Trialling a new Bluetooth communication system with dataloggers
My last blog on the work of Groundwater Relief (www.groundwater-relief.org ) in Bangladesh generated considerable interest. So, here’s an update along with some observations on new equipment for downloading data from water level logging devices.
Planning and training
As well as returning to Bangladesh in mid-January to initiate a water well drilling program at Rohingya refugee camps, Geraint Burrows, CEO of Groundwater Relief, will be establishing a small groundwater level monitoring network using In-Situ Rugged Troll loggers to collect data.
In preparation for the trip, and to get some hands-on practice, Geraint met up with myself and Tom Stone of In-Situ (Europe) in early January for a discussion and demo around my kitchen table (Pictures 1). Geraint had previously purchased two new Bluetooth communication units to take with him to Bangladesh, and we were both keen to learn how to use these.
For myself – someone who has been using a laptop rather clumsily in the field for many years – this was quite a revelation. No cable or laptop needed, plus the ability to share data (phone signal permitting) as soon as data are collected.
The VuSitu Android software links up efficiently with the In-Situ Bluetooth coms unit and provides a clean and modern interface to set up and collect data. All relatively straightforward and simple. And VuSitu itself is easy to download onto any Android phone (Picture 2).
The Bluetooth system is definitely worth a look at, even for skeptics like me who would probably still carry a cabled docking station and laptop with me just in case… I’m now interested to learn how well these new devices cope in the field and hope to share Geraint’s experiences (and hopefully some of his data) in a future blog.
Back to the Village Well
Meanwhile, as a final test for VuSitu and the wireless coms device, we used the system (very easily) to re-program and re-install a Rugged Troll data logger and Rugged BaroTroll into the village well where I have been monitoring water levels since 2014 (Picture 2).
For more on using water level data loggers in the field, see earlier blogs:
- Groundwater Level Monitoring using Telemetry in Sierra Leone
- Monitoring Groundwater Levels in Sierra Leone
- Big Data and Barometric Compensation
- Is barometric compensation always necessary?
- Pressure Observed at Altitude
Links to In-Situ loggers and accessories
Follow links here for water level loggers and options for communications
- Performance Level TROLL Data Loggers
- Professional Level TROLL Data Loggers
- Practical Rugged TROLLs and BaroTROLLs
- Wireless Device Communication
Peter.Dumble@pdhydrogeology.com
©Peter Dumble 2018