Wireless data links for telemetry, south-eastern US?

If SMS or GRPS is not available, you can transmit about 600 BPS via the vocoder path of the GSM. Works fine. A microcontroller is all it takes; the standard modems are not suited for that kind of channel.

Vladimir Vassilevsky DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant

Thanks, pagers are certainly an idea. Although we'd have to send while most pagers only receive. So it would need to be a bi-directional pager service.

Their coverage maps for both CDMA and GSM look quite paltry though:

Nothing to write home about in the south-east at all.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Definitely. The issue is coverage though.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

[snip]

Before there were cell phones I had a Motorola PageWriter which was bi-directional. I don't know if anyone still offers such a service. I'll ask my son... he was heavily involved in that industry at one point in time.

[snip] ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
               Is ACORN a synonym for Cockroach ?:-)

Yes, that would be great. If still in existence maybe he has a gut feeling about the longevity of such service, from a business POV.

We can't be the only ones needing such service.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Aaron: "Possibly, but phone messaging has taken over. Why would you need it? ... There were two way devices that were used to send data from devices such as vending machines. I am sure something is (still) out there that can do it." ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
               Is ACORN a synonym for Cockroach ?:-)

Thanks for asking Aaron, Jim. We need it because the stuff is installed outdoors and requires regular refills, service upon certain incidences, and all this isn't predictable because it depends on (widely varying) usage intervals.

Vending machines often use a link into the custodian's phone, meaning you must install a little doohickey there and plug it in. Ideally we want to avoid the need for the setup techs to have to enter a building. Nobody there despite having said so, keys not available, big Rottweiler inside, the usual reasons. Also, the more stuff has to be installed the higher the chance of people in that building screwing it up, for example "I just plugged in my vacuum and then forgot ..." or "We went to cordless phones so I threw away all this old stuff .. oh wait ... s..t!"

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Have you looked into frequency bands that would cover the territory by means of enough power, but need an FCC license? How hard is it to get an FCC license for one of the service bands?

Good Luck! Rich

It's not hard. But we cannot erect a tower next to all the units :-)

Without a tower it would require lots of receiving stations all over the land. Remember, it's the units in the field which must transmit data. So, ideally one would try to use a network where they already took care of setting up lots of towers and pay a reasonable fee. $40/mo for a cell plan per unit would not be a reasonable fee. The $5/mo that I pay for my cell could fly but that's only through Virgin on the Sprint network which seems to not be as prevalent there. It comes with texting so that would work.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Aaron: May not exist anymore, but google on AQUIS.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Interesting, SE coverage is pretty good and they even cover a few Caribbean islands:

Thanks. I'll have a chat with them. Two-way paging might be an option.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Apparently used a lot in vending machines: "My till is full" or "I'm out of Baby Ruth candy bars" ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Jorge,

Take a look here if you haven't found this already....

may be able to provide service in your are of interest, or at least recommend one ( as one would think )

Anyway M2M is what you want to do, that may refine your search.

Cheers

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Comnet wireless is for fill in. It is not meant to be a network per se. It is an interesting business model. They put up towers in remote areas where there is no service with the intent to get roaming fees from say AT&T and T-Mobile. So the way to view their network is to look at it in relation to AT&T and/or T-Mobile sites. In the desert southwest, comnet towers are popping up with seemingly no clients.

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=A0 =A0 ...Jim Thompson

=A0 =A0 | =A0 =A0mens =A0 =A0 |

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Zetron seems to have a lock on that market. I run into their gear from time to time.

this

will

That practice sounds almost as retarded as you are.

That's exactly the sort of communications we need. But without requiring any infrastructure on the deployement side other than mains power. Even if we'd be restricted to the 140 characters of a text message or less on a pager that'll be fine.

Important is to obtain decently priced modems. Ideally I'd like not to roll my own because of the time-consuming FCC certs.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

feeling

No phone lines or cell phone towers around?

Couldn't you use "calling card" pricing? ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
                            GO GREEN!
                        Recycle Congress
                            In 2010

500 bucks? Yikes. Rabbit is close to where I live but has always been on the pricey side which is why I never used them for actual product. I am thinking along the lines of