Smart plug in your hangar?

JCranford

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JCranford
Anyone have a smart plug that you can control via smartphone app in your hangar to turn on heaters and such before you arrive? Heat up those avionics and the cabin before you get there?
 
If you get wifi at your hangar WeMo is really the way to go, I have their products for quite a few things around my house, works on normal wifi (encryption if ya want) and doesn't require a proprietary hub or anything, access from your phone or computer via their free service.

They also have full on outlets too


http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F7C063/
 
If you get wifi at your hangar WeMo is really the way to go, I have their products for quite a few things around my house, works on normal wifi (encryption if ya want) and doesn't require a proprietary hub or anything, access from your phone or computer via their free service.

They also have full on outlets too

I have a high gain antenna on a WiFi repeater in my hangar to borrow the FBO wifi, this lets me run an outlet like this, and more importantly a temperature/humidity sensor so I can have a pretty graph of how things look inside.
 
If you're willing to do a bit of work, you can buy the parts for GSM (the messaging board), heavy duty 110v cords & plugs, case, etc. and build your own.

http://www.gsm-auto.com/

Or, do what many of us did - bought a Switchbox.
 
As you probably already gathered... if you don't have internet at the hangar the switchbox is the way to go.

But then, you're in North Texas. It's only a couple of months a year to put the blanket over the cowl and drop in a shop light. That's how the club I flew with in St. Louis got around the cold issue.
 
As you probably already gathered... if you don't have internet at the hangar the switchbox is the way to go.

But then, you're in North Texas. It's only a couple of months a year to put the blanket over the cowl and drop in a shop light. That's how the club I flew with in St. Louis got around the cold issue.

Yeah, the plane has a Tanis installed. I was thinking more about a cockpit heater I don't want on all the time. I suppose a shoplight on all the time would still suffice huh?
 
I use the TP-Link brand smart plugs(HS100 or HS110) to control the Tanis heater. I previously used Wemo, but I got ticked that you can only remotely control Wemo at one location (ie I can't have Wemo at the home and the hangar). I'm not sure if TP-Link supports multiple locations either, but now I just use Wemo at home and TP-Link at the hangar.
 
Yes, I had a Tanis and I've done two different schemes over the years to turn it on.

Scheme #1: Go to your favorite home center and get a mechanical line voltage thermostat (such are sold for electric baseboard heaters). I connected that to a plug and socket and then plugged it into a 7-day intermatic (anti-burglary) timer. I turned it on on Fri/Sat/Sun at 2AM and the thermostat limited it to only days it was below 45 or so.

Scheme #2: Was to buy the device called a GSM Auto. It has two relays and a cell phone that you can send text messages to. You have to build your own plug/receptacle for it. This is essentially the same unit that one of the boardies pops in here selling. It works well enough

NOTE WELL: my GSM auto, like any cell phone didn't work worth squat with the hangar doors closed (entirely metal hangar). Fortunately, I had an extension cell phone antenna lying around from another product. I stuck it out the eaves of the hangar so it was in the clear air.
 
I have a high gain antenna on a WiFi repeater in my hangar to borrow the FBO wifi, this lets me run an outlet like this, and more importantly a temperature/humidity sensor so I can have a pretty graph of how things look inside.
Would you mind sharing which WiFi repeater you use? Distance from the FBO building? Is your hangar built with wood or all steel?
 
Would you mind sharing which WiFi repeater you use? Distance from the FBO building? Is your hangar built with wood or all steel?

I believe it's between 1200 and 1800 feet because I'm not sure what access point I'm hitting. I don't think it's at their building but maybe another set of hangars(the 1200 foot one), maybe even less than that, I need to do a proper survey one of these days because I only have good signal about 90% of the time. I'm on the FBO side of a steel T-Hangar, the antenna right now is inside.

The repeater is actually a Raspberry Pi using its internal wireless to provide hangar coverage and monitor the attached temp/humidity sensor. The remote is an Alfa Wireless AWUS036NHA USB adapter with an Alfa 9dBi omni antenna on it. I tried a directional antenna but I couldn't get the aim consistent enough. The whole assembly is on a 10' PVC pipe to get it above the plane.

I knew I had a chance since my phone can see the FBO wireless from outside but can't usually connect to it.
 
I use a switchbox. Its more than paid for itself in just the few trips I avoided having to make only to plug the plane in.
 
Yep I have 2 Wemos... one for my engine heater and one for my 175,000BTU heater for hangar.. They require Wifi but I just added a Verizon Novatel router on my plan for $20 a month.. That gives me enough bandwidth to run 2 nest cams and the 2 memos... oh and update my GPS card with the cheap computer I keep there..
 
I use the TP-Link brand smart plugs(HS100 or HS110) to control the Tanis heater. I previously used Wemo, but I got ticked that you can only remotely control Wemo at one location (ie I can't have Wemo at the home and the hangar). I'm not sure if TP-Link supports multiple locations either, but now I just use Wemo at home and TP-Link at the hangar.
I have my wemos setup at 3 different locations Hangar, Home, and our business.. The trick is to create a separate Wifi SSID for the Wemos.. then uncheck the "remember wifi settings" on the app.. you start having issues when your phone is connected to the same SSID as the Wemos.. example.. I have my main Internet at home called Piper.. then an SSID named Service.. Wemos are on service and everything else is either on Piper or my Guest Network.. works great this way.. It drive me insane trying to figure this out when I first bought all the Wemos!
 
I believe it's between 1200 and 1800 feet because I'm not sure what access point I'm hitting. I don't think it's at their building but maybe another set of hangars(the 1200 foot one), maybe even less than that, I need to do a proper survey one of these days because I only have good signal about 90% of the time. I'm on the FBO side of a steel T-Hangar, the antenna right now is inside.

