Technical Specifications

Watchman is a WiFi-enabled indoor device and reads logs every minutes. Logs are sent to pp-Code portal every hour unless there is sudden change in the temperature (+/-5F) due fire/freeze/else (and log is sent immediately): 

• Temperature -40 to 170F, accuracy of +/-5%  (for standard watchman and one with external probe (for other types, refer to their respective page) 
• Humidity 0 to 100%
• WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4GHz, support WPA/WPA2
• A space inside WiFi name and/or password is supported
• We also support commonly used special characters in WiFi name and password, Supported characters are: ~ ! @ # $ ^ & * - _ + = ( ) : ; " ' , . 
•  We have a gateway ($20) option, in case Watchman is not compatible with your WiFi or you are looking for a plug-and-play setup.  

• Powered by USB, ships with USA USB power adapter (110-240V AC)
• Approximate daily bandwidth (combined upload-and-download) consumption is 1MB (a unit running at basic features consumes 0.3 to 0.4MB per day) 
• Please ensure that watchman is protected from direct sunlight and at temperature from 0F to 150F. 

If you plan to run the unit on a power bank,  we suggest to budget for:  

• 150mA for regular units 
• 200mA for units with 1M probe
• 300mA for  all other unit type.

Thanks to one of our customers (Mark Smith), his team performed power consumption testing (on regular unit) and shared their results: 

• Startup peak current 125mA at 5.3v 
• With LCD panel on steady state low of ~70mA 
• With LCD panel off steady state low of ~40mA 
  • When contact made to internet, 80+mA
• When LCD on again initially 100+mA 
  • Settles down to ~70mA

We are constantly improving. And we would like to give option to our existing customers to benefit from the latest features (with out having to re-buy). 

Watchman's latest firmware is version 15. Unfortunately, there is no option to remotely push the firmware to units. If you would like your Watchman unit to be upgraded to the latest firmware, you will need to send your unit to us and pay $15 to cover the shipping for both ways.

Alternatively, if you are computer savvy, we can send you the files (at no cost). You may want to check the instructions and you should be able to perform the upgrade at your own (and at your risk). 

Contact us at tech@pp-code.com for details.

Watchman v15 release notes:

• Added the ability to show Real Time Reading from anywhere (requires port forwarding, click here for details)

Watchman v14 release notes:

• Added the ability to turn OFF display light
• Introduced "WiFi-Rotation" feature (available with paid-subscription). It is useful for WiFi migration or preparing Watchman for a remote site.  

Watchman V13 release notes:

• Added the calibrate option for humidity 
• Added "remote restart" ability
• Added support for json payload on API calls
• Enhancement product durability for known software bugs

By Tuan Pham posted at github: https://github.com/neofob/pp-code-metrics  

By Peter Gitta (adapted from the original 'Shelly1 switch' code by Scott Grayban ):

Please find the driver and info here. Also posted at Hubitat community form.

By Alex Ford:

For those  interested in using Watchman with HomeKit and are using homebridge, the plugin is available at:

https://libraries.io/npm/homebridge-ppcode-watchman

By John Beale

BASH (Linux) script to retrieve temperature and humidity readings every minute directly from the unit on LAN: 

https://github.com/jbeale1

Question: I have a mesh WiFi network. What is recommended approach to connect Watchman to it?

Answer: Most mesh WiFi implementations broadcast the same WiFi name for both 2.4G and 5GHz (and allow device to connect to either based on it's ability). Watchman (alike many IoT device) does not have the ability to negotiate (the compatibility) and hence will not work with it. 

It is recommended to configure a guest WiFi (at 2.4G only) on your mesh WiFi router and connect Watchman with the guest WiFi. The downside is that you will not be able to use "Real Time Reading (local)" feature (on the App) from a device that is connected to your main WiFi network (by default, main and guest WiFi can't inter-communicate).    

Question: What does "HalfOn" mean?

Answer: HalfOn means that your Watchman is, though, connected to your WiFi, it is not able to reach Internet. It is likely due to week WiFi signal, loss of internet service at your site or some firewall policy on your router.

Question: How to reset the unit to factory default?

