Sent: Monday, January 9,  2006

Subject: TEMP08 News from Midon Design

Just a quick note to let you know that TEMP08 firmware has been updated to release 2.03. This new release fixes a bug that was present in all previous loads affecting ONLY DS2405 readings. The bug was visible to users with DS2405's connected and in the "on" state and would manifest itself as intermittently showing the DS2405 as being in the "off" state when in fact it was not.

2.03 is available now for upgrade via our normal upgrade process (see http://www.midondesign.com/TEMP08/P14Upgrades.html) and all new TEMP08 orders will have this new firmware installed.

Please note that release 1.13 continues to be the standard firmware for users requiring RELAY05 access from TEMP08.

Thanks for your time,

Mitch

Sent: Monday, March 14 2005

Subject: Midon Design Update March 2005

Hello All,

Well, time goes by quickly. My last update to y'all was in September.  Hopefully you are keeping up with the changes posted to our web site!

The main reason for this bulletin is to announce the closure of our European location. We are relocating back to the US and as a result we have stopped shipping orders from Europe. This will also mean a small disruption of our automated ordering process as we relocate the servers supporting that. No worries, though, we will still process new orders manually without any disruption. We expect that it will take about 2 weeks to re-establish our servers, starting from March 26th, so please be patient during that interval. Our California location is fully stocked with inventory, so deliveries should not be a problem.

We are also changing our email addresses. Mail to mitch@midondesign.com will no longer be accepted after April 1, 2005. Use support@midondesign.com for technical topics, bug reports, etc., and orders@midondesign.com for anything related to an order.

Latest TEMP08 software is v1.13. We have built a v2.01 load which adds the capability of operating up to 20 1WIO units, or 80 relays. V2.01 will also eliminate all those "hidden" options and provide simple commands to enable or disable them instead. We hope to release v2.01 sometime in April.

We are working with a third party to create a PC application and a HomeSeer plug-in for TEMP08. The software is in beta and it should be available sometime this spring. Keep an eye on our web pages for details.

LOG08 is being completely re-designed based on input from a large user and we hope to have that generally available sometime in June. Information about this new design will be posted on our website in April, or before.

We are still working on 1WLOCK, which is a stand-alone 1-Wire controller supporting IF/THEN logic. Expect something probably by summer.

RELAY05 is now discontinued and has been replaced with 1WIO. We have a couple of RELAY05 units left over if anyone still wants them, but, first-come first-served.

In sensors, our last mailing indicated that Maxim was out of stock on DS18S20's. Shortly after that mailing Maxim released their ship-hold and inventory is now generally available.

I hope that this information is useful to you. Please feel free to drop us a line at this email address.

Best regards,

Mitch

Update to Sep 12 news: the following item is no longer true since Sep 19.  Dallas/Maxim is now shipping DS18S20's again.

"Other news: Dallas/Maxim is still not shipping DS18S20 sensors due to their production issues. As soon as they deliver, we will resume shipping of MD3003, MD3020B and MD3020C units."

Sent: Saturday, September 12 2004 10:23 AM
Subject: Midon Design News September 04

Hi again!

Time to update everyone on what has changed with Midon Design products.

First, a new software load is available for TEMP08, v1.11. This new release has the following additions and changes:

- a new command has been added, INP. This command will read bits 4 to 7 of a DS2408 and output the status in the same format as the current RLYS command. Why? This is to support the new 1WIO sensor now available from Midon Design (see here)

- a new hidden option is available to display all 4 voltages from any number of DS2450's. When activated, this option will suppress the conversion of the DS2450 voltages to wind direction.

- on power-up, the "Type" prompt for a DS2423 will no longer hang the display. After a one minute time-out, this prompt will assume a default of Type "L" (Lightning counter) for a DS2423.

- Changed the ONB and OFB commands (added in v1.09) to error out if the sensor is not a DS2406 (or DS2407).

- added a check for presence of any weather sensor to speed up the polling. Now, instead of looking for a sensor on every poll, the poll will ignore sensors not previously detected by an INI or TYP command. Tests show that this radically improves the polling speed.

- added a new method of timing temperature conversions for parasitically powered temperature sensors. Again, this will speed up the temperature polling, in some cases up to 2 times faster.

For those of you that missed previous software updates, here is a quick view of the last major release:

v.109 - Added the DS2408 as an alternative to a RELAY05 for use by the RLY command. The first DS2408 detected by TEMP08 will be used for relays 1 to 4. This was to support the 1WIO relay version. Also added were the ONB and OFB commands.

All new functionality is detailed in the latest version of the TEMP08 User Guide available here.

