ensor eRS801 (Switzerland)

[Ibis3D]

Hi everybody
I installed amsreader-firmware on an ESP32C3-DevKit and connected it to the eRS801 from Swiss company ensor. Unfortunately, I get a "HAN: Unknown data received, check meter config" error. I'm a little confused about the different standards and formats available. The port should follow the DSMR 5.0 P1 standard. My electric company told me that they can set the output format to "HEX" or "ASCII". At the moment it is set to "HEX" and I get the following data from the telnet debugging.

(W) Unknown data received
(V) payload:
(V) 3F BF FF CF C3 DF C3 FF CF DB DF FF C3 FB FF DF
(V) 7F 8F EC 3C FF DF FB C3 FB DB FB E3 E3 FF C3 EF
(V) 7F 8F B8 C3 FB CF FB C3 FB C3 E3 DB FF C3 EF CF
(V) DF CF CF CF E3 C3 E3 DF EF EC 0C FF C3 FB EF FB
(V) FB CF FB CF E3 DF CF DF FF DF FF DF E3 DF DB DF
(V) E3 EF 7F 8F EE C3 FB CF FB E3 FB CF E3 C3 C3 C3
(V) C3 E3 FF FB DF F3 FB FB FF FC EF EC 3C FF C3 FB
(V) CF FB E3 FB DB E3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FB E3 FB C3 FB FB
(V) FB FF FC EF EC 3C FF C3 FB DB FB E3 FB CF E3 C3
(V) C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FB C3 C3 C3 FB FF FC EF EC 3C FF
(V) C3 FB DB FB E3 FB DB E3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FB C3
(V) C3 C3 FB FF FC EF EC 0C FF C3 FB EF FB FB CF F3
(V) FB C3 E3 C3 C3 C3 CF EF 7F 8F EE C3 FB CF FB FF
(V) FB C3 E3 C3 C3 FB DB FF EF FB FF EF EC 3C FF C3
(V) FB DB FB FF FB C3 E3 C3 C3 FB C3 C3 C3 FB FF EF
(V) EC 0C FF C3 FB EF FB FB FF FB DB CF E3 C3 C3 C3
(V) C3 CF EF 7F 8F B8 C3 FB EF FB FB FF FB EF E3 C3
(V) C3 C3 C3 CF EF 7F 8F EE C3 FB EF EF FB EF FF FB
(V) C3 E3 CF EF E3 C3 FF C3 FB EF FB FB FF FB CF EF
(V) EF E3 DB FF C3 EF C3 CF CF CF CF EF DB E3 DF 6F
(V) DB FF FF FF EF FF C3 E3 EF 7F 8F EE C3 FB DF DB
(V) FB DF DB FB C3 E3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 EF 7F 8F EE C3
(V) FB FF DB FB DF DB FB C3 E3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 EF 7F
(V) 8F EE C3 FB FF DB FB DF DB FB C3 E3 C3 C3 C3 C3
(V) C3 EF 7F 8F EE C3 FB DF DB FB DF FB FB C3 E3 C3
(V) C3 C3 C3 C3 EF 7F 8F EE C3 FB FF DB FB DF FB FB
(V) C3 E3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 EF 7F 8F EE C3 FB FF DB FB
(V) DF FB FB C3 E3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 EF 7F 8F B8 C3 FB
(V) EF FB FB CF DF FB C3 E3 EF 7F 8F EE C3 FB DF DB
(V) FB FF FB C3 E3 DB DF FF FB C3 FB FB EF EC 3C FF
(V) C3 FB FF DB FB FF FB C3 E3 DB DF DF FB F3 FB FB
(V) EF EC 3C FF C3 FB FF DB FB FF FB C3 E3 DB DF F3
(V) FB FB FB FB EF EC 3C FF C3 FB DF CF FB FF FB C3
(V) E3 C3 C3 C3 FB 0F EF EC 3C FF C3 FB FF CF FB FF
(V) FB C3 E3 C3 C3 C3 FB 0F EF EC 3C FF C3 FB FF CF
(V) FB FF FB C3 E3 C3 C3 C3 FB 0F EF EC 3C FF C3 FB
(V) DB CF FB FF FB C3 E3 C3 C3 FB C3 C3 F3 FB FF EF
(V) EC 3C FF C3 FB F3 CF FB FF FB C3 E3 C3 C3 FB CF
(V) DB EF FB FF EF EC 3C FF C3 FB FB CF FB FF FB C3
(V) E3 C3 C3 FB CF DB FF FB FF EF EC 3C FF C3 FB DB
(V) DB FB FF FB C3 E3 C3 C3 FB C3 C3 C3 FB FF EF EC
(V) 3C FF C3 FB F3 DB FB FF FB C3 E3 C3 C3 FB C3 C3
(V) C3 FB FF EF EC 3C FF C3 FB FB DB FB FF FB C3 E3
(V) C3 C3 FB C3 C3 C3 FB FF EF EC 0C FF CF FB DB F3
(V) FB CF FB C3 E3 EF 7F 8F B8 CF FB EF FB FB CF FB
(V) C3 E3 EF 7F 8F B8 CF FB DB F3 FB DB FB CF E3 C3
(V) C3 C3 CF C3 CF C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FF 6F C3 C3 C3
(V) C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FB C3 C3 C3 C3 EF 7F 8F B8 DB FB
(V) DB F3 FB CF FB C3 E3 EF 7F 8F B8 DB FB EF FB FB
(V) CF FB C3 E3 EF 7F 8F B8 DB FB DB F3 FB DB FB CF
(V) E3 C3 C3 C3 CF C3 CF C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FF 6F C3
(V) C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FB C3 C3 C3 C3 EF 7F 8F B8
(V) DF FB DB F3 FB CF FB C3 E3 EF 7F 8F B8 DF FB EF
(V) FB FB CF FB C3 E3 EF 7F 8F B8 DF FB DB F3 FB DB
(V) FB CF E3 C3 C3 C3 CF C3 CF C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FF
(V) 6F C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FB C3 C3 C3 C3 EF 7F
(V) 8F B8 F3 FB DB F3 FB CF FB C3 E3 EF 7F 8F B8 F3
(V) FB EF FB FB CF FB C3 E3 EF 7F 8F B8 F3 FB DB F3
(V) FB DB FB CF E3 C3 C3 C3 CF C3 CF C3 C3 C3 C3 C3
(V) C3 FF 6F C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 C3 FB C3 C3 C3 C3
(V) EF 7F 8F EC F3 FF DF 7F 8F
(E) Ended up in default case while unwrapping...(tag 3F)

