Weather Proof ultrasonic Sensor
HI,
Has anyone done any experimenting with Paralax's weather proof sensor? It looks like it is going to take a fairly high voltage to operate as a transmitter and I see nothing on the data sheet about it being used as a receiver. The max voltage appears to be 140p-p. What is the minimum? I would like to see this in an anemometer application but it would be interesting to know just what it would take to drive it and how well it works as a receiver.
Jim
Has anyone done any experimenting with Paralax's weather proof sensor? It looks like it is going to take a fairly high voltage to operate as a transmitter and I see nothing on the data sheet about it being used as a receiver. The max voltage appears to be 140p-p. What is the minimum? I would like to see this in an anemometer application but it would be interesting to know just what it would take to drive it and how well it works as a receiver.
Jim
Comments
Minimum voltage? No, I don't think so. You can drive it directly from +/- 5 V, lower power output. I don't see that Parallax is selling the transformer that is mentioned in that schematic, and it may be hard to come by. Note that the transformer has variable inductance secondary. That is so that it can be operated at resonance with the individual transducer. There are other ways to get a higher voltage burst.
Thanks, Peter
The ultrasonic sensor isn't a very good fit here, and Parallax still does not have a waterproof version. Maxbotix does have some IP67 ultrasonic sensors, but they do cost more: http://www.maxbotix.com/Ultrasonic_Sensors.htm
A better fit might be eTape liquid level sensors. You could probably get a bulk discount too: http://www.milonetech.com/Purchase_eTape.html
You could also use a water pressure sensor to measure the pressure at the bottom of the tank. There's lots of different sensors on the market for that.