connect comp to tri star 60 mppt controler with ethernet

wow i literally pulled the info out of the manual, and people are saying its wrong, then i got guy saying the info i posted is more then useless, ok good luck!

Rmcgrath53 wrote:
Hello all. I tried calling Morningstar three times and all there guys are helping others. So here is what I have and perhaps someone can give me instructions on how to connect my laptop with the Ethernet cord to the charger. I have done that with no problem. My computer is wireless connected with a verizone card. I load up the msvue and search for device with error of ip address cant be found
Thanks

Not sure about all the morningstar controllers, but many don't have an ethernet connection, only an RJ-11 for the external meter.

If that is the case for yours, I think you are missing at least one more important piece of hardware. You need the Morningstar PC meterbus adapter. It connects to a com port on your computer and the box has a RJ-11 connector to connect to the morningstart controller. That's how you "talk" to it. the kit comes with a RS232 cable and RJ-11 cable as well.

You don't connect directly with an ethernet cable!! That port on the morningstar is NOT a ethernet connection, it's a RJ-11 connector (phone) normally used to connect to the external meter.

and since most computers no longer have a com port, you'll need pcmcia or express card or USB to com port adapter.

Without the meterbus adapter and com port you MSview won't find the controller.

Luckily, the RS232 SW in the meterbus adapter seems to work well with RS232 (com port) emulators, something not all older stuff designed for com port connections normally do.

To use MSView you may need to adjust some of the dip switch settings as well in order to connect to MSView rather than the RJ-11 thinking it is talking to a remote meter.

Then once it is connected, you'll need to go into the pc control panel and hardware settings and set the com port to the baud rate, parity, stop bits. etc. that are given in the manual with the meterbus adapter. IIRC it is 9600baud, 8 data bits, 1 or 2 stop bits, no parity, no HW flow control. Then in MSView you may need to select the com port the adapter is connected to.

Now, once you are connected to the controller via the meterbus adapter and MSview, I believe that you could then monitor it over the internet wired, or wireless with MSView on another computer as long as that computer knows what the host computer has for an IP address setting for the MSview.

BTW morningstar has a 66 page document on networking and communications with controllers. Don't have a link but I did download a copy for reference.

If your controller does have a true ethernet connection, then in MSView you will need to use the MSView remote TCP settings. And I think in that case you will also need to use a crossover cable or a regular ethernet cable and a hub.

Chris Bryant wrote:
OK- I'll go back to the beginning-

That's a good place to start before allowing remote access.

OP, is the LAN or wired connection disabled or enabled?

Control panel, network connection, right click on the wired connection, if Enable shows up it is disable!

LittleBill wrote:

you would need to set the laptop NIC to something other then "192.168.1.253"

I find this less than useless. :?

This may be helpful

TriStar MPPT Networking Companion Document

Well I bought a crossover cable and also had found on page 52 fig5-3 that a cross over cable is needed.still not working. I haven't tried without internet. I will tomorrow. I want to be able to be anywhere and wirelessly run the program and check out the system with a laptop.

So here is what I have and perhaps someone can give me instructions on how to connect my laptop with the Ethernet cord to the charger. I have done that with no problem.

The way I read the post is that he has connected to the controller with the wired connection but not with the wireless connection - I might be wrong but it's the way I read the post. The controller has a static IP address and may or may not be setup as the manual states. Connect to it via the RS232 interface take a look see at the IP configuration and go from there.

Guess we need more info from the OP
As I stated connection to the controller either via RS232 or Ethernet is really a very simple process. MSView with the TS MPPT 60 will work either way MSLoad requires a RS232 dedicated connection.

OK- I'll go back to the beginning- I don't use Windows, but I imagine if the OP always uses the wireless interface, the wired interface is not enabled. I would plug in the controller, go in to the network setup, and see if the wired nic even is there, and if it is, what the IP address is. If the computer is set to dhcp, it could be on a different range or subnet. I know a lot of my routers default to 192.168.0.1 as a gateway.

Used the abbreviation "RTFM" for the past 40 years

**** Thanks for the GigE support *****

Now if we can get the OP to give us a bit more info
We will find connection to the controller is really very simple

Page 52 of the manual indicates the ip to use, if dhcp is not present

Factory Default Network Settings
DHCP enabled
Live View Web Address http://tsmppt + serial number **
IP 192.168.1.253 (if DHCP is not enabled)
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.1.1
Primary DNS Server 169.254.1.1
MODBUS TCP/IPTM Port 502

people need to read the manuals. took me about 12 seconds to find this info

you would need to set the laptop NIC to something other then "192.168.1.253"

any gig capable port has auto crossover built in. i haven't used a crossover cable in years

its built into the standard for GIG-E

"Although the Gigabit crossover is defined in the Gigabit Ethernet standard, in practice all Gigabit PHYs feature an auto-MDIX capability and are designed for compatibility with the existing 100BASE-TX crossovers. The IEEE-specified Gigabit crossover is generally seen as unnecessary."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_crossover_cable


like usual GDE has no idea what the heck he is talking about

Hi Gdetrailer

Just saying from my experience - nothing else, just my limited experience
All the GigE NIC interfaces I have seen incorporate the auto detect function
Even the cheapo Dell Studio Laptop picked up from Costco a few years back has the function

Back to the OP"s issue
The MS MPPT 60 requires a static IP interface it does not accept DHCP served addresses - As I read the problem he can and has connected via a hard wired connection and is looking to connect via a wireless connection. My guess he needs additional hardware to complete the interface