Hello all,
I am using minicom on Ubuntu to communicate to the Watchport/W water detector. When I type “i” it returns Watchport/W, which is expected. However when I type “?” to get a list of valid commands to use, I get the following:
T or TC = Temperature (Celcius)
TF = Temperature (Fahrenheit)
H = Humidity
I = Watchport Identifier
= Repeat Last Command (eg TF+)
And if I type “h” for example I get “Sensor Error”.
I noticed in the manual it says that the Watchport/W uses an RS-232 modem signal interface, but as far as I know, minicom should be able to communicate properly - (also I am getting the correct identifier when I issue the “i” command).
How do I communicate with the water detector to get a valid response, i.e. yes, I’m wet - or no, I’m dry? What strings can I send it to get these responses?
Those other commands are for other sensors, so please disregard them.
If the DCD (Data Carrier Detect) signal is “high”, that indicates wet. If DCD is “low”, that indicates not wet. You just need to monitor the DCD signal.
Ok, so is there a command I can issue to the Watchport/W so that it can tell me “high” or “low”? Or, a better question perhaps: how/what tool can I use to monitor the DCD signal? Sorry for my ignorance on the subject.
So after some reading on wikipedia, it seems the DCD signal just tells whether or not the device is connected. So in the case of the Watchport/W, I would just have to monitor the connectivity to determine “high” or “low” (wet or not wet)?
“modemstat”, “statserial” or “watch head /proc/tty/driver/serial” will show the current state of various serial signal lines (such as DTR, CTS, etc.). The one in /proc also shows byte flow and errors.
Thanks a bunch! I used “statserial” and gave it the argument /dev/ttyUSB0 since the Watchport sensors are USB, and I am able to now see the DCD pin status. For testing, I took a penny and pressed it against the two pins coming out of the sensor and indeed the DCD status changed from 0 to 1.
Thank you all for your inputs.