Arten Meter Replacement.

[Jamie Hascall]

Hi all,

Please excuse my cross postings with the PACCIN listserve and the Mountmaking Forum. I’m trying to get this query to as many colleagues as possible.

I am putting together a climate control enclosure for a sensitive Japanese print and had planned on installing an Arten Temperature/Humidity meter in a way that it could be read from the outside to confirm the internal RH. Sadly, Hurricane Sandy flooded Art Preservation Services (the source) and none of their distributors seem to have any in stock. At this point it is even in question whether the item will be produced again.

The hunt for a replacement has not turned up an electronic equivalent that seems to have a long battery life (1 yr. or more), and has made me start considering installing a humidity sensor in the enclosure and reading it from the exterior. I was just wondering if anyone else had found a viable replacement or has attempted a remote sensor arrangement? Any ideas are welcome.

Jamie Hascall
Chief Preparator
Museums of New Mexico
Santa Fe

[JasonO]

Here is a reply to Jamie's question from the Listserv:

for a number of years [about 20] we used ACR Smart Reader loggers for display cases, shipping/crates, and gallery monitoring [often on loan objects]. We found them to be extremely reliable and very accurate with a long battery life.Typically we used the Smart Reader 2: http://www.acrsystems.com./products/smartreader2/ and often with the external probe: http://www.acrsystems.com./products/accessories/eh-020a/

With the external probe we could monitor the interior and exterior of a shipping crate, disparate areas of galleries, or, in display cases, we placed the probe in the display area and the Smart Reader in the base/pedestal of the case. To download the Smart Reader we could, depending on the design of the display case, open the base door, or remove a bit of moulding or baseboard, or have a small hole to directly plug-in the data cable. When using the Smart Reader this way, only two of the four channels are used so the Reader can record more information over a longer time.

Only drawback is no visual display of current conditions. However, they do make a display module to spot check conditions: http://www.acrsystems.com./products/accessories/srp-dm/ . Also, while I didn't use this model, I understand that the Smart Reader "Plus" can be configured to send [phone or email] an alarm when your preset conditions are exceeded. http://www.acrsystems.com./products/smartreaderplus/

[Jamie Hascall]

I’ve gotten some wonderful replies including an offer of an Arten Meter from the Milwaukee Public Museum (Thanks Christine!). Probably the most welcome message came from Steve Weintraub of Art Preservation Services saying that they are well on their way to recovery from Hurricane Sandy and should be back in operation by the end of the month. http://apsnyc.com/

The other one that was good to know about was from David Eastin of ArtTrac Technology about a wireless RFID sensor that they have. It looks like it will be a very useful tool in future exhibits. www.arttrac.net (http://www.arttrac.net/).


Thanks for all your help,
Jamie