The beginning of a successful Spiio sensor install is to identify the most optimal area to install the sensor based on the cellular signal strength. To start, select the ‘Settings’ button in the bottom left of the mobile screen.
2. Next, select the ‘Location quality test’ to bring up the testing screen.
3. Follow the prompt by selecting the three arrows that provides an animation to walk you through the subsequent steps on how to scan the sensor and successfully read the signal strength of the desired area. After viewing the animation, select ‘Continue’ and the QR code scanning screen will appear. Place the sensor on the ground horizontally in the desired area for install and scan the white QR code label at this point.
4. At this point, remove the magnet (white arrow) and place to the side and allow the sensor to being searching for cellular signal. At the same time the ‘Waiting for sensor start to test location quality’, screen will appear, and the blue circles (yellow box) indicate the application is waiting on a communication response from the sensor.
5. After waiting (can take up to three minutes depending on signal strength) for the sensor to acquire signal, a green light will appear when a successful connection is established. At this point, the ‘Location quality’ screen will change and report the signal based on the scale on the screen. NOTE: anything below a ‘FAIR’ rating above ground is not recommended for install below ground.
6. Once the signal quality is deemed acceptable for an installation of the Spiio sensor, replace the magnet onto the recessed portion on the white top cap of the sensor. NOTE: the magnet needs to be on the sensor for a minimum of 30 seconds before the next steps of the installation are performed to allow a full power down cycle of the sensor.
7. Gather any tools that may assist with installation of the sensor such as a cup cutter and cut two holes as pictured to prepare for installation of the Spiio sensor.
8. Make a guide hole to aide in easier installation of the Spiio sensor. There is not requirement on tool selection but NOTE: the main requirement is that the guide hole is smaller than the sensor! If the hole is too large, a risk of air gaps occur that can potentially influence data being collected by key components on the sensor such as the moisture plate (purple arrow) and salinity probes (white arrows).
9. Place the sensor in the hole and using hand force or a tool for leveraging **NOT IMPACT**, push the sensor horizontally in the direction of the white arrow into the soil with the white QR code label as shown. NOTE: The magnet is still on at this point of the install.
10. Open the Spiio Live mobile application and zoom into your location indicated by the ‘blue dot’ on the map. Once you have found your location, select the ‘Installation’ button.
11. A ‘Pin marker’ will appear on the map. The GPS blue dot location is based on your mobile device. It may be necessary to move the screen with two finders to fine tune the optimal location of the sensor in relation to its physical location in the field. Once satisfied, select ‘Place Here’.
12. Select the ‘Area’ you want to install the sensor with ‘Available Areas’ or select the ‘+’ icon to create a new area if one has not already been created. If creating a new ‘Area’ you will need to name it and choose descriptive data such as Soil Type and Grass Species. After the ‘Area’ has been determined, the application will access the camera and open the QR code scanning page.
13. Scan the sensor and once the Sensor ID is confirmed visually (red highlighted portion should match the QR code number on the white label of the sensor) select ‘Confirm’, which will bring up the ‘Add Context’ panel. In this panel, add the ‘Location name’ of the sensor, installation depth, notes, and images to help with locating the sensor at a future date. Select ‘Save’ once finished.
14. A screen will appear indicating to ‘Start the Spiio’ with the blue circles indicating that the mobile application is waiting for a data transmission from the installed sensor that was just scanned. At this point, remove the magnet from the sensor and place to the side (white arrow) and the sensor should begin blinking white indicating that it is searching for signal. This process can take up to three minutes depending on the available signal in the area.
15. With the magnet still remaining off of the sensor, if the sensor successfully connects, a sequence of green lights will begin to blink. The previous ‘Start the Spiio’ screen will then turn to a ‘Installation successful!’ screen. NOTE: this is not a simultaneous update from when the sensor first connects, there can be a delay from the sensor connecting and the mobile application indicated the results. This page will also indicate other key information such as ‘Location quality’, and ‘First data received’ which are soil ‘Moisture’, ‘Salinity’, and ‘Temperature’. Notice the difference from the earlier 'Location quality' testing step that indicated a ‘Great’ signal to now a ’Good’ signal. This occurs because ‘cellular signal strength becomes weaker once a barrier such as soil is introduced. After all data looks correct, select ‘Finish Installation’
16. After sensor is connected, replace magnet into the original box for safe storage. NOTE: the magnet does not go back onto the sensor after it is successfully connected because this would power down the sensor and cause it to lose the established connection.
17. Confirm the recent data connection by going to the ‘List View’ (yellow arrow) on the home page.
18. Select the ‘Area’ that the sensor was installed, in this case within the ‘Short Course’ Area and expand all sensors in this ‘Area’ by selecting the drop down arrow. You can see the same data being displayed from the first data confirmation page under the ‘SC5 Middle Left’ sensor (yellow box) and is also confirmed by the timestamp of the data transmission (yellow arrow in right image).
19. Everything is connected and validated, replace plugs over sensor and enjoy the data!
