[Lab] [Bulk] Re: ESP8266 Issues

[chris at dreaming.org]

Maybe a variable resistor (float arm or solid state) would allow for
measurement with lower power requirements than ultrasonic, and perhaps
with more accuracy.

e.g. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10221

There are also MPPT charging solutions that help squeeze the most out of solar.

e.g. https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12885

Note these examples are rather spendy but could be DIY'd for less.

- Chris

On 25 November 2014 at 17:20, Ken McKinnon <klmckinnon at rogers.com> wrote:
> I had thought about doing this a few years ago for ground water height (but
> long before really low power stuff and decent solar cells) - and power was
> the problem that shelved it.  Your idea is very close to what I was going to
> do.  I never got as far as testing, but am curious as to what the sonar
> bouncing off the walls of the pipe would do.  The other difference is I was
> going to use a ping pong ball to make sure it would be oriented right
> without sticking to anything.
> I would be interested on how it works out for you.
>
> Ken
>
>
> On 2014-11-25 2:49 PM, Adrian Jones wrote:
>>
>> Hello all,
>> Thanks for your suggestions.
>> Turns out that the baud-rate is 9600 for newer units and at this rate, and
>> with a stable 3.3v power supply (this little puppy sucks power!), was able
>> to connect it to my WiFi.
>>   I am toying with the idea of making a data logger to measure the
>> fluctuations of the water level of our lake. As a dammed river, the water
>> level fluctuates depending on the amount of water in the Rivière Blanche
>> watershed.  I'm thinking that the design will have an ultrasonic
>> transducer
>> at the top of a length of ABS pipe that is partially submerged in the
>> water.
>> A disc of plastic inside the pipe floats on the surface of the water and
>> provides a large surface area to rebound the transducer's ping. As the
>> water
>> level rises, so too does the float and the ping echo is made shorter. I
>> plan
>> to add a small solar cell and set of rechargeable batteries and an RTC to
>> wake the software up every few minutes. The software will take a number of
>> readings which, when averaged, will be sent over the WiFi connection to an
>> online data logger. Interesting?
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> ... Adrian
>>
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