Answer: Restart (i.e. unplug and plug it back) your Watchman. Then using a tablet/mobile, connect to ppC_noInternet_xxxxxx network, under WiFi settings. Go to web browser (Chrome/Safari is preferred) and type 192.168.4.1/reset in URL field and hit enter. 

Question: How do I change WiFi settings of the unit ?

Answer: Simply re-perform the setup. The new WiFi information will overwrite the old ones. 

And you do not need to reset the unit to factory default to change WiFi settings.

 1) Restart your Watchman  (i.e. unplug, wait for 10 second plug back)

2) If you have an Android phone, please use our App "Watchman Online" and click on "Setup". Otherwise proceed as following:

Using a tablet/mobile connect to ppC_noInternet_xxxxxx network, under WiFi settings [PC might not let you connect to this network]

(we recommend “Forget” your WiFi network)

2a) Go to web browser (Chrome/Safari is preferred) and type 192.168.4.1 in URL field and hit enter. If page does NOT show up, please check if your tablet/mobile is still connected with ppC_noInternet_xxxxxx SSID (you might need to “Forget” your WiFi network, if you have not) 

2b) Input SSID (i.e. your WiFi network name) and password (of your WiFi network) and press “Connect”  (wait for 10sec – please be patient with it)

2c) As you see “success” message – you are all set (kit will auto-restart in a minute). 

Question: What do I need to do if I take my Watchman to a different location?

Answer: You will need to connect your Watchman with new locations' WiFi (same steps as listed above). You do NOT need to re-register / re-activate your unit on the portal. If you prefer, you may change the name of the location (on the portal) by going to "WiFi Watchman -> MANANGE-WATCHMAN" page and edit by using the pencil icon.  

Question: I am using WiFi extender. Will Watchman connect to it?

Answer: It may or may not connect to WiFi extender (based on the extender make and model). 

If your WiFi extender has same WiFi credentials as your WiFi router/gateway, we suggest to bring Watchman near to your WiFi router and connect to its WiFi. Once done, you may unplug it and plug it at your desired location (where you are running WiFi extender). Since WiFi credentials are same, your Watchman will auto-connect with WiFi extender.

Please note that Watchman does not support 5GHz  (you need 2.4GHz WiFi signal).    

Question: How do I run external probe into my freezer?

Answer: There are multiple ways, however, one option is to leverage water drain hose if exists. Please click here for an example. 

Question: Is registration on pp-Code portal a must to use Watchman?

Answer: No, it is not. You can directly access your Watchman logs (using API calls) either locally or remotely (requires port forwarding).

Question: What type of information is required for registration?

Answer: Registration only requires a valid email address (so that proper email alerts can be set up). Telephone/mobile number is optional unless you opt-in to receive SMS alerts.

Question: What information is gathered during Watchman activation?

Answer: Watchman unit is mapped to a location. In order to display the logs in location's time zone, you will provide nearest city name to allow pp-Code portal determine the time zone of your Watchman's location. 

You will also name the location such as: basement, bedroom 1, shed, server room 10 etc. Input field is google-map assisted in case you want to use the address as name of the location. Please note it is not a requirement to use the address. You may choose to simply name it or use partial address. As long as it is uniquely named, it works.  

Question: I just activated my Watchman and I only see 1 or 0 in the log page. Where are my actual logs?

Answer: System sends 1st log (1 and 0s) just after a Watchman is activated. Your actual (location) logs will appear with in 15min to an hour.

Question: What type of communication Watchman does on the network?

Answer: Watchman, once connected to your WiFi, has the following external communications:

- HTTP calls to pp-Code portal to send the location's data that Watchman collects. So that it is available on your log page. It works like a browser, similar to Chrome/Safari on your other devices (e.g. tablet, laptop etc). It only sends the data that it collects which is: temperature, humidity, gas level (if your unit has it) and count of active-devices (if Party-Detect feature is enabled) 

- Syslog message (Watchman unit health and event logs) to our syslog server. 

- Message to NTP clock server (on the internet) to clock itself.

Watchman does not perform any internal communication unless you have enabled Party-Detect feature. In this case, it sends "ping" to connected devices on the LAN (to help determine the number of active devices).

Question: We have a firewall on the premises. What ports that needs to be opened for Watchman to operate?

