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About Layson

Layson Pty Ltd was formed in 1981 by Richard Peploe to provide electronic design and computing services for commercial, medical and defense companies. Layson has successfully completed varied projects in these industries, a significant proportion of this work involving the design and programming of microprocessor-based products.

Since the late 1990's Layson has concentrated on developing in-house products for perceived niche markets.

The most significant project to date has been the development of a Remote Meter Reading Unit (RMU32). This device connects to and reads gas, electricity, hot and cold water meters within high-rise residential units, shopping centres, hospitals, hotels, etc. All meters connected to an RMU32 are readable from a remote Control Centre based anywhere in the world. We are still manufacturing and selling an upgraded version of this product 20 years later.

Richard Peploe

Richard Peploe, the founder and owner of Layson Pty Ltd, has been an Electronic Design Engineer for more than 40 years. Richard graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, and a Diploma in Electronic Engineering, from the NSW Institute of Technology (now known as the University of Technology Sydney).

Although partially retired, Richard, through Layson, still designs electronic equipment and writes programs using a number of languages including C, for microprocessors, and Java for PCs.

RMU

Remote Metering Unit - RMU32

The Layson 32 Channel Remote Meter Reading Unit (RMU32) has been designed to remotely read any meter with a pulsing contact representing the meter throughput, such as gas, electricity, hot and cold water meters.

A maximum of 32 meters may be connected to one RMU32, and a maximum of 32 RMU32s may be connected together into one network of 1024 meters. Any RMU32 in the network may be used as the Master and connected to the NBN, mobile phone network, or local PC, via a modem, to remotely read all 1024 meters. This is adequate for most installations; however, multiple networks may be installed for exceptionally large complexes.

Local meter reading is possible either by reading the Liquid Crystal Display on each RMU32 or by a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or wired PC connection reading all meters in the network. Local and remote meter reading, using a Laptop or Desktop PC, is undertaken using a dedicated PC program developed by Layson.

Remote Metering Unit (RMU321) specifications:

From 1 to 32 pulsing meters may be monitored per RMU32
From 2 to 32 RMUs may be connected into one RS-485 network
Remote access to all RMU32 units in a network via the NBN or mobile phone network
Local meter reading using a Laptop PC via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or USB
Local meter reading for each RMU32 from its front panel Liquid Crystal Display
Powered from the 240V AC mains
Backup battery providing 15 days of power fail operation
Open circuit meter line detection
Absolute and Load Profile meter readings are recorded in non-volatile memory
Absolute meter readings to a maximum of 4 000 000 000 pulse counts
150 days of 30-minute increment Load Profile data storage
Load Profile time intervals may be set from 1 second to 24 hours
Storage of meter parameters, such as meter number, K factor, energy units, and meter resolution in non-volatile memory
Conversion of meter pulses to energy units
A Real-Time Clock (RTC) to provide date and time stamps for meter readings
Access codes provide data access security
Simple communications protocol with no licensing fees
Two RS-485 Ports for network communications
One RS-232 Port for modem or PC connection
Housed in a wall-mounted metal box 400 x 300 x 160mm in size
Bottom cable entry
Access for cable termination and maintenance through a lockable front door.