Onset Hobo Remote-Monitoring System

Made by the Massachusetts company Onset Computer Corp., the formally titled Hobo U30 Station falls under the category of "data logging and monitoring devices." This one measures temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, rainfall, wind speed and direction. soil moisture, leaf wetness, solar and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), carbon dioxide and more. You can specify up to 15 channels of data to be monitored and recorded remotely, and you can download data files for analysis. Additionally, you can set alarms to trip for specific sensor readings, or for when the memory or battery is running low.

In keeping with the whole green theme, the Hobo U30 gets its power from a sealed lead acid battery that's recharged through either an AC adapter or its own solar panel. The casing is double-weatherproof — an actual industry term, apparently — and tamper-resistant. The basic unit costs $724, with a variety of sensors and accessories priced separately.

Why Onset capitalizes the product's name in all its literature isn't clear — it's not an acronym ; we asked. So maybe it's shorthand — because when we first saw everything this thing can do, our first reaction was "Hooo-boy!"

Onset Computer Corporation • 470 MacArthur Blvd., Bourne, MA 02532 • P.O. Box 3450, Pocasset, MA 02559-3450 • (508) 759-9500 • toll-free (800) LOGGERS (1-800-564-4377) • hobolink@onsetcomp.com

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