--- title: "Stock Tank Water Level Monitor With No Cell Plan | Trivertix" description: "A solar stock tank level monitor that reports by LoRa radio to a receiver in the house, with no cell or satellite plan. Proved on a Karnes County, Texas ranch." url: https://trivertix.com/stock-tank-monitor/ updated: 2026-10-10 --- # A stock tank water level monitor with no cell or satellite plan Trivertix watches an open stock tank with a solar-powered ultrasonic sensor on a pole over the water, and sends the level by LoRa radio to a receiver in your house. It needs no cell signal at the tank and no satellite plan: the receiver shows the level on its own display, and the app adds gallons, the level over time and an alert at the line you set. By [Luke Patterson](https://trivertix.com/about/), co-founder of Trivertix. Last checked October 10, 2026. ## What it catches ### A tank running low Set the low line where you want the warning. When the level crosses it, your phone gets an alert, and someone can go out before the stock go without. ### A float valve stuck A valve stuck open fills the tank past your high line, and one stuck shut lets it fall to your low line. The alert comes either way, and the chart shows when it started. ### A slow leak, or a well that has quit The level over time tells the story. A tank that falls faster than the stock can drink, or that stops refilling, shows on the chart long before it shows at the tank. ## On the tank - **The sensor:** Ultrasonic, mounted at the top of the tank and reading down to the water. It reports a change as small as a quarter of an inch, in tanks up to 16 feet deep. - **The mount:** On an open tank the transmitter stands on a pole over the water. Pairing and mounting take a few minutes, and mounting hardware is available on request. - **The power:** Solar panel and rechargeable batteries. Pilot units have come through Karnes County summers on them. - **The readings:** About every 15 minutes. The transmitter sleeps between readings to spare its battery, so the app shows recent readings and not a live feed. ![A Trivertix monitor with its antenna, on a pole standing in a stock tank](https://trivertix.com/img/stock-tank-pole-mount-480.3d0f4134.webp) ## From the tank to the kitchen table The transmitter talks to a receiver in the house by LoRa radio at 915 MHz. There is no SIM card in it and no carrier plan behind it. A mile or more with a clear line of sight; three-quarters of a mile through hills and mesquite on our pilot ranch. Set the receiver near a window that faces the tank. A display for the tank level and four status lights. It plugs into the wall and joins your home Wi-Fi. Without Wi-Fi it still shows the level, so a tank near the house can be watched with no app and no account at all. With the receiver on your Wi-Fi, the app shows the tank from anywhere: gallons and percent full once you enter the tank's type and size, the level over time with your alert lines drawn on it, water and air temperature, and the sensor's battery. One high and one low alert line, each with its own switch. Cross one and your phone tells you. ## Where it fits, and where it does not ### It fits - Tanks within about a mile of a building with power: the house, a barn or a shop with an outlet and, for the app, Wi-Fi. - Open stock tanks, with the transmitter on a pole over the water, and the closed storage tanks that feed them, with the transmitter in the port in the lid. - Tanks with sun on them. The panel keeps the batteries charged. ### It does not fit - A tank miles from the nearest building. The radio has to reach a receiver with power, and satellite monitors are built for that job. - A tank in deep shade all day. A ranch with both kinds of tank can run both kinds of monitor: a satellite unit on the far pastures and Trivertix on the tanks around headquarters, each where it fits. [Trivertix and Ranchbot, side by side](https://trivertix.com/compare/ranchbot/) ![A Trivertix monitor on a tall pole beside a concrete stock tank in open pasture](https://trivertix.com/img/stock-tank-pasture-480.8a82abcd.webp) ## Proved on working tanks The first pilot units went onto open cattle watering tanks on the Patterson ranch outside Karnes City, Texas, our co-founder Luke's own ranch. The tanks sit miles apart, so checking the water used to mean a drive to each one. That is where the range figure comes from, measured through the hills and the mesquite between the tanks and the house, and where the units have come through the summer heat. The photos on this page are of those units. [More from the pilot](https://trivertix.com/#pilot) ## Questions about stock tank monitors ### How does the sensor mount on an open stock tank? On a pole over the water, with the sensor looking straight down at the surface. Pairing and mounting take a few minutes, and mounting hardware is available on request. On a closed storage tank the same transmitter sits in the port in the lid. ### What if the stock tank is miles from the nearest building? Then a satellite or cellular monitor is the better tool for that tank. The Trivertix radio has to reach a receiver in a building with power: a mile or more with a clear line of sight, and less through hills and brush. The two kinds can share a ranch, with Trivertix on the tanks near headquarters. ### Does it tell me when a float valve sticks? It tells you when the level crosses a line you set, and a stuck valve does that. One stuck open fills the tank past your high line, and one stuck shut lets it fall to your low line. Your phone gets the alert either way, and the chart in the app shows when it started. ### Does it read the water temperature too? Yes. The transmitter reports water and air temperature along with the level, and the app shows both beside it. ## Read next ### [Trivertix and Ranchbot, side by side](https://trivertix.com/compare/ranchbot/) For the tank that is miles from anywhere, and the one that is not. ### [The four kinds of tank level indicator](https://trivertix.com/water-tank-level-indicator/) Float, sight tube, pressure gauge and electronic sensor, compared. ### [How to read a water level gauge](https://trivertix.com/water-level-gauge/) And how to turn the reading into gallons. ## Be first in line. The waitlist hears the price and the launch date before anyone else. [Join the waitlist](https://trivertix.com/waitlist/)