3 ms·

> You can not put it in the container as it degrades the signal too much. On the outside it is a harsh env. My first thought was to put the device itself insid

> You can not put it in the container as it degrades the signal too much. On the outside it is a harsh env. My first thought was to put the device itself inside but the antenna outside. But I suppose there are reasons why that won't work either?

JohnBooty 4y ago
put the antenna outside I don't work in this industry, but container ships carry from 1,000-14,000 containers at a time. Your container is likely to be in the middle of an absolutely massive stack of containers so even if you make your shipping container have great reception, it's still going to be buried under millions of tons of steel and god-knows-what-else. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_ship#Size_categories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_ship#Size_categories I'm not entirely sure it's necessary, either. Presumably the shipping company knows which boatyard/truck/ship has your container, where that boatyard/truck/ship is, and there is some sort of liability/insurance in place and I don't know that entire containers get lost with the same frequency as individual packages. (Those in the know, please correct me!)
- nordsieck 4y ago
  > I don't know that entire containers get lost with the same frequency as individual packages. There are some that fall overboard[1]. I'm sure it's not huge compared to the global volume shipped, but the risk is there. --- 1. https://www.supplychainbrain.com/articles/33002-shipping-containers-are-falling-overboard-at-a-rapid-rate https://www.supplychainbrain.com/articles/33002-shipping-con...
  - JohnBooty 4y ago
    While it's certainly not a negligible problem if your container goes overboard, seems nearly negligible as a whole! The linked article seems to suggest that it's a few thousand containers per year out of 226 million. Pretty darn good. I would love to know more about the industry in general. When you ship a container, what kind of tracking information do you get? Etc. Theoretically it's relatively easy (not easy but... relatively easy) for shipping companies to provide that info (they know that container X is on ship Y and presumably know where ship Y is and when it's expected in port) but, I don't know how that industry works. I do know that there are a lot of sensors you can attach to individual packages that let you know if your packages have exceeded g-force, temperature, or orientation thresholds during shipping. They're not necessarily wireless or satellite enabled, but when the package arrives, they make it possible to verify that the package has remained within acceptable limits during transit. I imagine at least some of that tech is used in the container shipping industry as well. Maybe.
    - nordsieck 4y ago
      > I would love to know more about the industry in general. When you ship a container, what kind of tracking information do you get? Etc. Theoretically it's relatively easy (not easy but... relatively easy) for shipping companies to provide that info (they know that container X is on ship Y and presumably know where ship Y is and when it's expected in port) but, I don't know how that industry works. I haven't worked in the industry, but I have worked for FedEx for a short time. I have to imagine there are at least some similarities. At FedEx, you're supposed to scan each package "received" at the warehouse. And then scan it again when it's loaded onto a truck. But when you have so many packages to deal with, sometimes boxes go onto the wrong truck. Sometimes boxes go onto the right truck, but they don't get scanned. Sometimes boxes are mislabeled. Or misrouted. Sometimes the recipient goes out of business. Or moves. Sometimes the label is unreadable. Sometimes there are multiple different addresses on the box. I'm sure all that stuff happens to containers as well. Especially when the largest ships are above 14000 TEU.
sumtechguy 4y ago
We went down that route. Your 'easy to install' is now drilling/cutting holes into the container. Then hope your cable does not act as a wick. Cost to install is now dramatically higher. Remember the shipping on these things is razor thin. The shipping company makes it up in volume. So if you go and add 500+ onto install they look for other solutions. The best one I saw was a giant bar code spray painted on the side of the thing and then make it up in the software back end. Low cost, easy to fix and fairly long lasting. Downside is no realtime tracking. Plus the stacking issue is a big issue.
trillic 4y ago
Can the container not be the antenna?

JohnBooty 4y ago

put the antenna outside I don't work in this industry, but container ships carry from 1,000-14,000 containers at a time. Your container is likely to be in the middle of an absolutely massive stack of containers so even if you make your shipping container have great reception, it's still going to be buried under millions of tons of steel and god-knows-what-else. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_ship#Size_categories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_ship#Size_categories I'm not entirely sure it's necessary, either. Presumably the shipping company knows which boatyard/truck/ship has your container, where that boatyard/truck/ship is, and there is some sort of liability/insurance in place and I don't know that entire containers get lost with the same frequency as individual packages. (Those in the know, please correct me!)

nordsieck 4y ago
> I don't know that entire containers get lost with the same frequency as individual packages. There are some that fall overboard[1]. I'm sure it's not huge compared to the global volume shipped, but the risk is there. --- 1. https://www.supplychainbrain.com/articles/33002-shipping-containers-are-falling-overboard-at-a-rapid-rate https://www.supplychainbrain.com/articles/33002-shipping-con...
- JohnBooty 4y ago
  While it's certainly not a negligible problem if your container goes overboard, seems nearly negligible as a whole! The linked article seems to suggest that it's a few thousand containers per year out of 226 million. Pretty darn good. I would love to know more about the industry in general. When you ship a container, what kind of tracking information do you get? Etc. Theoretically it's relatively easy (not easy but... relatively easy) for shipping companies to provide that info (they know that container X is on ship Y and presumably know where ship Y is and when it's expected in port) but, I don't know how that industry works. I do know that there are a lot of sensors you can attach to individual packages that let you know if your packages have exceeded g-force, temperature, or orientation thresholds during shipping. They're not necessarily wireless or satellite enabled, but when the package arrives, they make it possible to verify that the package has remained within acceptable limits during transit. I imagine at least some of that tech is used in the container shipping industry as well. Maybe.
  - nordsieck 4y ago
    > I would love to know more about the industry in general. When you ship a container, what kind of tracking information do you get? Etc. Theoretically it's relatively easy (not easy but... relatively easy) for shipping companies to provide that info (they know that container X is on ship Y and presumably know where ship Y is and when it's expected in port) but, I don't know how that industry works. I haven't worked in the industry, but I have worked for FedEx for a short time. I have to imagine there are at least some similarities. At FedEx, you're supposed to scan each package "received" at the warehouse. And then scan it again when it's loaded onto a truck. But when you have so many packages to deal with, sometimes boxes go onto the wrong truck. Sometimes boxes go onto the right truck, but they don't get scanned. Sometimes boxes are mislabeled. Or misrouted. Sometimes the recipient goes out of business. Or moves. Sometimes the label is unreadable. Sometimes there are multiple different addresses on the box. I'm sure all that stuff happens to containers as well. Especially when the largest ships are above 14000 TEU.

sumtechguy 4y ago

We went down that route. Your 'easy to install' is now drilling/cutting holes into the container. Then hope your cable does not act as a wick. Cost to install is now dramatically higher. Remember the shipping on these things is razor thin. The shipping company makes it up in volume. So if you go and add 500+ onto install they look for other solutions. The best one I saw was a giant bar code spray painted on the side of the thing and then make it up in the software back end. Low cost, easy to fix and fairly long lasting. Downside is no realtime tracking. Plus the stacking issue is a big issue.

trillic 4y ago

Can the container not be the antenna?