The strawberries are safe - for now...

Further to a previous posting this month, it was a nervous moment when we modded the Davis Vantage Pro 2 environmental data logger last week. It's always a nervous moment when you try to mod a largely surface-mount motherboard with a clunky old soldering iron better suited to soldering cables to plugs. So many tiny, delicate components, so close to the heat source...

Battling with what surgeons call "intention tremor", we successfully removed the integrated antenna and replaced it with a socket, enabling Dr. Alcock to experiment freely in his role as Time Domain Reflectometrist for the Strawberry Farm.

Plugging a new (external) aerial into the socket, the first thing we noticed was a marked improvement on signal strength, the device pulling in data from the three remote stations with no problems. Davis note: you should be supplying these devices with an aerial socket instead of relying upon some c**t with a soldering iron to do the job for you!

Notice the signal strength from one of the remote stations - 42 (ringed red). That was previously about 30 with the suppled integrated aerial. Now we have a socket, Dr. Alcock will be experimenting with new aerial designs to drive that figure even higher.

The Secret Laboratory - not just about dicking about in sheds. More news soon...