node-red-contrib-power-genius 1.0.0

Power Genius XL Control and Monitoring Nodes

npm install node-red-contrib-power-genius

node-red-contrib-power-genius

Node-RED nodes for monitoring a FlexRadio / 4O3A PowerGenius XL (PGXL) amplifier over its TCP API (port 9008). Framing: C<seq>|<command> request, R<seq>|<hex>|<message> reply, S<n>|<message> asynchronous status.

Requires Node.js 18 or newer and Node-RED 3.1.0 or newer.

Node.js CI Node.js Package CodeQL njsscan sarif

Work in progress. The API documentation (API Docs, firmware 3.8.8) only covers a few commands and says little about the replies, so the nodes keep whatever the amplifier sends. The property tables below come from a real amplifier (firmware 3.9.9); units not given in the documentation are inferred.

Nodes

  • power-genius-server (config): host, port (default 9008), auto connect and status poll interval (default 1000 ms, 0 = off).
  • power-genius-status: emits one status property per node, or all as an object. The property is picked from a list, or typed (other) so that properties missing from the documentation can be used. Emits msg.payload (the value), msg.topic (the property name) and msg.previous. With *, msg.payload is the whole status object and msg.topic is status. By default it only emits when the value changes; an optional deadband suppresses small numeric changes. A start delay (default 1000 ms) holds back the first output after deploy so that downstream nodes, such as dashboard widgets, can initialize. Any input emits the last known value and refreshes from the device.
  • power-genius-info: emits the device info once after connecting, either as an object or as a single property. Any input re-reads and emits it.
  • power-genius-control: switches operate (standby / operate), selects the antenna (1-3, amplifiers with the antenna switch only), sets the fanmode (STANDARD, CONTEST or BROADCAST), or sends any command (command, the payload is the command) and outputs the reply as msg.payload. The action is fixed in the node, or taken from msg.topic when the node is set to msg.topic; a fixed action always wins. For operate the payload is true/false, 1/0 or "on"/"off"; anything else is rejected and nothing is sent.

Status properties

The status reply is a list of key=value pairs; numbers are emitted as numbers, everything else as text.

Property Meaning Values / unit
state Amplifier state STANDBY, IDLE (operate, not transmitting), TRANSMIT_A, TRANSMIT_B; probably FAULT
bandA, bandB Band of slice A / B metres, e.g. 20
bsrcA, bsrcB Source of the band data e.g. FLEX
bsrcAutoA, bsrcAutoB Band source selected automatically 1 = yes, 0 = no
flexA, flexB FlexRadio nickname (FLEX mode) text
vac Mains voltage V
vdd Supply voltage V; 0 when not transmitting
id, peakid Drain current, and its peak A; 0 when not transmitting
fwd, peakfwd Forward power, and its peak dBm; fwd is 30 (the meter minimum) when there is no RF, peakfwd keeps the last peak
swr Return loss dB (negative, e.g. -18; the FLEX RL meter); -60 when there is no RF
temp PA temperature °C
hltemp Harmonic load temperature °C
cntfreq Frequency counted from the RF kHz, e.g. 14098; 0 when there is no RF
cat1freq, cat2freq Frequency from CAT port 1 / 2 (legacy radios with CAT or CI-V) kHz; 0 in FLEX mode
biasA, biasB Bias setting of input A / B, as SOURCE_MODE e.g. RADIO_AB; others seen elsewhere: AUTO_AAB, MANUAL_A
fanmode Fan mode STANDARD, CONTEST, BROADCAST
meffa MeFFA state OFF, ACTIVE; may name a fault such as SWR, TEMP or CURRENT
unkey Protection fault 1 = active protection fault, 0 = normal operation
antA Antenna selected on the antenna switch Only on the 3-port antenna switch version; 0 on the SO2R version, which has no switch
ants Antenna switch 0 on the SO2R version (no antenna switch); values on the antenna switch version not seen yet

Many status properties are only meaningful for some radio setups. With a FlexRadio (FLEX mode) the amplifier gets the band and PTT from the radio over the network, and the properties for legacy radios using CAT or CI-V, such as cat1freq and cat2freq, stay at 0 (the catradioA/catradioB info objects likewise describe the legacy radio setup). It is not known which of the remaining properties, for example bsrcAutoA/B, belong to which mode, since the test amplifier is used with a FlexRadio.

Units are taken from the FLEX meter definitions in the API documentation and from observed values. There are two hardware versions: SO2R, and one with a 3-port antenna switch. antA and ants were only seen on the SO2R version. Other properties may show up on other firmware or setups: use a status node with property * and a debug node to list them.

Info properties

Collected with setup read, ifconf read, catradio read=A|B and flexradio read=A|B; each reply is parsed as key=value pairs.

Property Meaning
name Device name (the nickname, with _ replaced by a space)
nickname Device name as reported
firmware Firmware version, from the banner the device sends on connect
authRequired true when the device asked for authentication (not supported yet)
ledintens LED intensity
txdelay TX delay
inactivity-timeout Inactivity timeout, 0 = off
authcode Authentication code for WAN access. Treat it as a secret: it is part of the whole info object
ants, ant1name..ant3name Antenna switch setup: ants (0 on the SO2R version, which has no switch) and the names of antennas 1-3 (empty when not set)
ifconf Object with the network configuration: address, netmask, gateway, dhcp, dhcpstatus and the active address-status, netmask-status, gateway-status
catradioA, catradioB Objects with the CAT radio configuration of slice A / B, used with legacy radios (CAT or CI-V): type, baud, parity, stopbits, civ, active
flexradioA, flexradioB Objects with the FlexRadio configuration of slice A / B: serial, txant, ptt, active

Commands used

Read-only: status, setup read, ifconf read, catradio read={A|B}, flexradio read={A|B}. Through the control node: operate={0|1} (0 = standby, 1 = operate), antenna={n} (select the antenna, only on the antenna switch version), setup fanmode={STANDARD|CONTEST|BROADCAST} and anything with the command action.

operate comes from another open-source PGXL client (Log4YM) and works; it is not in the API documentation. antenna=1 is known to exist: the SO2R version answers 0x50000013 - No antenna switch on this hardware. The antenna numbers (assumed 1-3) have not been tried on an amplifier with the switch.

Learning what the amplifier sends

  • Set the Node-RED log level to trace to log every line received from the amplifier.
  • Use a power-genius-control node with action command to try commands and see the replies. An error with result code 0x50000015 means the amplifier does not know the command.

Commands are sent as C<seq>|<command> terminated by a bare LF; the documentation says CR, but LF works.

Not supported: authentication (AUTH in the banner, only outside the local network), UDP discovery, and the FLEX radio-side commands (amplifier create, meter create, interlock create, ...), which the amplifier sends to the radio, not to clients.

Example

An example flow is included. After installing, use Import → Examples → node-red-contrib-power-genius in the editor. Set the host of the power genius server node to your amplifier before deploying. The flow is in examples/power-genius-example.json.

Install

npm install node-red-contrib-power-genius

Node Info

Version: 1.0.0
Updated 3 days ago
License: MIT
Rating: not yet rated
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Nodes

  • power-genius-server
  • power-genius-status
  • power-genius-info
  • power-genius-control

Keywords

  • node-red
  • power genius
  • pgxl
  • 4o3a
  • flexradio
  • ham radio
  • sm6srw
  • nu1t

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