neilh20

Hi ChanCafun, nice pics of your system.
Which Level Troll are you using? Have you had any deployed for any period of time. I’m currently working with Level Troll 500.
I’m also looking at the RS485. The real issue is the power management, and generating a switched +12V that is typically required in a RS485 level-troll or Keller Nano-level, oh, and…[Read more]

Thanks for posting. What comes across is its IP20 – ;
A rating of “IP20” (pronounced “IP two zero,” not “IP twenty”), denotes protection from solid objects approximately 12mm in size, such as adult fingers; however, it also denotes no protection at all against liquids.

The other issue is that its an Intel Intel Quark® x1000, 512 MB RAM, 1…[Read more]

Wow – congratulations on deploying. Always a watershed moment to get it in to the real outdoors.
When its easy, it would be fascinating to see the basic parts list, outdoor configuration, power configuration especially with the GPRSbee, and target sensor data collection
Many thanks for sharing.

Well I’ve done some design thinking on this. I’ve focused on just generating the +12V. The issue with the Mayfly circuit is that the switched pwr comes from the 3.3V which also powers the processor – and a power hog on the 3.3V_Sw is going to cause a processor power glitch – yes I’ve had them in the past and they are nasty to debug 🙂
So I want…[Read more]

Hey Goodluck
Sounds like you have got the measurement traceability going. The local water company here installed a German ultrasonic meter, on the recommendation of Siemens. So far it seems to be slightly under-reading the water flow compared to the impeller meter I have, but haven’t done any detailed measurements on it. I’m waiting to see if…[Read more]

Hi Jeff, I think you’ve taken on a difficult challenge with estimating what is exactly ‘0’ at 4mA, and you would want to look at what is a theoritical low flow and can your ADC even detect that.
Just wondering what the history is with having a 4-20mA flow detector in this location.
Just to compare it against something I’ve done, for monitoring and…[Read more]

Hey congrats. Very nice.
I’ve been playing with the Particle.io photon as well, nice environment and easy to use.
I was wondering how do you plan on calibrating it and tracking the accuracy of the readings? – perhaps too early to ask that.
I always add a low cost aluminium measuring rule or USGS style manual gauge.

I’ve been using…[Read more]

Hi Ben
Thanks for posting and the links. Fascinating and thanks for the status.
I was wondering, does the “Distance sensor” have a memory, can it report all readings if the gateway goes down for a couple of days.
I was wondering is there a schematic of the “Distance sensor ” https://github.com/OxFloodNet – I couldn’t find it to ask the above…[Read more]

Sensors for continuous monitoring are challenging, see this for nutrients

Nutrient Sensor Challenge aims to coax market for next generation instruments

which is an EPA initiate to develop real-time sensors under $8K!!
http://www.epa.gov/innovation/examples-epa-prize-competitions
On the other end of the spectrum for low…[Read more]

Hi All
I was visiting the ArmTechCon/Santa Clara last week and a friend was on the ARM stand showing their CalPoly university project.
It had the basic same concept – using ultra-sonic to measure the depth of trash in a street side trash can, and then with a map displaying potentially multiple locations of monitored trash cans.
I asked if they…[Read more]

Hey kevin, great to see a sketch.
Some thoughts
1) I would ensure a standard measuring tape on the outside of the tube – make it easy for any site visits by anybody the waterdepth and time of measurement can be recorded and used to validate/calibrate that electronic measurements
2) I personally have no experience with the ultrasonic transducer…[Read more]

Wow thanks for the details. Great to see the Sodaq Mbili/GprsBee.
When it comes to attaching in the water, depends on stream conditions, soil type and vegetation. In the USA conrete in the stream channel probably would require a permit – but I’ve seen hydrologist working for the NOAA that will pound a stake into the stream bed, tie it into roots…[Read more]

Hi Rene
Thanks for the reference on the FDC1004 – there is an App Report
http://www.ti.com/tool/tida-00317
Capacitive-Based Liquid Level Sensing Sensor Reference Design

I’ve attempted some custom PCB electrode for measuring water depth. The discussion is excellent. The challenge is field calibration – if looking for a 0-1m (for example) change -…[Read more]

Hi Rene
Yes the Aquaplumb is capacitve sensor based, tried it and tested it.
Then I took the basics and applied them to the Teensy-LC which has capacitive inputs and tried the same on that.
So I was interested in what your results are – the capacitive water depth measurement does produce numbers … so it worked but I came across some issues…[Read more]