[RE-wrenches] GTWB outage monitor question

[Dan Fink]

Jason;

The relay and an indicator light or buzzer is easy -- Grainger or Radio
Shack parts.

There are multitudes of monitors for anything -- voltage, current,
temperature, water level, switch state, specific gravity (!)  that have
live serial port output possibly in addition to memory card logging. Once
you have data on serial out, it's easy to network it anywhere, including
emails and even live web page widgets. Talk to Jim Jarvis at APRS World if
you want a custom solution, and also Atkinson Electronics, but it is also
easy DIY. It can take a small computer to format and send more complicated
data in an email or web friendly form, but there are Linux boxes the size
of thumb drives, and the software is all free and open source. If you are
into it (or have a colleague that is) you can build your own using Arduino
too.

Basically, once you have something that can read a serial port, you can do
anything with the data it gives you -- beam it via wifi, cell, satellite,
what have you.


DAN FINK


On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 12:41 PM, Jason Szumlanski <jason at fafcosolar.com>wrote:

> Can you elaborate on this? It sounds like something I could use in other
> situations... What equipment is required?
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Fafco Solar
>
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 2:25 PM, Dan Fink <danbob88 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I agree, Chris. For very little money you could even monitor the relay to
>> have it email, phone or SMS them when the grid goes out.
>>
>> --
>> Dan Fink,
>> Executive Director;
>> Otherpower
>> Buckville Energy Consulting
>> Buckville Publications LLC
>> NABCEP / IREC accredited Continuing Education Providers
>> 970.672.4342 (voicemail)
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 11:17 AM, Chris Mason <
>> cometenergysystems at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Couldn't you power a relay from the incoming utility, so it closes on
>>> loss of utility?
>>>
>>>
>>>
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