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TEMPer USB thermometer

Wed, 2007-12-19 12:23 — dumell


TEMPer USB thermometer

I now have a "server closet" where I keep my home server, terastation, switch, dsl modem, wifi station, ups and so on. In order to track the temperature inside the closet I ordered a "USB Thermometer" from usb.brando.com.hk. You just plug it into the USB port of a Windows computer and it will measure the ambient temperature.

The device arrived in an envelope within a few days together with a mini cd-r. That's right, not a factory made cd-rom but a normal burn-it-at-home cd-r with the software on it. And the software seems quite home made as well.

I read some review saying the device was "designed to be used in laboratories". Right.

You need two drivers to get it to work. First a USB-Serial -adapter and then a driver for the thermometer. It seems they use some old thermometer solution designed for serial-connection and simply put it on the same USB stick as a USB-to-Serial -adapter. But it works. And the temperature is very close to what my stand-alone thermometer says when placed nearby.

The software shows most of the captions in English and is capable of logging temperatures at different intervals - although only as a list on screen, not to a file. There is a "updata software" option in the software as well, but it is only a mailto: link to a suspicious looking address".

Not a great device but not very expensive either and it works. I just wish they had made logging to file available and used fewer colors in the user interface.

Update Björn Böttcher has made an alternative software for this device that is much better and it supports logging to file: http://blog.n4rf.net/solutions/utac.

Comments

Wed, 2008-01-09 22:53 — R Nee (not verified)

TEMPer USB thermometer - HOT TO TOUCH

I've had one of these for a month or so. It's been plugged in but I have not been running the program. Today when I when to start the program it would not work. When I touched the unit I was surprised to find it VERY HOT. I unplugged it let it cool. Plugged it back in and it works. It's been running for an hour now and no heat.

Also, I thing the c temperature scale is accurate, but the f scale is off by 10 degrees. I found a conversion formula on Google that indicates f=9*c/5+32. That would make the 20c = 68f. The TEMPer USB thermometer indicates 20c = 80f. It's always run like this even before it became HOT.

Has anyone else had this VERY HOT TO TOUCH happen to their TEMPer USB thermometer?

Has anyone ever figured out a way to rewrite the program to make f accurate, log the data or e-mail notifications if it got too hot?

R

Thu, 2008-01-10 23:52 — dumell

Still running cool

Thank you for your comment. I now checked mine and it is still cool although it has been connected for a couple of weeks now to the USB port on my 24/7 home server.

I noticed one store selling this where they claimed the software was written in .net and could easily be modified. It might simply be a matter of polling a serial port and converting whatever number you get out of it to either C or F and then it could be written to a log file which would be usefull.

Since I am not American I have only noticed that selecting Fahrenheit gives a large number that doesn't really tell me anything so I have no idea about how accurate or inaccurate that number is. It sounds strange though that they would have gotten such a conversion wrong but considering the way the software looks perhaps one should not be surprised.

Sun, 2008-01-13 09:36 — R Nee (not verified)

Happened again.

It was running and seemed to be staying cool. I figured I would learn to measure the temperature in C since it seams to be accurate. I went to turn in tonight and before I did I pulled up my server running the TEMPer and found the .net error. I closed TEMPer and tried to reopen and it came up with "device error". I ran downstairs to check and sure enough it was HOT again. I unplugged it let a cool a little and plugged it back in. Here are the readings after I plugged it in and was cooler.

1 1/13/2008 0:02 44 32 1/13/2008 0:03 28.5
2 1/13/2008 0:02 43 33 1/13/2008 0:03 28
3 1/13/2008 0:02 42.5 35 1/13/2008 0:03 27.5
4 1/13/2008 0:02 40.5 37 1/13/2008 0:04 27
5 1/13/2008 0:02 40 39 1/13/2008 0:04 26.5
6 1/13/2008 0:02 39.5 41 1/13/2008 0:04 26
7 1/13/2008 0:02 39 43 1/13/2008 0:04 25.5
8 1/13/2008 0:02 38.5 47 1/13/2008 0:04 25
9 1/13/2008 0:02 38 48 1/13/2008 0:04 25
10 1/13/2008 0:02 37.5 49 1/13/2008 0:04 25
12 1/13/2008 0:02 37 50 1/13/2008 0:04 25
13 1/13/2008 0:02 36.5 51 1/13/2008 0:04 25
14 1/13/2008 0:03 36 52 1/13/2008 0:04 25
16 1/13/2008 0:03 35.5 53 1/13/2008 0:04 24.5
17 1/13/2008 0:03 35 55 1/13/2008 0:05 24
18 1/13/2008 0:03 34.5 66 1/13/2008 0:05 23.5
20 1/13/2008 0:03 33.5 77 1/13/2008 0:06 23
21 1/13/2008 0:03 33 90 1/13/2008 0:06 22.5
22 1/13/2008 0:03 32.5 103 1/13/2008 0:07 22
23 1/13/2008 0:03 32 117 1/13/2008 0:08 21.5
24 1/13/2008 0:03 31.5 131 1/13/2008 0:09 21
25 1/13/2008 0:03 31 142 1/13/2008 0:10 20.5
26 1/13/2008 0:03 30.5 150 1/13/2008 0:11 20
27 1/13/2008 0:03 30 163 1/13/2008 0:12 19.5
29 1/13/2008 0:03 29.5 178 1/13/2008 0:14 19
30 1/13/2008 0:03 29
I e-mailed the company the last time and this is the reply I received.

