Having been distracted (and snow melted) from the project, I now have the board and the Fluke so I'm starting to brainstorm.
- A ) is there a best way to get the info back from the ranger/board combo to the house where the monitoring computer will be? I anticipate a run of maybe 150' or so, and probably through a buried cable (UV/Ground safe). I think that a USB extender like this one
http://www.ebay.com/itm/WEme-USB-2-0-Extender-to-RJ45-Over-Cat5-5E-6-Connection-up-to-100-Meter-328-F/142312457099?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649to get the data inside the house. Something better come along in the last 6 months?
- B) The latest version of the Fluke doesn't like to be cold, at least according to several folks' reports here, and I'm thinking if I'm burying cable to get data in, I'd better bury low voltage AC or a GFI protected 120 v. outlet (then I could run all sorts of stuff out on the post/Stevenson/clamshell weather protector. So what is the best way to heat the little gizmo without wasting current and making it too hot, too?
I'm thinking that a piece of PVC pipe 3" with a round top cap, then a reducer from 3" down to 1" or 1.5", as the open end. Make some clever piece of internal support that would allow positioning the ranger so it fired out the hole, and yet didn't wobble around, and then place some sort of heating device inside. I know a simple resistor would do, but I've heard of folks using an aquarium or herpitarium heater for melting snow in a Davis Rain Gauge, and maybe something like that would do. It would be nice if it would turn itself off above say 35 to 40 degrees to save energy rather than run all the time.
I'm thinking of mounting the unit with a couple of bands or something around the PVC, but would I be well served to wrap the whole shebang every year with some aluminum foil backed FiberGlas insulation to help cut down on the heating that would be happening during really cold wx, even if there wan't much snow? I dont want to be turning this thing on and off manually if I can possibly help it.
Anything else that those with successful systems have thought of or implemented since the discussions went forward?
I don't mind experimenting and learning, but for someone else to have discovered neat or revised ways of doing things I could better spend my time working on other projects with my limited time. Winter's coming!
Thanks for any advice and encouragement.
Dale