1.
Case Study: Buoy Monitoring in Western
Australia

2.
Fremantle Ports in Western Australia contacted ESTeem with an
interesting problem: it had hundreds of navigational buoys to
maintain but no good way to monitor them.
The port needed to easily access information like buoy position,
battery voltage, solar panel charging, light status, and equipment
faults.
All of the information was required to help maintain the buoys in a
high state of performance.
A Unique Opportunity

3.
The Challenges
The challenges faced by the project were considerable. The buoys
are located over a wide area, with some as far as five nautical
miles out.
Some buoys are obstructed with objects preventing line-of-sight
with the base station.
The buoys also are constantly moving on the waves, operating in
tough environmental conditions that complicate an already difficult
application.

4.
The Options
Cellular and GPS solutions were rejected because they involved
recurring costs and third-party involvement, and lapses in
connectivity were a potential problem.
Then integrator eProNAV recommended ESTeem’s Horizon 900
Series. The solution made sense because the frequency fit within
the required band, and ESTeem’s wireless MESH network ensured
that connectivity wouldn’t be a problem.
The port finally had a high-powered, high-speed Ethernet radio
that met its needs.

5.
The Solution
A five-unit pilot began about two years ago, and the project has
expanded to 50 Horizon 900 Ethernet radios, all of which have operated
without incident.
Plans are to eventually include all of the port’s buoys in the project,
covering hundreds of square miles of sea.
Blue dots indicate some of the buoys monitored by ESTeem radios.

6.
The Advantages
Other ESTeem advantages, like our superior customer service, were
also highlighted during the project. We used information gathered over
the phone along with Google Earth plot points provided by eProNAV to
provide the preliminary analysis over the phone.
After delivering the RF design, we helped eProNAV with configuration
issues, plugging into the Ethernet network remotely and reprogramming
the system in Australia without leaving the office.
Our industrial-hardened NEMA 4 case also plays a role in the project’s
success. “We are using the radios on marine navigation buoys
deployed in harsh sea conditions with storms and high seas, and the
radios perform extremely well,” said eProNAV’s Pete Dolan.

7.
The ESTeem Advantage
For over 30 years, we’ve designed, engineered and manufactured industrial
wireless radios and modems - all in the US and all specifically focused on solving
our customers’ most difficult networking challenges, no matter what the frequency.
Through all of those years, we’ve stuck to the philosophy that applications will not
bend to fit the hardware. The solution must fit the application, and we work with
our customers to ensure they get the right wireless solution to fit their needs.
To that end, all of our models come with full compatibility
baked in (195E/Horizon, 192/195 Narrowband), and we
write our software/OS specifically for the components used
for optimum efficiency and performance.
To learn how ESTeem can deliver the cost-effective,
reliable wireless network your operation needs, submit this
simple contact form.

8.
ESTeem Corporate Information
Electronic Systems Technology
• Incorporated 1982
• Public Offering 1984
• Symbol: ELST
• dBA ESTeem Wireless Modems -
2007
Corp/MFG Headquarters
• Kennewick, WA
• Rockwell Automation Encompass
Partner – 25+ years
• CSIA Member/Supplier
• Control Systems Integrator
Association
45,000+ Radios in Service Worldwide
• Industry’s most complete
portfolio: 10 models
• FCC Licensed Frequencies
• License-Free Frequencies