Our 4G cellular SMS controller is used to monitor a client’s cold room.
The cold room is used to store high value seed potatoes. Seed potatoes need to be kept cold and dry for long periods each year, to ensure they are ready for next season’s crop.
Power outages are becoming more common, so a way to remotely monitor the status and temperature of the cold room is needed.
The site has good 4G coverage so a Cellular SMS system would be a simple and appropriate solution, especially as there is no Wi-Fi signal on site.
An extract from our client’s specification:
We need periodic alerts letting the farmer know the cold room is ‘healthy’ and the refrigeration compressor is running. I would also be looking for alerts letting the farmer know of failures, and which failure specifically. I’d estimate 4 – 5 events triggering an alert text message. A remote start would be required with a confirmation text, and a remote reset would also be required. Another key factor would be the cold room temperature. I’d love for the farmer to get an SMS with the current temperature periodically, that way he knows where he is at. Two staff phones would be set up to receive alerts, but we must have the ability to change these numbers as needed. Is this an easy to arrange function for the farmer to manage going forward?
The antenna selection for this application is crucial. The cold room construction uses a lot of metalwork, so an outside mounting antenna is needed. The cold room roof is also extra tall so a custom 10m length antenna system is used.
Please contact us now to discuss your cold room remote monitoring requirements and how our technology can help.
Modern traffic light control systems use a sophisticated electronic controller to help meet the complex requirements of regional traffic authorities.
These traffic light controllers have multiple external inputs to enable special configurations for railway crossings, pedestrian requests, automated cycle lanes and emergency vehicle overrides.
The project requirement was for the driver of the emergency response vehicle to press a button as they leave the station. The button press needs to override the current traffic light sequences, giving the emergency vehicle green traffic lights.
This button operates one of the digital inputs on the WP2P module and also opens the garage door.
At the traffic controller, the output of the second WP2P module is wired to the controller. When activated, the controller overrides all the nearby traffic lights and performs the required interlocking. This ensures that emergency vehicles have green traffic lights and right of way through all the local traffic signals. This helps to safely speed up their response time and gives the other road users a clear signal.
The WP2P low power radio system has a range of several kilometres with optional antenna systems. It can be used in many other applications such as irrigation and pump control, flow meter pulse transmitting or flood detection systems.
Another popular application is the control of stop – go signals in industrial warehouses where fork lift trucks operate.
The WP2P can be used to indicate that a fork truck is moving in the warehouse to people in the yard outside. The people in the yard are advance warning that the fork truck is operation. This helps control the site hazards by separating them and strengthens your site Health and Safety plan.
Having an additional early warning system and not just the traditional “sound your horn as you go through the door” signal is an advantage for many sites.
Effective monitoring of power, ventilation and temperature helps prevent tragic damage to the animals, the associated financial losses and the potential fines that would be incurred.
The incoming mains voltage can be monitored with a phase failure relay with an auxiliary alarm contact. This normally open alarm contact is wired into an SMS Lite input.
The temperature sensor is typically an electronic meter with an alarm contact which is mounted in the electrical cabinet. However, even a mechanical thermostat that closes dry contracts at the configured temperature level, could also be used.
By using a small UPS, such as the PowerShield PSDCMin12/18, the SMS Lite will remain operational for several hours during a power outage. This allows the fault situation to be monitored while corrective actions are taken to ensure animal welfare is maintained.
The SMS Lite has a supply voltage monitoring feature which automatically sends a text message when it is low. The voltage can also be checked at any time with a simple “STATUS” text message to the SMS Lite.
Greyhound racetrack control is another application for our WP2P wireless remote control solution. The existing underground control cable, which controls the starting gates, was starting to fail making operation unreliable.
A critical requirement for this customer project was avoiding having to dig up the horse racing track which surrounds the greyhound track.
As the WP2P is a radio system, it prevented disturbing the surface of the adjacent horse track.
The distance from the club room to the starting gate was less than 200m, which is easily within the range of the WP2P systems. With optional high gain antennas, several kilometres can easily be achieved for more demanding applications.
The WP2P has 3 switched inputs and 3 relay outputs, essentially replacing a 6 core cable with a low power radio link. The track officials can now control the starting gates reliably from the safety of the club rooms.
