IoT Ranch & Agriculture Low Cost Long Range Monitoring Systems

No. At the water tank (or whatever else you want to monitor) you choose an appropriate sensor. The sensor will have built-in LoRaWAN radios which can transmit up to 8 miles. Realistically, though, you might start with a 2 mile real-world expectation. The sensor transmits the value it is reading (temp, distance, height, open/close, etc.) over the LoRaWAN link to a gateway – such as the RidgeBeamer. The RidgeBeamer then will have some link such as satellite or cellular to transmit the data to the internet for your use.

One of the MASSIVE benefits of LoRaWAN is that the sensors can use small batteries which can last anywhere from 3-10 years depending upon how often the data is transmitted. Because of this, you can use sensors that are simply NOT POSSIBLE using cellular or satellite attached sensors.

Yes. You will need a gateway to collect all the sensors LoRaWAN transmissions for a 2-3 mile radius which is a tremendous area. The advantage of this sensor (spoke) and gateway (hub) configuration is that ONLY the gateway requires any internet access – and there are several ways to get internet access. You don’t have to solve it for the sensors.

There is a small base rate of $30/month PLUS a per-sensor fee of $10/month. For example, a customer monitoring 6 water tanks will spend $90/month and nothing else. But for $90 this customer has 100% awareness of the water situation. In one summer, they have avoided tank-dry situations 4x and avoided a well problem by early detection, likely saving them several thousand dollars.

In theory, you should be able to locate the sensors as far as 7 to 8 miles from the gateway. In our ranch deployments, we’re seeing about a 1.5 – 2 mile range. Partly this is because it is usually VERY HARD to get the ridgebeamer ON THE RIDGE. Also, there is a great deal of intervening foliage. So it is often the case that you do not have clear line-of-sight.

The RidgeBeamer is designed to be lifted off of a pickup and simply turned on and be instantly deployed. It has solar built into it and the panel and the battery is completely over designed. The biggest obstacle we have had on ranches is the darned raccoons. They are very naughty.

Most sensors are best ran off of their internal battery which, depending on several factors, lasts from 3-5 years. So most of the time, this isn’t an issue. HOWEVER, there is a sensor/device I really, really like called the Dragino LT-22222 which can sense ANYTHING and it requires power. I use it to monitor the solar panels in the RidgeBeamer (power already included) for good operation. I also use it to control my aquaponics pumps which has been very reliable so far.

The list for things you can monitor is IMMENSE. I have found that the most useful sensors are a magnetic contact sensor (doors, windows), a digital counter (counts rainfall, counts gallons from a meter), water level sensor (so far submerged sensors are the easiest), water flow/water meter, temperature – particularly for freezers where the cost of failure is high. If the cost of failure for something is high, then BearMar and you can work on a way to monitor it.

Most sensors run around $150 and a gateway will run $500-$1200. You have to be careful with that though since the people in the equipment factories have no idea the best way to install the equipment in the field. BearMar makes high visibility tough outdoor plastic brackets and mounting systems that make deployment a snap. If you have ranch hand/manager go out and spend an entire day installing something, then you just put several hundred “hidden” dollars into something that BearMar could helped make easier.