# Creating a monitoring station from hivetool app



## ksirovy (Mar 26, 2013)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Hi,

I'm glad you mentioned this, I was checking into trying this myself, figured somebody had already tried it. I would be very interested in this project. I see the main one is Pella Iowa. One big tulip festival there!


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## v45 (Apr 1, 2012)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

I am very interested in the same type of monitoring system, I was getting hung up on programming load cells. I like the scale you bought 

Hopefully more will chime in

Sorry I'm not much help with programming I work more on the hardware side.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

If you look thru the list of hardware in use there, the My Weigh HD300 attached to the WRT160NL is my setup. I'm doing it slightly different than the folks at hivetool, because I have the gear to do it this way. I have an embedded linux load running on the wrt which is out at the hive, kitted out with a serial-usb to hook up to the scale, with the wifi running as a client on the house network rather than as an access point. Scripts on there pick up the weight once every 5 minutes, and send that into the house over the wifi link, where it goes into a mysql database on a server in the closet. I've got another setup collecting weather data, which also has a totally unrelated gadget attached, an all-sky camera in use for my astronomy hobby addiction.

The first year I ran it, I bumped into a bunch of physical problems with the setup, which caused the scale to reset regularily. The scale itself is considerably smaller than the bottom board of a hive, and in strong winds the hive would sway considerable, eventually the scale would reset from the swaying. I also had another problem, eventually tracked down to a defective power cord which also caused a considerable number of resets.

We moved last summer, and all the setup has changed considerably now. I've got the hives in a fairly sheltered spot, so wind wont be a problem anymore, and I've fixed one bottom board with a few slats to be a good fit on the scale. It's not running right now, but one of the to-do items for next weekend will be to get the scale back under a hive and start logging data again. I bought the scale specifically for this project, got this one instead of the CWPlus everybody else uses, because it was available from a Canadian supplier, saves a lot on shipping and customs. The rest is all stuff I had kicking around from other projects already.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

I'm doing something like it, but my approach would probably be a turnoff for anyone who isn't an electronics nut.

Well, shucks, the ULI data acquisition system would have been good. I was just discussing designing my own with a friend who does this sort of thing. There are lots of single-channel dataloggers in this world. There are a couple of 4-channel ones like HOBO. I bought an 8-channel a couple of years ago for under $300 but it turned out to be useless junk. Arduino (like Rasberry Pi) has a few analog channels but they're only 10-bit, which is rather marginal. My UEIDAQ logger can go to 96 channels but it is too expensive for most people.

I can make a bee scale from a $21 Walmart digital bathroom scale, but the electronics are not something most of you would want to tackle. If my friend and I can get something engineered, maybe it can be made available either for a system he's designing or for Arduino hardware (very popular and inexpensive). I see a problem with many of those scales. Most of them want to be zeroed when they turn on. That feature will need to be defeated and they'll need either good temperature stability or good temperature compensation to work outdoors with a load continuously on them.

Taking apart a bathroom scale, all you want is the load sensing feet. On Health-O-Meters and some other brands these are discrete little pucks you can install under your bottom board, giving the correct support for a hive. The scales are 330 lbs and the feet should be able to take somewhat more than that without damage, if loaded evenly. That would fix a problem grozzie2 saw, but probably introduce several others (like needing to build the electronics).


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Grozzie2,

All-sky camera, eh? Sounds like fun. I've got a photovoltaic pyranometer, and am building a thermopile pyranometer, to integrate with a weather system for my system, but a camera would be a cool addition for cloud sensing. For sensing clouds after dark, I like using my thermal imager, but Forrest Mims has a cheaper option using the guts of one of those non-contact infrared thermometers. It was developed specifically to detect clear skies for astronomy.

There was mention on the links above of using a microphone. I plan to stick one in each hive, and try a little apidiction. FFT software to pick out the frequency peaks is easy now, but it would be way cool if this could run automated.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*



Phoebee said:


> and they'll need either good temperature stability or good temperature compensation to work outdoors with a load continuously on them.


I solved this problem by building up temp compensation parameters. Shortly after I got the scale, I left a known fixed weight on it for 3 weeks, then did another 3 weeks with a much heavier weight. I logged temperature and weight on 5 minute intervals over those periods. From that, I got a pretty good set of correction factors.

