If the wifi signal in your home reaches the meters, you can connect the pulse output of the meters to the sender and keep the receiver/controller close with a short patch cable. If instead the wifi signal cannot reach the meter room, you can use a cable, even very long if necessary, and place the receiver/controller in another room or building where your wifi signal is present.



Sender

Receiver/Controller

Bill of materials of Sender board

  • U1: Maxim MAX6817EUT+T
  • U2: Maxim MAX6816EUS+T
  • U3, U4, U5: Renesas ISL3295EIHZ-T
  • U6: CUI Inc. VXO7803-500-M
  • R1, R2, R3: 1K 1/8W SMD 0805
  • R4: 68 ohm 1/8W SMD 0805
  • C1, C2, C3, C4, C5: Wurth 885012207098 0.1uF MLCC SMD 0805
  • C6: Taiyo Yuden UMK316BBJ106KL-T 10uF MLCC SMD 1206
  • C7, C8: TDK C2012X5R1A226K125AB 22uF MLCC SMD 0805
  • L1: Pulse Electronics PA4321.333NLT
  • J1: Cui Devices TB006-508-06BE 6 pin terminal block
  • J2: Amphenol RJCSE-5085-01 RJ45 SMD connector

Bill of materials of Receiver/Controller board

  • U1, U2, U3: Renesas ISL3280EIHZ-T
  • U4: ESP-03 1MB flash ESP8266 controller
  • U6: CUI Inc. VXO7803-500-M
  • R1, R2, R3: 100 ohm 1% 1/8W SMD 0805
  • R4: 68 ohm 1/8W SMD 0805
  • R5, R6, R7, R9: 10K 1/8W SMD 0805
  • R8: 0 ohm solder joint
  • R10: 0 ohm solder joint
  • C1, C2, C3, C4: Wurth 885012207098 0.1uF MLCC SMD 0805
  • C6: Taiyo Yuden UMK316BBJ106KL-T 10uF MLCC SMD 1206
  • C7, C8: TDK C2012X5R1A226K125AB 22uF MLCC SMD 0805
  • L1: Pulse Electronics PA4321.333NLT
  • P1: 6 pins header 2.54mm
  • J2: Amphenol RJCSE-5085-01 RJ45 SMD connector


The 6 pins header P1 is used to connect an external FTDI programmer to flash the ESP8266 firmware. The pinout is:

  • 1: 3.3V
  • 2: GPIO0 (connect to pin 3 with a jumper to enter flash mode)
  • 3: GND
  • 4: TXD
  • 5: RXD
  • 6: GND

The GPIO assignment of the ESP8266 is:

  • GPIO14: Pulse Input 1 (counter1)
  • GPIO12: Pulse Input 2 (counter2)
  • GPIO13: Pulse Input 3 (counter3)

Using the Tasmota firmware, integration with home automation is very simple thanks to the MQTT protocol.
The Tasmota configuration template for PulseTAC is the following:

{"NAME":"Smart Meters","GPIO":[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,43,44,42,0,0],"FLAG":15,"BASE":18}