[Waverley ARS] Fw: Electronics and Radio Interest.

Fri Jun 16 17:15:26 CEST 2006

Michael Roll VK2HMR has passed on an eMail he received from Richard Hole that may be of interest to some Members.

I have responded to Richard's eMail, as follows:-
  Richard,
  Thank you for your message and your interest in our Club.  I have now succeeded Michael as Club Secretary.  Unfortunately  neither of us have received your previous eMail, sorry about that.
  I will forward your eMail to our Club Members for their information and also "table it" for discussion at our next formal meeting.  In the meantime, an individual Member may choose to respond to your message.
  Good luck with your project.

  73s ............. Jim Ayling - VK2JA,  Secretary,
                        Waverley Amateur Radio Society Inc.
  ==========================================================================
 -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Hole [mailto:richardhole at truesolutions.info] 
> Sent: Thursday, 15 June 2006 3:11 PM
> To: mroll at tpg.com.au
> Subject: Electronics and radio interest.
> 
> Hi Michael
> 
> I am interested in your group and I sent this a while back, but I am not 
> sure if you received it as I have had email transmission problems.
> 
> I am an Australian inventor of a number of things. I run a weather 
> organisation and need to use electronics for a number of things. I am 
> interested in getting some people to work together on some community 
> projects. They include:
> 1. Making or finding a transmitter that can act as a remote control to 
> switch a device on an off possibly over a kilometer away.
> 2. Amplifying a low voltage range so that it will scale between 0 and 5 
> volts
> 3. Finding or creating software that will activate a relay to operate a 
> motor through a cable connected to the printer or serial PC port.
> 
> I would also be interested in your group and swapping links with your 
> website. The weather network and plans for other community groups are 
> linked to http://weather.org.au
> 
> Could you, or do you know who could help with some of these projects or 
> do you have any ideas? Also, do you know of any Internet electronics 
> forums where we can share ideas and ask questions.
> 
> Could you possibly share this letter with other people who may be able 
> to help?
> 
> Please see more information below.
> 
> ***************************************
> Remote switching by radio transceivers.
> ***************************************
> 
> I am wondering if you know of an affordable remote control that can 
> transmit over about 1 km. I have heard it can be done using a 433 MHz 
> transmitter.
> 
> I have an idea to remotely activate a switch by a radio transceiver. I 
> have two applications at this moment. One is for an irrigation sensor I 
> have invented. It works on evaporation and turns a switch on when a 
> container of water loses weight and overbalances an arm. It activates a 
> micro switch to do this. The sensor is best placed out in the field 
> under the sprinklers that replace the water. However, a problem for some 
> people is that a long length of cable has to be laid out between the 
> sensor and the solenoid valve that the switch turns on. I thought a way 
> to overcome the problem would be by using a common low cost radio 
> transceiver or a 433 MHz transmitters/receiver like the ones at Electus 
> Distribution with a number of ZW-3100 and ZW-3102. There may also be a 
> unit already made up to do what I want.
> 
> It would be good to have a transmitter at the irrigation sensor so that 
> when it's micro switch turns on it can activate the transmitter that 
> sends a signal back to a receiver at the solenoid valve or pump which 
> turns the water on.
> 
> I could also use the idea to make a rain sensor for a community project 
> so that a leaf wetness sensor out in the field a couple of kilometers 
> away could send a signal back to sound a buzzer to alert us when rain is 
> coming.
> 
> I do not know enough about electronics to make one or even what parts to 
> order. Do you know anyone who could help me make up the kits? I also 
> have some other community projects in mind that would benefit many 
> people. However, I would need people to make them up. Do you know who 
> could or any groups that may be able to help?
> 
> Is there a remote control already made up that would do what I want, and 
> if so, what would it cost?
> If not are there any kits available and how long would they take for 
> someone to make up?
> 
> Another way and probably the cheapest is radio CB transceiver which 
> could be the solution and some people said it could do the job. However, 
> I also heard that there could be problems with interference and that if 
> I send a continuous signal on it for some time it may interfere with 
> other people communicating. However, there may be a solution to still 
> use it if I could have a directional antenna and also have the receiver 
> that is in something like a pipe so that it will only pick up signal 
> from the transmitter that the pipe is pointed at. Do you think that this 
> could work? The transceivers claim to go about 5 KM. Also I could work 
> it so that it sends a beep every so often instead of a continuous signal.
> 
> **********************************************************
> Amplifying a low voltage to range between 0 and 5 volts.
