I'm looking to develop some sensor solutions with an RF capability to transmit flow rates, total flow, and tank levels from two separate water wells on my property. The distance I would like to transmit is about 2000 feet in free air (LOS) with repeaters where they might be needed.
I think an Arduino with an appropriate transceiver would work well for me. Low cost, easily replaceable, and customizable. My question revolves around which transceiver to select. There appears to be a number of solutions available but I thought I'd ask people here what they have used.
My main criteria are:
Low cost about $20 per module or less.
Distance.
Ease of implementation.
Able to ruggedized.
Any additional advice or examples/tutorials recommended would be welcome.
I haven't tried myself, I'm waiting for my first 433Mhz RF Transmitter/Receiver to use in a robot project. However, I found myself intrigued by you're issue, and googel'ed 433Mhz RF amplifier.
The "433Mhz RF Transmitter and Receiver" appears to be, commonly used by arduino folks, and according to the description, it has a transmit range up to 300 feet with transmitter power:10mW .
I found a amplifier with 5W output power, prized 14$ 433MHz RF Amplifier 5W
Anyway, this is just my suggestion
For such a short range, there is absolutly no need for power amplifiers.
Research LoRa modules, if you have LOS at ground level, then expect several km of range, even at 10mW, I recorded 40km @ 3mW hilltop to hilltop on simple 1/4 wave wire antrennas.
Modules can be got for around $5 each, easy enough to drive with a Arduino Pro Mini.
For some examples of the capability of LoRa modules read here;
Thank you for the input everyone. It was exactly what I was looking for. I must admit I'm a little surprised over the performance at those power levels, but test data is what it is. By all means I'll take good care with the antenna.