"I felt that was sorry very much.

if TEMPer is very hot, then it is bad, When normal work it does not have any own quantity of heat nearly.
You may go to trade one, looks for you the supplier.
the attached file is new sw.

chenmer"

Attached was a file named temper.rar No instructions on what to do with the attached file. Anyone know hat to do? The extension did not match any extensions of the current TEMPer files.

I really need a solution to monitor this server. I'm about to install it 160 miles (257.49504 kilometers )away and I will not be able to run up and fix the TEMPer every time it get HOT. Also, If left unattended for a long time I don't know what the damage to the systems would be if it got too hot.
Anyone know of a different way to monitor a Server or even use it to turn an exhaust fan on and off based on the room temperature?

Mon, 2008-01-14 12:49 — PatrikR (not verified)

RAR files are archives (like

RAR files are archives (like ZIP). I use 7-zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) to unpack RARs and other formats that Windows can't handle natively.

Fri, 2008-01-18 03:20 — R Nee (not verified)

RAR file

Thanks that helped a lot. I unzipped the new update and I must say It is 10,000 x better than the original (ok the green needs to go).
This is great. First it appears as the C to F convention is fixed. My office is running at about 70-71 F and the TEMPer now says 71.6. Great Job Mr. Chenmer!

The layout is similar but now it is in English.
There were no instructions on how to install this update. I took a guessed. There was no set up file, so I deleted the TEMPer directory at C:\Program Files\rding\ and replaced it with the files I unpacked. It must be a self contained program. My shortcuts I created from the original version worked with this version.

The Title Bar has TEMPer -40C to +120C, by Chenmer.

It has a "MAXTEMP:" and a "mintemp:" and to top it of it has an "AvTEMP:"!

It has a "Reading" button. (to start reading the temperature)

It has a "stop" button (to stop reading the temperature)

It has a "option" button!

In the options I can change from "Centigrade" or "Fahrenheit". I can select "recording interval(s). "comPort" selection is greyed out. Not sure why. Mine is plugged into USB. Device Type shows TEMPer and one of the best is the new 'Open Data" button. Here it records the recorded temperature reading s to C:/TEMPer/TEMPer2008Y1M17D17h.txt. It opens it right in the options screen. Very Nice!

It has "aboutTEMPer button (that has the version 5.0.0.0 copyright (C) riding 2007 a software update link temper_rding@126.com and a box with the following:
=========TEMPer series============
TEMPer: measure temperature+ OVERtemp alarm+data list file;
TEMPer70: base TEMPer+curve of temperature+multiChannel support ;
TEMPer98: base TEMPer70+curve+savedata offlinePC;
TEMPer07：measure Humidity + temperature；

Then it has the Stop and Star Recording selection options.

This is a much better program.

Now if it would only stop saying "NO response, try again" and crashing every time I change an option and sometimes when I start it. I don't know if it's because mine was over heated or what.

Is there anyway to post the RAR file so other can update?

Fri, 2008-01-18 21:39 — dumell

Sounds promising

This does indeed sound like a much needed improvement to the software. Thank you very much for your review of the new version, it encouraged me to e-mail and ask about the updated software. I got an automatic reply (no software yet) and based on it I realized the update is supposed to be available on their web site:

www.rding.cn/en/about.asp

However, the download link on the page does not seem to work.

Wed, 2008-01-23 18:14 — dumell

New version better but not good

So I got the new version now and it is a significant improvement (but you're right about the green). Still, it gives me unnecessary warning messages and there is still a lot that needs to be done before this is good software.

Fri, 2008-01-11 02:14 — Anonymous (not verified)

the TEMPer GUI code (I uses

the TEMPer GUI code (I uses Reflector to take a look) simply takes the C number and adds 60 to it.. which is not the correct conversion.

