How to connect Center301 to Mac

#1: Post by **cafemouton** » November 11th, 2020, 8:33 am

I use Kaldi Fortis with Center301 thermometer.

I want to connect my Center301with my Mac.
(MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2014, OS10.13.6) and need your help....

Please teach me....
1. Type of the cable (USB300?)
2. Where can I buy the cable?
3. The information of the setting of Mac (CP210x VCP driver ? )

Please help me!

November 11th, 2020, 10:25 am

Before we teach you, please note that if you read the threads here you will find the Center 301 to give poor results in Artisan. It's just not a good meter. You might find it easier to consider obtaining Phidgets in Japan. I don't recall a place to get the cables except for the roaster manufacturers. Please search the threads here and they will confirm these issues.

The minimum sampling rate that is stable with the Center 301 is 4 seconds.
https://artisan-scope.org/devices/meters/

#3: Post by **littlenut** » November 12th, 2020, 7:46 am

Hi CM, my comments/responses are in the body of your post -LN

cafemouton wrote:I use Kaldi Fortis with Center301 thermometer.

I have a Fortis w/ a Center301 too, but I use win10 x-64. I ordered a USB cable from the Huky manufacturer, Mr. Li, and it setup easily and works well for me. For my setup, I have no plans to replace my Center 301.

I have seen references that for Macs it is recommended to use Phidgets due to the level of difficulty to get it to work on a Mac. I have also seen references that the issue was the lack of the driver and that the newer MAC OS's now come packaged with the appropriate driver.

Maybe contact Mr. Hong at this site https://eng.homecaffe.net/ for suggestions. They have always been extremely helpful and supportive regarding my needs for my Fortis.

cafemouton wrote:I want to connect my Center301with my Mac.
(MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2014, OS10.13.6) and need your help....

If I was trying to get it working on a Mac I would include searches for Hukys and Centers. Old Huky forum?? HB forum??

cafemouton wrote:Please teach me....
1. Type of the cable (USB300?)

A uniquely pinned USB cable w/ USB on one side and connection to the Center on the other.

cafemouton wrote:2. Where can I buy the cable?

I bought mine from Mr. Li and he supplied a driver as well. It worked out of the box for me, but on Win10 x-64. I did locate and installed an updated driver. OLDER POST Artisan and Kaldi Fortis

cafemouton wrote:3. The information of the setting of Mac (CP210x VCP driver ? )

I Can't help w/ this. iirc I used the Windows version of that driver.

cafemouton wrote:Please help me!

The best I've got, CM. Center 301/Mac seems to be problematic in the past and maybe currently. Everyone that had issues getting the Centers to work with Artisan and switched to Phidgets seem very pleased.

HTH and GL,
-LN

November 13th, 2020, 9:01 am

CarefreeBuzzBuzz wrote:Before we teach you, please note that if you read the threads here you will find the Center 301 to give poor results in Artisan. It's just not a good meter. You might find it easier to consider obtaining Phidgets in Japan. I don't recall a place to get the cables except for the roaster manufacturers. Please search the threads here and they will confirm these issues.

The minimum sampling rate that is stable with the Center 301 is 4 seconds.
https://artisan-scope.org/devices/meters/

Thank you for your reply.
I found it difficult to connect the center301.
I have arranged the special cable, so I will try it.
If that doesn't work, I'll try Phidgets.
Thank you.

November 13th, 2020, 9:04 am

littlenut wrote:Hi CM, my comments/responses are in the body of your post -LN

I have a Fortis w/ a Center301 too, but I use win10 x-64. I ordered a USB cable from the Huky manufacturer, Mr. Li, and it setup easily and works well for me. For my setup, I have no plans to replace my Center 301.

I have seen references that for Macs it is recommended to use Phidgets due to the level of difficulty to get it to work on a Mac. I have also seen references that the issue was the lack of the driver and that the newer MAC OS's now come packaged with the appropriate driver.

Maybe contact Mr. Hong at this site https://eng.homecaffe.net/ for suggestions. They have always been extremely helpful and supportive regarding my needs for my Fortis.

If I was trying to get it working on a Mac I would include searches for Hukys and Centers. Old Huky forum?? HB forum??

A uniquely pinned USB cable w/ USB on one side and connection to the Center on the other.

I bought mine from Mr. Li and he supplied a driver as well. It worked out of the box for me, but on Win10 x-64. I did locate and installed an updated driver. OLDER POST Artisan and Kaldi Fortis

I Can't help w/ this. iirc I used the Windows version of that driver.

The best I've got, CM. Center 301/Mac seems to be problematic in the past and maybe currently. Everyone that had issues getting the Centers to work with Artisan and switched to Phidgets seem very pleased.

HTH and GL,
-LN

Thank you for telling me the details.
I ordered the special cable from Mr. Li.
I will try it when it arrives.
The results will be shared here.

November 21st, 2020, 8:38 am

cafemouton wrote:Thank you for your reply.
I found it difficult to connect the center301.
I have arranged the special cable, so I will try it.
If that doesn't work, I'll try Phidgets.
Thank you.

I bought the USB300 cable from Mr.Li,
and connected Center301 to my Mac book.

I'll enjoy roasting with Artisan!
Thank you!

November 21st, 2020, 10:16 am

Congrats - just remember what I mentioned above,

The minimum sampling rate that is stable with the Center 301 is 4 seconds.
https://artisan-scope.org/devices/meters/

#8: Post by **littlenut** » November 21st, 2020, 11:50 am

cafemouton wrote:I bought the USB300 cable from Mr.Li,
and connected Center301 to my Mac book.

I'll enjoy roasting with Artisan!
Thank you!

Great. If you find some artisan setting(s) that work "really well", please share those. It would be aprreciated.

GL, -LN

November 23rd, 2020, 8:50 am

cafemouton wrote:I use Kaldi Fortis with Center301 thermometer.

I want to connect my Center301with my Mac.
(MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2014, OS10.13.6) and need your help....

Please teach me....
1. Type of the cable (USB300?)
2. Where can I buy the cable?
3. The information of the setting of Mac (CP210x VCP driver ? )

Please help me!

How to connected Center301 to Mac.
1:Get USB300 cable from Mr.Li.
USB Cable-----------24 USD
Shipping-------------22 USD(TW to JP)
2: Install the driver from Silicon Labs. https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-t ... cp-drivers
3:Connect Center301to Mac with the USB300 cable.
4:Check the USB connection, "Utility">"System information">"Hardware">"USB".

4:Start Artisan and click "Configuration"-> "Devices" >ET/BT>Meter, select Center301.
5:The "Settings other than Modbus device" will appear, so input the port name "CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller".
(In my case, the options didn't appear automatically, so I entered them manually.)
6:Press the "ON" button on "Artisan" and check if the temperature is reflected.

7:Connect the T1 sensor and T2 sensor and start "Artisan" according to the instruction manual, but the display of BT and ET will be reversed.
Check "ET <-> BT", Configuration> Curves >Filters
8:Start to roasting. This is my 1st batch with Artisan. (I noticed that I wasn't doing "7" on the way.)

#10: Post by **d_leonit** » November 26th, 2020, 1:26 pm

The cheapest way is to buy: USB-SERIAL-F from Olimex and connect to jack with 3 cables.

https://www.olimex.com/Products/Compone ... -SERIAL-F/
https://www.conrad.de/de/p/voltcraft-xl ... 91750.html

You just need to connect to the right input GND=BLUE, RX(INPUT)=GREEN, TX(OUTPUT)=RED on the jack.

There is also no problem with the drivers, on the MAC and on Windows.