I also connected a logic analyzer and got the same data. Does this data make any sense? Should I ask my electric company to change the output format to "ASCII"? Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

Kind regards,
Daniel

[ArnieO]

I'm a bit reluctant to spend time on debugging DIY implementations, as there is so much that can be wrong; thank you for your understanding.

And I understand your meter is an Ensor eRS801, which is a meter we have not seen before. Unfortunately, each meter manufacturer have their own payload format, so it is possible the format from your meter must be implemented in our code - but the extremely long debug output does not make sense.

Is the meter encrypted?
Do you have access to technical information from your grid company, with information on the interface?

A schematic of your interfacing with it towards your ESP32C3-DevKit will also be needed.

If you can provide all this, I'll have a look at it.

[Ibis3D]

I understand that you don't have much time to debug DYI implementations, so I really appreciate your help. As mentioned, I read the same data with a logic analyzer directly connected to the RJ12 port on the meter. The data shown in the debug output is really what is coming out of the meter. So I don't think that this is a hardware problem. My schematic looks like this:

                                                    ES32-C3-Mini-1
  Smart Meter P1 Port                              ┌────────────────────┐
      RJ12 (6P6C)                                  │                    │
┌──────────────────────┐                           │                    │
│ Pin 1: +5V Supply ───┼────────────────┬──────────┼─► 5V               │
│                      │                │          │                    │
│ Pin 2: Data Request ─┼────────────────┘      ┌───┼─► 3V3              │
│                      │                      ┌┴┐  │                    │
│ Pin 3: Data Ground ──┼────────────────┐     │1│  │                    │
│                      │                │     │0│  │                    │
│ Pin 4: Not used  ────┼─X              │     │k│  │                    │
│                      │                │     └┬┘  │                    │
│ Pin 5: Data  ────────┼────────────────)──────┴───┼─► GPIO10           │
│                      │                │          │                    │
│ Pin 6: Power Ground ─┼────────────────┴──────────┼─► GND (G)          │
└──────────────────────┘                           │                    │
                                                   └────────────────────┘

Source: https://github.com/maximevince/Simple-DSMR-P1-meter

The meter is not encrypted. The best documentation I could find is this one:
https://www.ewb.ch/media/docs/pdf/diverses/Dokumentation_DSMR_P1_Schnittstelle.pdf
It specifically mentions that the eRS801 is following the DSMR P1 standard, and the technical details are 115'200 Baud, 8N1.

