Does the Bluetooth Smart Dongle have significantly better range than the built-in Bluetooth of Smart Solar or BMV-712?
asked
Bluetooth Dongle VS built-in Bluetooth
Generally speaking, yes.
The Bluetooth Dongle has excellent range (for bluetooth), and because of its cable, it is able to be placed and adjusted (orientation matters too), to give the best unobstructed line to the phone/receiver.
Because of the additional Bluetooth range that you mentioned, I was thinking about installing the Bluetooth Dongle to my MPPT SmartSolar 100/30 charge controller.
If I do connect the dongle to the VE Direct connector, is there another way to also connect a Victron Energy Smart Battery Monitor to the system.? I currently have the battery monitor plugged into the VE Direct connector on the charge controller.
Somewhere I read that its important to pay attention to the orientation of the Bluetooth Dongle. I believe it implies that one can connect further away from the dongle if the dongle is installed in a certain direction.
Can anyone shed some light on this issue?
Sorry @HHALEY, I do not understand what you mean when you say you have the battery monitor plugged into the VE.Direct port of the Charge controller?
What are you trying to do there?
When I bought my equipment from the AltE Store, in addition of the charge controller SmartSolar 100/30, they sold me a battery monitor. It is not the bluetooth version. The battery monitor plugs into the VE Direct Port that I am now using for the Bluetooth Dongle.
I know it may be a bit redundant having the battery monitor but I have it installed inside a weatherproof case outside the cabinet that contains the solar system equipment and its nice to be able to walk up to it and see the battery voltage.
Here's a link to the battery monitor on Amazon.
One thing I noticed today is that the battery monitor seems to work just fine without being plugged into the VE Direct port. Perhaps my question is moot. I just thought the battery monitor needed the VE Direct port to operate properly.
I tried it and the Bluetooth dongle has about the same range as the built in Bluetooth (BMV 712). Very disappointed. However, if it can be moved to a location with less structural blockage, it works better. I may try moving it to the fridge hood area (travel trailer). I wish it was waterproof.
Hi @mdbrown - something to be aware of and experimented with is the orientation, up/down/left/right of the dongle, it is not a uniform broadcast even in all dimensions.
Some angles will be stronger than others.
Waterproof would be nice, but potting it is putting something else between the radio signals and your phone, so is not as straight forward and would further impact range and performance.
I want to be able to reliably monitor the BMV via my iPhone, from the front seat of my tow-vehicle. It's only about 25 feet away from the BMV, but there are windows, vehicle skin, and multiple trailer walls intervening. It's reliable from the back seat, but not from the front. Is Victron using only Bluetooth v2.1? Bluetooth 5 (LE) is said to cover 4-10 times as far. I'm perfectly OK with more power consumption.
