Frequently Asked Questions

With the acquisition of ONSET Computer Corp and HOBO products by LI-COR Environmental, online data services from the two companies are being combined. You should expect the same dependable data services that you have experienced up to this point, along with more products and features as the product expands. See the change log for a more detailed summary.

Account confirmation emails may be delivered to your spam folder. Be sure to configure your email account to accept emails from LI-COR Cloud.

HOBO device FAQs

This section lists some common questions that may come up while using LI-COR Cloud with HOBO devices. For additional help, visit www.onsetcomp.com

The serial number and device key are found inside the door of the station. Keep track of these values as you will need them to register the device to your LI-COR Cloud account.
You cannot stop regular connections to LI-COR Cloud for a registered, powered station even if it is not logging. You can change to a slower connection interval in General Configuration. Unplug all power sources if you do not want it to connect to LI-COR Cloud.
The Conditions panel shows the rain that fell in the last logging interval only. For example, if the logging interval is set to 1 minute and there wasn't a tip in the rain gauge bucket during that minute, then the rainfall shows as zero.
The channel count on the station for a manager module reflects the measurement channels and battery for all motes in the wireless sensor network. For example, if the network has one temperature mote, one soil moisture mote, and one temperature/RH mote, then the channel count reported on the station LCD would be 7: one for the temperature channel, one for the soil moisture channel, two for the temperature and RH channels plus three mote battery channels.
If the motes in your wireless sensor network have a poor connectivity rating or low signal strength, make sure there are no obstructions between the motes and that they are within communication range of the next mote. See Tips for Working with Wireless Sensors for monitoring network connectivity and adjusting mote positions.
If you do not see your MX Gateway in the list when you click Devices, make sure you have set the LI-COR Cloud settings in the HOBOconnect app, the gateway is powered up, and the network settings have been configured correctly.

  • Select a slower Connection Interval in the device configuration.

  • Consider setting up a second connection schedule at a less frequent rate by enabling Power Saving Mode.

  • The cellular signal at the device location may be weak or there may have been an interruption in cellular service. Consider repositioning the device to a location with a stronger signal if the problem persists.

  • If you are using an external solar panel, make sure it is installed properly and functioning. The solar panel should provide enough power to recharge the battery during the day.

  • Use the AC adapter to recharge the battery.

  • If you have an RX2100 station using a built-in solar panel, you may need to reposition it if it is not receiving enough sunlight to keep the battery charged. Think of adding an external solar panel.

Recharge the battery for 12 hours with the AC adapter. If the battery cannot be recharged, replace the battery. Contact Onset Technical Support or your Onset Authorized Dealer. We always recommend that you connect either a solar panel or AC adapter at all the time to provide a trickle-charge to the battery.

Important: The station uses durable, high-capacity Flash memory so data is retained even when the battery runs out of charge. Do not restart the device until the data has been recovered. If the battery cannot be recharged and you are still unable to read out the device, contact Onset Technical Support or your Onset Authorized Dealer as it may be possible to retrieve the logged data.

Power down the RX3000 station before installing a new module. Try unplugging the battery and any power charging devices (AC adapter, solar panel). If you installed an RXW Manager module, make sure it is plugged in to the manager mote. Wait a few seconds and then reconnect the power. If the mote still isn’t recognized, turn the power off again and make sure the module is installed properly with the pins fully inserted in the connector on the station.

  • For RX3000 or RX2100 stations: Check that the sensor appears in Sensor Configuration. If it does not, then use the Search button on the station to find the connected sensor and then press the Cloud/Connect button reconnect to LI-COR Cloud. For analog sensors, make sure Enable channel is selected in Sensor Configuration.

  • Check for a loose connection for the sensors that are not logging.

  • Make sure you have not exceeded 100 meters (328 ft) of network cable for all smart sensors.

  • Make sure you have not exceeded 15 smart sensor channels. Note that some smart sensors use multiple data channels. For RX3000 and RX2100 stations, check the smart sensor count on the LCD.

Any changes that you made to the configuration do not take effect until the next time the station connects to LI-COR Cloud. For example, if you set the Connection Interval for the station two hours, it won't take effect until the next connection on that two-hour schedule. Press the Connect button on the station to trigger a connection.

If it has only been offline for less than hour, the wireless sensor may be temporarily offline due to a poor network connection. If the sensor has been offline for a long time, check its position and the battery. See Tips for Working with Wireless Sensors for details.

When configuring a logger with HOBOconnect, you must select whether data should be uploaded to LI-COR Cloud from a gateway or from HOBOconnect. This also requires that HOBOconnect is connected to your LI-COR Cloud account (check Settings in HOBOconnect). If you are using a gateway, make sure it is set up as described in the HOBO MX Gateway Manual. If any loggers were already logging before you set up the gateway, then you must reconfigure them and make sure to select to upload data via a gateway.

If you are not using the gateway, data will not appear in LI-COR Cloud until you read out the logger with HOBOconnect. Your phone or tablet must have access to the internet to then upload the data from HOBOconnect to LI-COR Cloud. See the HOBOconnect User’s Guide for details on using the app.

www.onsetcomp.com/hoboconnect