BUT, in reality, it turns out that what I'm most interested in, is not an exact weight, just how much it's changing over time. So, if things wander a bit due to temperature is not a big deal. If the reading goes up by 10lb in a day, do I really care about the difference between 10.00 and 10.17 (temp corrected data). No, not really. Different story if you are gathering data to forward on to larger scale research projects like honeybeenet etc, but for my own use, I'm quite happy without temp corrections.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*



Phoebee said:


> Grozzie2,
> 
> All-sky camera, eh? Sounds like fun.


It is fun. Mine is astronomy oriented, and actually to sensative to use for daytime, the sensor reaches full saturation on exposure times less than the shortest I can do with it. But for meteor detection, it's the cats meow. Glueing a full night of frames together ends up with this.

http://youtu.be/9-FL_brgZ6M

That particular video is 15 second exposures, but the youtube encoding essentially destroys the true quality of each frame.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Exactly what I intend to do. I like your approach. I need to try these while it is still cold. Time to stop putting it off. Now, where did I put those strain gage conditioner amplifiers?


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*



grozzie2 said:


> It is fun. Mine is astronomy oriented, and actually to sensative to use for daytime, the sensor reaches full saturation on exposure times less than the shortest I can do with it. But for meteor detection, it's the cats meow. Glueing a full night of frames together ends up with this.
> 
> http://youtu.be/9-FL_brgZ6M
> 
> That particular video is 15 second exposures, but the youtube encoding essentially destroys the true quality of each frame.


Kewl. I've done some time-lapse with a DSLR piggybacked on an 8" Celestron, but that wide-angle lens does spectacular work. My 18-55 zoom can't do that.


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Just for the record, the majority of what's been put in this thread is over my head  But I appreciate the efforts to let me know of your own endeavors.

The hardest part I'm having right now is getting the hive scale to actually talk to the Pi (or my computer, for that matter). Once I get there, the rest of it should be a simple programming matter (at least I hope). The website makes it sound very simple, with just two lines of code to get the scale to return a value. It doesn't say anything about changing settings on the scale, or having difficulty getting it to communicate with the computer. The settings aren't default on the scale, so they had to change the scale's settings. Seems a little odd.

Anyone who's actually used the Adam Equipment CPWplus200 scale, and can give me some thoughts on connecting it using the 232 connector, would be greatly appreciated.

Other than that, I'll keep everyone updated on the progress (once it happens).


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*



Specialkayme said:


> Just for the record, the majority of what's been put in this thread is over my head  But I appreciate the efforts to let me know of your own endeavors.
> 
> The hardest part I'm having right now is getting the hive scale to actually talk to the Pi (or my computer, for that matter). Once I get there, the rest of it should be a simple programming matter (at least I hope). The website makes it sound very simple, with just two lines of code to get the scale to return a value. It doesn't say anything about changing settings on the scale, or having difficulty getting it to communicate with the computer. The settings aren't default on the scale, so they had to change the scale's settings. Seems a little odd.
> 
> ...


I have not used that scale, but I've used RS-232 to talk to similar devices. For such a simple interface, there are about a thousand ways to mess it up and one way to get it right. Plus, Microsoft built a moat around their port structure years ago ... what had been simple suddenly became an ordeal, wandering thru the guts of an operating system akin to a haunted forest.

If nobody else who knows the scale offers, ping me on PM and I'll see if I can do some remote troubleshooting.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Is it a serial/USB connection? You need to get a key wedge for the scale to talk to the computer, about $40 for a software wedge or if the comp runs mobile windows there's a free one. You need to configure the port with scale to match parity and baud rates as well


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*



Phoebee said:


> If nobody else who knows the scale offers, ping me on PM and I'll see if I can do some remote troubleshooting.


Thanks for the offer. Hopefully someone will know what needs to be done. If not, I'll be PMing you.


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*



JRG13 said:


> Is it a serial/USB connection?


The scale has an RS-232 output, and I got an RS-232 to USB Adaptor to hook up to the USB port of the Pi/my computer.



JRG13 said:


> You need to get a key wedge for the scale to talk to the computer, about $40 for a software wedge or if the comp runs mobile windows there's a free one.


And . . . . you lost me. What's a key wedge?



