Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Super cheap SMS solution and simple !

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Super cheap SMS solution and simple !

    Hi Folks

    After getting back into HS after a few year hiatus, I pulled out my old Wavcom modem (RS232) and got it working with a serial/USB dongle. After a few weeks I started having issues with it disconnecting and I just couldn't get to the bottom of it. I looked around for alternatives, this is where I stumbled across the Arduino compatible SIM900 gsm modem. This is a very simple device, runs off 5V and has a TTL connection for communications. I paired it with a pl2303hx USB/TTL dongle, together I think it cost me $18AUD excluding the 5v usb power supply.

    The wiring is EXTREMELY simple and intuitive, the USB/TTL device has TX and RX and you connect them to the corresponding pin on the arduino. It only needs +5v from the "wall wart" and you are up and running.

    It is just so simple to get a working GSM/SMS sollution going with Gavin's plugin.

    I was using a USB/TTL device with a clone FTDI chip and I had all sorts of issues, this pl2303HX device is just rock solid.

    Hope this motrivates others to give it a go..

    Cheers..Pete
    Attached Files
    HS 2.2.0.11

    #2
    Hi Pete,

    Thanks for posting this. Can you let me know where you found the GSM module for so cheap? I only see prices for it in the $25-50 range.

    Cheers
    Al
    HS 4.2.8.0: 2134 Devices 1252 Events
    Z-Wave 3.0.10.0: 133 Nodes on one Z-Net

    Comment


      #3
      Pete,

      I would also appreciate if you could identify the suppliers. That make it very cheap module

      Comment


        #4
        Nice work! Thanks for posting.


        Sent from my iPhone
        Tom
        baby steps...starting again with HS3
        HS3Pro: Z-NET & 80 Z wave Devices,
        HSTouch: 4 Joggler (Android Kitkat), 2 iPhone, 3 iPads
        Whole House Audio: 5 SqueezePlay Jogglers w Bose Speakers
        In The Works: 10 Cameras Geovision, new Adecmo/Envisalink Alarm, Arduinos
        System: XP on Fanless Mini-ITX w/ SSD

        Comment


          #5
          Guys, something like this:

          http://goo.gl/2JdzVg for the SIM900 unit

          http://goo.gl/WQVSBw for the pl2303HX

          A few points to note:

          1) The SIM900 unit may require a "soft start" on one of the PINS to enable it. The unit I have has a button to press however you can over ride it, I've still got to work it out for the unit I have. This unit may just fire up, very easy to work it out once its on the bench.

          2) All you need is tx/rv/gnd for the communication. The board has jumpers for hardware/software comms. You will need to use hardware to use the pins that show rx/tx silk screened on the board. Software will use different pins, this is due to the arduino libraries...I found this by trial/error, not hard to sort.

          3) I use a mobile phone 5v USB charger to power the unit. I tried using the 5v from the pl2303HX but there isnt enough grunt to properly power the unit.

          With the wavcom modem I had comms failures within 48 hours. With this setup its worked well over a week with no issues so I'm confident i sorted out the issues, they seemed to stem from the fake FTDI chips....

          Have fun, it works very well :-)

          Pete
          HS 2.2.0.11

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by petez69 View Post
            Guys, something like this:

            http://goo.gl/2JdzVg for the SIM900 unit

            http://goo.gl/WQVSBw for the pl2303HX

            A few points to note:

            1) The SIM900 unit may require a "soft start" on one of the PINS to enable it. The unit I have has a button to press however you can over ride it, I've still got to work it out for the unit I have. This unit may just fire up, very easy to work it out once its on the bench.

            2) All you need is tx/rv/gnd for the communication. The board has jumpers for hardware/software comms. You will need to use hardware to use the pins that show rx/tx silk screened on the board. Software will use different pins, this is due to the arduino libraries...I found this by trial/error, not hard to sort.

            3) I use a mobile phone 5v USB charger to power the unit. I tried using the 5v from the pl2303HX but there isnt enough grunt to properly power the unit.

            With the wavcom modem I had comms failures within 48 hours. With this setup its worked well over a week with no issues so I'm confident i sorted out the issues, they seemed to stem from the fake FTDI chips....

            Have fun, it works very well :-)

            Pete
            Great, thanks Pete!

            Cheers
            Al
            HS 4.2.8.0: 2134 Devices 1252 Events
            Z-Wave 3.0.10.0: 133 Nodes on one Z-Net

            Comment


              #7
              Pete,

              Thanks for the links and info which does make a very cheap option especially as compared to AU...

              Comment


                #8
                Pete I'm a bit wary of rx/rx/gnd only and no flow control. The plugin relies on flow control so you may experience erratic behaviour if the device gets busy or tries so send and receive and SMS at the same time. Unlikely on home use, but something to be aware of.



                Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                Author of Highpeak Plugins | SMS-Gateway Plugin | Blue Iris Plugin | Paradox (Beta) Plugin | Modbus Plugin | Yamaha Plugin

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by beerygaz View Post
                  Pete I'm a bit wary of rx/rx/gnd only and no flow control. The plugin relies on flow control so you may experience erratic behaviour if the device gets busy or tries so send and receive and SMS at the same time. Unlikely on home use, but something to be aware of.



                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                  Gavin

                  Understand....Baudrate is set at 19200, if I run into issues I'll drop the speed...however these USB/TTL devices are used to program Arduino via IDE and the code upload runs a lot faster than 19200 :-)

                  Must say its been running perfectly since we spoke..

                  Cheers..Pete
                  HS 2.2.0.11

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Gavin, FYI

                    The SIM900 with pl2303HX USB device has been solid for a few weeks and not dropped offline. Got to say its a simple low cost SMS sollution.. :-)

                    Pete
                    HS 2.2.0.11

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Pete.

                      You're down a very good job on the sourcing and integration. Thanks for the work mate.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        SIM card

                        Originally posted by petez69 View Post
                        Gavin, FYI

                        The SIM900 with pl2303HX USB device has been solid for a few weeks and not dropped offline. Got to say its a simple low cost SMS sollution.. :-)

                        Pete
                        Hi Pete, love to try the solution and thank you for posting. What do we do for the SIM? Is it one from my provider plan like a $10/month, or throw away phone on a pre-paid plan?

                        What did you use?

                        Comment


                          #13
                          This was my question as well and didn't ask as I believe Pete is in Australia. I had looked at into mobile phones - the two solutions I came to were the add a line for $10 some carriers have( probably not need with infrequent sms) and mobile phone "top up" cards. I think the cheapest I saw at one time was $100 which last 1 year or you exhaust the funds. Would be great if the plugin could sense the loss of Ethernet connection and then sent messages through sms instead.


                          Sent from my iPhone
                          Tom
                          baby steps...starting again with HS3
                          HS3Pro: Z-NET & 80 Z wave Devices,
                          HSTouch: 4 Joggler (Android Kitkat), 2 iPhone, 3 iPads
                          Whole House Audio: 5 SqueezePlay Jogglers w Bose Speakers
                          In The Works: 10 Cameras Geovision, new Adecmo/Envisalink Alarm, Arduinos
                          System: XP on Fanless Mini-ITX w/ SSD

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Does anyone know if the SIM900 gsm modem is only 2G capable?
                            I'm thinking of future issues when US carriers abandon the 2G networks.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Tom, you are right I am in Australia. My plan is $15 for 365 days upfront and 12c per SMS deducted from the $15 till it runs out. My recharge is $15 or $30

                              Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
                              HS 2.2.0.11

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X