Open Vehicle Monitoring System

[Nvbob]

We have our OVMS on Consumer Cellular and it's been working fine. We received an email from them today stating they will be eliminating their 2G support "soon". This is not surprising because they ride on AT&T's network.

We know you are working on V3 and are awaiting it's release.

Thanks Mark!

 

[AEdennis]

We have our OVMS on Consumer Cellular and it's been working fine. We received an email from them today stating they will be eliminating their 2G support "soon". This is not surprising because they ride on AT&T's network.

We know you are working on V3 and are awaiting it's release.

Thanks Mark!

Aside from the app, the SMS functions are still pretty useful... So that's an option for those that get pushed off 2G.

 

[DrComputer]

So Mark will you have a 2 for 1 trade up offer? I had the original v1 unit and then bought the v2 unit to have the latest and greatest. The modem on the v2 seems to have failed so I went back to using the trusty working v1 unit. Will happily trade you a v1 and v2 unit for a new v3 unit

 

[markwj]

So Mark will you have a 2 for 1 trade up offer? I had the original v1 unit and then bought the v2 unit to have the latest and greatest. The modem on the v2 seems to have failed so I went back to using the trusty working v1 unit. Will happily trade you a v1 and v2 unit for a new v3 unit

For v1 and v2 owners we're going to help offset the replacement cost by offering discounts on the v3 hardware for existing users.

 

[markwj]

It has been a while (which means stable - good, right?)...

Firmware v2.8.5 has been released for OVMS. This firmware is primarily to add support for the SIM808 GSM modem module, but also has a bunch of bug fixes and minor improvements.

2016-03-14 2.8.5 Firmware 2.8.5 SIM808 GSM/GPS module support
# Fix for Twizy build w/o BATTMON
# Twizy: ideal range calculated with temperature influence approximation
# Twizy: Battery capacity estimation
# Twizy: Charge start restarts SOC window (to get most recent BMS SOC)
# Twizy: Charge interruption no longer restarts power sums & SOC window
# Added vehicle_version to net msg "F"
# New vehicle: Kia Soul EV, initial version 0.1 (alpha/untested)
# Kia Soul: VIN, car status, doors & charging status, SOC, estimated range, speed
# Framework: OBDII polling support for modes 02, 10 & 21
# Kia Soul: DEBUG diag output fixed for SMS size limit
# Kia Soul: ISR optimization - OBD diag data init & length debugging
# Kia Soul: Buffer overflow protection for OBDII multi frame polls
# Kia Soul: Init CAN RX filter 1 to avoid noise triggers
# Twizy: optional current limit modification
# Added compiler switch OVMS_NO_CRASHDEBUG
# Twizy V3.7.0: - CFG POWER: max current control, higher torque & power levels
# Framework v2.8.2: DIAG mode: support backspace & ctrl-a / ctrl-c (= abort/clear)
# Framework v2.8.2: DIAG mode perl clients added
# Framework v2.8.2: DIAG mode documentation extended
# Add hints on 0x100/0x96 and 0x400/0x01
# Framework: Fixed base64decode(), removed bug workarounds
# Framework: base64encode(): return pointer to end of base64 string
# Framework: New net_assert_caller(): check caller, fallback to REGPHONE
# Framework: net_put RAM redirection now uses net_buf[]
# Framework: Code cleanup, size and stack depth optimization
# Framework: Fix: stack overflow/underflow flags cleared after crash
# Framework: Perl diagmode clients: missing license info added
# Twizy: Flux map optimization
# Twizy: Fix: "CA?" outputs ETR SOC if ETR range is zero
# Twizy: CAN control bits to disable emergency reset, kickdown & autopower
# Twizy: Flux & saturation maps added to documentation
# Twizy: Updated SDO list & limits
# MPLABX 3.1x support, and OVMS_BUILDCONFIG to show selected build config in version strings
# Add pics and docs on Tesla Model S new style DIAG connector seen in late 2015 cars onwards
# Re-work GPS initialisation for SIM808
# Use AT+CGPSRST=0 for cold start of GPS
# Fix SMS VERSION command

Enjoy.

 

[tvuolo]

We have our OVMS on Consumer Cellular and it's been working fine. We received an email from them today stating they will be eliminating their 2G support "soon". This is not surprising because they ride on AT&T's network.

I'm on Consumer Cellular, and if you ask them to send you a TMobile Sim Card, they will. I'm not sure how much longer TMobile will support 2G, but it could buy you more time.

 

[markwj]

Given where we are today, it is unlikely that we will have OVMS v3 before the end of 2016 (as previously suggested). The platform design is fixed, and now working on getting the hardware manufactured and firmware ported, but we still have a lot to do. Best guess is 2017Q1 at the moment.

For those of you on AT&T, we are arranging testing of a new SIM from hologram.io that should give us some time, as it supports T-mobile. This will also be the preferred SIM for OVMS v3.