Answer: Please ensure the following are open for your Watchman:

- UDP port 5544 (for syslogs) to logsrv.pp-code.com

- TCP port 80 (for HTTP) to pp-code.com and to portal.pp-code.com

In addition, if there is a captive portal / splash page (that requires users to accept terms or provide a PIN before letting them access the network), you will need to white-list Watchman on your internet gateway. It can be done using Watchman's MAC address. Watchman ID (on the back) has subset of its MAC address. This will help you identify it from all MAC IDs visible at your internet gateway. 

Watchman sends hourly logs (can be changed to 15-min with subscription) in normal conditions. However, it immediately sends the log to pp-Code portal (does not wait for the next log cycle) for sudden changes. such as:

• temperature changes more than +/-5F

For units, with gas/water/noise sensor, following conditions will also trigger an immediate log:

• gas or water read changes 50+
• noise level exceeds 80 or increases by 10+ 

This ensures that users are immediately informed for sudden changes. 

As log arrives at the portal, they are subject to alert processing as per the user settings. pp-Code portal allows user to configure thresholds for email alert. User can also enable SMS alerts with paid subscription. Here is how regular alerts are implemented:

• For a given event, such as temperature rising above the configured threshold, a maximum of two alerts will be sent during a 24-hours period. Alert-reset happens at 12:17pm EST daily.
• If subsequent logs are still outside of the threshold, no more alerts will be generated. This indicates that the threshold needs to be re-adjusted.
• Arrival of a log, which is within normal readings, also resets and re-enables alerting on the event.
• The above behavior is a on a per-event basis. For example, if two alerts have already been sent on the rising temperature log, the watchman will not stop alerting for other events such as temperature drop or humidity increase etc.

The alerts can be very useful for cases such as:

• The cooling/heating system is left running at high while property is not in use (i.e. alert when temperature exceeds/drops a defined threshold)
• Heating system has failed and may cause pipes to freeze
• If you have your goods in a storage area and you would like to ensure that they are stored at proper temperate and humidity levels
• Or you want to have environment stats monitored on your home/office (especially when not there) and be alerted appropriately.       

Go to a browser and type in: http://<IP address>/<key>&Stats/json

Or use a API client:

 GET /aa7777063116&Stats/json   HTTP/1.1  (request)

 HOST: 192.168.1.195

{ "API": {"Version":"1"}, "Stats": { "Temp":"77.9F", "Humi":"66.1%", "ActDev":"1" } }

 Go to a browser and type in : http://<IP address>/<key>&Stats

 Or use a API client: 

  GET /aa7777063116&Stats   HTTP/1.1  (request)

  HOST: 192.168.1.195

  Temp:87.44F Humi:48.3% ActDev:0 (response)

http://<IP address>/<key>&Temperature

Here is an example:

  GET /aa7777063116&Temperature   HTTP/1.1  (request)

  HOST: 192.168.1.195

  87.44F (response)

http://<IP address>/<key>&Humidity

Here is an example:

   GET /aa7777063116&Humidity HTTP/1.1    (request)

   HOST: 192.168.1.195

   36.4% (response)

http://<IP address>/<key>&ActiveDevices

Watchman’s Part-Detect feature is an algorithmic estimate derived from number-of-ActiveDevices on your local WiFi. The above API call will provide you the current number that watchman sees on the WiFi. The number count is recycled every hour (cycles starts with 1 to the actual count by the end of the hour). 

Requires Party-Detect feature to be enabled (default is: Disabled)  

Here is an example:

   GET /aa7777063116&ActiveDevices HTTP/1.1   (request)

   HOST: 192.168.1.195

   5 (response) 

   OR

   Party-Detect feature is not enabled (response)

Where 

• IP address: local ip address of your Watchman. You can find it by clicking on "Real Time Reading" on our "Watchman Online" App. Alternatively, you can look for it on your WiFi router (Watchman will be shown as "NODE-xxxx"). Since IP is DHCP-assigned, it may change every time Watchman restarts. You may want to statically-assign it on your WiFi router, so that DHCP always assigns the same IP to your Watchman. If you are sending the call over internet (requires port forwarding on your router), it would then be: <router WAN address>:port. The port number is 80.
• Key: 12-digit specific to your purchased product. Please look for "ID" on back side of your Watchman.