From a friend I know what the output looks like if it is set to "ASCII".

/ESR51030010000000

1-3:0.2.8(50)
0-0:1.0.0(07E9090B0409161E00FF8880)

... more OBIS codes as described int the linked document

So my question remains: Would it help to set the output to "ASCII" or can the firmware somehow decode the "HEX" format that I have at the moment? As I understand it, the DSMR P1 standard defines the output as "ASCII", is that right?

Best regards,
Daniel

[ArnieO]

Excellent input!

• It could be helpful for the debugging to set the output to ASCII, as it could be easier to see where the problems start.
• Our experience is that 10k pullup to 3,3V is too weak for some meters. We have not tested our Pow-P1 on your meter brand, model - but if I were you I would start by replacing the pullup with a 3k resistor and see what that does.

[Ibis3D]

Solved, thank you!

I changed the pull-up resistor to 3.3k and now it is working. As I was receiving data, I would have never guessed that a wrong resistor was the problem. So I think you can add the Ensor eRS801 to the list of supported devices 😉
Here is the correct data from the logger:

 Received valid DSMR at 0 +1032
(D) READY to update (internal clock 13:12:51 UTC, meter clock: 13:13:27, list ty                                                     pe 4, est: 0, using clock: 0)
(V) DSMR frame:
(V) 2F 45 53 52  35 31 30 33  30 37 31 32  33 35 30 36
(V) 37 33 0D 0A  0D 0A 31 2D  33 3A 30 2E  32 2E 38 28
(V) 35 30 29 0D  0A 30 2D 30  3A 31 2E 30  2E 30 28 32
(V) 35 30 39 31  34 31 35 31  33 32 38 53  29 0D 0A 30
(V) 2D 30 3A 39  36 2E 31 2E  31 28 33 31  33 35 33 35
(V) 33 38 33 32  33 38 29 0D  0A 31 2D 30  3A 31 2E 38
(V) 2E 31 28 30  30 30 30 38  36 2E 32 31  34 2A 6B 57
(V) 68 29 0D 0A  31 2D 30 3A  31 2E 38 2E  32 28 30 30
(V) 30 30 38 37  2E 35 36 31  2A 6B 57 68  29 0D 0A 31
(V) 2D 30 3A 32  2E 38 2E 31  28 30 30 30  30 30 30 2E
(V) 30 30 30 2A  6B 57 68 29  0D 0A 31 2D  30 3A 32 2E
(V) 38 2E 32 28  30 30 30 30  30 30 2E 30  30 30 2A 6B
(V) 57 68 29 0D  0A 30 2D 30  3A 39 36 2E  31 34 2E 30
(V) 28 30 30 30  32 29 0D 0A  31 2D 30 3A  31 2E 37 2E
(V) 30 28 30 30  2E 34 39 36  2A 6B 57 29  0D 0A 31 2D
(V) 30 3A 32 2E  37 2E 30 28  30 30 2E 30  30 30 2A 6B
(V) 57 29 0D 0A  30 2D 30 3A  39 36 2E 37  2E 32 31 28
(V) 30 30 30 30  31 29 0D 0A  30 2D 30 3A  39 36 2E 37
(V) 2E 39 28 30  30 30 30 31  29 0D 0A 31  2D 30 3A 39
(V) 39 2E 39 37  2E 30 28 31  29 28 30 2D  30 3A 39 36
(V) 2E 37 2E 31  39 29 28 32  35 30 39 30  31 31 31 31
(V) 39 32 38 53  29 28 32 37  35 37 39 37  30 38 29 0D
(V) 0A 31 2D 30  3A 33 32 2E  33 32 2E 30  28 30 30 30
(V) 30 30 29 0D  0A 31 2D 30  3A 35 32 2E  33 32 2E 30
