Introduction

Coach2mqtt runs on a RaspberryPi 4B and allows you to control and monitor most of the systems in your Jayco Swift/Entegra Ethos or your Jayco Terrain/Entegra Launch from your phone or tablet while connected to the same wifi network as the Raspberry Pi.

Optionally, if your wifi network is also connected to the internet, you will be able to monitor and control your devices from anywhere your phone or tablet has internet.

On Renogy Lithium battery models you will be able to control most of the firefly devices, monitor the Renogy battery BMS, and monitor and control your Renogy Inverter/Charger.

On generator models you will be able to control and monitor most of the firefly devices.

Lithionics models have not been tested.

Getting Started

Hardware requirements

All links are just to help you find the products and are not an endorsement of the product or retailer.

You will need the following:

RaspberryPi 4B with at least 2GB RAM
8GB or larger microSD card and some way to write to it.
I recommend A2 speed rating.
- Official Raspberry Pi microSD Card microsd card
- 64GB Sandisk Extreme Plus
Waveshare 2-Channel CAN Hat+
- Amazon
Important: Be sure to buy the + version so you can power the Pi and Hat from the RV-C cable.

A case for RaspberryPi 4B that can accomodate the CAN bus hat

Several feet of RV-C drop cable (4 conductor 24awg) or equivalant. Get enough so you have some flexibility where you mount the Raspberry Pi but I recommend you keep the length as short as possible to reduce voltage loss. Any 4 conductor wire will probably work for this project.

One 3M miniplug connector to connect RV-C bus. Alternatively you can buy RV-C cable with a plug already attached (see above)
- From Firefly Integrations
- From Digikey
- Molex Connector from Amazon

Renogy Lithium models also require:

High quality USB 2.0 A to B cable to connect to Renogy Inverter. I recommend you get a cable with ferrite cores attached to reduce possible noise on the USB bus. Be sure to get one that is long enough to reach from the inverter to the where you are mounting the Pi.
- Example from Amazon
In some cases the inverter seems to create enough interference that the USB connection to the inverter is unstable. I recommend you try the USB cable first, but as an alternative you may need to use a USB to RS485 adapter.
- Waveshare USB to RS485
Industrial isolated Waveshare USB to RS485
Connector for Renogy BMS Debug port
- 2 pin connector on Amazon

Assembling the hardware

Attach the waveshare

Attach the Waveshare Can HAT+ to the Pi
Be sure the resistor jumpers next to the CAN terminal blocks are in the off position and the voltage jumper is set to 3v3 (as pictured)
If the case you are using allows access to the microsd card you can install the Pi in the case now

Installing Coach2mqtt

To use Coach2mqtt you will need to install an image on the Rasperry Pi and an app on your phone or tablet.

Install the image

Download and install the latest Raspberry Pi Imager tool

Download the latest Coach2mqtt image for the Raspberry Pi. The file you should download is named 'Eth-OS-bookworm-arm64-lite.zip'. There is no need to download the Source code.
Note: There is no need to decompress the downloaded image. The Imager tool can install a .zip image.
Using the Imager tool to install the image you downloaded onto the micro SD card
1. Click CHOOSE OS
2. Click Use custom and select the image you downloaded
3. Click CHOOSE STORAGE and choose the card you will write the image to
4. Click NEXT and then EDIT SETTINGS at the OS customisations prompt
5. Make your changes in the OS customisation dialog and then click SAVE:
  - Hostname: Set this to any name you want. This is name you will use to access the services on your raspberry Pi
  - Username and Password: Set a username and a strong password. You will use this for additional setup later.
  - Configure wireless LAN: This will be the default wifi your Pi will connect to when powered up. I recommend setting this to either your Winegard or Starlink wifi
  - wireless LAN country: Set this to US unless you are in another country
  - Time zone: Choose an appropriate time zone
  - Keyboard layout: select us unless you prefer another layout
6. Click Yes to use your customized settings
7. Click Yes to start writing to the microsd card
After the image has been written to the card insert into the Raspberry Pi.

Powering up with the new image for the first time

The first time the Raspberry Pi is powered on it may take 5 or more minutes to get everything setup. On first power up the Pi needs to expand the image to use the full space on the microsd card and configure your customizations. It will reboot and then will attempt to connect to the internet and download about 1 GB of files required for coach2mqtt to run. I recommend plugging in an ethernet cable, if possible, for the initial startup.

Note:If your connection is too slow the download on startup may timeout and fail. You will be able to run the commands manually later if needed.