JRG13 said:


> You need to configure the port with scale to match parity and baud rates as well


Been working on that. As far as I can tell, it's 8 bits no parity with 9600 baud, which is what I think is right. But there's about 3 other settings to the scale that I don't know what they are, or what they do. All in all there are probably about 600 combinations of settings (between parity, baud rates, hold functions, ect.). As was said before, all I need to do is find the right one.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Yeah, you got it. Plus several connector standards, flipped vs unflipped cables, handshaking lines, and a couple of settings on your computer put there just for added confusion. Welcome to RS-232. But it generally will work eventually if you don't go mad first.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

You just need to configure the port to match the scale or ask the manufacturer what the proper settings should be. The scale I use is set to 7 bits. You most likely need drivers for a virtual com port if you are using a USB adapter. The key wedge simulates keystrokes from the balance to the computer. Most people wont tell you or know that you need a key wedge to get data into excel etc... Unless you use mscomm and Vba to programmatically retrieve data. With a key wedge, just set the scale to auto print at whatever interval you like.


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## db_land (Aug 29, 2003)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Have you tried connecting the scale directly to your computer (not the Pi) using a serial port? The computer should be able to at least detect it and/or try to communicate with it.


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Tried that, still no such luck.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Mine isn't the CWPlus, but, it has similar protocols. Default out of the box, it talks some form of binary protocol, but, by stepping thru a couple configuration options it was easy to put it in 'dumb' mode. Once in that mode, just send a carraige return to the scale, and it responds with a weight reading. 9600 baud, 8 data, no parity, no flow control. Most scales should have a setting that puts it into a similar mode.


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## villagefool (Apr 17, 2012)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Hi,

This is [email protected]

I just found this thread on trying to use hivetool. I am sorry you have had problems.

If you are still interested, help on the scale is here:
http://hivetool.org/w/index.php?title=Scale_Communication
(If the link doesn't post, on the hivetool wiki, search for scale communication

I suspect you need a null modem.

I will be glad to assist you anyway I can. Please email me at [email protected]
My email is listed at the bottom of the main page on hivetool.org and in the answer to Q1 on the FAQ page on hivetool,net

I try to respond to all emails within 24 hours.

Again, sorry you had problems.

--Paul


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## Anatoly_N (Dec 1, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Doe's this scales tolerate constant wight on it? As i understood, regular wight scales(personal) do not tolerate constant-longterm wight.


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## villagefool (Apr 17, 2012)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Please define "regular" weight scales (different manufactures use different technologies) and cite any references you have to intolerance to long term loading. (I'm trying to learn as much about scales as possible.)

I have not seen any issues with constant long term loading of the Adam Equipment CPW200plus. There is nothing in their manual warning about this. It uses industry standard parallel beam load cells. Not all load cells are created equal. The specs to check are creep, temperature stability, and return to zero. The C2 class load cells have too much temperature drift. Class C3 cells are much better.

You may be interested in our latest development efforts at http://hivetool.org/w/index.php?title=Frameless_Scale There is an assembly manual (still working on it) and a parts list with suppliers and part numbers. We are working on a Developers Kit that will be sold at cost and will contain the special order items.

It is my understanding based on conversations with Dr. Esaias (NASA's HoneyBeeNet) that the USDA hive scales use the same parallel beam load cell technology. I believe they use a single point design (one load cell, 200 kg) whereas the CPW200plus and the Hivetool scales use four 50 kg load cells.

The problems we have had with the CPW200plus are recovery from power failures (they have 6 AA batteries that will keep the scale going for 10 to 20 hours). Once the scale turns off, it must be manually turned back on and may zero, in which case the hive must be removed, the scale zeroed and the hive replaced (real pain). Other problems are power consumption (they draw as much power as the Pi and the rest of the sensors - not good for solar powered systems), and shutting down with VERY high (condensing) humidity.

We have been very pleased with scales based on the HX711 board. We are able to resolve to .01 lbs (versus .1 lb with the CPW200plus). We are planning to replace the electronics in the CPW200plus installations with the HX711 board to eliminate the problems with recovery from a power failure and to reduce the power consumption. Resolving down to .01 lbs is a bonus.

Always test the scale by loading them with a dead weight and monitor it for days or weeks. DO NOT use anything that can absorb moisture like wood, cement, or rock. I use a steel anvil and barbell weights. Even a wooden bottom board will change weight with humidity when resolving to 5 grams. It is good to run the test in an area with wide temperature swings. Temperature drift is more of a problem than creep as we are mostly interested in the daily delta (change). After a few weeks, remove the weight and check the return to zero.

The scale should be calibrated once a year. Calibration can be checked in the field by measuring a small addition in weight (5 lbs) as we are most interested in the delta.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

I need to get back to my project to convert electronic bathroom scales to automatic hive scales.

