Low Powered Telemetry Solution for Data Collection

Capita Symonds is one of the UK’s leading multi-disciplinary engineering consultancies and its Water Environment division works on a diverse range of projects providing expert assistance in the analysis and assessment of hydrological, meteorological and hydraulic systems. As part of their work installing hydrometric gauges, they collaborate closely with a small number of preferred suppliers who can provide valuable products and services in specialist areas. One of these suppliers is Jekyll Electronic Technology, a UK manufacturer of telemetry systems for data acquisition.

“Capita Symonds are on a partnering framework with the Environment Agency to deliver a wide range of services covering flood zone mapping, catchment flood management plans, flood risk assessment and flood risk management. ” says George Baker, a Project Engineer at Capita Symonds. “Through this work Capita Symonds recognises the importance of data collection and data communication. As such we have been assisting the Environment Agency to expand and upgrade their hydrometric network of strategically located rainfall, water level and flow measurement instrumentation. These often complex and remotely situated installations require frequent data collection and diagnostic monitoring. Thanks to Jekyll’s Telemodem2 telemetry system, this can be done remotely by simply installing the modems into the monitoring equipment.”

Engineers at Capita Symonds found the Telemodem2 both reliable and robust but its two main advantages were its small size and low power consumption. Measuring only 60×55x25mm, its compact size made it ideal for adding telemetry to existing equipment. Using Jekyll’s unique line powered modem technology means that it is only necessary to connect the Telemodem2 to the equipment’s serial data port and a telephone line to provide remote access. For battery powered host equipment, the Telemodem2 Freedom places no additional load on the host’s batteries, so there is no power drain.

“Our equipment must often be solar powered.” explains George Baker. “The low power consumption of the Telemodem2 makes it ideal to sit alongside these instruments. Other systems we have evaluated have been too large and too power hungry. We have also been very pleased with service we have received from Jekyll. Their engineers are very knowledgeable and have helped us troubleshoot various problems we have encountered.”

Jekyll’s Telemodem2 range of industrial telemetry systems provides a fit and forget solution to data collection problems. For instrumentation engineers, this range of industrial modems offers versatility and flexibility for a range of applications including Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), data logging and acquisition, traffic counting and process control data monitoring.