This site is now in read-only archive mode. Please move all discussion, and create a new account at the new Victron Community site.
My smartshunt works fine using the VictronConnect app, but I cannot see to connect it via bluetooth to my new Ekrano GX (Cerbo GX). Is it possible or do I have to run physical VE.direct cables?
It would be a great shame if the BT connectivity was not available between Victron devices!
Thank you,
greg
Bluetooth is not for connecting devices to a GX. This is documented. The GX is about wired connections as BT is not reliable for larger system use.
I tried to find some documentation, but failed. My Ruuvi's are connected to the Cerbo via BLE, and I'm quite happy with that. Perhaps it could be considered for read-only, non-safety critical applications where the wiring is a real PITA (especially as VE-direct uses a connector that was designed for internal PCBA harnesses, not as an external customer-facing connector)?
I since saw the announcement that @mvader (Victron Energy) made in 2021 ( https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/93919/victron-bluetooth-ble-protocol-publication.html ) and then followed up in 2023 ( https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/187303/victron-bluetooth-advertising-protocol.html ) so I will continue in that thread as it seems like development efforts are ongoing to make this possible, even if not quite yet.
@Greg Johnson The manual might not specifically state Bluetooth does not work, but nowhere in the manual does it state that you can connect that way. The chapter on connecting Victron equipment to the Cerbo only details wired connections and does not mention Bluetooth.
There are no plans to support bluetooth as a means of a GX coordinating its devices. BT is for small systems and vesmart networking, which should not be mixed with wired, as it can cause conflicts.
Ruuvis and Mopeka are supported as sensors, but on most GX's, requires a dongle.
The rest of the integration is for local connectivity to VictronConnect for management of supported smart devices.
@pwfarnell I suppose I conflated the Victron and non-Victron supported BLE. It looks like Victron equipment can broadcast with BLE to any equipment _except_ Victron GX gear, and Victron GX gear can listen to BLE broadcasts from Ruuvi and Mopeka. I imagine I'm not the only person who finds this confusing?
@nickdb thanks for the clarification. My cerbo GX and ekrano GX seem to work great with my Ruuvis (much easier than purchasing LM335s and wiring them too!) and don't need any kind of dongle - what is that dongle for? Is it a BT-USB adapter for other GX units?
It looks like my workaround is to enable SignalK with the victron BLE module and use SignalK as my dashboard.
Or just do the wiring work for VE.direct...
Appreciated the quick replies - thank you!
In some cases the marketing team has gotten ahead of the technical team in some of the documentation... it is documented that the Cerbo/Ekrano BT is not for connection to Victron Smart devices, but unfortunately it's buried in footnote 4 of the tech data at the end of the manual rather than being a big note right at the top - people have been understandably confused by that limitation since pretty much day 1 of the Cerbo release.
