Want to convert TTL to Ethernet advice needed

Electronics
1

Hi I use a small pc to control my heating system plus recording and analysing solar energy and usage data. I collect this data from an EmonTX device which has a TTL output.
I use a TTL to usb converter and read the data into the PC Virtual serial Port.
This has been working fine for ten years now But I need to move the PC away from the EmonTx device and I can’t just use an extended USB cable as it’s too awkward, so I want to
Covert TTL to ethernet or usb to ethernet.
I have played around with a TTL to Ethernet converter but as the software provided was in Chinese I didn’t get anywhere. I need something that will provide a webpage on the device that my software can scrape.
If any one has done something similar I would be grateful for some advice.

Thanks

Mike

2

maybe something like usbip will work. Tutorial – USB/IP » Linux Magazine

3

I have not done anything similar but found this interesting:
https://emoncms.org/

Seems that the V4 controller can post data to a web server and that would give you a simple remote connection to analyze the data.

Depending on how far you have to go, you could add a differential line driver and receiver to a CAT5 cable and extend the TTL signal. Then put the USB converter at the other end?

4

Thanks I’m looking at the tutorial now. Not understanding much of it unfortunately. It seems to be only useful for Linux?

5

Thanks for you suggestions
I have an EmonTX V3 and it has no working connection other than the TTL output unfortunately.
Although I have cat 5 cable to where i want to put my PC it’s used for the Network so no actual spare cat 5 to that point.

6

ah, so the small PC is running a Microsoft OS. There are a handful of commercial USB-to-IP software and hardware solutions for Windows. The hardware versions seem to be in the $50-$200 range and software in the low end of that. A quick search turned up an open source implementation for Windows but I have no idea if it works or how well it works. Linux-only PCs here.

7

In your network setup do you have any spare pairs you could use?

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8

I have done plenty of such conversions in the industrial field, and the two options I found the most reliable are:

Lantronix UDS1100 - Serial goes in. Ethernet comes out. They supply a virtual serial port for use under Windows so your software doesn’t know it’s there. For the occasions you need a non-windows machine to talk to the field hardware, you can set up another UDS1100 at the machine end to convert back to serial in what they call “Tunnel” mode. They can be picked up second hand on ebay for under $50.

A company called Moxa make a similar device called “Nport” that I have had minimal experience with, but seem just as reliable and look to be a little cheaper. Unsure if they have the software options and virtual port of Lantronix though as most of the units I came across were in tunnel mode.

We stopped using them once we discovered the Freewave family of wireless hardware. I just looked them up and an FGR2-PE-U (you would need two of them) can be picked up even cheaper. These units are overkill for what you want, but they will do the job cheaply without needing to run an ethernet cable.

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