Solar Equipment

Solar panels:

The most commonly used type of solar panels for ANSIRs seismic stations are 10W solar panels as seen below. These are designed to be fixed onto the mesh cages that house the loggers, occupying roughly one quarter of the mesh panel. Some shaded spots may require a larger panel, and for such spots there are also 20W panels available.

Details (for shipping):

Equipment: 10W solar panel

Weight: 1.1kg

Size (L x W x H): 380 x 250 x 40 mm

LPR Solar Regulators:

The LPR loggers have no built in solar charge controller, thus, an external regulator is placed between the solar panel and logger. This regulator steps the voltage down from the panels voltage (typically 20V) to ~14V. Note that these are not required for the TerraSAWR as they have an inbuilt charge controller. 

Details (for shipping):

Equipment: LPR Solar Regulator

Weight: 0.2kg

LPR power adapters

The LPR recorders were created with the use of a custom lead acid battery in mind. These batteries consisted of a charge controller and multiple flat battery cells encased in a metal box. However, over time these batteries degrade and are no longer used. In place of the original batteries, other kinds of lead acid batteries that are readily available at stores are now used, making them more reliable, accessible, and versatile.  

Valve regulated lead acid batteries can be used within the LPR, plugged into where the old batteries would have been. For larger projects, an external battery case alternative can be used, connecting to the external power port where a solar panel is typically attached. AGM lead acid batteries may be ideal in this scenario, and a battery in the place of the old one is not needed. 

To make use of these batteries, special power adapters have been created. The battery plug that is found on the LPRs consists of 6 pins; E and F power the LPR from the connected battery, and A, B, C, and D charge the battery.

Only pins A and C handle voltage coming from the external power port through the LPR, as B and D are designed to charge the battery only from a battery charger. It is important to note that power coming in from the external power port goes directly to pins A and C to charge the battery within the case. No power goes directly to the motherboard, so an LPR cannot be powered from the external power port without dealing with the 6 pins.  

Using a standard lead acid battery (typically between 10-30 amp hours) in place of the old model, an adapter that allows power from the external power port to reach the battery must be used. As the new batteries that are being used only have 2 connectors (positive and negative), the adaptors have been constructed so pin A feeds into E, and pin C feeds into F. For the sake of tidy cabling, D is connected to pins C and F, and B is connected to pins A and E. Put simply, all the positive pins are connected, and all the negative pins are connected.

Given the correct voltage through the external power port, this adapter will allow the battery to function in the same way as the previous model; it will power the LPR as well as be charged without issue.

GPS

Both LPR and TerraSAWR loggers utilise the standard BNC connector type GPS antennas. These are easy locking connectors, with a long cable and magnetic GPS unit attached, making it incredibly simple to fix to any kind of metal enclosure. Double sided tape or some other adhesive could also be applied to the flat back of these GPS units for any surface that is not magnetised.

Details (for shipping):

Equipment: GPS for LPR and TerraSAWR

Weight: 0.1kg

Cables