[aprssig] River Gauging APRS setup

[Steve Noskowicz]

Hey!  Wait a minute...!   This is *already* done automaticlly and by radio.

  Cycling last spring on the bicycle path from Cristal Lake, IL to south of Algonquin, IL the path crosses the Fox River.  What easily caught my eye was the UHF beam, only feet from the path, pointing toward Pluto.  There was a pretty big outdoor box, though I couldn't see the water sensor.  I don't recall the detail, but it had a sign and was a water montoring setup beaming obviously to a satellite.  The sign had specifics and it may have been USGS, I just don't remember.  I had no pencil or I'd have Googled it back home.  Shoulda' used the cell to leave a memo @ home.
 
  The McHenry County Conservation District also recently drilled a well on one vacant space near here and now there is a solar panel, a box and another beam pointing at Pluto.  The sign there even has the satellite name -  Geos - something or other and the beam still has the frequency label.
 
 
  They're just rebuilding our Thompson road bridge, but until recently it had a box and what looked like something that could be dropped/cranked down to the water, and I think had a USGS label.  Without any visible sub-space radio, I often wondered how they actuated it from Pluto..  (;-).  Now I know.
 
--
73, Steve, 
 
 
--- On Fri, 12/17/10, Lee Mushel <herbert3 at centurytel.net> wrote:





Gentlemen,
 
I find this to be a very interesting topic.   You see, next spring I might get a phone call from the National Weather Service and then I take the key and drive to the river gauge, open the padlock, lower the "sensor" and read the value, then restore everything and drive to the next gauge and then the next.   This may take 45 minutes.   Then I email NWS my report---or I could radio it to them but the email is preferred because it provides a record that is easily handled.  Now, since there is that padlock to be considered I hope that any plans would include provisions for security---especially if I am paying for this!
 
But I must warn you that a suggestion by me that realtime water/flood photos be "radioed" by ham radio to the hydrologist was met with absolutely no enthusiasm.  Acceptance of new ideas, even though they have merit, can be difficult!
 
73
 
Lee  K9WRU

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jim Tolbert 
To: TAPR APRS Mailing List 
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 6:29 AM
Subject: Re: [aprssig] River Gauging APRS setup

http://www.graphicartworks.net/xpondr_main/floodadvisor.html

On 12/17/2010 5:30 AM, Wes Johnston, AI4PX wrote: 

http://www.xpondr.com/041202/flood_advisor.pdf
 
I just searched my email archives and this is what I found. Link doesn't work.  I do remember this thing though, it was in a PVC pipe and shot an ultrasonic transducer down the pipe to measure the distance to the water surface.  I think the guy that made it was in Florida.... but not sure.

Wes
---
God help those who do not help themselves.



On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 23:54, Daron Wilson <daron at wilson.org> wrote:

Somewhere I've seen plans for a simple river gauge setup with APRS, seems to
me it was a micro power transmitter, the thing ran on several 6v lantern
batteries, PVC conduit into the river for the sensing portion and an antenna
on top of the PVC.  I can't find it, does anyone remember this and have the
link or info on this?

Thanks,

Daron N7HQR



      
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