One Bridge, Several Beacons
Edit on GitHubLog positions from multiple beacons with a single bridge, one USB port at a time, and how to keep them apart.
One Bridge, Several Beacons
A training day often means several beacons. The bridge reads one USB port at a time, but that is enough: you do not need one bridge per beacon, just a routine for rotating them.
How it works
The bridge holds one serial port and prints every AEGIS:POS: line it sees. Beacons are identical hardware, so the log alone cannot tell two units apart. The payload can: when names are enabled, payload=SOS DE MARCO PSN ... identifies the unit. Keep names configured (see the Config Dashboard identity card).
The rotation routine
- Plug in beacon A, let it log a few fixes, unplug.
- Plug in beacon B. The bridge reconnects automatically (it retries every 2 seconds).
- Between beacons, send
POSto confirm which unit is on the line.
The bridge log shows the reconnection gaps, which also mark unit boundaries.
Keeping the log clean
Tag each session by starting the bridge fresh per beacon:
python bridge/aegis-serial-bridge.py --no-open > beacon-marco.log
# ... later ...
python bridge/aegis-serial-bridge.py --no-open > beacon-lena.logMultiple bridges, multiple beacons
Nothing stops you from running several bridge instances on one machine if it has several USB ports. Give each its own HTTP port:
python bridge/aegis-serial-bridge.py --port COM3 --http-port 8765
python bridge/aegis-serial-bridge.py --port COM4 --http-port 8766Only the default port (8765) feeds the website page; the second instance is for logging only.