Owning a JB is nice, but I have three problems when it comes to knowing when I need to add pellets.
But, now I have a solution for #1 and #3. I have been playing with a tiny micro computer running Linux and with a sensor, a few parts from Radio Shack and a program I found online I have created a sonar based sensor that reports the depth of how empty the hopper is.
I have the sonar sensor velcroed to the underside of the hopper lid. The sonar reads the depth of the hopper every 5 minutes. If the depth is greater than 9 inches then it sends me a text.
If anyone is interested in learning in more detail how I did this, please feel free to PM me. If there is enough interest, I will post how I did it in this thread.
Now I just have to start adding temp probs so I can track and be alerted for temps.
- The current sensor sometimes reads a gap in the pellets as the hopper being empty, cause the alarm to go office accidentally
- The external alarm can be a bit noisy and i don't want to piss off the neighbors during the night
- The remote system does not alert on if you need more pellets unless you look at it.
But, now I have a solution for #1 and #3. I have been playing with a tiny micro computer running Linux and with a sensor, a few parts from Radio Shack and a program I found online I have created a sonar based sensor that reports the depth of how empty the hopper is.
I have the sonar sensor velcroed to the underside of the hopper lid. The sonar reads the depth of the hopper every 5 minutes. If the depth is greater than 9 inches then it sends me a text.
If anyone is interested in learning in more detail how I did this, please feel free to PM me. If there is enough interest, I will post how I did it in this thread.
Now I just have to start adding temp probs so I can track and be alerted for temps.
