Configuring a TEMP08 from a serial terminal

Open a terminal emulator on the PC port the TEMP08 is connected to and set it to 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit and no flow control. The cable must be straight-through, not null-modem. Once connected, the board prints a prompt and, if polling is active, a report at every interval. Commands are three letters, sometimes followed by parameters, and are sent with Enter.

Commands and parameters are not case-sensitive, so ini, INI and Ini are the same. Settings are stored in EEPROM and survive a power cycle. The command set grew and shrank over the firmware's life; some commands were removed in one version and brought back in another. If a command below is not recognized, check the version with VER and compare it with the TEMP08 firmware release history.

A typical first session

On a new installation the usual sequence is short. Run INI to search the bus and store every sensor it finds. Run DIS to see the list with its memory positions. If any DS2423 or DS2438 devices are present, set their type with TYP. Finally use SET to choose the poll interval, temperature units and display options, and SCK to set the clock. From then on the board reports on its own. Adding sensors one at a time, with an INI after each, makes it easy to tell which serial number belongs to which room.

DIS prints one line per stored device, then the current settings. A line such as 05 1288770000665526 DS2438 OK H reads as follows: memory position 05, the device's serial number, its chip type, the result of the serial number check, and a type letter.

• Position number. This is the memory locator used as <sensorid> by DEL, RST and TYP. It deliberately does not match the numbering in the poll output, where sensors are counted separately for each kind (Temp #01, Temp #02, Humidity #01 and so on).
• OK or NG. OK means the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the stored serial number is valid; NG means it failed. The check runs each time the list is displayed.
• Type letter. DS2423 and DS2438 chips can serve different roles, so each one carries a letter set by hand with TYP after first discovery. DS2438 devices keep their type through a power cut; DS2423 devices without battery backup ask again after power-up.

Type letters

After the device list, DIS shows the settings entered with SET and the other commands: update interval, temperature units, serial number display, wind direction reverse, DS2438 temperature display, time display and wind display.

Each poll, whether automatic or triggered with TMP, starts with the day and time from the clock, for example SUN 16:52:46, then a Reading Sensors line, then one line per device. Typical lines look like this:

• Humidity #01[DC0000002B274726]=58%, relative humidity from a DS2438 humidity board.
• Voltage #01[520000002B25A826]=00.12V 05.05V, two voltages from a DS2438 set as a voltage sensor.
• Lightning #01[D4000000045C621D]=00020 24592, the two counter values of a DS2423.
• 1WIO Status = On,On,On,On, the state of four relay outputs on a 1WIO board.
• Temp #01[4C00080031220C10]=70.80F, a temperature with its unit letter.

DS2438 chips also contain a temperature sensor, which is why the same serial number can appear once as humidity or voltage and again as a temperature line. The DS2438 temperature lines can be switched off if they are not wanted.

Because every line starts with a fixed label and puts the value after an equals sign, the output is easy to parse. That is exactly how the sample HomeSeer script works, as shown on the HomeSeer setup page. For relay and LED boards driven by RLY, LED and INP, see the 1WIO multi-purpose sensor. Common problems, such as ??? readings after adding a sensor, are answered in the TEMP08 FAQ.