djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu (Dick O'Connor) (09/06/90)
Thanks for all of your responses to my query about a PC-based solution
for monitoring freezer temperatures and making phone calls to alert
off-site personnel to potential problems. Below I've summarized the
responses I received, and our Lab Director is now following up on two
or three of them. Once again, the Net comes through! :)
"Moby" Dick O'Connor djo7613@u.washington.edu
Washington Department of Fisheries *I brake for salmonids*
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Date: Thu, 23 Aug 90 14:22:47 EDT
From: Roy Smith <roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu>
To: djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: PC-controlled freezer alarm systems
Organization: Public Health Research Institute, New York City
We have a similar problem here, keeping an eye on our Recvos full of
bacterial strains. They are hooked into a building alarm system, which is
suposedly monitored 24 hours a day by the engineer on duty. Unfortunately,
it seems he's often drunk, asleep, snuck off to a bowling alley, or just
plain too lazy or stupid to do anything about the flashing lights and
klanging bells. Anyway, we went out to Radio Shack and bought some cheap
alarm dialers, about $100 each. You program them with a list of phone
numbers to call and play a recorded message when the alarm goes off (i.e. an
external switch closure or opening, already installed in the Revcos) and
plug them into a phone jack. We have all of our Revcos wired in series and
use the NC external input, so when any Revco goes over-temp, it opens the
circuit and the dialer starts to dial.
They are not perfect, but they do work reasonably well. You might
not want to depend on them completely, but they are cheap enough that you
can easily add them into any existing system for a measure of added
protection. One nice thing is that they have built-in battery backup. With
a PC, if freezer thaws because the power died, and the PC protecting it is
plugged into the same circuit, it will go out too. My guess is that a
PC-based system will give you a little better protection overall, but for an
order of magnitude more money. And, since it's more complex, there might
even be a greater chance of it failing.
The bottom line, is that for really valuable samples, the only way
to make sure you don't loose them is to replicate them, putting the second
copy in another freezer, certainly not on the same circuit, and preferably
not even in the same building. We have one PI here who has a friend at NIH;
every once in a while, they swap boxes of duplicate vials of strains to
stash in each others freezers just in case. I guess if something ever
happens that's big enough to take out two freezers 250 miles apart, we'll
have worse things to worry about than loosing some strains.
/roy
--
Roy Smith, Public Health Research Institute
455 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016
roy@alanine.phri.nyu.edu -OR- {att,cmcl2,rutgers,hombre}!phri!roy
"Arcane? Did you say arcane? It wouldn't be Unix if it wasn't arcane!"
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From wrp@biochsn.acc.virginia.edu Thu Aug 23 13:15:30 1990
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 90 16:04:02 -0400
From: wrp@biochsn.acc.Virginia.EDU (William R. Pearson)
To: djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: PC-controlled freezer alarm systems
Newsgroups: sci.bio,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
In-Reply-To: <6644@milton.u.washington.edu>
Organization: University of Virginia
There is no need to use a PC, Heathkit sells a machine that
will dial the phone with a message when the temperature in a freezer
goes over a limit. I would check out a Heathkit catalog.
Bill Pearson
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Date: Thu, 23 Aug 90 16:16:35 EDT
From: toms@ncifcrf.gov
To: djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: PC-controlled freezer alarm systems
Newsgroups: sci.bio,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
In-Reply-To: <6644@milton.u.washington.edu>
Organization: NCI Supercomputer Facility, Frederick, MD
Although I don't work with any myself, we have a set of freezers under
alarms here. A phone number to try is: (301) 846-1091. This is "Protective
Services", the people who handle security and alarms. Perhaps someone
at that number could help you. Good luck!
Tom Schneider
National Cancer Institute
Laboratory of Mathematical Biology
Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201
toms@ncifcrf.gov
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Date: Thu, 23 Aug 90 15:42:43 CDT
From: halley!lcw@cs.utexas.edu (Larry Wolfe)
Message-Id: <9008232042.AA00922@halley>
To: djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: PC-controlled freezer alarm systems
Newsgroups: sci.bio,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Organization: Tandem Computers, Austin, TX
Try a greenhouse supply place. I used to have an alarm for my GH that
would dial one or more numbers on <over-temp|under-temp|powerfail>.
Hope it helps.