I ripped apart three inexpensive scales last winter, and did some dead weight tests on them in the garage, over a range of temperatures. The feet are the load sensing elements and they appear to be simple strain gage elements. Based on that I expected them to have some temperature drift, but did not expect a "scale factor" (sensitivity) shift with temperature. But I did find a scale factor shift, which may make them useless. 

Bathroom scales normally set zero load every time you start them up, so zero drift is not a problem for them. If zero drift is just dependent on temperature, if you also measure temperature you can compensate for it. But if the sensor itself drifts for other reasons these cheap scales may not work for hive scales.

Good quality strain gage load cells should show neither effect to any serious degree, but you would need 4 load cells, at maybe $150 each. I was trying to get by with parts from a $20 scale.

A friend of mine is working up some inexpensive A/D boards to connect to these. The project has been on hold for the summer. These use an analog to digital converter with built-in processor, programmed in a very old language called Forth.


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## LanduytG (Aug 29, 2013)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Villagefool

Where did you get the load cells?

Greg


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

VillageFool, I really like those rails you built. I wouldn't mind buying a set. Maybe three sets if I like the first.

I've got a Seeeduino Mega and what was purportedly a load cell amplifier I bought for my project, but have something that should be better cooking.


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Hopefully I am not the only out here that would love to monitor a hive for things like internal temp, ambient temp, weight and humidity BUT I have no...absolutely no...technical knowledge, experience or inate skill...computers are still magic to me. I have no idea what the components discussed are far less how to set them up.

Is anyone out there able and willing to post a how to page...a very specific and step by step list of hardware, software and instructions.

Like...you purchase A, B , C from...., then you hook up A to B with C cable plugged into a certain hole slot on A etc etc.
I and I expect others would be very grateful


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*



Phoebee said:


> But if the sensor itself drifts for other reasons these cheap scales may not work for hive scales.


look at the load cells they use, then pull the data sheets on them. You will likely find they drift with temperature, and humidity. I got reasonably good results from mine over the summer just compensating for temperature, but I'm finding now with winter here, I'm seeing some strangeness, that may be humidity related.


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*



villagefool said:


> You may be interested in our latest development efforts at http://hivetool.org/w/index.php?title=Frameless_Scale There is an assembly manual (still working on it) and a parts list with suppliers and part numbers. We are working on a Developers Kit that will be sold at cost and will contain the special order items.


That's looking really nice. I think I'm going to have to jump on that setup.



WBVC said:


> Like...you purchase A, B , C from...., then you hook up A to B with C cable plugged into a certain hole slot on A etc etc.
> I and I expect others would be very grateful


If it was truely that easy, it would have been done long ago, but it isn't quite so simple. There is a lot of information on how various folks have cobbled them together over at hivetool.org, but the general trend is pretty clear. Folks with a background in doing this kind of tinkering, have cobbled together systems which end up being 

a) not cheap
b) rather finnicky to keep going

But, with the progress in the link above, and the availability of inexpensive compute systems these days, I think the time is coming soon when it will be easy.


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

Can't wait



grozzie2 said:


> That's looking really nice. I think I'm going to have to jump on that setup.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

The big mystery is the load cells. All the bill of materials says is that they are $4. The scales I've been pulling apart each have four load cells, with a total scale cost of about $21, so obviously it is possible to make load cells that cheaply. But the ones I've got are pulling some shortcuts ... they behave roughly like "half bridge" cells with 1000 ohm gages, but looking at them I can see that there is something peculiar about them. They should have a gage on either side of the cantilever element, but they have a device on only one side.

Plus, the delicate wires on these are proving to be a mess to connect to.

I have made sensors of this type in the past, applying strain gages to beams, but the gages cost $5 or so each, and you need two per element to get the low drift properties we want. If somebody can mass produce the cell for $4 and make them work right, this is a price point that can't be ignored.


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## LanduytG (Aug 29, 2013)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*



Phoebee said:


> The big mystery is the load cells. All the bill of materials says is that they are $4. The scales I've been pulling apart each have four load cells, with a total scale cost of about $21, so obviously it is possible to make load cells that cheaply. But the ones I've got are pulling some shortcuts ... they behave roughly like "half bridge" cells with 1000 ohm gages, but looking at them I can see that there is something peculiar about them. They should have a gage on either side of the cantilever element, but they have a device on only one side.
> 
> Plus, the delicate wires on these are proving to be a mess to connect to.
> 
> I have made sensors of this type in the past, applying strain gages to beams, but the gages cost $5 or so each, and you need two per element to get the low drift properties we want. If somebody can mass produce the cell for $4 and make them work right, this is a price point that can't be ignored.



