About The 5Te; Background Info - Decagon Devices 5TE Operator's Manual

5TE Operator's Manual

2. About the 5TE

2. About the 5TE
The 5TE is designed to measure the water content, electrical
conductivity, and temperature of soil and growing media.
Using an oscillator running at 70 MHz, it measures the
dielectric permittivity of soil to determine the water content.
A thermistor in thermal contact with the sensor prongs pro-
vides the soil temperature, while the screws on the surface
of the sensor form a two-sensor electrical array to measure
electrical conductivity.

Background Info

In 2006, Decagon incorporated research from its EC-5 volu-
metric water content sensor into the ECH O-TE, a sensor
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which measured volumetric water content, temperature, and
electrical conductivity. The new 5TE uses the same theory
as the ECH O-TE, but the location of the EC measurement
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is in the stainless steel screws instead of gold traces. The use
of stainless steel screws has made the 5TE a more robust
sensor. Additionally, the 5TE utilizes a 5 point dielectric
calibration to provide dielectric permittivity measurements
more accurate than the previous ECH O-TE.
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