Interfacing the WP2P outputs to the starting gate wiring is straightforward. The WP2P has normally open, low voltage relay contacts which can be easily integrated into the control circuit by using interface relays.
A Shire council approached us for a road closure warning system as part of a flood mitigation plan.
Extreme rainfall is becoming more frequent and it causes disruptive road flooding and public safety concerns.
A system was needed to activate four LED warning signs when the road flooded.
Council required the remote control and monitoring of the LED flood warning signs, which are to be operated from a high level sensor in a local creek.
An efficient, low power radio communication system was needed, together with the ability to send SMS text alerts to staff phones.
After reviewing the Shire council’s requirements, we specified a QTech Multi Point Controller and a 4G SMS Lite as the ideal solution.
To help achieve efficient radio communications, we suggested moving the proposed Master site. The Master was moved to a higher site, which provided good line of sight to all warning signs, as its elevation was over 75m.
The Master is a Multi Point Controller (PD8620) which communicates to four slave radio modules. The slave radios are Wireless Point to Point (WP2P) – Digital radios (PD8810-WP2PE).
Signs A & Sign B only require one radio as they are close to each another.
A WP2P radio was installed at Sign C, Sign D, and the level sensor site.
At the Master a 4G SMS Lite (PD8640-4G) was used to provide cellular communication of any warning activation. Part of the completed installation is below:
Antennas are always an important consideration to achieve reliable communications.
A high gain Collinear antenna (PD9242) is to be installed at the Master and directional Yagi’s (PD9225) at each of the radios.
To ensure good cellular communication the SMS Lite was also specified a high gain collinear (COL7195).
Reception of each point back to the Master was tested and achieved successfully.
There are many types of water level sensors available, including float, ultrasonic and tilt switches. Our wireless road closure warning system simply requires a volt free, contact closure to be wired into the digital input of the WP2P radio module.
In this application, all the WP2P radio modules also have spare inputs and outputs, which could be used for future expansion or system changes. The MPC supports up to eight slave WP2P modules so more could be added.
Home security is increasingly important – your house alarm monitoring can be sent directly to your phone with our SMS based solution.
Do you have a house alarm system but it doesn’t provide you with alerts when you are away?
Can existing alarm systems be configured to send SMS/text messages?
Is there an alternative to paying a subscription to an alarm monitoring service?
The QTech SMS Lite provides a solution to all of these questions and provides house alarm monitoring by SMS text message.
The SMS Lite is a quality, low-cost option for existing alarm systems, and it can be retro fitted to many models of alarm panel.
The SMS Lite has three switched inputs which are wired to the relay outputs of the alarm panel.
The function of the alarm panel relays are usually programmable for conditions including “alarm has been triggered”, “mains power loss”, “tamper detection/panel open” and “keypad is in” use etc.
The SMS Lite is simple to configure, sends text messages on the 4G network and is secured with a PIN to prevent unauthorised users. The SMS Lite has a sophisticated escalation sequence to ensure someone acknowledges the alarm in a timely manner, maybe even a neighbour of family member.
The SMS Lite inputs also have a programmable “debounce” time to help prevent nuisance messages being sent, when activated.
There are many other applications where the SMS Lite can provide remote monitoring and control via SMS messages. Some of the most popular include remote generator control, heating/HVAC control and bilge pump/jetty lighting.
Alternatively, the wireless point to point systems can be used to transmit the relay signal over a distance of several kilometres. This allows you to bring many status signals to a central location or control room to improve site security for remote buildings etc.
DATRAN Australia helps provide a wireless traffic control solution.
We were recently involved in a project with AGD Systems Pty, a leading provider of traffic signals and transport systems.
The requirement was to provide a traffic control system to operate traffic lights, along a driveway over 150m long. The driveway was narrow, had a blind bend and a safer traffic solution was required.
The challenge was to achieve this without digging up the driveway to lay cables and conduit.
AGD Systems’ inground vehicle sensors and traffic lights were installed at each end of the driveway and AGD Systems also manufactured two electrical control cabinets. Digital I/O versions of WP2P Wireless Point to Point systems were then installed in each cabinet to provide a radio link between the master and slave control panels.