 

[mpt]

Mark, my OVMS v1 on T-Mobile died a few weeks ago - red light on the GSM - and I presumed that it was shutdown of the <3G network. Let me know it that does seem like evidence that T-Mobile isn't an option anymore. Thanks.

 

[tomsax]

Yesterday, I got a Hologram SIM for testing. It was really easy to set up an account and swap OVMS to use the new SIM. It's been less than 24 hours, but it seems to be working well so far.

I don't think there's a way to tell if it's using AT&T or T-Mobile, so I can't shed any light on MPT's question.

I'm collecting data to figure out how data use by OVMS fits in with Hologram's billing options, which I will report on when I have enough data to say something useful. I'm hopeful the cost will be comparable to H2O Wireless ($10 for 90 days), perhaps even a little less expensive.

The Hologram dashboard is nice, showing details on data use for easy analysis.

SMS messages are more expensive than H2O Wireless, $0.19 per message sent by OVMS; incoming messages are free. The base plan doesn't include an associated phone number, but you can send SMS messages to OVMS from the Hologram dashboard. That seems fine for how I tend to use SMS: occasionally for changing ACC parameters. At first, I thought not having a phone number for the device was a downside, but I'm guessing that will eliminate the spam messages and wrong number texts that I've been getting, which sort of cost me $0.05 each on H2O Wireless.

For anyone who is interested in the details of switching to Hologram, I wrote up my early Hologram experience.

 

[bart513]

Thanks so much Tom!!

 

[markwj]

Mark, my OVMS v1 on T-Mobile died a few weeks ago - red light on the GSM - and I presumed that it was shutdown of the <3G network. Let me know it that does seem like evidence that T-Mobile isn't an option anymore. Thanks.

There has been no news about a T-Mobile shutdown, only AT&T.

Probably best to go back to first principles. There is a checklist here:

Support FAQ | Open Vehicles

 

[markwj]

Yesterday, I got a Hologram SIM for testing. It was really easy to set up an account and swap OVMS to use the new SIM. It's been less than 24 hours, but it seems to be working well so far. For anyone who is interested in the details of switching to Hologram, I wrote up my early Hologram experience.

Thanks for your help with testing this, Tom, and for your excellent write-up.

Regarding seeing which carrier Hologram.IO is using, you can see the last carrier used from the Hologram.IO dashboard - click the "+" to expand "Last Network Session" under "Status Information" in the top left. There is also a useful API call to show the last data session records:

https://dashboard.hologram.io/api/1/usage/data/?linkid=<LINKID>
(the <LINKID> can be seen on the device page on Hologram.IO - click the + to expand SIM information in top left).

You can also get session duration and data transfer billed, which is good to see the affect of poor cellular connectivity on how much we pay. That is kind of 'hacky', but works. In Hong Kong, I'm fortunate to get 4 different networks Hologram.IO can roam on. Pretty neat.

The other comment I have is on SMS messages. From what I can see, when you send an SMS from the Hologram.IO dashboard, using your mobile phone number as sender, you get the SMS reply direct to your mobile phone. You can then continue on the conversation on your phone directly using the normal reply feature. With v3, we're moving away from SMS as much as we can as it has both Wifi and Bluetooth capabilities so we should be able to do things like ACC directly.

 

[AEdennis]

Mark, my OVMS v1 on T-Mobile died a few weeks ago - red light on the GSM - and I presumed that it was shutdown of the <3G network. Let me know it that does seem like evidence that T-Mobile isn't an option anymore. Thanks.

There has been no news about a T-Mobile shutdown, only AT&T.

Probably best to go back to first principles. There is a checklist here:

Support FAQ | Open Vehicles

@markwj is correct...

@mpt T-Mobile actually setup that free SIM swap program to get folks to move their 2G IoT devices from AT&T to T-Mo. Additionally, I have a client in the wireless space who is a VPN for T-Mo who says that he gets full support for 2G, for what that's worth.

 

[Stuart]

Reporting success…

I ordered a Hologram SIM, which I installed yesterday.

The OVMS was getting no signal (using H2O on the AT&T network) so I didn’t even bother trying to do the SMS “GPRS hologram” command via H2O/AT&T.

I installed the new Hologram SIM and attempted to send the SMS “GPRS hologram” command via the Hologram dashboard. No luck. Despite putting in my registered phone number as the “from number”, it didn’t work. I tried seven times. No acknowledgements came through to my registered phone number, and no settings were changed. (My registered phone number happens to be my Google Voice number. I don’t know if that would make a difference.) I got seven “Permission denied” messages in my Hologram dashboard data logs (presumably SMS replies from the OVMS module itself) and it used up $1.33 of my initial $5 credit.

I put the H2O SIM back in and waited, hoping it would catch a signal. In recent months it has worked intermittently, but only early in the monings. This morning it did have a wireless signal, so I quickly sent it the SMS “GPRS hologram” command, swapped back to the Hologram SIM, and now it is working.

