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SensorProbe2 serves as the only line of defense
against loss of life, Texas |
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The two dogs are Ginger and Chile (Chile is the fluffy chocolate colored dog). |
| We sold our home here in College Station, Texas in December of 2005 and moved into our RV. Our intent was to locate another home or a suitable homesite and build a new home. So far we have enjoyed living in the RV and taking many trips to surrounding states. We just haven't gotten around to getting a new home yet. We still work regularly and when we moved into the RV one of our concerns was a method of monitoring the RV while we were away. |
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| Here in Texas the temperature can easily reach 100F (38C). A thin walled and poorly insulated RV would rapidly attain temperatures that would be fatal to our pets in the event of power failure or A/C failure. Even a power surge can cause the A/C to cycle quickly and trip a breaker. |
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After an extensive search for a device that I knew must exist I located AKCP and your elegantly designed SP2.
Using a Hughes satellite up/down link for Internet connectivity (whether there is a phone line or cell
signal or not) we plugged the SP2 into the system. The system is simplicity. The Hughes modem is wired (CAT5)
to an off the shelf wireless/wired router. The two laptops and the SP2 are assigned private IP numbers and
NAT takes care of sorting them out through the modem. We added a hefty APC Backup UPS 1000 to support
the satellite dish, modem, SP2 and wireless router.
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Configuration was simple. I have a pretty high geek quotient for a consumer but I believe anyone that could plug in an over the counter router would not have any trouble with the SP2.
We set our parameters to email our work, home, and cell phones with an alert if the temperature reached a set point or if the power were interrupted. The battery backup provides ample power to send out two or more emails if there is a power failure. |
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The system has worked flawlessly. Granted, any system can fail and we don't leave the pets for extended periods without checking in on them. Recently we were visiting Austin, Texas and had left to get groceries. We were not far away when we received a notice of a power failure. Since it was summer we drove back immediately but had already received a high temperature warning some minutes later (all on battery). By the time we got back the temp was 81F (27C) which wasn't too bad. The power was back on but the main A/C had tripped its breaker so it is a good thing we returned.
We did have a problem with the temperature/humidity probe but your company replaced it without delay or cost. Service has been excellent. The cost might seem high to an average consumer but we simply cannot place a value on our pets who are a real part of our family. |
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With the addition of a commercial service IP routing service, we are able to monitor temperature in real time via the Internet if we so desire. This has the added benefit of confirming the connectivity of the satellite connection and adds piece of mind in the summer months. The Hughes modem and Internet setup does not provide a public IP number address so the routing service was a handy way around getting a fixed IP.
David and Kate
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