The repeater is actually a Raspberry Pi using its internal wireless to provide hangar coverage and monitor the attached temp/humidity sensor. The remote is an Alfa Wireless AWUS036NHA USB adapter with an Alfa 9dBi omni antenna on it. I tried a directional antenna but I couldn't get the aim consistent enough. The whole assembly is on a 10' PVC pipe to get it above the plane.

I knew I had a chance since my phone can see the FBO wireless from outside but can't usually connect to it.
Thanks for the info!

We are also in a steel T-Hangar and facing the small FBO building. By my guess its only a little over 100yds. However, the crappy little wifi router doesn't seem to crank out enough signal for my phone to connect standing just outside the hangar, let alone inside. I think I need to kick off a discussion with the airport manager regarding upgrading to something more powerful. One thing I like is when you pull up to ramp and your tablet picks up the wifi from the FBO and your wx and other stuff updates without having to shut off the plane and go in. So maybe I could make that a selling point as well. Heck, at this small airport you could even activate a flight plan and then quick taxi and departure! Also, several people at the little airport leave stuff plugged in all the time. You would think if they could get wifi out there, more people would remotely turn stuff on/off. But then there is the security element and who starts dealing with that.

Otherwise I am leaning towards @Indiana_Pilot's approach. Just add a wifi hotspot and then I can also mount a camera, motion detector and a few remote plugs. If I do this, I would want to put some it in a enclosure and maybe a light bulb to keep it from plunging down to -30F, frosting up, etc.
 
By my guess its only a little over 100yds.

I personally use the Ubiquiti gear at home and the airport FBO seems too as well. But if they want a cheap way to put wireless outside, I'd consider one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-UAP-AC-M-US-Unifi-Access-Point/dp/B01N9FIELY even includes the power injector, just get a cable from the existing router to it. Will require a Java app to set it up, but it's not needed for continued operation except to change settings. Ideally you could then use another one out at the hangars to retransmit the signal.
 
Yeah, the plane has a Tanis installed. I was thinking more about a cockpit heater I don't want on all the time. I suppose a shoplight on all the time would still suffice huh?


Although you may still want your Tanis to be remotely controlled, I find a little el cheapo space heater will get the cabin up to T-shirt temp in the amount of time it takes to pre-flight the plane.

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It was in the 30s this morning, and has been 10-25°F for the last week. My hangar is not insulated, not heated, and has cracks between the doors you can stick your arm through, so the plane was frigid. I threw this little guy in the floor, and by the time I did a good pre-flight, it was tropical in the cabin. Added about 15 seconds to my routine. Your mileage may vary, but it just doesn't get cold enough for long enough around here to mess with a wifi/remote doohickey for cabin heat. However, it would be nice to have my oil pan heater on a remote.
 
I personally use the Ubiquiti gear at home and the airport FBO seems too as well. But if they want a cheap way to put wireless outside, I'd consider one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Ubiquiti-UAP-AC-M-US-Unifi-Access-Point/dp/B01N9FIELY even includes the power injector, just get a cable from the existing router to it. Will require a Java app to set it up, but it's not needed for continued operation except to change settings. Ideally you could then use another one out at the hangars to retransmit the signal.

So do I!! I have their hardware at home, business and Hangar!
71564137cdd370723c18f882ad900f82.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
So do I!! I have their hardware at home, business and Hangar!
Me too. I've got six access points. One AC Pro in the hangar, one in the existing work room, one in the far corner of the pool room and one in the new living room area. There are two outside mesh access points, one on the party deck and one on the back wall of the hangar.

Yes there's a 24 port POE/Gigabit switch along with the Edge router talks to the POS Actiontek Century link router stuck in bridge mode.
 
I use the TP-Link brand smart plugs(HS100 or HS110) to control the Tanis heater. I previously used Wemo, but I got ticked that you can only remotely control Wemo at one location (ie I can't have Wemo at the home and the hangar). I'm not sure if TP-Link supports multiple locations either, but now I just use Wemo at home and TP-Link at the hangar.

I have a couple of HS100 switches at home and one of their limitations is that they will not connect to an access point that requires browser based authentication. When a prospective client device tries to access such a connection it receives an HTML response asking for a password instead of the handshake/password from a typical router/access point connection. This is important to me because the only wifi signal at my hangar is from an Xfinity/Comcast public hotspot which requires browser based authentication.

Are the Wemo switches able to connect using browser based authentication? Or any others that you know of? I've looked into a number of brands online and none discuss this limitation...including TPLink with their HS100. It is only discussed in the documentation that came with the switches.
 
I use the self configured GSM relay - no WiFi in the hangar. Biggest thing to watch out for on those is ensuring you have cell service. I had an older one that operated great until, they took down the 2G service about 2 years ago. I had to replace it with a newer one. Works great, call the plane, turns on the pre-heater, txt the plane turn on ceramic heater, send another txt turn on 100 watt light under cowling.

Switchbox is a great product out of the box. The other option is to build your own - save some money (but spend more time). Good luck!

Dean
 
I have a couple of HS100 switches at home and one of their limitations is that they will not connect to an access point that requires browser based authentication. When a prospective client device tries to access such a connection it receives an HTML response asking for a password instead of the handshake/password from a typical router/access point connection. This is important to me because the only wifi signal at my hangar is from an Xfinity/Comcast public hotspot which requires browser based authentication.

Are the Wemo switches able to connect using browser based authentication? Or any others that you know of? I've looked into a number of brands online and none discuss this limitation...including TPLink with their HS100. It is only discussed in the documentation that came with the switches.
You need a travel router. They are built for that. I used one similar to this, when I was basically living out of hotels 70% of the time:
https://smile.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Tr...515082420&sr=8-1&keywords=travel+wifi+netgear
 
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