SignalFire expands the RANGER product offering with embedded HART and SDI-12 interface modules to provide users with greater sensor flexibility and accuracy. Launched in early 2020, the RANGER is a battery- or solar-powered LTE-M transmitter that powers sensors and transmits their measurements over LTE-M cellular networks using the MQTT/Sparkplug messaging structure to bring data into a SignalFire Cloud or an existing customer platform.
The new modules add capabilities to the RANGER for interfacing with two global and major communication standards for sensors: HART & SDI-12. The RANGER can power up to 15 HART devices when equipped with the HART expansion module and up to 8 devices using the SDI-12 expansion module (depending on the current draw of each device). Using this option, users can choose from a wider variety of sensors that best fit their application and reduce installation costs by using a multi-protocol sensor-to-cloud platform.
Additional key benefits of using a HART instrument instead of an analog device:
Reduces current draw in HART multi-drop mode as the current is fixed at 4mA instead of varying from 4-20mA.
Increases measurement accuracy by directly reading the sensor value digitally with no need for data conversion.
Reads multiple data values from a single device.
The immediate release of the HART & SDI-12 modules add to the availability of Modbus, analog, digital, pulse, and relay outputs of the RANGER, making it the most versatile sensor-to-cloud industrial IoT solution on the market.