
Wireless Environmental Monitoring Node
- ENV-Link™ -Mini -LXRS™ Introduction Video
The LORD MicroStrain® ENV-Link™ -Mini -LXRS® is an environmental monitoring node designed to continuously acquire sensor data in an outdoor or harsh setting. The ENV-Link -Mini accommodates a relative humidity/temperature (RHT) sensor, and 3 additional 0-5 VDC sensors. Possibilities include pyranometer (light measurement), soil moisture, leaf wetness, rain gauge, wind speed and direction, water level, barometric pressure, conductivity, strain gauges, thermocouples, etc. Multiple units may be deployed up to 2 kilometers from the wireless gateway, and data is either stored locally or forwarded to a cloud server, providing analysis tools, scripting, alerts, and downloads. Long-life batteries allow long term untended data acquisition.

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For detailed specifications on the following sensors please click the documentation tab and download the complete datasheet.
Digital Relative Humidity and Temperature Sensor
This option is a surface mountable relative humidity and temperature sensor. A unique capacitive sensor element is used for measuring relative humidity while temperature is measured by a band-gap sensor. Both sensors are seamlessly coupled to a 14 bit analog to digital converter and a serial interface circuit. Each is individually calibrated in a precision humidity chamber. The calibration coefficients are programmed into an OTP memory on the chip. These coefficients are used to internally calibrate the signals from the sensors.
Silicon-Cell Photodiode Pyranometer Sensor
This silicon-cell pyranometer is calibrated to measure total shortwave radiation. The evaporation of water from soil and the transpiration of water from plant leaves are largely determined by the intensity of shortwave radiation, which is measured in watts per meter squared. This cosine-corrected sensor is designed to maintain its accuracy when radiation comes from low zenith angles.
Photosynthetic Photon Flux Sensor
An innovative blue lens improves the accuracy of these sensors. The pigments in the lens filter incoming light for an improved spectral response. Photosynthesis is driven by the number of photons between 400 and 700 nanometers (nm). This is called the Photosynthetic Photon Flux (PPF) and is measured in μmol/m2/s (micromols of photons per square meter per second). PPF sensors are commonly called quantum sensors because a quantum refers to the amount of energy carried by a photon.
Leaf Wetness Sensor
The optional leaf wetness sensor is standardized, calibrated, and designed to detect wetness (presence and duration) and ice formation right out of the box. No painting, baking, or user calibration required. Each sensor is precisely factory-calibrated to detects tiny amounts of water and ice on the leaf surface. The sensor surface coating is not hydroscopic, eliminating false wetness detection. The sensor’s thin (0.65mm) fiberglass construction closely approximates the heat capacity of a typical leaf, and its overall radiation balance closely matches that of a healthy leaf.
Soil Moisture Probe Sensor
The optional soil moisture probe enables low cost monitoring of volumetric water content (VWC) by measuring the dielectric constant of the media using capacitance/frequency domain technology. Its 70 MHz frequency minimizes salinity and textural effects, making this sensor accurate in almost any soil or soilless media. Factory calibrations are included for mineral soils, potting soils, rockwool, and perlite. This handy little sensor is easy to install in the field and can also be used in nursery pots. The robust design makes it easy to push directly into undisturbed soil to ensure good accuracy. It consumes only 10 mA of power and operates over a wide temperature range.
Sensor Cable
The optional sensor cable provides an off-the-shelf and easy solution to connect your specific sensor to the ENV-Link™-Mini-LXRS™.
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General Documentation
- ENV-Link™-Mini -LXRS® Datasheet
- ENV-Link™-Mini -LXRS® Quick Start Guide
- MicroStrain Wireless Sensor Networks LXRS™ Data Communications Protocol
Software Development Kit
Technical Notes
- Outputting a 4 to 20 mA Current Loop
- ENV-Link™-Mini -LXRS® Power Profile
- Battery Use and Replacement
- Synchronized Sampling on Startup
Mechanical Prints
Firmware Upgrade
#1342: How do I repair or return a LORD MicroStrain® product?
In order to return any LORD MicroStrain® product either for repair or return, you must contact us for a Return Merchandise Authorization number (RMA). If you purchased directly from LORD MicroStrain® in the United States, please contact your Sales or Support Engineer to obtain an RMA. If you purchased directly from a LORD MicroStrain® distributor, please contact your distributor to obtain an RMA.
