[Shop-talk] Web based PLC

[eric at megageek.com]

Ok, I'm looking for a little help here.   It might be a little off topic 
for Shop talk, but I know we have the expertise here to answer this.

 What I need is a web based logic board for dry contacts.  Let me 
explain...

In the new Mansion we are moving into, there is a water tank on the roof 
(5 stories up.)  The pump is in the ground.  Local wiring code in 
Afghanistan is nonexistence. 

I need a safe way for the two float switches in the tank (one for "low" 
and one for "full") to talk to the pump to turn it on.

I don't want to have a 220v line run from the pump, up the 5 stories to 
the roof of the building.  So I was thinking that I could put a network 
PLC device up near the tank  and another one near the pump.  I could log 
into the device via a web interface and program it to turn the pump on and 
off based on the position of the contacts in the float switch. 

This is simple in theory, and I'm sure there are devices out there.  My 
only problem is that I have a very slow internet connection here and 
surfing for this stuff is very frustrating and isn't yielding results.

So, anyone know where to get these devices? (I'm sure that I'll need two, 
one for the tank and one for the pump.)  Also, I'm not adverse to buying 
something and modify it to work the way I need it to if that is my only 
option.

Thanks for the help!

(As for cost, it's not too much of a factor, but if it gets too expensive, 
I have to get approval from the contract manager and I'd like to avoid 
that.)  Thanks again!

Oh yeah, the local answer to this problem is "have two people whose job is 
to keep it full.  One to stand on the roof and watch the tank and another 
one to turn on and off the pump." You have to love countries where labor 
is cheap.

Moose
"Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational 
being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." Ralph 
Waldo Emerson