Larry Wolfe
...cs.utexas.edu!timex!lcw
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Date: Sat, 25 Aug 90 11:21:23 EDT
From: mis@seiden.com (Mark Seiden)
To: djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: PC-controlled freezer alarm systems
Newsgroups: sci.bio,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
References: <6644@milton.u.washington.edu>
i've half done this... this gadget also works by the way for low-temp
situations. takes one serial port per wiztemp, which has only a single
temp input. i assume you have a way of getting a thin wire out of the
freezer... are these walkins? if you have lots of freezers another
temp-monitoring solution will be less expensive, but with less
redundancy... how are you planning to protect against power failure?
putting the PC on a 10 minute UPS could at least get out the alarm,
if your phones continue to work...
so with a multiport xt board... by the way, i also have been using
stored voice boards capable of dialing the phone and playing back
stored voice... i suppose i could put together a turnkey system for
you (excluding the XT, of course) for cost of hardware plus time...
we have the people and expertise to do it, but it sounds like you want
to... i'd be willing to cooperate with a piece of it if you want to
do the rest. a kneejerq reaction is that it sounds like a week of
work plus hardware. tradeoff involves more expensive hardware with
software which already works.
anyway if you're interested send email. i'll be at the human genome
conference for the next two weeks... i can send you a CV if you want
to pursue it...
Subject: /dev/thermometer
want to monitor the temperature in your machine room?
run a shell script if a certain temperature is exceeded, or a
particular rate of temperature increase is exceeded?
there is now such a gadget .. wiztemp-1.
-40 C through 88 C with .5 degree C resolution.
chart recording software (c and postscript) furnished in source.
out of range conditions reported in a user-configurable fashion.
small package, connects to serial port (of sun, mac, pc, many unix
systems) -- velcro it to the side of your machine...
costs $250 including software. avoiding one meltdown could easily
justify the cost...
2 yr mfrs warranty, 30 day money back guarantee.
available from
Seiden and Associates, Inc
16 Woods End Rd
Stamford, CT 06905-2727
203 329 2722
--
mark seiden, mis@seiden.com, 1-(203) 329 2722 (voice), 1-(203) 322 1566 (fax)
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To: djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: PC-controlled freezer alarm systems
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc., Cambridge MA
Date: Mon, 27 Aug 90 11:49:07 -0400
From: jcurtis@BBN.COM
Hi. Friend of mine installed a home security system -
door switches, window switches and a central box that
did exactly what you described - called a list of numbers
with a synthetic voice. Primary use was for vacation homes
(low tempurature, break-in's, etc.). Cost was <$100, which
seemed like a good deal.
Sorry, but I don't recall the maunufacturer - a home alarm
place or major department store might know it. The box is
designed for self-installation, there are no agencies involved,
and it has a provision for an external alarm (of your design)
starting the call sequence.
Sounds like a more "plug and play" solution than the PC.
good luck
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Date: Wed, 29 Aug 90 10:43:31 EDT
From: epochsys!oded@uunet.UU.NET (Oded Feingold)
To: djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu
Subject: freezer alarm systems
My fiancee and I have a situation analogous to yours. We work with
turtles and store slants and stabs of organisms cultured from them.
We also have an XT-class computer which is otherwise idle and has card
space.
Over the next few months, I intend to buy or build an alarm and
telephonic notification system for power or temperature failures in
the (presently three) refrigerators with my irreplaceable samples.
That project is not my top priority now, but will become so around
October.
If you wish, I'll keep your address on file and let you know what I
build or come up with.
In the meantime, if someone directs your attention to existing
equipment and software, I'd be happy to hear about it.
Thank you.
--
Oded Feingold uunet!epochsys!oded epochsys!oded@uunet.com
Epoch Systems Inc. 8 Technology Drive Westborough, Ma. 01581
508-836-4300 x342 (vox) 508-836-4711 x342 (voicemail)
[1 Grafton Rd. West Upton, Ma. 01568 508-529-6811]
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From: Alan Strassberg <lstc!oetl1.SCF.LOCKHEED.COM!alan@uunet.UU.NET>
Date: Thu, 30 Aug 90 12:02:31 PDT
To: djo7613@hardy.u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: PC-controlled freezer alarm systems
Newsgroups: sci.bio,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Organization: LMSC Rocket Ranch, Santa Cruz, CA.
Check out "Interfacing Sensors to the IBM PC" by
Wilkins. A good start. Also post to sci.electronics,
this is where these problems appear.
cheers, alan
--
Alan Strassberg alan@oetl.scf.lockheed.com
(408) 425-6139 ...!uunet!lstc!oetl!alan
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"Moby" Dick O'Connor djo7613@u.washington.edu
Washington Department of Fisheries *I brake for salmonids*