Connecting to the Pi

Open a web browser and navigate to https://coach2mqtt:9090 - Replace coach2mqtt with the hostname you set when creating the image. Depending on your network you may need to add .local to the hostname (i.e. coach2mqtt.local) in order to connect.
You will get a warning that the certificate is not valid or your connection is not private. This is expected and you can follow the browser instructions to connect anyway.
At the login dialog enter the username and password you set during image creation.
If the text shows 🔒Limited Access in the upper right corner click it to enable Administrative access

Verify coach2mqtt components are running

To verify everything installed correctly we need to run some commands on the Raspberry Pi. The Web UI makes it easy to do this.
Click Terminal on the left side under Tools

c2mstatus

If any are missing you will need to run one more command to download and start them:

In the terminal area that opens type c2mupdate and hit <enter>. This will stop any running components, download any missing components, and then start them back up.

If you originally set up on your home network now is a good time to add any additional WiFi connections your Raspberry Pi may connect to such as your Winegard or Starlink.
1. Click on Wifi Manager in the left menu
2. Add your coach Wifi network
Once you have verified the software is running and have added your coach wifi you can safely shutdown the Pi so you can install it in your coach.
1. Click on Overview in the left menu
2. On the Overview page click on the down arrow next to Reboot in the upper right and then click Shutdown
3. Choose No Delay and click Shut down
  Wait a minute or two and then you can safely unplug the Raspberry Pi.
  You are now ready to install the Rasperry Pi in your coach.
Installing the hardware in your coach
You will need:
- Raspberry Pi
- Four conductor RV-C cable with 3M mini plug installed on one end
Lithium Renogy Models will also need:
- Two conductor wire with debug connector attached on one end
- USB cable to connect to Inverter
Inside your coach the Raspberry Pi will connect to the RV-C network for power and communication. If you have a Lithium model the Pi will also connect to the Renogy battery debug port and the Renogy Inverter with either a USB cable or an RS-485 connector.
Find a suitable location for the raspbery pi where your cables will reach all devices you need to connect to. In my Entegra Ethos 20D I mounted it under the rear bed near the Renogy Debug port and RV-C G4 Terminator tap.
1. Attach the 3m connector to one end of your RV-C wire. There is a good explanation on how to do this on myervin.com
  
  If you are connecting to the the 4 pin molex connector on the G12 you'll need to attach your wire to the connector. This is the pinout on the G12
2. Connect the RV-C cable blue and white wires to the Can0 terminal on the Canhat+. If you used official RV-C cable the blue wire will go to the terminal labled L, and white to H.
3. Connect the red RV-C wire to the + terminal, and the black RV-C wire to the - terminal.
4. If you have a Renogy Li model also connect the wires from the debug connector to Can1. You should connect the wire from the debug port that is labled Can_L to L, and Can_H to H.
5. Plug in the debug connector to the Renogy Debug port
Once the Raspberry Pi is connected to the RV-C network it will be powered any time your 12v switch is on. To prevent possible file corruption to the sd card you should always shutdown the Pi from the web interface before powering off the 12v switch.
Installation of the hardware in your van is complete and once powered up the Pi will begin communicating with the RV-C network, and optionally, the Renogy inverter and Renogy Lithium battery BMS.

Installing the app

Install the app on your phone or tablet

In order to control the devices in your van you will need an App that can communicate with the MQTT broker that is running on the Rasperry Pi. There are many apps that are able to do this, but the app I found that is the most configurabale and available on both iOS and Android is IoT MQTT Panel
- Apple App Store : IoT MQTT Panel
- Google Play Store: IoT MQTT Panel
After installing the app you will need to configure the dashboards and widgets. To make it easier I have included configuration files that can be loaded.
1. Connect your phone or tablet to the same WiFi the rasperry pi is connected to and navigate to https://coach2mqtt:1880/configs/ - Replace coach2mqtt with the hostname you set when creating the image. You may need to add .local to the name you configured. i.e. coach2mqtt.local.
2. Download the configuration file that matches your floorplan to your phone or tablet by clicking on the link.
3. Open the IoT MQTT Panel app on your phone or tablet
  1. Click on the Hamburger Menu button in the top left
  2. Click Backup and Restore
  3. Click Restore and select the configuration file you downloaded earlier
  4. Click YES to generate a random client-id
  5. Click the ⋮ icon next to the <Floorplan> Phone Release connection
  6. Click the 🖉 icon to edit the connection
  7. Edit the Broker address to match the name you gave your Raspberry Pi
    i.e. coach2mqtt or coach2mqtt.local
    Network protocol should be TCP and Port should be 1883.
  8. If you are on the same wifi as the Raspberry Pi and your connection settings are connect you should see the connection status icon change to a cloud with a checkmark. Click on the connected configuration to open the Dashboards view
  9. Touch the tab on the bottom to bring up each dashboard.