> **********************************************************
> 
> One thing I want to make up soon is a leaf wetness sensor that outputs a 
> voltage range of between 0 and 5 volts, depending on the amount of 
> moisture on it. I have received information in an electronic diagram of 
> how one could be easily made in an earlier thread about this subject. It 
> is at http://www.electronics-lab.com/projects/science/015/
> I have sourced some places where I can buy the sensors but they need to 
> be modified so that they output the correct voltages.
> 
> I have a data logger that collects data so that the weather can be 
> graphed out. It is then automatically uploaded on to a public site 
> linked to http://www.weather.org.au/tolga/ The logger requires between 0 
> and 5 volts. The voltage values are saved in a text file and pasted into 
> Microsoft Excel to be converted into the values I need and graphed out. 
> It would be good if very light drizzle registered at perhaps the lowest 
> voltage and heavier drizzle was logged at a higher voltage so that a 
> graph could be created. Also it would be good to put an alarm on the 
> wetness sensor so it would buzz even when light drizzle is falling on 
> it. The buzzer could be switched off and separate to the computer and 
> data logger.
> 
> ***************************************************************
> Software to operate solenoids through serial or printer port.
> ***************************************************************
> 
> I am trying to set up a camera to rotate to take digital still shots of 
> the weather. To get the rotator to work it would be good to have 
> software that will induce a voltage down some cable linked to either the 
> printer or serial port on the PC. This would then activate a relay to 
> rotate the camera. Also I plan to have a door in front of the lens that 
> is normally closed to protect the camera from the weather
> 
> I have a spare printer and serial port on my computer. I would need two 
> circuits connecting the port. One circuit would control one relay that 
> would activate a solenoid to open a door on my camera box. When the door 
> opens it would expose the lens so it can see the weather. Then a photo 
> will be taken and I have software to take the photographs. After the 
> photo is taken I would need to switch off the voltage to the relay so 
> that the door closes. Then I would have to activate another circuit to 
> activate another relay. This relay will activate another solenoid or 
> motor to rotate the camera about 45 degrees. I have made up a rotator to 
> do this so that a windscreen wiper motor can rotate it into the next cog 
> that is at about 45 degrees. About a second is all that is needed to 
> have this rotating motor on for. After that time I will want to switch 
> it off by turning of the circuit and relay through the port. The process 
> will then be repeated 8 times with maybe 10 or 15 seconds between them 
> so that the camera will rotate 360 degrees. On my rotator I have a 
> method so that it will reverse after that time so cable will not be 
> twisted. The 8 cycles, rotation and photos are done every hour at this 
> stage.
> 
> So I thought the easiest way to do this would be to get a simple 
> software program that could only have 4 buttons on it. One button would 
> start a voltage from perhaps the printer port so that it will be induced 
> perhaps through two wire cores in category 5 networking cable. Another 
> button would be nearby to stop to voltage which would stop the first 
> solenoid via the relay.
> A third button would activate the second circuit which could go through 
> another two wires on the category 5 cable via the printer port. The 
> fourth button could switch this circuit and relay off.
> 
> I already have software that can to automatically move my computer mouse 
> curser to click buttons. So I would not need a timer on the software. 
> However, I could use a timer to time the on and off times as an 
> alternative to save as many mouse clicks. However, it would be not worth 
> doing this if it will take you much more time as the mouse moving 
> software is very easy to program and I can do it.
> 
> I am hoping to only use 4 thin wires from the printer port to go through 
> the category 5 cable that is planned to be about 50 meters long. Two 
> wires would be the positive and negative for the first circuit and the 
> other two would be the positive and negative for the other circuit.
> 
> I have Windows 2000.
> 
> Do you know of any software that can do this or could you possibly write 
> it or know who could?
> If so, would it be much trouble to do and when could I get it by?
> If you can think of an easier way, please let me know.
> 
> 
> Some ideas for a weather network are at 
> http://weather.org.au/instruments.htm
> 
> I also have many different sites with rare information that could 
> benefit many people. They include community groups to help many people 
> by searching for extraordinary people or methods that are significantly 
> better than those widely available. Please see 
> http://www.advantagein.com/overview.htm
> Do you want to swap links?
> It would be appreciated if you could share this letter.
> Any feedback is welcome.
> 
> Your help will be appreciated,
> Regards Richard
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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