Re: Remote temp sensing help??

From: Michael (NoSpam_at_att.net)
Date: 01/10/05 

Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 13:10:25 GMT

Jenny3kids@msn.net wrote:
>
> Hi people,
>
> I live on a small acreage and I have two wells and two pump rooms on
> the property. Winter temps frequently get below freezing so I have to
> keep a small heater in them to prevent pipes freezing overnight.
>
> Currently I use some cheap indoor/outdoor thermometers to monitor the
> temp inside the insulated enclosures but I have to walk to each one to
> check it.
>
> I need some temp senders so I can have a remote station in the house
> and each one can constantly indicate the inside temp so if the heater
> dies I can get down there and fix it. I can have a switch to cycle
> through them manually I do not need a 4-station setup but that would
> be a nice luxury, cost permitting.
>
> There is 110v in all places so batteries are not an issue. Can anyone
> suggest a CHEAP kit I can get? The farthest away sender would be about
> 800 feet.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> --
>
> Kind regards,
> Jenny and her tribe of survivors.

An issue of Circuit Cellar several years ago had an article on an
X-10-based system for something similar to what you need. The author
wanted to turn a fan ON/OFF in his kid's 2nd- or 3rd-story bedroom,
depending on temperature. PIC-based trnasmitter queried upstairs
receiver for temperature via X-10 (TW-523?). Receiver measured temp.,
sent back either a HIGH or LOW signal. Transmitter could then either
ignore the situation altogether or send an ON or OFF command to the
fan's X-10 appliance module.

I was on the verge of building the thing when my need evaporated. If
you'd be interested, I'll look up the article.

By the way, I agree than some X-10 stuff is junk. But for the past 15+
years I've used the simple desktop manual X-10 controllers, the bedside
table clock/controller, and lamp modules to great advantage. If I had
to get out of my TV chair to make a light brighter or dimmer I wouldn't
know how to act. And the last time I turned OFF the downstairs lights
*before* going upstairs to be was in the late 1980's.