Fri, 2008-01-11 18:56 — dumell

Fahrenheit conversion

Ok, that is a pretty poor performance from the software developer. I used a serial port analyzer and looked at the communication between the software and the TEMPer device, unfortunately there was so much traffic that I lost interest in trying to figure it out. I also tried to use the nice looking software (with the source code available) at www.riccibitti.com/pc_therm.htm but even though it used the right COM port, it could not communicate with the sensor - obviously the TEMPer uses a different circuit than Ricci in his project.

Tue, 2008-01-29 12:17 — Mark (not verified)

Interesting

Hi - that is very interesting.

I just bought one of these and have managed to install it as a serial port on linux using:

sudo modprobe usbserial vendor=0x4348 product=0x5523

but obviously I don't know the commands to communicate with the device - could you share the output of the serial communications with us and maybe we could work it out?

Fri, 2008-02-01 20:10 — Anonymous (not verified)

Check out this

Check out this thread:
http://www.funponsel.com/blog/archives/2007/10/01/temper-usb-thermometer-for-laboratorians/

and this blog

http://nofeature.blogspot.com/2008/01/taking-advantage-of-your-temper-device.html

for an API that will let you write your own .NET app for this device.

Sun, 2008-02-03 00:42 — dumell

Thank you!

The UTAC software is much better than the original software. A nice looking clean interface (certainly no green backgrounds here) with, a graph, an option to record to a file (txt or csv), ftp upload built in and even web server integration for remote viewing. Great. Thank you Björn Böttcher for this nice software.

http://blog.n4rf.net/solutions/utac

Tue, 2008-02-05 18:18 — bof (not verified)

Utac

Hi dumell,

first... thanks for the good words about utac :-) but it has not an built in webserver yet, it's just an url catcher to load an update script on a webserver. but a built in webserver for remote viewing sounds like a good feature for the next version... :-) i'm on it...

Regards,
Bjoern

Tue, 2008-02-05 20:55 — dumell

You're welcome :)

I think what you have done can be called "web server integration", as it is able to work together with a web server although there is no built in server. But regardless of what we call it, your software is a great gift to the community. Thank you.

It is interesting to see how many nice and cheap gadgets comes out of China and how poor the software often is. How come they are so good at building the hardware and at the same time poor at making the software?

Your software, compared to the original one, is one example, but I am also thinking in a larger scale. I am going to write a blog post about the iPhone, Symbian and Android and when I was thinking about it, I realized Android could be a real threat to the established cell phone manufacturers. China has a lot of companies that can make competing hardware, but they don't have competing software. With Android they do. They can make a feature rich but cheap handset, ad the open source Android OS and suddenly they are competing on equal terms with Nokia, Motorola and Samsung.

Tue, 2008-06-03 19:36 — bob (not verified)

complement and question

Utac is awsome!! Thanks

Also, I purchased 2 of the new version of the Thermometers. One worked at home very well. I take the other one to the office and I can not even make the software load properly. I can't be sure why the softwear won't load correctly. If the USB device is bad, how can I know so I won't keep trying to make it work? Will Windows xp (pro) continue to find new hardware if the device is GOOD by the drivers are not loaded? I can plug it in and then boot but no NEW device is found. I just need to get the driver loaded but it will not load. Virus software is McAfee Enterprise 8.5. I install lots of other software without issue. Just wondering??

Thanks,
Bob

Tue, 2008-07-08 03:14 — Peter (not verified)

driver issues

Bob,

Having similar issues with XP Pro install. Can not recognize the device. I have tried connecting directly to the laptop vs. USB hub. Still no good.

Any luck on your end?

-Peter

Sun, 2008-02-17 13:09 — Sebstar (not verified)

Driver

Has anyone got a copy of the TEMPer driver or a download link?
I cannot find my drvier CD.

Tue, 2008-03-25 05:08 — Anonymous (not verified)

Does anyone have a working

Does anyone have a working link to the driver software, i have missplaced my cd and the download url does not work, get a 401 error
any help would be much appreciated.

Thu, 2008-04-03 23:28 — monkeychops (not verified)

USB Hygro-Thermometer

I have the new USB Hygro-Thermometer from here: http://usb.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00455

But the Driver CD was completely blank so the device is useless. Does anyone have a download for this product?

Fri, 2008-04-11 17:29 — Aemeth (not verified)

http://usb.brando.com.hk/file

http://usb.brando.com.hk/file/TEMPerHUM_V2.2.rar