below is a screen shot of the RMS-300 voltmeter overview page. This page shows at a glance all voltmeter readings and provides a gateway for more voltmeter options. In the screen shot below voltmeter 1 is displaying a positive reading of a 12v battery bank. Voltmeter 2 is in ammeter mode, it is measuring the charge going into the battery bank via a 50 millivolt / 50 amp current shunt (more on using shunts below). Voltmeter 3 is measuring the output of a negative 24 volt power supply. Note: A green bar graph indicates positive voltage, a red bar graph indicates negative voltage. The graphs button takes you to a page displaying voltage or amperage readings in a graph.