Product selection for tank level sensor

Products
1

Hello,

I’m looking for a solution to transmit the VDC output of a hall effect sensor used to monitor the level of a propane tank into a building less than 100ft away. Inside the building is a controller that can either interface with the receiver unit via RS485 ModbusRTU or by way of another analog input interface on the controller should there be an NCD product pair that just takes analogs on one side and outputs them on the other.

From what I’ve looked at, the 2-Channel 0-10V Receiver may be ideal for the remote sensor side of the link since it’ll be able to provide the +5VDC supply needed for the hall effect sensor, but I’m unsure what the best option would be for the side interfacing with my controller.

2

Hi,
we can build a 0-10V version of this product

Thanks

3

Hi Bhaskar,

Thanks for the response. Would it also supply VDC to the sensor like your 2ch 0-10V Receiver does? The tank level sensor requires a +5V supply.

4

is there any 12V power available near this tank.

5

There’s one inside the building that could be used to power the receiver unit, but not at the tank itself where the other transmitter unit and the sensor would be. That’s part of what made the 2ch 0-10V Receiver appealing.

6

Any thoughts on providing 5vdc to the remote sensor?

7

If there’s no power available at the remote site, the system will need to run on battery. To make that work, we’ll need to pair a 2-channel 0–10V DC input with a 0–10V output. This isn’t something we currently offer off-the-shelf—it would require a custom build.

8

What about going back to a 2-channel 0-10VDC with a modem or gateway in the building? My controller in the building can interface via Modbus over RS485.

9

if your controller has modbus then you could use the this gateway

10

Would the RS485 to Wireless Converter work? The networking capabilities of the gateway may cause some cybersecurity concerns for some at my utility. Looking more for the simplest solution than one with all the bells and whistles.

https://store.ncd.io/product/industrial-iot-rs485-to-wireless-converter/

11

yes it could be used but the modem will sends data in byte format and you will need to convert it into real world data on the plc side.
select the auto encoder version.

12

Thanks. I don’t see that the RS485-to-Wireless converter natively supports Modbus, it’s just raw data over RS485? Basically, my controller would need a way to interpret the raw sensor data?

13

yes that is correct …