G+_Kyle Boyington Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 My father in law is a farmer and wants to check his irrigator status from a mile or so away. I am looking at different ways to do that. Does anyone know of a cost effective, reliable way to transmit data over a mile away? Maybe not wifi, but some RF that could eventually be fed into a computer and parsed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Mink Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Why not use the internet? I'm sure you could use a mobile hot spot out there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 WiFi with a directional antenna at each end should easily do that. Going for 20+ miles is doable with home-made antennas (tho they are VERY directional so aiming can sometimes be an issue.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Mink Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Travis Hershberger any sources or design documents for a 1+ (or 20+) mile antenna? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I'm curious too why WiFi isn't a good option. I think FreedomPop gives you 500 MB per month free? That should be sufficient for the small amount of data. Just have to buy the hot-spot or USB dongle. HackRF is more expensive than I remember it being, but it should give lots of flexibility for a DIY option: http://hakshop.myshopify.com/products/hackrf?variant=701314117 Unless you go with a cell service, you'll probably have to use a directional antenna to get the data back to home base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_610GARAGE Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Check out digi.com. They make radios for monitoring things. They have embedded radios that will require some skills with electronics but they also have some trunkey(for lack of a better term) solutions and sensors. Here is a radio that can go upto 25 miles, but they do have others. http://www.digi.com/products/wireless-wired-embedded-solutions/zigbee-rf-modules/point-multipoint-rfmodules/xbee-pro-868#overview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Web Luke (WebLuke) Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 2 inexpensive router board based radio/antana units and aim them point to point and you should have a nice network over 1+ miles. http://routerboard.com/RBSXT2nDr2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 check status? Too little info. What specifically is the data wanted? If just on/off, and can see it from the house, a simple mechanical flag could be done. Is it just a one way data? As in not sending commands to control the system?. As 610bob suggested Digi's XBee/ZigBees, but also look at their other offerings. I try to stay out of the 2.4GHz, since its an over populated spectrum. And typically the lower the freq the further it can travel. Yes you lose bandwidth, but tiny text packets won't matter. (But watch that you are allowed to transmit on those freqs!!! FCC does levy fines to citizens) First place to start is: What is the data/parameters to send? Is it just telemetry or will control be needed? Will it need to be scalable? What is the budget? How much DIY vs off the shelf are you comfy with? Have the programing skills? (arduino makes it easier, but costs more then say bare metal uC.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 John Mink For home made antennas search for "wifi cantenna". They're commercially made now as well, which isn't going to cost you that much more than parts. For REALLY long range stuff check out www.ubnt.com. For what you want to do a couple of these will probably work just fine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833997212&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Network+Antennas-_-N82E16833997212&gclid=CjwKEAjwhbCrBRCO7-e7vuXqiT4SJAB2B5u7QAvOTRK_IjUYouXkrlZJ3A962Z6nB1KObq0odcG_UBoCQTPw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Mink Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Travis Hershberger sure nothing new about cantenna's (I guess except the lack of pringles can), but apparently that one claims "It is built for the outdoors and has a range of up to 35 miles" So a few miles shouldn't be a problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Kyle Boyington Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 Thanks for all the comments! I guess I should have given more information. Ideally I would have a raspberry pi out there, maybe with a camera, if not maybe some senors to tell me it is still pumping water and the wheels are moving. Long range wifi would be ideal, but I didnt think cantennas would be that strong. Long term Im thinking it would be great to have some servos that could turn on the pumps and switches, and send the confirmation back to me via raspi or something similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Travis Hershberger Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Kyle Boyington Yep, a Ras Pi would be great for that sort of thing. Getting a USB wifi device with an antenna connection on it could be a little difficult, but should be doable. Also, yes, wifi will be able to travel over the entire distance you have "line of signt" for. The first cantenna story I remember was someone using old satellite dishes to beam it 24 miles (latency wasn't great, but it worked.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Buy an antenna. It will be tested. Using a formula, never is correct. Homemade without testing its resonant freq is OK for receive, but not so much for transmit. SWR matters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_610GARAGE Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Don't know if this is feasible, but you could get a low power router that can handle ddwrt and use it as a signal repeater so that you don't get extremely low speeds do to signal degradation and noise. It may be possible to power it via a solar panel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Perry Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 After going through all the comments I dont think I have anything to add but this is a great topic to play with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Kyle Boyington Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Ben Reese Freedom Pop seems like a great solution, although not a geeky one! lol. 610bob There is no infrastructure for repeaters out there, only corn fields! Wayne Hobbins Good input! Ill look at the Cubit, but I dont mind doing a little soldering! All of these antennas everyone has been recommending, can you just connect them to a wifi card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Kyle Boyington? yes, if the wifi card/dongle/router has external antennas. I've never used it, but here's a cheap wifi dongle that looks like it might work: Wifi With Antenna For Raspberry Pi - Instructions Included - PLUG and PLAY https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H95C0A2/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Eddie Foy Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 If he does get the HAM lic to go bigger power, he can NOT use encryption. So no WEP/WPA/WPA2. Has to be clear text. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Eddie Foy? I've heard that about the encryption. Does that also mean an SSL connect over that wireless network violates the rules? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Kyle Boyington Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Eddie Foy Wayne Hobbins Im trying to stay away from HAM. I dont have a license. I think I am going to try this WiFi antenna: http://www.simplewifi.com/wifi-antennas/directional-wifi-antennas/outdoorpanel.html Any downsides? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Ben Reese Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 Looks like it's worth trying. The $50 probably isn't too bad, but as Wayne said, you'll need 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Kyle Boyington Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Yes I think thats the plan. Now I have to get power out there. Might go solar for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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