Field preparations to be done to replace a sensor (yellow arrow) begin by cutting plugs using a cup cutter (purple arrow) or other tool to expose the existing sensor. Hand tools may be beneficial (black arrows).
2. Remove existing sensor by physically removing the sensor currently linked to the platform using leverage or applied pulling force. There will be a hole the shape of the sensor (black arrow) left and requires soil to be backfilled (yellow arrow).
3. Install the new sensor into the soil physically but do not remove the magnet at this point in a horizontal orientation where the white QR code is facing up (yellow arrow).
4. The Digital Installation is next, and this is required to link the new sensor to the platform but by preserving and linking the historical data that was collected by the previous sensor. To begin, locate the blue dot (yellow arrow) on the map that indicates your location to find the ‘Pin Marker’ on the map for the removed sensor from previous steps.
5. Zoom into the blue dot using two fingers and locating the ‘Pin Marker’ closest to your location (yellow box) and that matches the sensor that necessitates a replacement. Select the pin marker to open a box with an ‘Actions’ button.
6. The ‘Action’ button will appear (yellow arrow) in the black box of sensor data if the ‘Pin Marker’ is properly selected. Select the ‘Action’ button to open up an attribute table of options to perform on the sensor in the field linked to the ‘Place’ name, in this case ‘SC3'.
7. Locate the ‘Replace Sensor’ (yellow box) from the list of options and select it. You can use the Sensor ID’s (yellow arrow) to match the QR code from the sensors in this step and subsequent ones to ensure success.
8. Scan the replacement sensor Note: it is important to point out the magnet placement at this point (yellow arrow on the left image) that it is still remaining on the sensor, however, will not remain in subsequent steps. Successful QR code scanning will bring up a ‘Confirmation’ box to carefully check the Sensor ID of the replacement sensor (purple highlighted text) compared to the previous sensor removed from the ground in previous steps (red highlighted text). If confirmed to be correct, select the ‘Confirm’ option.
9. Data confirmation page will appear when you select ‘Confirm’ from the previous step and then at this point you should remove the magnet for the sensor to begin searching for signal. When the magnet is removed (yellow arrow) and sensor searches for signal, the sensor will blink white consecutively and Note: the magnet will not go back onto the sensor if it successfully connects to the network.
10. Sensor connection is established when the sensors initially blink green (yellow arrow) and then a sequence of green blinks follow depending on signal strength in the area. Note: that the magnet is placed to the side while waiting for the sensor to connect and does not return to the sensor if a successful connection is established (white arrow). After these light sequences, a data confirmation page will appear showing signal strength (purple arrow) along with soil data collected by the sensor (purple box).
11. Magnet storage should occur by placing the magnet in the box the sensor came in originally (yellow arrow) so it can be located for use should the need ever arise.
12. Last readings section can be found on the home page (yellow arrow) and used to confirm that the newly replaced sensor is transmitting data. To do so, scroll down to the ‘Place’ name of the new sensor that was just installed as a replacement. Once selected, look for the ‘Place’ name and confirm the timestamp and data (purple box) match the first data point confirmation page from previous steps.
13. Sensor ID confirmation can be done by selecting the ‘Home’ button (yellow arrow) and following steps 4 – 6 to return to the ‘Actions’ page with the list of attribute options for the ‘Place’ name of the newly sensor installed in the field. Within this section, locate the sensor ID (purple box) to ensure it matches the sensor recently installed prior to plug replacement.
14. Edit context can be useful if the sensor was required to be moved a significant distance and remarking of distances from fixed point such as an irrigation head and/or pictures are required. If necessary, select ‘Edit Context’ (yellow arrow) and adjust accordingly the ‘Notes’ (purple arrow) and ‘Take picture’ (red arrow) selections to document relevant information for easier location finding in the future.
15. Replace plugs to cover both holes from previous and current sensor in the field and enjoy the data stream to make better decisions on your turfgrass area being managed.
