RXW Multi-Depth Soil Moisture Sensor (RXW-GPx-xxx) Manual
1-800-LOGGERS
3
www.onsetcomp.com
Latch:
Use the two latches to open and close the mote door.
Ground Wire Port:
Use this port to connect a ground wire (see
Mounting and Positioning the Mote
).
Antenna:
This is the built-in antenna for the radio
communications across the RX Wireless Sensor Network.
LEDs:
There are two LEDs to the left of the LCD screen. The
green LED blinks during the process of joining a network,
blinking quickly while the mote searches for a network and
then slowly as the mote registers with the network. Once the
network registration process is complete, the blue LED blinks at
4 seconds to indicate normal operation. If the mote is not
currently part of a network, the blue LED will be off. If the blue
LED is on and not blinking, there is a problem with the mote.
Contact Onset Technical Support.
Solar Panel Cable:
This cable connects the built-in solar panel
to the mote circuitry.
Battery Holder:
The location where the batteries are installed
as shown (see
Battery Information
).
Calibration Connection Pins:
Use these pins to connect a
programming tool. See
Performing a Soil-Specific Calibration
for
details.
USB Port:
Use this port to connect to the mote to a computer
via USB cable if you need to update the firmware (see
Updating
Mote Firmware
).
Button:
Push this button for 1 second to illuminate the LCD or 3
seconds for the mote to search for a HOBOnet Wireless Sensor
Network to join (see
Adding the Mote to the HOBOnet Wireless
Sensor Network
).
LCD Screen:
The mote is equipped with an LCD screen that
displays details about the current status. The following example
shows all symbols illuminated on the LCD screen followed by
definitions of each symbol in the table.
LCD Symbol Description
The battery indicator shows the approximate battery
charge remaining.
This is a signal strength indicator. The more bars, the
stronger the signal between motes. If there is no x
icon next to the signal strength indicator, then the
mote is part of a HOBOnet Wireless Sensor Network.
An empty signal strength icon plus the x icon
indicates that the mote is not currently part of a
network. See
Adding the Mote to the HOBOnet
Wireless Sensor Network
for details on how to add a
mote to the network.
When the mote is in the process of joining a
network, the signal strength icon will blink and then
the bars in the icon will cycle from left to right. The x
icon will blink during the last step in the network
registration process (see
Adding the Mote to the
HOBOnet Wireless Sensor
Network for details).
This indicates a problem with the sensor itself (the
mote is operational). Check the sensor and make any
adjustments to it as needed. Contact Onset
Technical Support if the problem persists.
Sensor Components and Operation
The sensor measures soil moisture and temperature over
several zones using a single probe. Designed for vertical
installation, the sensor takes measurements over multiple soil
layers, with each measurement zone providing the average
volumetric soil moisture content over a 15 cm (5.9 inch) zone.
Water can be detected as much as 5 cm (2 inches) from the
surface of the probe. However, moisture closest to the surface
of the probe has more influence on the readings than moisture
further away. Each 15 cm (5.9 inch) zone has a 2.78 L (169.6 in
3
)
volume of influence.
Probes are divided into sensor segments as shown in the
following diagram. Each segment measures soil moisture over
the corresponding soil depth zone. Temperature sensors within
the probe measure the soil temperature at different depths
(refer to the tables later in this section for the specific depth of
each temperature sensor).
The following table shows how many channels are logged
for each of the three sensor models.
Part number
Channels logged
RXW-GP3-xxx
10 total channels:
•
3 soil moisture (water content)
•
6 soil temperature
•
1 mote battery
RXW-GP4-xxx
12 total channels:
•
4 soil moisture (water content)
•
7 soil temperature
•
1 mote battery
RXW-GP6-xxx
18 total channels:
•
6 soil moisture (water content)
•
11 soil temperature
•
1 mote battery
