Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
battery operated data logging — Parallax Forums

battery operated data logging

ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
edited 2003-08-26 01:49 in General Discussion
Hi all,

I have a need for a 4 channel data logger that will be left on site
and run by battery. possibly with solar charging, possibly just an
occosial charging.

question is, what is a good way to pull the data ? or to store the
data ?

palm ?
memory card of some type ?
possibly the Stashe-DAQ ? (if an when it comes on the market)

anybody have any links to those who have done something like this ?

of course, a follow up with by what do you use on the PC to read and
analyze the data ?

Dave

Comments

  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-08-25 01:41
    I would suggest you try looking at the following:
    www.onsetcomputer.com/

    I have used their data loggers with great success. They are inexpensive, have
    great support and can run over a year......


    Dave Mucha <davemucha@j...> wrote:
    Hi all,

    I have a need for a 4 channel data logger that will be left on site
    and run by battery. possibly with solar charging, possibly just an
    occosial charging.

    question is, what is a good way to pull the data ? or to store the
    data ?

    palm ?
    memory card of some type ?
    possibly the Stashe-DAQ ? (if an when it comes on the market)

    anybody have any links to those who have done something like this ?

    of course, a follow up with by what do you use on the PC to read and
    analyze the data ?

    Dave




    To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and Body of
    the message will be ignored.


    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/



    Do you Yahoo!?
    Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software

    [noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-08-25 02:09
    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, andy shor <ashor2000@y...> wrote:
    > I would suggest you try looking at the following:
    > www.onsetcomputer.com/


    I got one of their loggers for temperature and for a test, I stuck it
    in the fridge.

    it took about 45 minutes to clear 80% of the error and was still
    ramping towards temperature at an hour.

    A half decent sensor should be able to monitor the compressor on
    cycles as temperature dips, this never even made it to the actual
    refriderator temperature.

    it worked neat at room temperature though.

    I'll give them another look.

    Dave
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-08-25 14:13
    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Trygve Henriksen"
    <trygve.henriksen@v...> wrote:
    > Greetings!
    >
    > Are you trying to measure temperature?
    > If so, why not get four 'ThermoChron' iButtons from DalSemi?


    I wish it was that easy. pressures too. 0-500 PSI, need about 1 PSI
    resoultion so a 12 bit ADC is needed.

    I think I can do the hardware, BS2, ADC and on-board memory, but I'm
    not sure how to transfer the data to another device easily. A USB to
    PALM would be nice : ) or something like a memory stick/smartcard
    writer.

    and, then the software. how to display it in pretty pictures and
    graphs. I have been coorsponding with Dave at
    http://www.rhombusinc.com/microgui.html

    nice stuff for PC screen displays, but ultimatly, I also need to get
    up to around 40 points. : )

    anyone have any ides how to display 40 temperaturs on a PC screen in
    a GUI format ? lines of text are not as fun to look at.

    Dave
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-08-25 16:16
    Why not try:
    my.execpc.com/~fdeck/meld/
    Francis Deck makes a 4 or 5 channel data acquisition system based on Palm
    output. I tried it and it works. Moreover - it is an open system in the
    best sense of the expression...

    Dov
    Original Message
    From: "Dave Mucha" <davemucha@j...>
    To: <basicstamps@yahoogroups.com>
    Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 16:13
    Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] Re: battery operated data logging


    > --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, "Trygve Henriksen"
    > <trygve.henriksen@v...> wrote:
    > > Greetings!
    > >
    > > Are you trying to measure temperature?
    > > If so, why not get four 'ThermoChron' iButtons from DalSemi?
    >
    >
    > I wish it was that easy. pressures too. 0-500 PSI, need about 1 PSI
    > resoultion so a 12 bit ADC is needed.
    >
    > I think I can do the hardware, BS2, ADC and on-board memory, but I'm
    > not sure how to transfer the data to another device easily. A USB to
    > PALM would be nice : ) or something like a memory stick/smartcard
    > writer.
    >
    > and, then the software. how to display it in pretty pictures and
    > graphs. I have been coorsponding with Dave at
    > http://www.rhombusinc.com/microgui.html
    >
    > nice stuff for PC screen displays, but ultimatly, I also need to get
    > up to around 40 points. : )
    >
    > anyone have any ides how to display 40 temperaturs on a PC screen in
    > a GUI format ? lines of text are not as fun to look at.
    >
    > Dave
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    > basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    > from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and
    Body of the message will be ignored.
    >
    >
    > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
    >
    >
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-08-25 16:21
    Dave,

    You might check out: http://www.microdaq.com/products/voltage.php

    Buy an external pressure transducer and hook it up to one of their
    voltage or current loggers ($200) and you'd be in business. They also
    have a nice graphical interface ($100) that runs on a PC to display the
    data.