Next, of course, we released the 1WIO Multi-Purpose Sensor with most versions being available. The relay, input and LED versions are shipping now. We are still working on integrating the LCD functionality into TEMP08 before releasing that version of the 1WIO. Also, the combined Relay/Input version is proving to be a bit tricky, so we are holding off on releasing that.

Upcoming events: As a result of releasing the 1WIO Sensor, Midon Design will discontinue the RELAY05 unit. Orders will be accepted until October 31st, but we will not be able to guarantee stock after that.

Other news: Dallas/Maxim is still not shipping DS18S20 sensors due to their production issues. As soon as they deliver, we will resume shipping of MD3003, MD3020B and MD3020C units.

Our web site is back up and running for the various dynamic elements (Shipment Status requests, comment page, and mailing list page), so feel free to make use of those tools.

All the best to everyone.

Cheers,

Mitch

Sent: 16 May 2004 11:00 PM

Subject: LOG08 News From Midon Design

OK, folks, it is ready!

LOG08 is now shipping. Initial orders will be filled this week. The new manual is available on our web site now and the web pages have been updated to show the current version.

I was unable to fill one request for feature due to lack of memory space, but will be trying to squeeze it in in the near future. The manual shows all the features currently available, though.

Thank you again for your patience in waiting for this project.

Please note that we are experiencing some problems with some of our web pages due to problems with our ISP. This should not affect your orders, but will affect order status queries, for example. Contact us directly via email if you need anything.

Best regards,

Mitch

Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 10:44 PM
Subject: TEMP08/LOG08 Update


Hi folks,

A quick note to let you know that I've had to delay release of LOG08 again due to travel requirements on my side. I will have time in May to complete it (it is mostly done) and will start taking orders roughly in the middle of May.

On the TEMP08 side, we have a new version available: V1.05. Please give us a chance to re-stock our distributor before placing orders on this new version (see our web pages for details). It will take about 2 more weeks before that is done.

Thanks,

Mitch

Sent: 25 January 2004 08:31

Subject: TEMP08/LOG08 Update January 2004

Happy New Year to all,

I checked and found that I had not provided any updates to you all in quite a while. I've been rather busy traveling and working on some bug fixes to TEMP08 as well as some new products.

EEP FF<cr>

00FF FF05 FFF5<cr>

Enter the blue keystrokes (the last digit may be different on your unit).

As always, drop me a line if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Mitch

Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2003 2:54 PM
Subject: TEMP08 News 102503


As reported in our last news update, TEMP08 software has been updated. The following changes have been made:

• Bug fix - the decimal readings of DS18S20 sensors was not correct - the integer readings are, however.
• Robustness improvement - Humidity sensor readings that are not consistent with expected results, i.e., are > 100%, are now errored out and not displayed.
• Support for AAG's TAI8555 switch has been added to the ONA/OFA commands
• On-chip voltage sensor is now displayed. This voltage input is available at pin 3 of J2, with a reference to ground at pin 4 of J2. J2 is not populated on TEMP08, but if you wish to use it, any standard 4 pin 0.100 header strip can be inserted to J2.

In sad news, we have determined that the on-board pressure sensor is not useable as is. This feature will be removed from TEMP08. A later version of TEMP08 may include this feature, but this will require a radical PCB and circuit change. Our apologies!

A new user manual for TEMP08 is now posted on the web site to include the changes noted above.

Ordering V1.02

There are several options. All of them are orderable here. 

• Option 1. Download the new code and re-program the 68HC908KX8 yourself. This requires a stand-alone programmer suited for the device.
• Option 2. Order a new chip without replacing the old one.
• Option 3. Order a new chip and return the old one.
  

There is no charge for option 1.

Option 2 is priced as per standard MD2102 pricing.

Option 3 requires you to return the old chip to Midon Design (a return address label will be included with the new chip) within 30 days of receipt of the old one. You will initially be charged as per option 2, however, upon receipt of the old chip, Midon Design will credit your PayPal account with the price of the order, less the shipping charge.

There will be a transition period for shipping new TEMP08's with this new code. It should take us about 2 weeks to re-stock the finished TEMP08's with the new software.

That's the news for now.

Cheers,

Mitch

Sent: Saturday, October 18, 2003 12:17 PM
Subject: TEMP08 News Oct 18, 2003

It has been a while since our last update. Sorry about that!

