Howdy @lgladdy !
It sounds like you’ve got some good plans there. Don’t worry about not being with OVO, as this forum is open to everyone and we can definitely help you out either way.
And a technical question, I love these ones! I’m no developer myself, but I know quite a lot when it comes to smart meters.
I think what’s probably happening here, is that your meters are still in the commissioning process which can take up to six weeks to fully complete. During that time, things can be unstable and this is expected - especially with all the testing, config downloads and software/firmware updates being pulled down during the commissioning flow. After the first six weeks, you should find the connection stabilises and becomes more reliable once it’s fully activated.
It definitely sounds like your site is healthy though - five second flashes (aka the Slow Flash) on the Comms Hub for SW, WAN and HAN is exactly what you want to be seeing and that’s a good sign. The -10dBm on the meter is probably for the the ZigBee HAN connection that it’s using to communicate with the Comms Hub. I would be stunned if it wasn’t as good as that, given the close proximity, so that’s all fine too.
From what I’ve heard though, if you try to use your DCC Other User access this early in the commissioning process, you’ll suffer these kinds of issues far more often than you would for a fully commissioned site. I’m not sure if there’s a way to detect the status reliably outside of Yes or No, but you might want to see if you can handle that in your library if possible.
DCC also doesn’t have direct access to the actual meter data that passes through, as it’s all encrypted and they just act as a gateway. To actually be able to access the data, you have to set up your security keys and encryption keys (among other things) on each meter you want to connect to individually, once you’ve been given permission to use the services (such as by becoming a DCC Other User), or offload that to something else that’s able to handle it for you.
To get the best results, you’ll also want to make sure the meter is in either Daily or Half-Hourly Mode, as I think Monthly Mode also impacts third-party services using DCC Other User. I remember reading it all somewhere once, but forgot to bookmark it and can’t find it anymore.
In the meantime, definitely feel free to keep working on your library and testing it out anytime you can get a connection. You should get it all working properly soon!
Oh, and this is probably worth mentioning as well. You might not need to handle this yourself, but just in case, it’s good to know. If certain SMETS Commands such as Restrict access for Change of Tenancy or Decommission Device are issued to any meter you’re currently connected, to, you will almost certainly be booted out and your encryption keys may be wiped from the meters, along with your access to them. It’s probably a good idea to factor in this possibility and handle it gracefully, such as terminating further access attempts and consider cleaning up user data related to that Site in response to these events. :)