    They also sell temperature loggers ($100) that use the same graphical
    interface.
    http://www.microdaq.com/products/temperature.php

    If you are wanting to 'roll your own' please disregard!

    Regards,
    amg

    PS: I have a used 1000 psi Barksdale transducer sitting on my desk. No
    idea if it works or not, but you're welcome to it. (Respond off-list if
    interested.)


    On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 13:13:08 -0000 "Dave Mucha" <davemucha@j...>
    writes:
    > I wish it was that easy. pressures too. 0-500 PSI, need about 1 PSI
    > resoultion so a 12 bit ADC is needed.
    >
    > I think I can do the hardware, BS2, ADC and on-board memory, but I'm
    >
    > not sure how to transfer the data to another device easily. A USB
    > to PALM would be nice : ) or something like a memory stick/smartcard
    > writer.
    >
    > and, then the software. how to display it in pretty pictures and
    > graphs. I have been coorsponding with Dave at
    > http://www.rhombusinc.com/microgui.html
    >
    > nice stuff for PC screen displays, but ultimatly, I also need to get
    >
    > up to around 40 points. : )
    >
    > anyone have any ides how to display 40 temperaturs on a PC screen in
    >
    > a GUI format ? lines of text are not as fun to look at.
    >
    > Dave

    ________________________________________________________________
    The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
    Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
    Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-08-25 16:41
    >I wish it was that easy. pressures too. 0-500 PSI, need about 1 PSI
    >resoultion so a 12 bit ADC is needed.
    >
    >I think I can do the hardware, BS2, ADC and on-board memory, but I'm
    >not sure how to transfer the data to another device easily. A USB to
    >PALM would be nice : ) or something like a memory stick/smartcard
    >writer.


    The Palm USB interface is, unfortunately, slave only. It cannot be
    used as the USB master in relation to other devices. Some Palm
    models still do have an RS232 serial interface, and that is nice for
    field data offloads, and on some of them that can go directly to a SD
    card. How much data are you talking about? It may not take
    extraordinarily long to transfer on-board memory via RS232, even at
    Stamp speeds, unless you really are getting into memory stick
    capacities.

    If your data is text formatted, you can offload it into a PC using
    hyperterminal, or into a Palm using "Online", and then import it
    directly into Excel. It can handle 40 temperatures. Another good
    stamp-controlled option is Stampplot lite, and pro, from
    http://www.selmaware.com/

    >
    >and, then the software. how to display it in pretty pictures and
    >graphs. I have been coorsponding with Dave at
    >http://www.rhombusinc.com/microgui.html
    >
    >nice stuff for PC screen displays, but ultimatly, I also need to get
    >up to around 40 points. : )
    >
    >anyone have any ides how to display 40 temperaturs on a PC screen in
    >a GUI format ? lines of text are not as fun to look at.
    >
    >Dave
  • ArchiverArchiver Posts: 46,084
    edited 2003-08-26 01:49
    I would contact them about your issue. I actually just last week brought mine
    home from work and tested our fridge as I was worried about its operation. The
    unit clearly reported the compresser cycles twice each hour.
    Andy

    Dave Mucha <davemucha@j...> wrote:
    --- In basicstamps@yahoogroups.com, andy shor wrote:
    > I would suggest you try looking at the following:
    > www.onsetcomputer.com/


    I got one of their loggers for temperature and for a test, I stuck it
    in the fridge.

    it took about 45 minutes to clear 80% of the error and was still
    ramping towards temperature at an hour.

    A half decent sensor should be able to monitor the compressor on
    cycles as temperature dips, this never even made it to the actual
    refriderator temperature.

    it worked neat at room temperature though.

    I'll give them another look.

    Dave





    To UNSUBSCRIBE, just send mail to:
    basicstamps-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
    from the same email address that you subscribed. Text in the Subject and Body of
    the message will be ignored.


    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/



    Do you Yahoo!?
    Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software

    [noparse][[/noparse]Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sign In or Register to comment.