Aviation obstruction lights, or “aircraft warning lights” are vital warning devices. They help pilots avoid tall obstacles such as cranes, particularly when visibility is reduced or during the night.
Tall construction cranes encroaching into controlled airspace is a serious business and strict rules apply.
Knowing that the aviation obstruction lights are both running and the power supply is operational are therefore crucial aspects to monitor on tall cranes.
Their requirement was to provide notifications to multiple staff over the 4G cellular networks, and for the system to be easily installed to the current crane fleet. The client also needed an additional feature to “broadcast” an alert to multiple cell phones and not wait for the usual escalation period. QTech worked with the client to develop this feature, which is now available in firmware v4.08.
Getting automatic notifications when the crane is in use or powered up is another benefit of using the SMS Lite. Connecting one of the digital inputs to the “live” or “run” signal in the control panel will confirm the customer is using the crane – particularly useful for lease and hire contract monitoring. Should it be necessary, the crane could be inhibited remotely by activating one of the relay outputs.
Selection of the aviation obstruction lighting is a complex task which will need expert involvement to ensure it meets compliance requirements and local conditions.
Typical crane heights of up to 45m and 105m need aviation warning lights and may need multiple sets of lights at different heights and mounting alignments. The general requirement for construction cranes at night includes a maximum permitted height of 274 m.
LED lighting has multiple benefits over incandescent lighting, including lower energy consumption (lower power costs) and longer life expectancy.
Importantly, many of the modern LED lighting fixtures are modular and allow the lighting intensity to be changed to suit the match or event.
The requirements for sports field illumination varies depending on the sport being played.
Typical illumination levels required include:
Recreational: 300 lux
School/amateur: 500 lux
Professional: 1000 lux
International (FIFA/world cup): 2000 lux
But how can the LED lighting intensity be remotely controlled without digging up the pitch or replacing the control cables?
Our Wireless Point to Point (WP2P) and Multi Point Controller are popular solutions and have been specified for the remote control of LED lighting upgrades at several rugby fields recently.
The WP2P modules have three output relays, and these can be interfaced into the LED lighting control circuit. From a central control room or the ground keepers’ office, a switch is activated to change the LED lighting intensity via radio.
The WP2P also has input options that can be used to monitor lighting module failure, power failure or even a tamper switch in the control panel.
The TLM is a solar powered IoT system using low power LoRa radio communication.
Our web-based dashboard technology provides you with tank level information and alerts for both critical water levels or significant rates of change.
The system doesn’t need cellular coverage and the robust antenna helps gives a range of many kilometres between the tank and the gateway.
Set up and configuration is easy thanks to a “self service” website. Alerts are configurable and can be sent to multiple people via SMS/text, email or push notifications.
The TLM is suitable for water tank level monitoring on farms, industrial sites as well as lifestyle blocks in semi-urban areas.
The TLM uses our sophisticated and proven, IMS cloud technology to show you the water tank level, status indicators and water usage statistics.
The TLM uses LoRa IoT communications from the water tank to the gateway – the gateway then plugs into your existing internet connection.
You can also share the water tank level data with other farm staff or organisations that you given permission to. They can also be configured to only receive specific alerts and alarms.
DATRAN Australia also provides cellular and wireless remote control systems.
Our popular SMS Lite and 900MHz Wireless point to point are available here:
Backing gates are slow moving motorised barriers that control the dairy herd movement into milking platforms.
The motor drive units used are often water powered devices. Using water removes the need for long cable runs and the water also helps with the yard clean up.
A recent enquiry needed to add remote valve control to an existing water powered backing gate. No electrical supply was available for the valve control system and the control buttons needed to be in the dairy shed control panel.
The solar supply provides power to the WP2P module and powers the latching solenoid on the water drive unit. The solenoid controls the water flow to the drive unit and uses the QTech LSD01 latching driver. Reliable radio communications is provided by our industrial grade antennas, including low profile options at the backing gate.
The Q48 P2P was selected as six digital outputs were needed to be controlled from the dairy shed.
The Q48 P2P was retro installed into an electrically powered backing gate system, as the existing control cable was becoming unreliable. The replacement cost of the cabling was high, but the likely downtime during the milking season was prohibitive for the farmer.
The existing waterproof pendant control was also reused in the wireless Q48 P2P system, which helped the dairy operators.
However, this enquiry needed a system to interface to the existing irrigation controller.
The irrigation controller’s output was already for a latching solenoid – so how do we transmit that over more than a kilometre?
A novel system was prescribed to convert the latching output to a relay closure, then transmit the relay status, and then convert it to latching at the solenoid end.
The solution used both the QTech LSD01 and the IPC relay module, usually used for solid set irrigation projects.
The WP2P systems’ relay outputs are momentary operation from the connected input switches. However they also have a “fail safe” option allowing you to select what happens if the communication link goes down.
If you need control for remote latching solenoids or remote control of valves – with or without latching relays – please contact us for assistance.
The international standards and conventions for maritime buoys is a complex and massively confusing topic, even for seasoned sailors.