I have 10 of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-pcs-x-50K...308?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item339047988c that I bought last month. They are half bridge cells, but the issue I have is they are not so easy to mount. I like the idea of the parallel load cells. Much easier to mount. I think I might get some of these to try.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parallel-Be...152?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27e6185248

Greg


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

*Re: Creating a monitoring station from hivetool.org*

That second load cell does look like a really good form.

I'd want to see more specs on it. 40 kg is about 88 lbs. Four of those could easily weigh a hive, but I'd be concerned about damage when moving the hive. If you managed to tilt a 150 pound hive onto one foot during handling, that might damage the load cell.

The ones I am taking from the bathroom scales are also a pain to mount. You have to cut the entire scale foot, a molded plastic assembly, off the scale, because there is no way in heck to mount them otherwise. All you can do is glue the assembly down.


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## LanduytG (Aug 29, 2013)

I just ordered some aluminum c channel from McMaster Carr. I have and idea on how to mount the ones I have. They will rest in a notch on the open side of the channel. This will give the cell plenty of room for movement. I also have some 3/16 poly carbon that I will use for the platform.

Greg


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## villagefool (Apr 17, 2012)

WVBC said "Is anyone out there able and willing to post a how to page...a very specific and step by step list of hardware, software and instructions."

PLEASE review: http://hivetool.org/w/index.php?title=Assembly_Manual

I think this is exactly what you are looking for. It may not be quite there yet, but it is supposed to be step by step instructions that a gifted 10 year old or average 15 year old can follow. I would really appreciate feedback from non technical folks.

On the load cells. After some googling, and Dr. Esaias's help, we found a manufacture in China producing Class C3 load cells for $3.80 each. We made some modifications - increased the cable length from 42 cm to 1 m so there would be no splicing (added 20 cents), and changed the mounting holes on one end from two M6 to one M8 hole that would accommodate a leveling foot (no charge). We have received 40 of these for testing. They have being sent out to developers. Initial test data meets or exceeds our expectations. 

The problem is shipping was as much as the load cells so now we are up to $8 each (still not a bad deal) and the company didn't take Paypal. We found a small Chinese electronic distributor on EBay that is willing to play ball. So we Paypal the money to her, she pays the manufacturer and ships us the load cells, HX711 boards and a few other cables, for a 10% fee.

We are trying to set up an arrangement where the HX711 boards are modified (the metal shield and screw terminal block connectors are soldered on in China), all the other Chinese parts are gathered and put in the box with the 4 load cells, and then shipped directly to you from China using ePacket (very low shipping rates). IMHO, it doesn't make sense to ship all the stuff to the US, put together the kits, and then ship it back out. For instance, it is VERY expensive to ship from the US to Australia, but very cheap to ship to Australia from China.

Hopefully, the kits will be the first step toward manufacturing a complete scale in China.

At the bottom of this page http://hivetool.org/w/index.php?title=Interface_the_DCT_HX711_to_Pi is the original load cell (CZL602X) spec sheet. CZL602XK is the part number for the load cells with our mods (longer cable, one bigger hole.) Alas, we have a way to go to hit any quantity price breaks - they start at 2000 units...

We are planning to soon order 100 to 200 load cells. I am hoping the shipping will be $100 to $200 ($1 each or a total cost of $5 each per load cell delivered to the US). These will be sold at cost (plus a voluntary contribution to the Center for Honeybee Research (a 501(c)(3) organization that has helped fund our research) as a "developers kit". Calling it a developers kit is sort of CYA so folks don't get pissed off that they have to put it together. See:

http://hivetool.org/w/index.php?title=Developers_Kit

Hivetool is an open source project - no secrets. I have no problem with disclosing vendor contacts, I just don't want to deluge these folks in China with a bunch of questions and individual orders. I think it is better having them deal with a single contact. I have no profit motive, I just want to get units in the field and get the data rolling in. so the real fun can begin!

--Paul ([email protected])


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## LanduytG (Aug 29, 2013)

Well I got my aluminum channel today, so I started in right away on my scale. I have half of it complete using the load cells I already had. I cut 2 14" long pieces and a 1/2" in from each end I notched the channel to the size of the load cell. Not having a mill I did this in a vise with a rotary burr and a flat file. The notch is a bit deeper than the load cell is thick. To level the load cells with the top of the channel I used a bead of JB Weld putty. T hen bedded the load cells in it and pushed them down so they came even with the top of the channel. I will let this set up then clean off the excess JB Weld with a file. Now to make the other beam after supper. I will take picture and post them later. Waiting for my HX711 to come in. Can't wait to see if it works. The only issue I'm having is how do you wire up 4 3 wire cells?



