Operation Prison Reform

[heimlich]

I linked into the Web Services. That was simple and straight forward.

In the product documentation they hinted at a data stream at what looks like the TCP level. They may call it the Event channel. There are subscriptions. Subscriptions seemed like the way to go. I never could get those to work. If you are able to create an android project that calls those I'd be interested in seeing it. If you understand the technology under the subscription I'd be interested in that as well.

Wireless Vehicle Bus Adapter (WVA) Application Developer Guide

I was in a conversation with the people at Digi by email. They are retiring the product line. They have some large clients they are keeping a base around for.

I bought a bunch of used units off ebay. They were rather cheap. I don't think they are making any new ones.

 

[Neorush]

I linked into the Web Services. That was simple and straight forward.

In the product documentation they hinted at a data stream at what looks like the TCP level. They may call it the Event channel. There are subscriptions. Subscriptions seemed like the way to go. I never could get those to work. If you are able to create an android project that calls those I'd be interested in seeing it. If you understand the technology under the subscription I'd be interested in that as well.

Wireless Vehicle Bus Adapter (WVA) Application Developer Guide

I was in a conversation with the people at Digi by email. They are retiring the product line. They have some large clients they are keeping a base around for.

I bought a bunch of used units off ebay. They were rather cheap. I don't think they are making any new ones.

That's really good to know about retiring the product line, and a little scary if I ever need a replacement. I haven't 100% committed to polling vs using the subscription services. I should be on to actual coding in about 3 weeks and I am planning on looking into the subscriptions because I agree on paper that looks like the more reliable way to go, albeit more complicated.

 

[heimlich]

I think the data comes back the same for the subscription vs the service. It may just have a wrapper around it. It won't be much work to change that part out if it you later get it to work. I am hoping you do so I can copy it.

The sample application worked at one time. It has a bunch of dependencies but they are all based on an old version of android. Maybe it will work better for you with your background. Mine is in Windows/C#.

As for replacement devices just buy a handful of them in case they do break. I think I paid $20 each for mine and I bought 4 or 5 of them on ebay used.

 

[Neorush]

Going back in time slightly I never posted the pain in the arse that was the rear window frame. The wife wanted a large rear window...like a really large one. The problem is the back of the bus curves left to right AND up and down. So I had to fabricate this crazy compound curved frame to have a flat surface to mount the window in. I have no idea how, but somehow through trial and error and some luck I managed to get a perfect fit.

 

[Busjamin]

Going back in time slightly I never posted the pain in the arse that was the rear window frame. The wife wanted a large rear window...like a really large one.

Funny you should post this now; I was thinking about this project yesterday whenever I would go to look in my "rear view" mirror on the way back to MD.

Looks like you got a great fit & finish. Though that bit of green sticking out the top would drive me insane until I covered it with white lol.

Any particular reason you went with a slider as opposed to the awning style?

 

[Neorush]

Funny you should post this now; I was thinking about this project yesterday whenever I would go to look in my "rear view" mirror on the way back to MD.

Looks like you got a great fit & finish. Though that bit of green sticking out the top would drive me insane until I covered it with white lol.

Any particular reason you went with a slider as opposed to the awning style?

Thanks, I think we wend slider mostly because this window in particular was on sale. Also will get better airflow since the slider opens 50%, drawback is that we won't want to leave it open when it rains. Also yes, that bit of green does drive me crazy!

 

[nikitis]

I kind of wanted a skylight over the bed for ours, but I plan to hide a deck and solar panels that slide out over it so I don't think it'd be possible to do in my case unless I wanted a hole in the middle of the deck and that wouldn't make a deck safe.

I have the traditional 3 windows in the rear that most buses have and they are decently large enough for viewing outside with for the wife.

 

[Busjamin]

this window in particular was on sale

That's a Texas-sized 10-4 haha cash rules everything around us CREAM it's the money, the dolla dolla bills, y'all.

 

[Neorush]

I decided I did not like the way the screens were on their little mounts just sitting on the top of the new dash. Plus, I'd be relying on the plastic mount to keep it in place during a crash. Much happier with where this is going!

 

[Busjamin]

I gotta say I was digging the Cyberpunk setup. This is going to be a lot less 'Mazda 3 Series'.

Share your thoughts on the visibility changes? My instinct here is I wouldn't like how much of the forward view is obstructed. I've been favoring putting screens up above on the bulkhead.

Maybe add a strip of plexi between the upper screens? Like a little turret viewport

 

[Neorush]

I gotta say I was digging the Cyberpunk setup. This is going to be a lot less 'Mazda 3 Series'.

Share your thoughts on the visibility changes? My instinct here is I wouldn't like how much of the forward view is obstructed. I've been favoring putting screens up above on the bulkhead.