Whilst we cannot simplify the standards, DATRAN Australia can help provide remote control of the harbour buoy lighting, using text messages over the 4G cellular network.
Remote control is especially important with solar powered buoy lighting systems. Energy conservation is crucial for these systems to ensure that the lighting is always available when needed.
The SMS Lite is low power and ideal for being solar powered. Features include pulsed outputs, input debouncing and an automatic low voltage alert.
DATRAN Australia also offers fully packaged solar powered systems for both the SMS Lite and the popular 900MHz Wireless Point to Point (WP2P) radio systems.
MSQ Queensland have a fascinating article outlines the complexities of international buoy lighting conventions. https://www.msq.qld.gov.au/Safety/Navigation-buoys-marks-and-beacons
The SMS Lite is widely used in Australia, not just for harbour buoy lighting control. The most popular applications include the remote starting of generators, flood detection warning systems and holiday home heating control.
Do you have an application that needs remote monitoring and control?
Please get in touch with us now to discuss how our SMS Lite and Wireless Point to Point systems can help provide a remote control and monitoring solution.
Our SMS Controllers can perform “controller to controller texting”, allowing a mini cellular control network to be created.
We were approached by a large New Zealand dairy cooperative for a cellular monitoring solution.
The recent cyclone had impacted the existing control system – the cellular network being used was damaged and became unavailable.
An alternate and standalone system, on a different 4G network was requested. This would provide risk mitigation and diversity for the crucial effluent management.
A strong 4G cellular signal was available at both monitoring sites and high-capacity battery backups were already installed.
The initial customer requirement included:
My situation requires the use of two controllers, whereby the inputs on the monitoring controller are matched with the outputs of the second controller. There are two analogue signals and six digital signals. I am wondering if the QTech SMS Controllers are suitable for this application? Can SMS controllers be used with any network provider by adding our intended SIM card?
The terrain of the site was also challenging. The massive milk processing plant sat between the effluent pump and the control shed. The site terrain would likely prevent a low power radio solution, such as our 900MHz WP2P wireless point to points (WP2P) being viable.
This SMS Controllers are easily setup in the “SMS Messenger” configuration software.
The customer downloaded the software and experimented with the functionality.
We also stock cellular antennas, including the latest 5G capable device.
The 3G Cellular networks are closing – working with your service providers and making sure your installations and farm is prepared, will be time well spent.
If your modem and system is already 4G capable, no change is needed.
Our 4G cellular SMS controller is used to monitor a client’s cold room.
The cold room is used to store high value seed potatoes. Seed potatoes need to be kept cold and dry for long periods each year, to ensure they are ready for next season’s crop.
Power outages are becoming more common, so a way to remotely monitor the status and temperature of the cold room is needed.
The site has good 4G coverage so a Cellular SMS system would be a simple and appropriate solution, especially as there is no Wi-Fi signal on site.
An extract from our client’s specification:
We need periodic alerts letting the farmer know the cold room is ‘healthy’ and the refrigeration compressor is running. I would also be looking for alerts letting the farmer know of failures, and which failure specifically. I’d estimate 4 – 5 events triggering an alert text message. A remote start would be required with a confirmation text, and a remote reset would also be required. Another key factor would be the cold room temperature. I’d love for the farmer to get an SMS with the current temperature periodically, that way he knows where he is at. Two staff phones would be set up to receive alerts, but we must have the ability to change these numbers as needed. Is this an easy to arrange function for the farmer to manage going forward?
The antenna selection for this application is crucial. The cold room construction uses a lot of metalwork, so an outside mounting antenna is needed. The cold room roof is also extra tall so a custom 10m length antenna system is used.
Please contact us now to discuss your cold room remote monitoring requirements and how our technology can help.
Modern traffic light control systems use a sophisticated electronic controller to help meet the complex requirements of regional traffic authorities.
These traffic light controllers have multiple external inputs to enable special configurations for railway crossings, pedestrian requests, automated cycle lanes and emergency vehicle overrides.
The project requirement was for the driver of the emergency response vehicle to press a button as they leave the station. The button press needs to override the current traffic light sequences, giving the emergency vehicle green traffic lights.
This button operates one of the digital inputs on the WP2P module and also opens the garage door.
At the traffic controller, the output of the second WP2P module is wired to the controller. When activated, the controller overrides all the nearby traffic lights and performs the required interlocking. This ensures that emergency vehicles have green traffic lights and right of way through all the local traffic signals. This helps to safely speed up their response time and gives the other road users a clear signal.
The WP2P low power radio system has a range of several kilometres with optional antenna systems. It can be used in many other applications such as irrigation and pump control, flow meter pulse transmitting or flood detection systems.
Another popular application is the control of stop – go signals in industrial warehouses where fork lift trucks operate.
The WP2P can be used to indicate that a fork truck is moving in the warehouse to people in the yard outside. The people in the yard are advance warning that the fork truck is operation. This helps control the site hazards by separating them and strengthens your site Health and Safety plan.
Having an additional early warning system and not just the traditional “sound your horn as you go through the door” signal is an advantage for many sites.