The WP2Ps have three switched inputs and three relay outputs. Simply close a contact at one end, and the relay operates at the other. The WP2Ps are low power 900MHz radio systems which run on 12V DC and are ideal for being solar powered.
With optional antennas, a range of several kilometres can be achieved between the WP2P modules. For more challenging applications, a repeater can also be used.
DATRAN Australia have a wide range of wireless and cellular monitoring control systems available. The popular SMS Lite is a 4G text/SMS controller that is a low-cost way of getting important alerts direct to your phone.
Are you looking for a wireless traffic control or monitoring solution?
This may include warehouse facilities where stop go signals are needed. This is often required when fork lift trucks are operating and helps provide a safety system for pedestrians and other users.
The WP2P systems are used in many other applications including remote starting of generators, advertising signs and are often used in the agricultural sector for irrigation systems and valve control.
Please contact us now to discuss the best option for your requirement.
The repeater enables WP2P systems to cover a far greater distance or to operate in locations with obstructions such as hills, vegetation or buildings. The repeater allows the radio signal between the WP2P modules to be diverted around or over the obstruction, essentially allowing the system to “see” around corners. Each WP2P module in a system has a unique address that allows multiple systems to be used in the same location. Similarly, the repeater module is also tied to a specific set of WP2P modules which increases communication reliability.
Configuring WP2P modules in a system to use a repeater is simple and straight forward. There is a selector DIP switch labelled “RPT” inside the case.
The repeater module needs to be configured with the same radio address as the modules – this is done by us prior to dispatch.
The repeater can be used with both our Digital WP2P and Analogue & Digital WP2P systems.
Antenna selection needs to be carefully considered when using the a repeater. The repeater needs to “see” both WP2P modules so it is unlikely to use a directional high gain Yagi. The two WP2P modules in the system can use high gain Yagi antennas if the distance demands it. Typically the repeater will use the 6dB Whip antenna for long range systems.
Recently we were approached by Think Water who were experiencing issues with an existing orchard irrigation controller. The system had become unreliable and they needed a solution which would allow them to control 9 irrigation valves in an orchard.
The site had power available at the control shed but none at the valves. Each valve ranged from 300 to 700 metres away from the shed containing the irrigation control and although the terrain was flat, the antennas needed to be elevated above trees to achieve line of site.
Taking in the above considerations, we were able to resolve the orchards problem by creating a custom orchard irrigation controller solution using:
Since there was no power at the valves, each WP2P radio was housed in our made to order solar station (RSS01). The enclosure also included a latching solenoid interface module for the control of the valves.
The below diagram shows the application and highlights the QTech products used in the system. The maximum number of valves the Multipoint Controller can control is 8 but since the customer needed 9, we used two and split the inputs. The orchard can add control of up to 7 more valves if required in the future.
We pride ourselves on being able to create solutions for any industry. If you have a problem that you think needs a tailored application then…
The SMS Lite can monitor if the bilge pump is running and if the water level sensor has been activated and sends SMS/text messages to you or others.
The text messages from the SMS Lite will give you an early warning that further action maybe required.
The SMS Lite has four inputs and two outputs – all of which can be utilised to provide a flexible solution for boating needs.
Security – add a door switch or sensor and receive a text if anyone boards or enters the cabin.
Shore power supply – monitor the supply and receive a text if the power is disconnected.
Battery monitoring – the SMS Lite automatically sends a text message if it’s supply voltage drops below 10.5V DC. Alternatively you can add a voltage sensing switch to your supply to know if the battery is draining, or someone has forgotten to switch the isolator off.
Remote bilge pump start – if your bilge pump isn’t automatic, then send a text to start it if water level is detected.
Float switch – receive a text when the bilge float switch detects rising water.
The bilge pump is a crucial system for all vessels, but is easily forgotten about until an emergency strikes. Please take this opportunity to ensure it is clean, clear of debris and is well maintained.
The SMS Lite has also been used to remotely switch on jetty lighting – not only is this a navigation aid when it is dark but improves safety – all achieved by simply sending a text message.
After mooring, wouldn’t it then be nice to return home and the heating or lighting was already on for you. By installing another SMS Lite a home, you can achieve this and more.
