Remote Monitoring

[DrTimPerkins]

Does anybody have the Lapierre Monitoring system, and how well does it work?

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it was only available to certain selected producers last year and is now being offered for sale. Lapierre spent a lot of time developing and testing their system. It does have some advantages, the primary one being a considerably longer range than other systems (other than Marcland, which is a satellite-based system that is extremely long-range....like anywhere on earth). The interface also has some nifty features. We hope to have a Lapierre system set up at UVM PMRC to test for the 2019 season.

[Amber Gold]

I was curious how the Marcland system worked. Do you know if there's any internet fees to get the signal out? Does each one operate like their own hotspot or something?

What's the range between Smartrek sensors? I'm looking at about 1300' from the base station to each of the end of mainlines. If needed, I could put a relay at the end of the wet/dry line, and then it's probably 900' to the end sensors.

Is it truly direct line of sight, or is there some flexibility with it?

[DrTimPerkins]

You'd have to check with Bob Crooks (Marcland) about the satellite subscription cost. I think there are several variables involved (how much data you want transmitted, how often, etc.). You can set a station up for multiple vacuum readings, but to do that you need to run 5/16" line to nearby mainlines. The technology involved is a bit older, but it is reliable, although a bit costly. I don't know a lot about the cost of the system....I just prefer to have individual sensors set up for each mainline.

1,300' is probably a tad far for the Smartrek sensors (900mHz). The range depends upon how much "stuff" there is between the sensors (trees, foliage, rain, snow). You'd probably want a relay or intermediate sensor (all sensors act as relays, but you can get stand-alone relays too).

Some of the other systems are longer-range. I believe the new Lapierre Datacer has a fairly long-range.

[Amber Gold]

Thanks Dr. Tim.

[VT_K9]

We installed the CDL system last year. We have 400 taps and were planning to go to 800, but ran out of time. We will be there this year. We have two tank monitors (one for each location). We have 8 vacuum sensors. We have a sniffer (this device syncs your bluetooth phone to the radio frequency of the system so you can monitor it while working on it in the woods when you don't have cell/wifi service). We will be adding a pump start unit in the next year or so. Waiting to see the final price on their new unit.

We went with CDL because of the excellent support we receive from our dealer. It is definitely a time saver if you are remote. I have my house at the property and it saves a few trips each day to check in on the bush.

Mike

[Haynes Forest Products]

The pump start option is the best thing ever. Being able to wake up and scan the info on your phone and then start it up and see if the lines are thawing out. My pump starter from CDL has the float switch option so if the switch is tripped it will shut the pump off.

[S.S.S]

I was curious how the Marcland system worked. Do you know if there's any internet fees to get the signal out? Does each one operate like their own hotspot or something?

What's the range between Smartrek sensors? I'm looking at about 1300' from the base station to each of the end of mainlines. If needed, I could put a relay at the end of the wet/dry line, and then it's probably 900' to the end sensors.

Is it truly direct line of sight, or is there some flexibility with it?

I have 2 sensors that are direct line of sight from one another that are just under 3/4 mile apart and never had a signal issue.

[Brian]

I run the smartrek system 1.5 miles the way the crow flies and it works good. I have a repeater at my garage. My cousin Thad came up and we played around with his system here and it worked, so down to Goodrichs I went and bought the system. Give Kyle at h2o a call he probably would come over and see if the system would work in your woods.The only thing is, is the batteries only last 1 year but it saves me so much time driving back and forth to check things. It is worth it to me.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Does the smartrek system have solar charging on there units?

[DrTimPerkins]

Does the smartrek system have solar charging on there units?

No, but the batteries will last for the whole season with a fairly fast reporting interval. On a slow interval you can get several years from a set of batteries. The newest version of the housing reconfigured the battery case, so you don't need to open up the electronics section to change batteries.