(V) 28 30 30 30  30 30 29 0D  0A 31 2D 30  3A 37 32 2E
(V) 33 32 2E 30  28 30 30 30  30 30 29 0D  0A 31 2D 30
(V) 3A 33 32 2E  33 36 2E 30  28 30 30 30  30 30 29 0D
(V) 0A 31 2D 30  3A 35 32 2E  33 36 2E 30  28 30 30 30
(V) 30 30 29 0D  0A 31 2D 30  3A 37 32 2E  33 36 2E 30
(V) 28 30 30 30  30 30 29 0D  0A 30 2D 30  3A 39 36 2E
(V) 31 33 2E 30  28 29 0D 0A  31 2D 30 3A  33 32 2E 37
(V) 2E 30 28 32  33 35 2E 33  2A 56 29 0D  0A 31 2D 30
(V) 3A 35 32 2E  37 2E 30 28  32 33 34 2E  35 2A 56 29
(V) 0D 0A 31 2D  30 3A 37 32  2E 37 2E 30  28 32 33 35
(V) 2E 30 2A 56  29 0D 0A 31  2D 30 3A 33  31 2E 37 2E
(V) 30 28 30 30  30 2A 41 29  0D 0A 31 2D  30 3A 35 31
(V) 2E 37 2E 30  28 30 30 31  2A 41 29 0D  0A 31 2D 30
(V) 3A 37 31 2E  37 2E 30 28  30 30 30 2A  41 29 0D 0A
(V) 31 2D 30 3A  32 31 2E 37  2E 30 28 30  30 2E 30 37
(V) 34 2A 6B 57  29 0D 0A 31  2D 30 3A 34  31 2E 37 2E
(V) 30 28 30 30  2E 32 36 32  2A 6B 57 29  0D 0A 31 2D
(V) 30 3A 36 31  2E 37 2E 30  28 30 30 2E  31 36 30 2A
(V) 6B 57 29 0D  0A 31 2D 30  3A 32 32 2E  37 2E 30 28
(V) 30 30 2E 30  30 30 2A 6B  57 29 0D 0A  31 2D 30 3A
(V) 34 32 2E 37  2E 30 28 30  30 2E 30 30  30 2A 6B 57
(V) 29 0D 0A 31  2D 30 3A 36  32 2E 37 2E  30 28 30 30
(V) 2E 30 30 30  2A 6B 57 29  0D 0A 30 2D  31 3A 32 34
(V) 2E 31 2E 30  28 29 0D 0A  30 2D 31 3A  39 36 2E 31
(V) 2E 30 28 29  0D 0A 30 2D  31 3A 32 34  2E 32 2E 31
(V) 28 30 30 30  31 30 31 30  30 30 30 30  30 57 29 28
(V) 30 30 30 30  30 30 30 30  2E 30 30 30  30 29 0D 0A
(V) 30 2D 32 3A  32 34 2E 31  2E 30 28 29  0D 0A 30 2D
(V) 32 3A 39 36  2E 31 2E 30  28 29 0D 0A  30 2D 32 3A
(V) 32 34 2E 32  2E 31 28 30  30 30 31 30  31 30 30 30
(V) 30 30 30 57  29 28 30 30  30 30 30 30  30 30 2E 30
(V) 30 30 30 29  0D 0A 30 2D  33 3A 32 34  2E 31 2E 30
(V) 28 29 0D 0A  30 2D 33 3A  39 36 2E 31  2E 30 28 29
(V) 0D 0A 30 2D  33 3A 32 34  2E 32 2E 31  28 30 30 30
(V) 31 30 31 30  30 30 30 30  30 57 29 28  30 30 30 30
(V) 30 30 30 30  2E 30 30 30  30 29 0D 0A  30 2D 34 3A
(V) 32 34 2E 31  2E 30 28 29  0D 0A 30 2D  34 3A 39 36
(V) 2E 31 2E 30  28 29 0D 0A  30 2D 34 3A  32 34 2E 32
(V) 2E 31 28 30  30 30 31 30  31 30 30 30  30 30 30 57
(V) 29 28 30 30  30 30 30 30  30 30 2E 30  30 30 30 29
(V) 0D 0A 21 35  33 32 41 0D  0A

Thanks again, and have a great day!
Best regards,
Daniel

[ArnieO]

Great news - thank you!
We discovered this during our design phase of the Pow-P1: 10k pullup is sufficient on some meters, but some of them need "harder pull" (lower resistor value) to fully saturate the Open collector/Open drain output of the meter and give reliable data.

And I have now added your meter to our Selection guide.