User's Guide

Chapter 1
Overview
1.1 The FlatMesh System
A FlatMesh network consists of a number of nodes connecting to
one gateway device. In some situations multiple networks may be
required on a single site, for example a site in which the number of
nodes exceeds the number supported by a single Gateway, or a site
where there are a set of separate measurement zones.
A FlatMesh Node is a sensing unit with an integrated wireless
mesh radio and battery. It participates in a FlatMesh wireless net-
work, forwarding messages as required by the system, and also
takes samples from onboard and/or external sensors. Sampling is
done on a periodic schedule which may be either fixed or variable.
In addition, a sample may be manually requested via the Gateway.
1.2 FlatMesh Vibrating Wire Nodes
The FlatMesh Vibrating Wire Node family provides an interface to
enable the connection of vibrating wire sensors with integrated
temperature sensors. The family consists of four different models,
each with different input combinations:
• FM3N-VW11 supports a single sensor with one vibrating wire
and one temperature sensor
• FM3N-VW41 supports up to four sensors each with one vibrat-
ing wire and one temperature sensor
• FM3N-VW81 supports up to eight sensors each one single vi-
brating wire and one temperature sensor
• FM3N-VW17 supports a single with up to seven vibrating wires
and one temperature sensor
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