It appears, for me at least, that configuring via the Hologram dashboard was not working. Some of the SMS commands have the option of using the OVMS Module Password to authorize them, but not the “GPRS” command. So it has to be sent from the device’s registered phone number, which I couldn’t get the Hologram dashboard to do.

So it was lucky for me that I made the switch while I still had some intermittent H2O/AT&T connectivity left. I’m glad I didn’t wait until the H2O/AT&T connectivity was completely shut down.

One thing I did discover: In the Hologram dashboard under “CONNECTION INFO” for the SIM it says “apn.konekt.io (no user, no pw)”. However, I can confirm that for me “GPRS hologram” worked too. Apparently both are valid, according to this support article.

Previously I was paying $3.50/month on H2O. This new Hologram service looks like it might work out at something closer to $1/mo.

 

[ecarfan]

Stuart, I'm in your area and on T-Mobile for my cell service. In 2015 I installed the OVMS in my Roadster, got a SIM card from T-Mobile, installed it and it has worked fine ever since. I think it is about $10/month.

 

[markwj]

Thanks Stuart, for your feedback. I'm surprised the console didn't work for you. It might depend on the exact format of the 'from' number you use (as it depends on what the modem receives). I normally find the +county format works, but it depends on the provider.

The other option is to 'buy' a fixed number from Hologram, and then use your phone. For USA, I think that is US$1/month.

For those of you with some technical knowledge, and a USB-serial adaptor, there is another way to reconfigure without SMS access. Connect up a laptop, put the module in DIAG mode, then "S GPRS hologram" to simulate an SMS.

 

[Stuart]

Stuart, I'm in your area and on T-Mobile for my cell service. In 2015 I installed the OVMS in my Roadster, got a SIM card from T-Mobile, installed it and it has worked fine ever since. I think it is about $10/month.

Thanks for the suggestion, but as I said, I was reporting success.

My OVMS is now working with the Hologram SIM.

According to the Hologram Dashboard the SIM Status says “active on T-Mobile USA, Inc. CO”, so I am in fact on T-Mobile, just at approximately $20/yr instead of $120/yr.

 

[Stuart]

Thanks Stuart, for your feedback. I'm surprised the console didn't work for you. It might depend on the exact format of the 'from' number you use (as it depends on what the modem receives). I normally find the +county format works, but it depends on the provider.

The other option is to 'buy' a fixed number from Hologram, and then use your phone. For USA, I think that is US$1/month.

For those of you with some technical knowledge, and a USB-serial adaptor, there is another way to reconfigure without SMS access. Connect up a laptop, put the module in DIAG mode, then "S GPRS hologram" to simulate an SMS.

Well, it’s working now, so I should be okay from now on.

I did a little more investigation and discovered a few things:

1. When entering the “from number” on the Hologram Dashboard you must enter it without spaces. I entered my number as “+1 408 xxx yyyy” and it didn’t work. It didn’t give any error message; it just silently ignored my entry and (judging from the billing history) sent the SMS message from “447937405250” instead, resulting in a “Permission denied” response from the SMS module landing in the Hologram Dashboard’s “Data logs” section a few minutes later.

2. Even when entering the “from number” on the Hologram Dashboard without spaces it still doesn’t work for Google Voice numbers. This time the number shown in the billing history section was my intended Google Voice number, but no response came through to my phone.

3. When using my T-Mobile phone number as the “from number” on the Hologram Dashboard (without spaces) I did receive a “Permission denied” SMS message on my phone, so it would appear that this message did go out with the intended “from number”.

So it would appear that the Hologram Dashboard silently fails if you don’t enter the number exactly the way it expects (even though it doesn’t tell you that), and the Hologram SMS delivery service can’t deliver to Google Voice numbers.

 

[Stuart]

With the Hologram.io service, EDGE/GPRS data is relatively cheap ($0.60 per megabyte), and SMS data is relatively expensive (approx $1200 per megabyte). SMS data is about 2000x more expensive than Internet data — a single 150-byte SMS message costs about the same as 300 kilobytes of Internet data.

Given that large price difference it would be nice to be able to do everything via Internet data. I can see how to do most things via the iPhone app, with the one exception that the SMS “STAT?” command shows the current odometer reading, and I can’t see any way to do that via the iPhone app. (This may sound like a silly use case, but the ability to get the odometer reading remotely has frequently been useful when I’m on the phone renewing my car insurance and the car is not nearby.)

Is there a way to view the current odometer reading via the iPhone app?

 

[markwj]

With the Hologram.io service, EDGE/GPRS data is relatively cheap ($0.60 per megabyte), and SMS data is relatively expensive (approx $1200 per megabyte). SMS data is about 2000x more expensive than Internet data — a single 150-byte SMS message costs about the same as 300 kilobytes of Internet data.

I think that outgoing SMS is costly, and incoming SMS is free (infinitely cheaper), so they balance out

Is there a way to view the current odometer reading via the iPhone app?

Not currently. It is in the data from the car, just not showed on the screen. You could get it via the HTTP API, with some curl commands. I'll add it to the list of things to do next time the App is looked at.