Owon B41T+ BLE Client for Windows 10 - No Dongle Needed!

[jtcash]

I'm currently developing a Windows 10 BLE client for the Owon B41T+ meter and would love some suggestions and feedback. It's usable and full-featured in its current state, but it still needs lots of work.

My repo: https://github.com/jtcash/OwonB41T
I have some binaries hosted in the GitHub releases section, but the source is all there if you want to compile it yourself (Visual Studio 2019).


The README.md has a good amount of details about its functionality and operation, but to summarize:

• Compatible with any BLE adapter (built-in laptop adapters PC Bluetooth cards work fine)
• Live datalogging
• Interactivity with simple commands (e.g. 's' to press the Select button)
• Starting offline datalogging
• Downloading recorded data

Currently, the client works in interactive mode, so once it connects you can interact with it through different keystrokes. I plan on adding command line argument parsing in the future. All of the interactivity was designed on impulse as I was testing things out and quickly slapping the core functionality together, so I would love some help with design decisions for interactivity and use.

If you were incorporating this tool into your workflow, how would you like this program to behave? What sort of interface would you like?
My current, sloppy and crude design takes simple commands through stdin, outputs data to stdout and outputs messages to stderr. It's definitely enough to incorporate with other software/tools in its current state, but it could be better.


Additionally, I might try to make it fully compatible with the Owon B35. I don't currently own one, so I cannot test it myself. However, based on my reverse engineering efforts, I don't think there are many significant differences between the two as far as Bluetooth connectivity goes.

I messaged Joe Smith in the YouTube comments a few months back when I started this project and he seemed interested and recommended I make a post here, but I only recently got around to putting lots of time into it. I apologize the documentation is currently not the most thorough. I plan on having more thorough documentation after I get all the features fleshed out with your help.


TL;DR: I made a Windows 10 BLE interface for the Owon B41T+, what should I do for the interface/interactivity and do you have any other suggestions?

[joeqsmith]

I still have the meter in working condition.   I never looked into the BT interface further.  As I stated earlier when you first posted, this particular meter has far too many problems for me to spend any time with it.   Normally I try and leverage LabView as I have access to all of the equipment.   

If you are able to get to the point where you have a installs, I can try it out.     

[jtcash]

Unfortunately, I've never worked with LabView so I wouldn't even know where to start with that. With my code for connecting to and communicating with the meter floating around now, hopefully someone could come up with a solution in the future.

[Evi]

Latest version find the device, but does not connect it.

Code: [Select]

d:\Down\Owon\B41T+>OwonB41T.x64.exe
Connecting...
FOUND: 2222c6634e3d
FOUND: 3414b5a07c0e
FOUND: 3414b5a07c0e     BDM
FOUND: f6a4d8e39a69     RK-G200S
FOUND: f6a4d8e39a69
FOUND: 606405bb4057
FOUND: c869cdde6d50
FOUND: 4bc38477d96e
FOUND: 606405bb4057     DreamScreen
FOUND: dc234d12608e
FOUND: 9ec8b1c3e4
FOUND: e9b0477ae646
FOUND: e9b0477ae646     Amazfit GTS
FOUND: 582d3436831d
FOUND: 582d3436831d     MJ_HT_V1
FOUND: dc234d12608e     AD
FOUND: 7d099b509504
FOUND: e123734a0ff
FOUND: dc234d0ebac4



[Evi]

Хорошо, я изменил имя B41 на BDM в исходной строке 44, и теперь оно работает нормально.
Вы планируете разработку графического интерфейса?

[jtcash]

Evi, was BDM the original BLE name for your multimeter? If so, I'll update the code to also look for that name. In its current state you can pass any name as a command line argument and it will search for that name.

Хорошо, я изменил имя B41 на BDM в исходной строке 44, и теперь оно работает нормально.
Вы планируете разработку графического интерфейса?

So it connected properly after you updated the code?

Also, I am planning on making a GUI for it. Right now, I'm working to get a Linux version up and running, and after that I plan on making a simple GUI with some cross-platform framework.

[Evi]

Evi, was BDM the original BLE name for your multimeter?

Yes, it was, command line option also works

[jtcash]

I pushed a new release that searches for "BDM" by default as well as "B41T".
I'm thinking I must have renamed my meter when I first connected to it and forgot about it. I checked the manual, and sure enough it shows "BDM" as the device name.

[Otwin38BOH]

Hi JTcash, Have you made an executable for this?
I just bought an OWON OW18E, which my laptop bluetooth finds as BDM, but I would like to try your software to see if it works. I can't connect to the Owon S/W.
Thanks,
Otwin

[Dezmond2]

Work with B35T+ ? 

[ace_ventura]

I've tried it but it doesn't work...

Code: [Select]

FOUND OWON B41T+
Meter Info:
        Name:   BDM
        Addr:   884aea640e53
        Id:     BluetoothLE#BluetoothLE0c:8b:fd:0c:5c:c8-88:4a:ea:64:0e:53

done finding characteristics
Done connecting

BAD DATA PASSED TO PARSER
BAD DATA PASSED TO PARSER
BAD DATA PASSED TO PARSER
...

[redliquid]

Hello. Thanks for the program. It works flawlessly with my B41T+.

[palmerr23]

Also thanks.

I have a new Owon BT41T+ and only discovered that they don't supply the PC dongle once I received it (from China).

Your program goes a long way to solving the basic connection issues - without having to find a special dongle with TI's CC2540 BT chipset.