Direct link: view#1341: What are the terms and conditions under which LORD MicroStrain® products are sold?
LORD MicroStrain® complete terms and conditions of sale may be found at: http://files.microstrain.com/terms-conditions-sale.pdf
Direct link: view#1340: Where do I purchase LORD MicroStrain® products?
If you are located in the United States, LORD MicroStrain® supplies you directly. If you are in located in another country, LORD MicroStrain® products are available exclusively from LORD MicroStrain® distributors. Please use this locator to determine your distributor: http://www.microstrain.com/support/international
Direct link: view#1339: Does LORD MicroStrain® provide a trial period for its products?
To enable customers to try our standard products risk free, LORD MicroStrain® offers a 30 day return on the purchase of a starter kit. In order to take advantage of this offer, a purchase order or payment for the starter kit is required when the order is placed. 30 day trial details may be found at: http://www.microstrain.com/support/warranty
Direct link: view#1338: How do I get support for my LORD MicroStrain® products?
LORD MicroStrain® Support Engineers are always available to support you in any way we can by phone, email, SKYPE or Live Chat from our home page. Contact details may be found at: http://www.microstrain.com/support/contact-support
Direct link: view#1337: What is the shipping policy for LORD MicroStrain® products?
LORD MicroStrain® insures all products shipments to their full value unless the customer specifically states a different method.
Direct link: view#1336: What is the warranty for LORD MicroStrain® products?
LORD MicroStrain® warrants its standard products to be free from defective material and workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the original date of purchase. Warranty details may be found at: http://www.microstrain.com/support/warranty
Direct link: view#1330: How do I make the data file timestamp human readable in Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Excel displays the timestamp contained in the wireless node data files incorrectly. If you were to open the CSV file with Microsoft Notepad, you will see that the timestamp is shown properly. In order to get Excel to show the human readable time, follow the below procedure:
- Highlight all of column A (column with the timestamp)
- Right click on highlighted region and select Format cells...
- Select the Number Tab in the window that open and choose Custom from the Category box
- Scroll to the bottom of the list in the Type box, find this entry: m/d/yyyy h:mm and click it
- Add to the entry an :ss.000 so it now looks like this: m/d/yyyy h:mm:ss.000
- Click OK
The timestamp willshould now be correct.
Direct link: view#1291: How do you change the radio channel on a wireless node and wireless base station?
Changing a radio channel on your wireless node and wireless base station is accomplished through Node Commander software. Follow the four step process outlined below to update your radio channel (frequency) setting. Note that radio channels on both your wireless node and wireless base station must match to establish network communication.
To change node/base station radio channel:
- Right-click Base Station/Node.
- Click Configure.
- Click Frequency.
- Click Channel, e.g. 24 (2.470 GHz).
#499: How much datalogging memory do wireless nodes have?
The wireless nodes all have 2 Mbytes of datalogging memory. This 2 Mbytes is organized into 8,191 ‘pages’ of memory, each page holds 132 data points. The maximum number of data points that can be held in memory can be calculated as follows: 8,191 pages x 132 data points/page = 1,081,212 total data points.
Now the question arises, ‘how long can a node datalog before its memory is full?’. The answer is that it varies depending on how many channels are being sampled and what sampling rate has been set. Here are two examples:
Let’s set a V-Link-LXRS so that channel 1 is active with a datalogging sampling rate of 2048 samples per second and we launch continuous datalogging. Our calculation would be:
- 1 channel x 2,048 samples per second = 2,048 data points per second
- 1,081,212 data points / 2,048 data points per second = 527 seconds
- 527 seconds / 60 seconds per minute = ~9 minutes to fill the memory
Let’s set a G-Link-LXRS so that channels 1, 2 and 3 are active with a datalogging sampling rate of 32 samples per second and we launch continuous datalogging. Our calculation would be:
- 3 channels x 32 samples per second = 96 data points per second
- 1,081,212 data points / 96 data points per second = 11,262 seconds
- 11,262 seconds / 60 seconds per minute = ~187 minutes to fill the memory
Highlighted Documents
Applications
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