AJ,
Here is a long and rambling answer to your question. I am in the process of computerizing my greenhouse and one of the first things I have done is to set up a temperature monitoring system. I looked at the weather station option and decided I did not need all the extra parts it added. The two options I am using are a mix of real time and off line temperature monitoring. For this I am using a TempTrax temperature monitor, I have a program I have been working on with my students to give us a web display of temperatures from the TempTrax. I also have one in my server room to monitor temperatures.
http://www.sensatronics.com this is their web site http://www.ag.iastate.edu/temp/ this is the temp monitoring for my server room
These next two may not work as Mediacom is messing with my Cable Modem connection to the Internet, and my temperature monitor is not getting to the TempTrax to record temperatures. You can look at July 1, 2004 to get an idea of what happens. The program is new and we are adding more features to it as we get time. It will email and/or page me if temperatures go outside of present maximum and minimum temperatures. We are also adding more graphing capabilities as we get time.
http://129.186.242.2/temperature/ this is my greenhouse monitor
http://12.216.5.221/ this is the direct connect to my TempTrax it has a built in web server.
I like the TempTrax as it can be used to trip additional programs to turn on or off X-10 devices, and other fun things like that, it will work with an overall Greenhouse control system I am working on.
The other option I am using is an off line temperature monitoring system from Onset. The HOBO is a small device you can put in various places and leave for a period of time and then go back and read the data from the sensor to see what happened. I got this to use in various ways where I want to measure what is happening in different areas of my greenhouse to see what microclimates I have and how they change as I change what I am doing in my greenhouse. These are much cheaper than the TempTrax but I loose the real time advantage of the TempTrax.
http://www.onsetcomp.com/Products/Product_Pages/HOBO_H08/H08_family_data_loggers.html
HOBO product page. I use the Indoor product and keep it protected from water in the greenhouse.
It depends on how much you want to spend on the project and what you want to do with it. Some of the weather stations looked nice, but they had features I did not want and were missing other features I did want.
Let me know if you need more information about what I am doing.
Tom /---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Tom Hillson Computer Services Manager |(515) 294-1543 College of Agriculture | Iowa State University ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |"The only thing I have too much of is too little time"
At 9:58 PM -0400 7/12/04, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
After reading Paul Simon's website (http://www.colorkidz.com/orchids) I was reminded of a perpetual problem of mine: temperature monitoring. While monitoring a temperature remotely isn't so much of a problem, I've been trying to find a solution that would allow me to log these data using a desktop computer. The best solution anyone has offered me is the LaCrosse wireless base station ($150) and wireless temperature/humidity sensors ($35 each). While I'm sure it's wonderful, I'd like to get away with something like this for under $200! Surely this isn't that tough.
Anyone have recommendations for an off-the-shelf temperature monitoring system that allows remote (preferably wireless) monitoring on a computer? Sure would be nice.
-AJHicks Chandler, AZ _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids
_______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids
