I'm cleaning up after a broken pipe, and although my cellar is
unfinished now, I plan to put a new shack down there RSN, so I need some
help.

My questions:

1. What's the ideal environment for modern and Boat-Anchor rigs?

2. How may I monitor conditions (humidity, temperature, ?) without
busting the radio budget on weather instruments?

3. What can I do to prevent water damage? Are there automatic water
cut-off valves? How do they work?

73,

Bill W1AC

--
Bill Horne

(Remove QRM from my address for direct replies.)

Bill Horne wrote:
I'm cleaning up after a broken pipe, and although my cellar is
unfinished now, I plan to put a new shack down there RSN, so I need some
help.

My questions:

1. What's the ideal environment for modern and Boat-Anchor rigs?

I don't know.
2. How may I monitor conditions (humidity, temperature, ?) without
busting the radio budget on weather instruments?

A reasonably accurate electronic Hygrothermograph with alarm functions
can be purchased for about one hundred dollars ($100).

3. What can I do to prevent water damage?
Install a flooding alarm that will sense the presence of water in the
lowest point of the basement. Build or buy an autodialer that will page
you through your cell phone if the flooding alarm goes off. If you have
a home burglar and / or Fire alarm system that function can be added to
the system but before having that done be sure you know how much it will
add to the monthly monitoring fee if any.

Are there automatic water cut-off valves? How do they work?

The only ones I've seen are excess flow valves and they only close on a
complete rupture of the piping such as might occur following an
earthquake or explosion. It is possible to set up a flow timer that
would cut off the flow of water using a solenoid operated valve if the
water flow continued for too long a period. That can be wired with a
pre-alert to warn you that the flow will be cut off to give you time to
reset the timer if you are, say, filling the pool or a hot tub. You can
also add water flow supervision to your home alarm system so as to
notify you of any water flow when you are not home. The sensor is
installed after the tap for any automatic watering systems. If you have
a sump pump it can be supervised; either by a home alarm system or a
stand alone device and you can be notified if the water in the sump
rises above the cut in level of it's float switch or if the pump is
running continuously. You can also install a venturi eductor; which is
sometimes called a jet pump; that would pump water using the pressure
and flow from the public water system if your power is out and the water
in the sump rises above the sump pumps cut in level. Since your battery
backed up alarm system or unit would already be complaining about the
high water level and the loss of AC power that would buy you the time to
do something about it by returning home and starting a generator for
instance.
73,

Bill W1AC

WHAT FOLLOWS IS MORE THEN MOST WILL WANT TO KNOW ABOUT ALARM SYSTEMS BUT
IS WORTH READING IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING ADDING AN ALARM SYSTEM OR
ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS TO AN EXISTING SYSTEM.

Most of this you can build into your alarm system or house monitoring
system yourself if you own the system. If the system is under a
monitoring contract and it is owned by the monitoring company then you
would want to have these functions tied into the supervision of external
systems circuit so that you don't get hit with monthly fees for each
function monitored. You should only be paying for monitoring four types
of signals unless YOU want to pay to have individual functions
separately monitored. Be warned that the individual monitoring costs
can add up to a very steep bill. The four signals are Trouble, which
means the alarm system itself is in need of servicing*; Supervision,
which means that a building protective system is operating or in need of
servicing; fire, & burglary. Some folks choose to add manual panic
alarms for home invasion or robbery but that is often an additional
monthly charge on your central station monitoring contract. Most of
what you want to know can be signaled directly to your cell phone
without any monthly fee by adding off the shelf components to an alarm
system you own. Such systems are known as proprietary alarm systems
because they are monitored by the Owner / Proprietor or her/his agent.
Systems monitored under contract are called Central Station Alarm
Systems. Systems that only alarm locally are called, not surprisingly,
Local Alarm Systems. Systems that notify a public agency or private
service that is not in the alarm monitoring business are called Remote
Alarm Systems. Municipalities and local governments of all stripes do
not like remote alarm systems because they are too often mistaken
alarms. In most states it is now a crime to program an auto-dialing
voice message system to call 911 or any other public safety telephone
number including non emergency numbers. Local governments want you, or
someone you pay to do so, to do the heavy lifting of determining that an
actual emergency really does exist. They want a human being to call to
tell them what is going on and to take responsibility for the
authenticity of the alarm signal. Auto-dialers that relay trouble or
supervisory signals are simply ignored by public safety agencies except
for the preparation of a citation for violation of the State's alarm
system regulatory laws.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison

*This should be included at no additional cost to you if the system is
owned by the alarm servicing company or by the Central Station that
monitors it. Central Stations are often owned and operated by the
company that installed the system.