Very specific need

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Sasiki

2[H]4U
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I have a very specific need for a low heat producing computer. The computer will be in a pump station on a wholesale plant nursery. Ideally, it will be in some type of lock box to deter theft. It will be hooked up with a SERIAL port to a wireless irrigation controller in the pump house. This does not have to be any sort of fancy computer. I will have it tied into wireless internet I have broadcasted on the nursery. With this, the production supervisor will log into the computer using remote desktop connection and be able to monitor the watering system.

It is currently set up using 2x 900Mhz wireless antennas. There is a lot of errors though because of a metal structure in between. I'm trying to elimate the antennas by hooking the computer directly into the irrigation controller.

This system has to withstand the Alabama summer heat. The building I guess will get to probably 110 on a hot day and 30 on a cold winter day. During the winter, I can probably house it in some sort of semi insulated box. Can any of you think of a perfect solution for me? The 3 basic needs are small size, low heat producer, and being able to withstand temperature. Remember, it has to have a serial port and some way for me to install a wireless card or at least hook it up to a bridgeable router.

I browsed a bit on logicsupply.com but I really didn't know what to specifically look for. Anyone have ideas?
 
Is there a specific program you're using to communicate with the irrigation controller, or is it just hyperterm sort of stuff?
 
Darth Bagel said:
Is there a specific program you're using to communicate with the irrigation controller, or is it just hyperterm sort of stuff?
Click to expand...

Specific program. I think I am going to go with the 3688P from logicsupply.com
http://www.logicsupply.com/product_info.php/products_id/670

However, I am going to add the 1.3Ghz CPU and 512mb ram. I can get that system complete with HDD and slimline cd drive for $401. It pretty much fits the bill. It has a serial port, USB, ethernet, very low power consumption.

If anyone has any better ideas, please chime in!
 
Why not a cheaper model with a USB/Serial adapter? Granted it wouldn't be a huge savings, but it'd be a little bit.

Out of silly curiosity, would it be in range of a bluetooth connection from the supervisor's PC? A decent bluetooth/serial adapter would be significantly cheaper and more power-efficient than any computer you could put in there.
 
Darth Bagel said:
Why not a cheaper model with a USB/Serial adapter? Granted it wouldn't be a huge savings, but it'd be a little bit.

Out of silly curiosity, would it be in range of a bluetooth connection from the supervisor's PC? A decent bluetooth/serial adapter would be significantly cheaper and more power-efficient than any computer you could put in there.
Click to expand...

The pump house is roughly 1200ft from the 'office' so it is well out of range of bluetooth (as far as I know). The computer has to stay on 24/7 for the reporting fuction of the controller, so that really wouldn't work anyway. It gathers data from the programs that ran the night before, such as total gallons of water, etc. and puts them in an Excel viewable format.
 
It sounds like you don't need very much CPU power at all. A low-power via will do ya fine, and it looks like you found a place selling industrial computers, so you should be all set. I'd also go with a fanless computer as that increases reliability, and maybe even a system with a solid-state drive of some sort. Again, durability.
 
I would just build a sizeable box around it and create a vent hole and simply take the air out of a normal custom built pc.. and hook the antennas up and have them sticking up and out of the box...

Serial ports are standard, so there is no special requirement.. worst case elevate the box its sitting on and cut out some holes and put liek 2-4 120 mm fans on the bottom pulling air out.. or even on the back...no ones going to try to break the fans to get into a computer.. just make the box black and put stuff around it so it doesnt seem worthy of stealing... a little logic could save you a lot of money,, you can PM me if you have any questions.
 
The operating temperature of the fanless units were only 97deg F. This building will get upwards of 105 to 110. The operating temperature of the fanned units were 115F. Good idea about putting it in a box with a couple PC fans though. I was trying to figure out how to get it in a secure box and still let it breathe. The unit I ordered has a 60w power supply. That will be plenty considering the CPU only draws 12w. The only other thing in it really is a motherboard and notebook HDD. This thing should only draw like 30w at the most. Plenty of headroom to throw in a couple 12v fans. Thanks!
 
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