Soil Scout releases new off-grid base station

February 17, 2021
Soil Scout’s new off-grid capable BST200 Base Station. (Photo: Soil Scout)
Soil Scout’s new off-grid capable BST200 Base Station. (Photo: Soil Scout)

Soil Scout, a wireless underground soil monitoring solution, released a new off-grid capable BST200 Base Station. The BST200 has been specifically designed to give sports turf maintenance professionals an uninterrupted view of their grounds during the critical growing season months.

Soil Scout’s new off-grid capable BST200 Base Station. (Photo: Soil Scout)

Soil Scout’s new off-grid capable BST200 Base Station. (Photo: Soil Scout)

“Customer feedback and satisfaction is an important part of Soil Scout’s plan to continually improve the monitoring solutions on offer,” said Soil Scout CEO Jalmari Talola. “Through talks with our customers, we realized they could get even better insights if the receiver unit did not require constant hard-wire to a power source, and it should also be able to overcome power outages.”

“Aside from helping us make the BST200 the most functional and high-performing Soil Scout base station to date, the valuable feedback from our customers has helped us build a solution that improves our customers’ freedom to choose the placing of their equipment for each season so they can collect vital information about what’s happening underground,” he said.

The latest Base Station model is fitted with an integrated solar panel in conjunction with a high-grade lithium-ion battery that allows customers for off-grid use during the growing season when typically sun radiation is sufficient for charging the device. The BST200 receives real-time moisture, soil temperature and salinity data from Soil Scout’s sub-soil monitoring devices. This data is then transmitted via a cellular modem to the web-accessible cloud-based Soil Scout Hub. Where customers require data during the darkest winter months, plugging the device is recommended, but the company can also offer a plug and play battery-pack for extending the operating period. BST200 units are shipping worldwide now.

“I’m extremely happy with how the BST200 turned out,” Soil Scout CTO Jussi Sirkiä said. “It was a long project that involved both in-house development and working with several key partners, so the end result is all the more satisfying. This latest base station is more rugged, easier to install and use, and significantly more powerful in terms of functionality and performance. This is a winning combination that is sure to serve us for a long time.”

Recently backed by Husqvarna last year’s seed funding round, Soil Scout was co-founded by Finnish agrotechnology Ph.D. and 19th generation farmer Johannes Tiusanen and electronics expert Jussi Sirkiä with a mission of giving soil experts the information they need to effectively manage their lands. Currently operating in more than 15 countries, Soil Scout plans to scale operations in the U.S., Australia and mainland Europe in 2021.

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