- Apr 5, 2009
- 232
For anyone wondering, I got a $15 USB to RS-485 adapter. I was able to control the Aqualink RS system using the free One Touch emulator from Jandy's site. This is comparable to the AquaLink RS PC-Computer Interface/Docking Station, except it's $15 on EBAY instead of $200 from Jandy. The software is doing all the legwork. The data that I read off the the serial port with a serial port sniffer was not the simple ascii commands that I had hoped for as documented in the manual for the $400 AquaLink RS Serial Adapter. With the more expensice adapter, the adapter is doing the translation. The simple ascii commands are translated by the serial adapter into a confusing mix of ascii and hex, so that your software doesnt have to. If money was no object, that would be the converter to get and you can write a simple program that sends and receives the simple commands. However, I like the $15 price tag much better, so if I can figure out the protocol, it should open doors for web based programs, phone apps, and all the home automation stuff that we can imagine. If anyone wants to peak at a dump of the data, send me a PM and I'll happily email it.