Maybe add a strip of plexi between the upper screens? Like a little turret viewport

Definitely thought about that, It does remove about the first 5 ft of visibility, but really no worse than a truck hood. One of the 8 cameras will also be on the front, so can always reference that.

 

[Neorush]

Big progress on making the 12V bus systems smart controlled! After alot of reading and some tests, I decided the bus will run on the modbus tcp/ip protocol. Here's a little before and after of the main bus electrical panel over the last ~4 years. FYI, do not recommend doing this unless you really like tracing wires!

 

[nikitis]

So you completely gutted your prior electrical and are running everything through a new system?

 

[Neorush]

So you completely gutted your prior electrical and are running everything through a new system?

That is accurate. It started with me trying to get proper insulation behind this panel... and here we are. But to make everything smart controlled I need relays that can be controlled over the network so all the old dumb relays had to go.

 

[Busjamin]

 

[Busjamin]

FYI, do not recommend doing this unless you really like tracing wires!

I can't even imagine. This is probably one of the most high-level projects you could do on a bus...really impressive stuff. What peace-of-mind you will have knowing your entire system is mint, and with tons of new potential functionality that's cool as ****.

Where did your labor hours end up, ballpark?

I guess I wonder if the cost-benefit would make it reasonable to consider this approach from the start, given enough issues with an existing electrical system. Even with the tedium, running a new setup must be much nicer work than trying to chase down god knows what in 20-30 year old harnesses...

Edit: I say this as someone who has always avoided electrical, despite working construction. This kind of project is very intimidating to me.

 

[Neorush]

I can't even imagine. This is probably one of the most high-level projects you could do on a bus...really impressive stuff. What peace-of-mind you will have knowing your entire system is mint, and with tons of new potential functionality that's cool as ****.

Where did your labor hours end up, ballpark?

I guess I wonder if the cost-benefit would make it reasonable to consider this approach from the start, given enough issues with an existing electrical system. Even with the tedium, running a new setup must be much nicer work than trying to chase down god knows what in 20-30 year old harnesses...

Edit: I say this as someone who has always avoided electrical, despite working construction. This kind of project is very intimidating to me.

Definitely nice knowing what every wire is and where it goes. Labor-wise I try not to think about it...I mean I have 100+ hours just in roof raise body work and paint. Redoing the dash / electrical has already been easily 40hrs. Probably another 40ish to go. FYI, it should be intimidating. It is a TON of extra work you don't need to do if you just want to drive down the road. But I want the steps to auto retract if they are down and the bus is moving, etc.

 

[nikitis]

I've traced every wire from that panel in my bus and know what they all do now. (And labeled them) It's simpler than you realize but gets more complicated the newer the bus. Everything on there goes to the solenoid there. When you key on, it turns on power to certain systems. Everything going to the back of your cab for lights, controls, add-ons etc come off of that solenoid there. From the solenoid, it goes to a bus bar, and from the bus bar out to your devices, lights, etc. Similar to how a solar system works.

Every newer bus works this way at it's core, but now BDM's are added and more complicated items are added that I sort of understand but not fully. I only get the basic bus setups. BDM's are supposed to use less wires, but controlled via chip. (Multiplexing) they call it.

In his case it's as I've described except he added a disconnect switch before his solenoids, and between the solenoids and bus bar, added his network controller so he can remotely turn things on and off.

Anyone who physically traces all of those wires in their bus will eventually start to understand it as I've described. You can do it too.


When I added an extra fan on the left drivers side, I just plugged into ground, and power wire into the 30 year old bus bar. Those bus bars look nothing like modern ones btw. It looks like cardboard with a bunch of fuses on them, but it still works so I've not replaced it.

 

[Neorush]

Four years later...the bus finally has headlights again! Installed two pair of LED headlights with integrated low-beam, high-beam, Daytime Running Lights, and turn-signal. They’re waaaaay brighter (and better looking) than the old lights which were basically useless at night.

The old lights were one high beam and one low beam on each side, since all four lights now support high / low and the polarity was backwards on the new lights I had to rewire it completely and might as well make use of the new DRL and integrated turn signals, so I ran new leads for those as well.

 

[nikitis]

Haha, yeah my lights currently aren't great. They were non working when I bought the bus. I replaced them with the same type (Non-LED). One points kind of higher than the other, and I need to adjust them. I don't drive at night much yet though so I haven't bothered with it. The plastic tabs that held the lights in were completely disintegrated. I Modeled and 3D printed replacement tabs, and while they do hold them in their quite well, adjustment isn't as good with my design. I plan to revist and even modify my 3D model some to make it better to adjust with the screws that come with the fixture.

If anyone reads this and is needing the plastic tabs, I can print some for you.