tomy983 0 Posted September 24, 2017 Hello everyone! I'm quite a newbie and looking for help on a small project to help a friend. He does forestry work, they transport trees up or down the mountains with a skyline. His equipment is quite old. Unloading the trees from the skyline can only be done from the top where the engine is, but at the unloading spot people are working to disconnect the chains. Normally the command to unload is given from the bottom to the top via radio, but it is one of the most dangerous thing because the operator is releasing a large load around people on top of a pile of woods without seeing what is doing. The longest skyline they pull is about 2000 meters (1.2 miles). I tried a 900MHZ wireless link. No way to get it to work through thick forest and uneven terrain for such distances. I am asking you for a suggestion on what to use for such a link. The actual requirement are: 12v battery operated 1.2 miles max distance without LOS through thick woods 1 monitor and 1 camera. Nothing else is needed. Video quality is relatively unimportant Audio is a plus. The budget is quite low Thank you for your help Thomas Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mattaggie 0 Posted September 25, 2017 I dont really have an answer other than using smart phones or tablets (ie. facetime). I dont really understand how they dont already have a system in place to ensure safety. Also, if its so important, I dont understand why budget would be low. Someone getting killed or hurt will be way more expensive than electronics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeromephone 6 Posted September 25, 2017 Does the skyline operator release the logs? If so is he not able to see the landing? seems like the video link should be from the skyline operator to the landing spot. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tomy983 0 Posted September 30, 2017 Yes, the skyline operator, who stays at the top where the engine is, is the one lowering the load. There are only two cables, one to support the cart and the other to provide pulling force and with some special movement self clamping on the support cable and lowering the load. See http://www.fao.org/docrep/X0622E/x0622e15.htm Everything is done via radio, where to stop and when to release. If the operator could see what is doing it would be a huge improvement. Phones are not an option since more than often you won't have signal. Budget is low because is a family collateral business, they mostly keep going with rather old equipment only every second year probably like a tradition thing rather than a real income. Is not that they skip on safety in any way. It's just how the job is, probably everywhere. Anyway, I had a look around for ideas and I wanted to have your opinion on this: https://sgcdn.startech.com/005329/media/sets/110VDSLEXT2_manual/110VDSLEXxxx_manual.pdf There are other version of it, reviews on amazon seems ok... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