A couple of TEMP08 users have located a bug in the DS18S20 temperature reading routines that causes inaccurate readings, both in Fahrenheit and Celsius modes. The bug causes Celsius readings to always display xx.00C and the Fahrenheit readings to sometimes display xx.80F. Both readings are inaccurate to within about 0.75C or about 1.35F. This has been fixed in our latest release of code, which will be V1.02. I will be offering no charge upgrades within a week or so to anyone who wants this fixed. V1.02 *should* also permit usage of the AAG TAI8555 switch sensor, which definitely does not work with V1.00.

The upgrade process will go something like this:

• Order the new firmware from our order page.
• We will ship the new EPROM.
• Ship us back the old EPROM.
• We will refund the purchase price for the EPROM, but not the shipping charge associated, when we receive the old EPROM.

I hope that this will work for everyone.

In the meantime, we continue to work on adding the Barometric sensor into the software. This has taken a while mainly due to travel on my part - no real time to test new code.

Have had no response on my request for input on DS2409 hub support, so no real work has started on that.

For those of you interested in LOG08: it will be shipping within a month or so. I've been trying to get the TEMP08 base code under control before finalizing the software for LOG08, which uses the same code.

That's the news for now.

Cheers,

Mitch

Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2003 12:42 PM
To: Midon Design
Subject: TEMP08 News 091403


V1.00 is shipping. Cases and panels are also in stock.

We are working on the following:

• Adding AAG TAI8555 Switch compatibility to the ONA/OFA functionality. We are looking into support of the TAI8555 input capability. PLEASE BE CAREFUL CONNECTING THE TAI8555 to TEMP08 - Pin 2 of the TAI8555 can cause a short on the RJ12 connector of TEMP08.
• Adding DS2409 Hub compatibility. We are looking for input on how best to implement this. There are several choices made possible by the split bus functionality of the DS2409 hub. Some of the choices would significantly change the way that TEMP08 addresses sensors. How important is this to you? We can do any of the following:
  • leave addressing the same as now, which would significantly slow down switch sensor polling due to the way that polling would have to be divided amongst the bus legs
  • add a "leg" address to each sensor, which would change all the ways that you communicate with them (ONA, OFA, TYP, DEL, etc., commands would change, as would the display)
  • change the addressing scheme so that each leg is partitioned into the EEPROM address space. This would reduce the maximum sensor capability of TEMP08 from 60 to 10 per leg (6 legs assumed). This would affect the way that you wire your 1-wire bus.
• other.... we're still looking into ways of adding 2409 hub capability without affecting existing functionality
• Adding the on-board barometric sensor capability. Software is written and being debugged. The current PCB will require 2 cuts and 2 straps to add the sensor. The next rev of PCB will fix this.

We are also working on a new sensor which includes the following:

• LED status output
• Relay output
• 0 to 12 V voltage input (digital)

Is anyone interested in a 8 Relay 1-wire device, similar to RELAY05, but controlled by 1-Wire bus commands? How about an 8 LED status indicator?

That's the news for now.

Cheers,

Mitch

Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2003 7:06 AM
Subject: TEMP08 Update


Nothing substantial to write about today, I just thought that y'all needed an update.

Shipments have been steadily going out on the TEMP08. It would be nice if Midon could get some feedback from the initial users. Let us know what you like or don't like about the product. Especially, let us know if you find any bugs. We did a lot of testing, but software is software... Something was bound to slip through.

The TEMP08 HomeSeer plug-in is progressing. Jim is working on it and has added some interesting new features. He expects to start the testing phase in a week or so.

Take care all. There will be no further TEMP08 updates for a while, unless something major changes. Design activities will now focus on LOG08, the companion device to TEMP08. Have a look at http://www.midondesign.com/LOG08/LOG08.html 

Cheers,

Mitch

Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2003 8:44 AM
Subject: TEMP08 Update August 10, 2003


Final debugging is complete now - we are just cleaning up code. All parts are in. Front Panels have arrived from our plastics shop. We expect to have all shipments in the mail tomorrow. For those of you that ordered other Midon parts with the same order; those were shipped yesterday from our California shop. The TEMP08 parts will be shipped from Amsterdam.

If anyone can suggest mounting screws for securing the TEMP08 PCB to the PacTec cabinet, that would really help. We have been unable to find a source and will be shipping cases without those screws - sorry!

We've updated the ordering page at http://www.midondesign.com/midon_prices.html  to reflect the current availability of parts.

Take care all!

Mitch

Software "tweaking" continues.  No major code left to do, just cleaning up. Front panels are still on order from our plastics shop.  We expect prototypes by mid August with final units in September.

What's next: construction of sufficient quantity to handle initial orders, finishing the user manuals, create price lists...

The earliest date for order delivery commencement will be August 11th.  This may slip if problems are encountered during production.  Expect at least pre-ordering to be available by August 11th.

Regards,

Mitch