Description
When you need to know critical agricultural data (tank levels, water flow, soil moisture, gate open/close status, animal housing status, animal location, and so much more) but you can’t afford to wait to have complex systems installed for you *OR* have your already too-busy people do it yourself… then the RidgeBeamer might be the way to go!
This is the FASTEST, EASIEST, and most ECONOMICAL method to add radio telemetry (via LoRaWAN) to your ranch, orchard, farm, or other agricultural supply chain (for example a set of greenhouses).
The best way to understand this gateway platform is to see the list of features:
RidgeBeamer LoRaWAN Gateway for Ranch Deployment Physical Structure Features
- Heavy 2×4 steel painted frame – 75 pounds
- Stable 4 corner design with wide stance
- Fits in the bed of most pickups (The BearMar Toyota Tacoma can haul this.. with an inch to spare)
- Antenna poles can go in any of 4 corners – 10 foot pole is standard – Additional extensions to 15 or 20 feet are possible.
- Solar panel mount is sized for the popular Renogy 100W panel
- Upright mount fits the 20x16x8 weatherproof steel panel box
- Power to the gateway/basestation is provided via a waterproof bulkhead
- Buttons are protected from inadvertent pressing by curious raccoons… which is a real thing.
RidgeBeamer LoRaWAN Gateway for Ranch Deployment Solar Power Features
- Renogy 100W solar panel (system can be modified for more power for other applications)
- 1200WH (Watt Hour) LiFePO4 Battery ( Currently the “standard” for dense solar power )
- Solar Panel Voltage Monitor – Critical to know at all times for up-time.
- Solar Battery Voltage Monitor – Critical to know. Also, monitor point is post-button so it is known if a button has been inadvertently pressed or not.
- Solar Power monitoring uses Lorawan System. Since battery has several days of power, you will get early notice of any malfunction and can avoid downtime.
- Renogy 30A Solar Controller without separate load control. I do not care for the load control because it won’t “self turn on” in extreme low power conditions.
- Easy to use 1-2-3 button sequence for powering the system. Lighted buttons give indication of life.
- Tough sealed panel box for extreme weather conditions.
- System is designed to run a 12W LoRaWAN gateway for 24-7 operation with plenty of room for low solar power situations.
- Over 4 days of operation with a fully charged system and no sun (not likely)
- Full recharge in approximately 2 days from “dead” (also unlikely)
- Solar Panel can be tilted and rotated to favor different latitudes.
RidgeBeamer LoRaWAN Gateway for Ranch Deployment Communications Features
- Range Extended 8dBi antenna to maximize LoRa frequency distance.
- 12V POE powers the radio head unit. Since POE is used, it would be EASY to add StarLink for ranches where cellular was not in range.
- 4G cellular backhaul is agnostic on the service provider for the tower (Any 4G/LTE capable tower from any company will work)
- The telemetry system uses LoRaWAN and BearMar can help you instantly deploy specific types of devices to measure important things – like water tank levels
- Special High Visibility radio head mounting system helps you see if the system is upright from a very long distance.
- Line-of-site to remote telemetry sensors can be as far as 10 miles. 1-3 miles is more realistic.
- Sensors can be battery operated with battery lifetimes up to 10 years.
- Any gateway can have 1000 devices attached to it with no problems.
- Ranch Monitoring Possibilites
- BearMar helps you with the following:
- Sensor selection
- Custom mounting situations
- Custom dashboards
- Alerts can come right to your mobile phone.
- Watch your ranch/farm/orchard using a web page (laptop), an android phone, or an Apple phone.
- Types of sensors
- water level (Lidar, Sonar, Pressure column, Pressure membrane, ultrasonic)
- water flow
- soil moisture
- soil composition (NPK)
- leaf temperature
- temperatures of all types
- pressure
- fuel levels
- locations (animals, equipment)
- feed levels (hard to do – uses something called LIDAR)
- open close / near far
- humidity
- thermostat (control, monitor, etc)
- so many many more!!!
- BearMar helps you with the following:
FAQ for LoRaWAN RidgeBeamer Gateway (BaseStation)
No. You only need a LoRaWAN gateway. However, if you don’t have power and bandwidth for the gateway, the Ridgebeamer solves this problem.
The gateway that BearMar uses with the RidgeBeamer is a Dragino DLOS8 and that gateway has cellular built in. BearMar takes care of simcard management, system setup, and topping off the sim cards.
Also, the RidgeBeamer has PLENTY of solar panel and battery so that there should not be a big problem running a satellite model as well.
The best place to locate the RidgeBeamer is on the highest ridge or hill that can “see” the largest parts of your ranch. So you located it on a ridge and it can beam the signals for you.
A single RidgeBeamer should easily handle 500 – 1000 devices without cracking a sweat.
Yes you can. However, LoRaWAN is primarily for monitoring and the control is for very slow things – like turning on water to an orchard for example. I would not try to control items needing fast control or total assuredness. There are better systems (which cost more) for this.
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