River water level

Status
Not open for further replies.

Bern1937

New Member
WATER HEIGHT ? --- Looking at using an ultrasonic system (WINGONEER DC 5V Waterproof Ultrasonic Distance Sensor system ) and mounting the sensor on a post overlooking the river. I will use the waterproof sensor. Take the echo return time signal and use it to start and stop a counter. (Digiten 4 digit LED counter panel meter. ) Looking at the LTC6900 to create about a 5.6 KC time base for measuring the distance in feet. --- A couple questions: Can I extend the cable between the control module and the sensor to 250 feet? If so can I use multi conductor cable, or would the sensor need to have coax? What kind of stability is reasonable to expect using these parts and overall method? Any thoughts and/or other ideas? How about a better way? Comments ? – Thanks
 
I would say not - the obvious way would be to have a micro-controller do the counting, and send the data back down the wires as a serial data stream - you could power it up the same cable as well. It would probably be wise to take multiple readings, and send the average back as water is rarely flat.

I seem to recall that existing water height systems measure the height in a tube, in order to reduce the surface movement of the water.

It's an EXTREMELY common operation, measuring water height (or depth) through a fixed size channel, in order to monitor the amount of water in the local river system - the data is usually sent back wirelessly, and I'd like to imagine that it's all powered by a small water turbine (but I've no actual knowledge of that).
 
Interestingly, after posting yesterday, I did a little googling - and there's a site that lists all the UK river monitoring sites - and the ones I know anbout are listed on it. There's 48 in Derbyshire where I live, and you can check the river levels and flooding risks.

Not a problem where I live, as I'm fairly high up
 
Measuring the distance from above and taking an average with a micro is a good way to go.
Or maybe a non contact capacitive probe in the water.
I played around with the idea of a time delay reflectometer for measuring levels, just with a piece of uninsulated wire, but soon found the development time was way more than I was prepared to do.
If you want to transmit a digital signal 250 foot, and your not using a micro that can error detect then I'd suggest to use some 50ohm coax and impedance match it either end.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…