OK, here are some pics of what I did. Notch channel to hold load cell. Notch a bit deeper than the cell is thick. Then use JB Weld putty to level the cells with the top of the channel.

Will finish putting it all together tomorrow.


Greg


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

villagefool said:


> WVBC said "Is anyone out there able and willing to post a how to page...a very specific and step by step list of hardware, software and instructions."
> 
> PLEASE review: http://hivetool.org/w/index.php?title=Assembly_Manual
> 
> ...


Yes..that is the type of thing. Must admit I am much older than 15 years old and have post bachelors education but my eyes started to glaze over when it started on about "setting load limits" without specifics. Sent it on to my daughter and son in law who are both in medical residency programs and have some skill in building stuff. I'll see if it makes step by step sense to them. Now everyone will realize why I left purchasing this type of gagetry...though building would boost my self-esteem


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## villagefool (Apr 17, 2012)

LanduytG said:


> The only issue I'm having is how do you wire up 4 3 wire cells?
> Greg


See this article 
http://www.instructables.com/id/Motivational-Bathroom-Scale/?ALLSTEPS
about 1/3 way down there is a schematic in Step 10. I've not tried any three wire load cells, but it makes sense.

--Paul


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## villagefool (Apr 17, 2012)

WBVC said:


> Yes..that is the type of thing. Must admit I am much older than 15 years old and have post bachelors education but my eyes started to glaze over when it started on about "setting load limits" without specifics.


Sorry about that. The instructions are not finished yet! I'll try to fill in the gaps in the next day or so.

--Paul


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## LanduytG (Aug 29, 2013)

villagefool said:


> See this article
> http://www.instructables.com/id/Motivational-Bathroom-Scale/?ALLSTEPS
> about 1/3 way down there is a schematic in Step 10. I've not tried any three wire load cells, but it makes sense.
> 
> --Paul



Paul
Thanks for the link. This is the best I've seen that actually made sense. I will be giving it a try later today. 

Greg


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

Sorry it took me so long to post back on here. I've been in the middle of a few things, and it was difficult to get my head back into the "hive scale" arena. 

So, here's where I'm at:
The pi and the Adam scale took quite a bit of maneuvering to get the two to talk to each other. I realize it's all located here: http://hivetool.org/w/index.php?title=Scale_Communication but at the time I couldn't find it. Anyway, after I got a null modem, it finally started getting straight. I could get the scale to talk to the pi and give the weight.

Win.

Step two involved getting the information to log onto a USB stick. The thought was to use 2 USB sticks. That way I could go to the yard and pull one out and insert the other and take the one that was in the pi back inside to log the information. Seemed simple. Wrong. I was working with a guy from this site that was helping me do the programming (I know little to none of it). The programming ended up getting way over my head (as if it wasn't already) where if the pi registered one USB stick, it would log the information onto the stick, if it registered two USB sticks, it would unmount all USB sticks so I could safely remove the one with data on it, and if there were no USB sticks, it would shut down. When I started using this programming, I was using it on a 7 port powered USB hub, and everything started going haywire. The pi would suddenly claim there was no USB stick in there (even though there was) and shut down, or it would keep running but wouldn't log any data. 

I decided to say screw it with the complicated programming, and instead used cron. Cron would perform 4 functions: 1) mount the USB stick, 2) read the weight from the scale, 3) save the weight on the USB stick, and 4) unmount the USB stick (and then repeat every 5 min). But it isn't working right either. I don't know why. Either the USB stick isn't properly mounting, or some other nonesense. I don't know.

I never got to the point of the thermometer. 

Because the hivescale I'm using is outside of the range of the home's wifi, and boosting the range that far may exceed the cost of the scale itself, I think it would be easier to get it to record on a USB stick. But I don't know, could be wrong.

Help?


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## LanduytG (Aug 29, 2013)

I should have my scale completed tomorrow. I'm just waiting on some metal to finish it. I now I'm installing all the software onto the PI. Its all gone well til now. Doing the "sudo mkdir /home/hivetool/home/downloads" Comes up and says mkdir: cannot make 'home/hivetool/home/downloads' no such file or directory. Anyone have any ideas on whats going on?

Thanks
Greg


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## bend or (Aug 5, 2009)

For those who have scales under hives, how did they preform over the summer, were they reliable?


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