Status pin clarification

[FACE]

Moving right along…
I made the change to port 81. Compiled and uploaded without errors.
I filled in all the blanks in the MDO iPhone software and everything checked out fine.

*********************************************************************************************************************
IMPORTANT FIND FOR EVERYONE ELSE
When you enter the URL in the MDO software, you MUST list the port number after the URL.
If you don't you will get an error that says "Response Parsing Error"
Make sure the URL line is set up like this http://xxxx.noip.com:81/
My url was with no-ip.com and my port is 81 Make sure you change it to what yours actually is.
*********************************************************************************************************************

My computer is actually in my garage, so I am sitting here with the garage door open as I do all this.
I launch the MDO software. It refreshes and shows a green light with a picture of my open garage door.
I hit the picture and the close button comes up. I hit close and BANG my door closes!! Awesome!!
Not so fast. As soon as the door is closed, my Arduino and the Relay board and the AC adapter start the flashing like they did in the
beginning in the video I posted.
The problem occurs when the door sensor is made. So somewhere in that area of the circuit lies my problem.
Faulty sensor? No. UNLESS, I have the sensor on the wrong pins? Take a look at the attached picture.
Thoughts?

I am so close I can taste it.

[support]

The URL format you have posted (http://xxx.yyy.zzz:port/) is exactly the format we have
documented in our Tutorial PDF under the "iPhone Configuration" section. You must have not
saw that. Hope you didn't spend too much time with that ...

As for your sensor issue, you probably have the wires on the wrong pins. First off, what type
of sensor are you using? Not sure about your picture ... What's that red mark that looks like
a drawn jumper ?

The circuitry for status sensing is very simple. Have a wire run from A2 to GND. When this
loop is closed, the system knows the door is closed. When this loop is opened (broken), the
system knows the door is opened.

Not really sure how those inner BLUE/RED/BLACK pin blocks work. May I suggest you
connect to the BLACK GND and A2 connectors along the side of the board instead ...

Try that out and see if that works.

[FACE]

I soldered the wires onto the A2/GND on the side of the board. Everything is functioning 99.9%.

I have taken pictures of my garage door in the open/closed state for the MDO app to utilize accordingly.
My door opens and closes now with the software. However, it always shows that it is open.

I can close the door and it still indicates that it is open with the green light (so to speak) in the app.
I hit close again, just per what it is showing me, and it opens fine. The functionality is there 100% but
the indicator whether it is open or closed is stuck on open. Even if I do a manual refresh.
I have it set to refresh on open, close, and at app launch.

By the way the sensor is a standard magnet sensor.

[support]

When you say it always shows the door as "Open", do you mean it displays the photo
associated with the "Open" state at all times, even when closed, or is only the little
"dot" that's always green instead of being red when open and green when closed ?

If it's always displaying GREEN + always displaying the OPEN photo, it means your
status sensing circuitry is not properly wired and your gear is always reporting OPEN.

If the photo is right, but only the green "dot" is screwed, that means you've messed
the iPhone config and need to make sure you've assigned a different color for "open"
and "closed" states.

[FACE]

As far as the photos, I took a picture of my door in the open and closed state
so I could assign it properly in your app. They are assigned properly.

The "dots" red, yellow, and green are assigned properly and only have
one instance of each.

The door status is always open. Meaning, it shows the green dot always along with my picture of the open door.
To actuate the door, from within the app, I am always opening the door. In other words it never says that it is closed.
It all works fine, except there is always a green dot and a picture of the open door.

If it's always displaying GREEN + always displaying the OPEN photo, it means your
status sensing circuitry is not properly wired and your gear is always reporting OPEN.

I'm not sure how I could have wired the status sensing circuitry wrong. A2 and GND.
Any idea what I could have possibly done wrong to get this result?
I connected the wires to the side of the board as advised.

Because I seem to not always have the proper words, take a look at this video and you'll see
exactly what is going on. http://youtu.be/__bMDzsrmq4

[FACE]

Something else I just checked… If I remove the door sensor from the equation completely, just let the bare wires hang from the relay,
The same thing happens except it always shows the door as being closed. Still with full functionality.

In the INO file I have it set to normally closed.

[support]

Not sure I understand ... The sensor circuitry doesn't involve any relay ... You say that you let the bare wires hang "from the relay" ...

You probably mean you let them hang connected to A2 and GND but not to your sensing device ... Correct ? If that's the case, then everything
is working as expected. The status sensing circuitry is expected to work as described in many previous posts, such as the following:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=108

If you touch the wires connected to A2/GND together, you'll have status == CLOSED, if you take A2/GND apart, you'll have status == OPENED.

Your status sensing device should do just that. Think of it as the following ...

You install a "magnet" type alarm sensor and have the wires A2 and GND connected. When the door is closed, current flows between A2
and GND. When the door is opened, one half of the magnet will go up with the door, therefore breaking the flow of current between A2
and GND, and therefore will report an "OPENED" state.

Try touching A2 and GND and see if you get a different status than when A2 and GND are not linked together ... If you are, everything is
working as expected and it's your sensor that's not setup correctly.

Hang in there, you're sooooooo close !

[FACE]

I completely got what you said. Again, I spoke incorrectly, but yes, the wires I had hanging off the relay were hanging off A2 and GND.
Everything I know told me it was a bad sensor, or something after the circuitry anyway. I tested it with a meter several times. It functioned properly.
After your response, I decided to check it again. Clamped the leads on the wires of the sensor and it checked good gain. At that point, I decided to replace
it anyway since I bought a 5 pack of these sensors. When I started to unscrew one of the screws holding the sensor on, I saw the meter fluctuate. I played with it some more and
again, simply by tapping on it with the screwdriver, it was fluctuating. OMG… an intermittent sensor problem. I can't explain how pissed I was, and how happy I was at the same time. I replaced it and beat on it with my screwdriver and the new one didn't fluctuate at all.
I made all my connections back at the circuit end and EVERYTHING is working 100%.

This has been an excellent learning experience for me. As simple as all this is, to many above my pay grade, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.
Yan, I know you're out there somewhere, Thank you, and thank you to the support person(s) that were extremely patient with me during this learning experience.

I will do my best to pay forward all the help that you've patiently given me. Now, I'm just going to go sit in the driveway and play with my door.

[support]

You're most welcome. Glad everything is working out for you. Your efforts and patience have paid off!

[FACE]

Just got done installing everything into a nice little project box.
Thought you guys might like to see it. I added a light pipe and installed it right
over the power on LED of the relay board. Turned out good.
Thanks again for all the help.