Ok Geeks who BBQ on BGE Cooker types

emilluca

Who is geek enough to use the Stocker and what are your thoughts. I love the idea of network support for monitor and upgrade. I do a lot of cooks on Sunday AM while I am at church. Between service and Sunday school the abilty to check out what is going on is interesting.
The abilty to vist at a friends house that is close and use thier broadabnd to watch over dinner or supper seems to be a good thing. Sure would like to know the broswer that work with the software. I use a Nokia N800 for a pocket PC and it would be great if the builtin Mozilla browser works.

E

Grillin Guy

I must not be a geek cause that sounded just like the noon news from Mars to me. :laugh:

WileECoyote

I have been wondering about the Stoker as well. I read a few decent reviews online but they didn't really go into a lot of detail about the PC functions.

I use several PDA / Cell Phone / Pocket PCs which are running Windows Mobile 5/6 and I was wondering how practical the Stoker really is for remote viewing and control. I also wonder what ports/protocols need to be open for the application to pass data to/from the web, and does it cause any driver conflicts or bugs on the PC.

I have used a lot of custom hardware and software including devices which I built or modified and firmware configurations which I customized. My experience so far has been that most really cool special-purpose hardware tends to have second-rate drivers and very little if any support for advanced configuration and modification.

I would really like it if the Stoker was totally open to programming from several platforms including hyper-terminal and Visual Basic. Some functions which would be cool: send status updates via text messages at certain intervals or milestones, generate multiple graphs as images and post them to a hosted FTP account for remote viewing, generate a customized status report and have it sent as a file attachment via HTML email, enable full control of the cooker via a simple HTML interface, integrate with a web cam to include snapshots of the egg in the status reports, etc. etc.

It would also be nice if it could all of the above without being tied to a PC. Make it a stand-alone product similar to IP cameras. Then maybe add a full color remote control infrared camera with PTZ controls... :ohmy:

TNmike

Did ya'll think about reservations at a nice reser- resrtaunte- oh heck I can't spell it-- place The fun is being able to smell the smoke. Thanks for the tch's helping an old man survive in today's world. TNmike

Grandpas Grub

WileECoyote,

Are you serious about all that?

There are a couple of people here on the fourm that are doing most of what you are asking.

If you call Rock, he will set up a stoker and open a port up so you can play with everything.

A fellow by the name of Amir has a lot of this remote control done and it is free to download and use.

Several people have posted copies of their cook temps both pit & food.

I have some links availalbe if you want them.

Kent

Grandpas Grub

This will do what your are asking.

A while back I had the 700 and as I recall it would see the stoker. I don't remember if the Linux would control the stoker or not. I think the Nokia 800 has imporved software I am not sure about the browser.

As I told WileE above if you call Rock at Stoker he will set up and give you and IP adddress so you can control a Stoker, change temps and watch the results.

I think someone has developed a text message program that can be sent to a cell phone or other device.

There is someone here on the fourm that is writing some software for the stoker also.

A fellow named Amir has a very nice independent software for the Stoker. I believe there is a link on the Stoker Website.

TNW has a good review of the Stoker and DigiQ2.

After the first while using the Stoker I don't think there will be much chainging of temps remotely.

It is very nice to just mouse over to a setting and type in what you want. You also see all the set temps, working temps on one screen from anywhere you have wi-fi access.

GG

emilluca

Sounds like I nedd to do a test drive. I do agree IP camera and all the extra's would be great. What a tool for a dealer. If only we had smell o vision also.
Boys just like thier toys.
E

UnConundrum

Stoker is a great tool. It can be controlled from the unit, with a small, back lit lcd display (which will scan through the current temps if you so desire), a built in web server, or telnet. The telnet controls are still under development and somewhat buggy. You can observe pretty dependably via telnet.

The web page would be available anywhere within your home network. You have to have some networking knowledge to access the Stoker through your home firewall; some have had difficulties with this....

StokerApp is a great tool to use with the Stoker, but it's Windows only. We're working on a platform independent tool but it needs a lot of work yet. You can play with it at
http://stoker.unconundrum.com I'm hoping we'll have some more time next week to play with it some more. Need a fan display and some actual alarms (audible, email, twitter, IM, etc....) FWIW, we did throw together a simple iPhone version as well, but it can't control, only observe.

tach18k

Try looking at a SlingBox, you can access any video source from anywhere on the internet, including Directv

Grandpas Grub

I like your screen setup and appreciate your efforts.

GG

Grandpas Grub

It appears there are a number of people working on using the telenet info provided by the Stoker.

Here is a link to the WMS 'Automatic Tempeture Control Systems'

This is the front door to a lot of different posts. You can jump into any of the specific threads. Some of these threads are very techie.

Look at posts by 'Amir' or referencing 'Amir' for logging and programing software for the Stoker on a windows based system. There you will find the download links.

http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/9270072103

Amir's software works and is an ongoing work based of peoples requests and suggestions for improvement.

On this forum UnConundrum is working on his own project also.

GG

WileECoyote

Thanks for the links and info on the software projects. The way I see it: if you are going to get a temp. controller with a computer interface then you might as well go all the way and get one with robust software to take advantage of the PC interface.

I downloaded Amir's program to my laptop (I am currently traveling) but noticed that it requires the .NET Framework v2.0 and I try to avoid installing that package on my PCs unless I really need it and will use it often. It is a bloated install which can cause conflicts and rollback issues in addition to exposing you to additional security vulnerabilities. Also, I probably couldn't do very much with Amir's program without a Stoker. I may try to install it later on my other PC which already has the required programs. Custom programs that run as stand-alone executables are OK but most of these home-grown programs tend to be buggy and poorly supported.

My preference would be to write my own software; probably with VBA in Microsoft Excel. This would allow me to take advantage of the built-in chart, graph, and data functions in addition to using VBA which would provide fully contained open source code that others could modify as needed. This would also avoid the complicated installation process and minimize security / support issues. Anyone could use or edit the reports as long as they had Microsoft Excel, which most people do these days.

If I decide to get a Stoker then I will post some info once my program is ready for sharing. If anyone is familiar with a detailed review of Amir's program then please provide a direct link. I checked some of the other links but couldn't find much other than discussion of specific bugs or functions.

WileECoyote

tach18k wrote:

Try looking at a SlingBox, you can access any video source from anywhere on the internet, including Directv

I had a Slingbox once and sold it. I didn't like the limited options for controlling the video feeds and related devices, and I think it required me to subscribe to their service which is ridiculous. Much easier to just run your own media server and install your choice of video cards / software. I plan to do that soon to monitor my security system anyway so I can just add an egg feed into the video sources.