Interest in and deployment of wireless monitoring systems is increasing in many\ndiverse environments, including row-crop agricultural fields. While many studies have been\nundertaken to evaluate various aspects of wireless monitoring and networking, such as\nelectronic hardware components, data-collection procedures, power management, and\ncommunication protocols, little information related to physical deployment issues has been\nreported. To achieve acceptable wireless transmission capability, the radio/antenna must be\npositioned properly relative to the ground surface or crop canopy to minimize degradation\nof the radio signal, usually requiring the mounting of the radio/antenna above the canopy.\nThis results in the presence of obstacles to normal agricultural equipment traffic and\nproduction operations and potential damage to the wireless monitoring system. A simple and\nrugged radio/antenna mounting system was designed which could be subjected to encounters\nwith agricultural equipment without suffering physical damage. The mounting system was\ndeployed and tested, and operated successfully following repeated encounters with various\nagricultural machines and implements. The radio/antenna mount is simple and inexpensive\nto fabricate using locally available components.
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